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Chuck Schumer is dropping the ball on regulating AI

AI’s capabilities are growing at tremendous speeds, and while that apparently warrants a ton of the United States’ money for development, it doesn’t seem to translate to a very obvious action: regulation. A bipartisan group of four senators, led by majority leader Chuck Schumer, have announced a legislative plan for AI that includes putting $32 billion towards research and development. But, it passes off the responsibility of devising regulatory measures around areas such as job eliminations, discrimination and copyright infringement to Senate committees.

“It’s very hard to do regulations because AI is changing too quickly,” Schumer said in an interview published by The New York Times. Yet, in March, the European Parliament approved wide-ranging legislation for regulating AI that manages the obligations of AI applications based on what risks and effects they could bring. The European Union said it hopes to “protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from high-risk AI, while boosting innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the field.”

Schumer seems to disagree with finding that balance, instead stating in the interview that investment into AI research and development “is sort of the American way — we are more entrepreneurial.”

For absolutely no reason at all and clearly not to hypothesize on reasons he avoided regulations, if you didn’t know, one of Schumer’s daughters works as a senior policy manager for Amazon, and the other one has worked for Meta (it’s unclear if she still does). Furthermore, in May 2022, the New York Post reported that over 80 of Schumer’s former employees held jobs in Big Tech at places such as Google and Apple.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chuck-schumer-is-dropping-the-ball-on-regulating-ai-144957345.html?src=rss

The first Dune: Prophecy teaser takes the action back by 10,000 years

This week, streaming services are joining linear networks in revealing some of the projects they’ve got coming up in an attempt to win over advertisers. After Prime Video stepped up to the plate on Tuesday, it was Warner Bros. Discovery’s turn at bat on Wednesday. The company surprised many by dropping a teaser trailer for Dune: Prophecy, a six-episode Dune prequel series that’s coming to Max this fall.

The spinoff is set 10,000 years before the events of the Dune movies. It follows two Harkonnen sisters who tackle a threat to humanity while setting up the sisterhood that will eventually become the Bene Gesserit. Dune: Prophecy is based on the novel Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

The series stars Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May and the always-great Mark Strong. The trailer makes the show look suitably large in scope, though you’ll need to wait a few more months for it to arrive.

In the meantime, you’ll soon be able to watch Dune: Part Two on Max (though we recommend catching this butt-kicking epic on a giant screen if it’s still showing in a theater near you). The sequel is coming to the streaming service next week, on May 21.

In addition, it might be too early for a trailer for the second season of The Last of Us, though WBD has released the first official images. The shots of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) don’t give much away, but fans of the second game in the series might recognize those fairy lights behind Joel’s magnificent mane. The Last of Us will return on HBO and Max in 2025, hopefully on January 1.

Warner Bros. Discovery

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-first-dune-prophecy-teaser-takes-the-action-back-by-10000-years-152911407.html?src=rss

Suri Cruise Reportedly Changes Name for School Musical’s Playbill

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter has reportedly gone just by her first and middle name in the playbill for her school’s production of ‘Head Over Heels.’

Sophie Turner Reflects on the ‘Worst’ Part of Joe Jonas Divorce: ‘Mom Guilt Is So Real’

‘Those were the worst few days of my life,’ Sophie said, referring to the misogynistic headlines accusing her of being a ‘partier.’

Apple brings eye-tracking to recent iPhones and iPads

Ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day this week, Apple is issuing its typical annual set of announcements around its assistive features. Many of these are useful for people with disabilities, but also have broader applications as well. For instance, Personal Voice, which was released last year, helps preserve someone’s speaking voice. It can be helpful to those who are at risk of losing their voice or have other reasons for wanting to retain their own vocal signature for loved ones in their absence. Today, Apple is bringing eye-tracking support to recent models of iPhones and iPads, as well as customizable vocal shortcuts, music haptics, vehicle motion cues and more.

Built-in eye-tracking for iPhones and iPads

The most intriguing feature of the set is the ability to use the front-facing camera on iPhones or iPads (at least those with the A12 chip or later) to navigate the software without additional hardware or accessories. With this enabled, people can look at their screen to move through elements like apps and menus, then linger on an item to select it.

That pause to select is something Apple calls Dwell Control, which has already been available elsewhere in the company’s ecosystem like in Mac’s accessibility settings. The setup and calibration process should only take a few seconds, and on-device AI is at work to understand your gaze. It’ll also work with third-party apps from launch, since it’s a layer in the OS like Assistive Touch. Since Apple already supported eye-tracking in iOS and iPadOS with eye-detection devices connected, the news today is the ability to do so without extra hardware.

Vocal shortcuts for easier hands-free control

Apple is also working on improving the accessibility of its voice-based controls on iPhones and iPads. It again uses on-device AI to create personalized models for each person setting up a new vocal shortcut. You can set up a command for a single word or phrase, or even an utterance (like “Oy!” perhaps). Siri will understand these and perform your designated shortcut or task. You can have these launch apps or run a series of actions that you define in the Shortcuts app, and once set up, you won’t have to first ask Siri to be ready.

Another improvement coming to vocal interactions is “Listen for Atypical Speech,” which has iPhones and iPads use on-device machine learning to recognize speech patterns and customize their voice recognition around your unique way of vocalizing. This sounds similar to Google’s Project Relate, which is also designed to help technology better understand those with speech impairments or atypical speech.

To build these tools, Apple worked with the Speech Accessibility Project at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The institute is also collaborating with other tech giants like Google and Amazon to further development in this space across their products.

