Kalakshar US

AI-generated images and audio are already making their way into the 2024 Presidential election cycle. In an effort to staunch the flow of disinformation ahead of what is expected to be a contentious election, Google announced on Wednesday that it will require political advertisers to “prominently disclose” whenever their advertisement contains AI-altered or -generated aspects, “inclusive of AI tools.” The new rules will based on the company’s existing Manipulated Media Policy and will take effect in November.

“Given the growing prevalence of tools that produce synthetic content, we’re expanding our policies a step further to require advertisers to disclose when their election ads include material that’s been digitally altered or generated,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The Hill. Small and inconsequential edits like resizing images, minor cleanup to the background or color correction will all still be allowed — those that depict people or things doing stuff that they never actually did or those that otherwise alter actual footage will be flagged. 

Those ads that do utilize AI aspects will need to label them as such in a “clear and conspicuous” manner that is easily seen by the user, per the Google policy. The ads will be moderated first through Google’s own automated screening systems and then reviewed by a human as needed.

Google’s actions run counter to other companies in social media. X/Twitter recently announced that it reversed its previous position and will allow political ads on the site, while Meta continues to take heat for its own lackadaisical ad moderation efforts. 

The Federal Election Commission is also beginning to weigh in on the issue. LAst month it sought public comment on amending a standing regulation “that prohibits a candidate or their agent from fraudulently misrepresenting other candidates or political parties” to clarify that the “related statutory prohibition applies to deliberately deceptive Artificial Intelligence campaign advertisements” as well.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-will-require-political-ads-prominently-disclose-their-ai-generated-aspects-232906353.html?src=rss 

A week after being outed for stealthily using AI to produce high school sports reports and publicly “pausing” the project, mega-publisher Gannett has reportedly had to recheck each and every post the AI had written. Did we really learn nothing from CNET’s ignoble AI escapades in January?  

Gannett operates a number of regional and national publications including USA Today, The Arizona Republic and The Detroit Free Press. The company devised its “Lede AI” as a means of automating the droll work of summarizing the box scores of local high school sports leagues — a task the AI proved wholly incapable of. One such article read:

The Hardin County Tigers defeated the Memphis Business Execs 48-12 in a Tennessee high school football game on Friday. Hardin County scored early and often to roll over Memphis Business 48-12 in a Tennessee high school football matchup.

“High school reporting is different from covering college or professional sports,” On anonymous Gannett sports writer told Yahoo News. “And high school reporting can go underappreciated, but it’s extremely important. You’re covering a community.”  

“You’re not writing for as big of an audience, but you’re writing for a very, very specific one,” they added. “Family members — uncles, parents, people who care that your story has their kids’ names. They’re looking for keepsakes, things they can remember from their kids’ high school career.”

In response to the criticism, Gannett has elected to “pause” its use of the AI for the time being though the company made no mention of abandoning its use entirely. The company has also reportedly rechecked and updated every AI-written post for factual accuracy. The blurb above now simply reads: “The Hardin County Tigers defeated the Memphis Business Execs 48-12 in a Tennessee high school football game on Friday.“

Gannett’s dalliance with AI writers is the latest in a growing industry trend that has seen Buzzfeed shutter its newsroom entirely in favor of AI-generated content, Google develop a genAI for writing news posts and Apple build a foundational rival to ChatGPT. Even the AP is adapting its approach to accommodate the new technology.    

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/usa-todays-publisher-had-to-update-all-of-the-sports-posts-its-ai-reporter-botched-215915908.html?src=rss 

The home state of some of the most influential AI companies has a new plan to confront the potential regulation of generative AI. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order instructing agencies in the state to study potential risks and use cases for the technology.

Under the order, state agencies are tasked with identifying “the most significant and beneficial uses of GenAI in the state” and creating frameworks to train state employees on how to use “state-approved” generative AI tools in their work. Likewise, it directs the same agencies to analyze potential negative impacts of the technology, including its effect on vulnerable communities and threats to “critical energy infrastructure” in the state.

The order also lays the groundwork for new partnerships with University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University, which will help study how generative AI is affecting the state’s workers. “This is a potentially transformative technology – comparable to the advent of the internet – and we’re only scratching the surface of understanding what GenAI is capable of,” Newsom said in a statement. “We recognize both the potential benefits and risks these tools enable.”

As Bloombergpoints out, the California order comes ahead of a White House executive order on generative AI expected in the coming months. Leaders of several top AI companies have been meeting with White House officials over the last severalmonths as the administration weighs potential regulations for AI. More than half a dozen companies have already agreed to some safeguards, including new investments in cybersecurity, following those meetings.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/california-governor-gavin-newsom-signs-executive-order-to-study-generative-ai-222733401.html?src=rss 

Google Workspace users are getting a new feature to prevent colleagues from messing with their documents. Users will now have the ability to lock their Google Drive files, which should help reduce unwanted commentary and changes when sharing with multiple team members. While this isn’t the most revolutionary feature, it could certainly come in handy — especially for companies that use and share a lot of publicly viewable documents.

Locking a document puts it in read-only mode, meaning viewers can’t edit, comment or leave suggestions on it. The document will remain in this read-only mode until unlocked by its owner. In a blog post, Google stated that this new feature will “streamline the process of restricting files in Drive.”

Previously, you could lock down a document or file when sharing it, or through a Google Drive API call. The new lock feature simplifies things: Right-click on the file you’d like to lock, scroll to file information from the popup menu, and select lock.

The file-locking feature has already been rolled out to some Rapid Release domains and will continue over the next 15 days. Folks on Scheduled Release domains can expect to start seeing the feature on September 20th, with a similar 15-day rollout period.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-workspaces-file-lock-stops-colleagues-messing-with-your-documents-194625235.html?src=rss