Lawsuit: Apple and Google Are Recording Users Without Their Knowledge
A recent lawsuit alleges that the virtual assistants of tech companies like Apple and Google are listening in on users even when they’re not supposed to.
Siri
Who Is Big Tech’s ‘Arbiter of Truth’? More than Ever, It’s a Corrupt, Orwellian Wikipedia
Even as the criticism of Wikipedia’s left-wing political bias intensifies, including from the site’s co-founder Larry Sanger, the major tech platforms continue to use the online encyclopedia in their services and rely on it as a model for addressing “fake news” concerns. Rather than improving their services, the integration of Wikipedia into Big Tech platforms has, instead, made them disseminate false or biased information.
First Lady Melania Trump Labeled ‘Porn Star’ on Wikimedia’s Wikidata Site
Numerous high-profile pages on Wikidata, a data site affiliated with Wikipedia, contained long-standing defamatory vandalism according to criticism site Wikipediocracy. This included First Lady Melania Trump, who was labeled a “former sex worker and porn star” on Wikidata for more than a week. Many Wikipedia-affiliated sites use Wikidata’s information, so the description consequently appeared at her page on Simple Wikipedia, whose target audience expressly includes children, and remained for over a week.
Report: Apple Programmed Siri to ‘Deflect’ Questions About Feminism
Leaked internal documents show that a project to rewrite how Apple’s Siri voice assistant handles “sensitive topics” such as feminism advised developers to “deflect” and “don’t engage” the issue.
Apple Siri Refers to CNN’s Chris Cuomo as ‘Fredo’ in Apparent Glitch
In what may have been a technical glitch or a clever joke, Apple’s digital voice assistant Siri referred to CNN host Chris Cuomo as Fredo — the weak-minded Corleone brother from The Godfather movies — on Tuesday before the anomaly was apparently fixed.
Apple Stops Listening to Customer Recordings over Security Concerns
Tech giant Apple has reportedly suspended its global program where the firm’s contractors analyzed recordings of users interacting with the Siri digital voice assistant over security concerns.
Whistleblower: Apple Listens in on Users’ Sexual Encounters, Private Discussions
Apple contractors around the world regularly hear people having sex, discussing confidential medical and legal matters, and committing crimes such as drug deals, during quality control work for the Silicon Valey giant’s Siri virtual voice assistant.
Kansas State Prof: Siri Is Sexist Because of Female Voice
A professor at Kansas State University argues that virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa are sexist because they have female voices.
Virgil: The New Frankensteins
As he scans the news about tech abuses—from violating privacy, to manipulating the news, to mowing down pedestrians with driverless cars—Virgil is reminded that this year marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein.
Siri and Alexa Can Be Controlled by Voices Humans Cannot Hear
Voices outside the range of human hearing can be used to manipulate your phone without any need for hacking.
Elon Musk Claims Smart Robots Worse Threat than North Korea
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is trying to crank up support for his $120 billion escape mission to Mars by claiming robots with artificial intelligence are a bigger threat than North Korea.
Report: 1 In 4 Fantasize About A.I. Assistants Including Siri, Alexa
One in four people fantasize about A.I. virtual assistants, including Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, according to a new survey.
‘Siri, Talk Dirty to Me’: Report Claims Sexual Conversations with Virtual Assistants on the Rise
Sexually explicit conversations with iPhone’s Siri and other virtual assistants are on the rise, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Butt Dials Overload San Francisco 911 Dispatchers
San Francisco’s 911 call center has been burdened with a “painful” problem. A surge in butt dials over the past three years (28% increase between 2011 and 2014) has been cutting into valuable time for operators who are forced to work longer hours as they seek to determine whether each butt, or pocket, dial is a true emergency.
They Still Call Him Bruce, But Siri Doesn’t
Bruce Jenner won the Male Athlete of the Year Award from the Associated Press in 1976. Last night, Jenner won ESPN’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award as a female. Confused? Siri’s not.