Music haptics in Apple Music and other apps

For those who are deaf or hard of hearing, Apple is bringing haptics to music players on iPhone, starting with millions of songs on its own Music app. When enabled, music haptics will play taps, textures and specialized vibrations in tandem with the audio to bring a new layer of sensation. It’ll be available as an API so developers can bring greater accessibility to their apps, too.

Help in cars — motion sickness and CarPlay

Drivers with disabilities need better systems in their cars, and Apple is addressing some of the issues with its updates to CarPlay. Voice control and color filters are coming to the interface for vehicles, making it easier to control apps by talking and for those with visual impairments to see menus or alerts. To that end, CarPlay is also getting bold and large text support, as well as sound recognition for noises like sirens or honks. When the system identifies such a sound, it will display an alert at the bottom of the screen to let you know what it heard. This works similarly to Apple’s existing sound recognition feature in other devices like the iPhone.

Apple

For those who get motion sickness while using their iPhones or iPads in moving vehicles, a new feature called Vehicle Motion Cues might alleviate some of that discomfort. Since motion sickness is based on a sensory conflict from looking at stationary content while being in a moving vehicle, the new feature is meant to better align the conflicting senses through onscreen dots. When enabled, these dots will line the four edges of your screen and sway in response to the motion it detects. If the car moves forward or accelerates, the dots will sway backwards as if in reaction to the increase in speed in that direction.

Other Apple Accessibility updates

There are plenty more features coming to the company’s suite of products, including Live Captions in VisionOS, a new Reader mode in Magnifier, support for multi-line braille and a virtual trackpad for those who use Assistive Touch. It’s not yet clear when all of these announced updates will roll out, though Apple has historically made these features available in upcoming versions of iOS. With its developer conference WWDC just a few weeks away, it’s likely many of today’s tools get officially released with the next iOS.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-brings-eye-tracking-to-recent-iphones-and-ipads-140012990.html?src=rss

Canon confirms its long-rumored flagship EOS R1 is coming later this year

After years of rumors, Canon has confirmed that a flagship EOS R1 camera is in the works for its EOS line. The full-frame mirrorless camera is slated to arrive later this year and, while Canon hasn’t revealed all the details just yet, it teased just enough to whet your appetite. There’s no indication as to how much the EOS R1 will cost just yet either, but you may need to dig deep into your wallet this one.

The company says that the professional-grade camera will have an RF mount and offer improved video and still performance compared with the EOS R3. It will boast an upgraded image processing system that combines a fresh CMOS sensor, a new image processor called Digic Accelerator and the existing Digic X processor.

Canon says the system will be able to process a large volume of data at high speed and deliver advancements in auto focus and other areas. The company claims it’s been able to combine the capabilities of the image processing system with its deep-learning tech to achieve “high-speed and high-accuracy subject recognition.”

This powers a feature called Action Priority, which can, for instance, detect a player carrying a certain action in a sports game (like shooting a ball) and identify them as the main subject for a shot. The system would be able to instantly shift the auto focus frame in that person’s direction to help make sure the photographer doesn’t miss out on capturing key moments from a game.

Canon claims the EOS R1 can track athletes during sporting events even if they’re momentarily out of line of sight. The focus on sports in the initial announcement suggests that the camera could be put to the test at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

In addition, Canon says it’s bringing the image noise reduction feature that was initially built for PC software directly into the camera. It suggests this further improves image quality and can help users fulfill their creative goals.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/canon-confirms-its-long-rumored-flagship-eos-r1-is-coming-later-this-year-142838188.html?src=rss

Tom Brady Admits He Wouldn’t Do Another Roast Because ‘It Affected My Kids’

The Super Bowl winner admitted that his children were hurt by some of the jokes made throughout Netflix’s ‘Greatest Roast of All Time.’

Threads gets its own fact-checking program

This might come as a shock to you but the things people put on social media aren’t always truthful — really blew your mind there, right? Due to this, it can be challenging for people to know what’s real without context or expertise in a specific area. That’s part of why many platforms use a fact-checking team to keep an eye (often more so look like they’re keeping an eye) on what’s getting shared. Now, Threads is getting its own fact-checking program, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram and de-facto person in charge at Threads, announced. He first shared the company’s plans to do so in December.

Mosseri stated that Threads “recently” made it so that Meta’s third-party fact-checkers could review and rate any inaccurate content on the platform. Before the shift, Meta was having fact-checks conducted on Facebook and Instagram and then matching “near-identical false content” that users shared on Threads. However, there’s no indication of exactly when the program started or if it’s global.

Then there’s the matter of seeing how effective it really can be. Facebook and Instagram already had these dedicated fact-checkers, yet misinformation has run rampant across the platforms. Ahead of the 2024 Presidential election — and as ongoing elections and conflicts happen worldwide — is it too much to ask for some hardcore fact-checking from social media companies?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-gets-its-own-fact-checking-program-130013115.html?src=rss

Brianna Chickenfry Reveals She & Zach Bryan Were in a ‘Traumatizing’ Crash

The Barstool Sports personality recalled a rough couple of days on the road including a nearly fatal car crash and her cats running off.

Reese Witherspoon Reprises Elle Woods Character to Tease ‘Legally Blonde’ Prequel Series: Photos

The ‘Legally Blonde’ star took the stage at Amazon’s first upfront presentation to unveil the upcoming Elle Woods prequel series.