They know us better than we know ourselves: how Amazon tracked my last two years of reading
By: The Guardian Feb 03, 2020 When I requested my personal information from Amazon this month under California’s new privacy law, I received mostly what I expected: my order history, shipping information and customer support chat logs. But tucked into the dozens of files were also two Excel spreadsheets, more than 20,000 lines each, with titles, time […]
‘Completely unsustainable’: How streaming and other data demands take a toll on the environment
By: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Jan 02, 2020 For those of us binge-watching TV shows, installing new smartphone apps or sharing family photos on social media over the holidays, it may seem like an abstract predicament. The gigabytes of data we’re using — although invisible — come at a significant cost to the environment. Some experts say it rivals that of […]
Artificial intelligence-created medicine to be used on humans for first time
By: BBC News Jan 30, 2020 It was created by British start-up Exscientia and Japanese pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. The drug will be used to treat patients who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Typically, drug development takes about five years to get to trial, but the AI drug took just 12 months. Exscienta chief executive […]
Assessing Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s call for fair AI regulations
By: Tech Republic Jan 29, 2020 Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives working on artificial intelligence are now calling for limited government regulation as the European Union mulls potential five-year bans of facial recognition software. Pichai called for governments to take a bigger role in regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and he published his beliefs in a Financial […]
SSGA chief vows to turn up the heat on ESG underperformers
By: Citywireselector Jan 29, 2020 The chief executive of State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has echoed the strong sentiments offered by BlackRock by vowing to make stronger use of the firm’s proxy voting rights to push the ESG agenda. In his 2020 outlook letter, Cyrus Taraporevala said the ongoing dialogue the asset manager has with companies will […]
Toothless: Facebook proposes a weak Oversight Board
By: Techcrunch Olanola Jan 29, 2019 Facebook’s internal “Supreme Court” can’t set precedents, can’t make decisions about Facebook Dating or Marketplace, and can’t oversee WhatsApp, Oculus, or any messaging feature, according to the bylaws Facebook proposed today for its Oversight Board. It’s designed to provide an independent appeals process for content moderation rulings. But it will only be […]
Amazon workers defy rules to protest company’s climate failures
By: NewEurope January 28, 2020 Hundreds of Amazon employees criticised the company’s record on climate change despite their jobs being at risk for speaking out. More than 340 employees signed an online protest, organized by an advocacy group founded by Amazon workers called Amazon Employees For Climate Justice. Amazon had sent letters to its members […]
Charity: how effective is giving?
By: The Economist Jan 28, 2020 Today’s super-wealthy are richer than ever. And they’re giving away their billions like never before. Philanthropists are putting record sums into tackling the world’s most pressing problems. And unlike the mega-donors of the past today’s philanthropists want to see the results in their lifetimes. But how altruistic is this […]
£30bn pension fund threatens to sack money managers who ignore climate crisis
By: msn Jan 27, 2020 A £30bn ($39.3bn) pension fund has said it will vote down boards and sack asset managers whose investments fail to meet climate targets. The Brunel Pension Partnership, which represents local government pensions across the South West, said on Monday its money managers must move towards carbon-neutral investments by 2022 or risk being […]