WEBVTT - US Department of Justice Proposes Google Sell Off Chrome Browser 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.360 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.800 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.799 I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and How the 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:22.680 tech are you. It's time for the tech news for 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:27.720 the week ending Friday, November twenty second, twenty twenty four. 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:32.760 This week, the US Department of Justice filed proposals regarding 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.000 what to do about Google, and by what to do, 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:38.760 I mean how best to address the issue of Google 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.239 absolutely dominating web search, among other things. So this is 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:48.440 like an anti trust lawsuit proceeding, so as expected, the 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:53.560 suggestions the DOJ has are pretty extensive. One really big 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.840 one is that the DOJ says Google should stop paying 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.880 out gobs of cash to other platforms in order to 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:03.440 make Google Search the default search tool on those platforms. 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:08.800 So Google literally spends billions of dollars every year on 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.360 this effort and pays out companies like Apple to use 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:16.199 Google Search as the default on their various platforms, whether 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.679 that's iOS or whatever. And the DOJ argues that this 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:24.319 has led to Google essentially squashing competition and entrenching itself 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.160 as the dominant web search provider. But the proposal goes 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:32.160 further and says Google should also sell off its Chrome 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:37.240 browser entirely. Google introduced Chrome back in September two thousand 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.119 and eight, and since then it has become the most 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.200 popular web browser on the market. Stat Counter estimates that 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.280 it holds around sixty six percent of the market share 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.480 right now. The DOJ says the Google should not be 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:54.160 allowed to release some other browser during the term of judgment, 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.440 so not to create a workaround by oh, yeah, we'll 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.480 sell off Chrome, we just happen to release a different 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.080 browser CO called really highly polished Metal or something like 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.240 that would be a no no. Also, if Google doesn't 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:10.560 do what the DOJ says, then the department indicated that 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:15.280 it might come after Android, which is Google's mobile operating system. Well, 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:19.919 Google has of course protested these proposals in these strongest 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.280 possible terms, even going so far as to suggest the 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.960 changes that the DOJ is demanding would essentially break the 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:30.400 Internet and harm America's standing in the global technology market. 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.880 Companies like Apple are probably feeling a little antsy too, 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:37.440 because if the DOJ's proposals do move forward, well, Apple 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.519 would be saying bye bye to several billion dollars of 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.760 revenue every year, so that would be rough. The DOJ 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.360 argues that the payments to companies like Apple also end 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:51.240 up being incentives that Google is paying out. Essentially, Google 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:56.040 is incentivizing companies to not develop competing products on the 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.440 market because these companies can make more money just taking 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:02.480 money from Google and using Google's tool than they would 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:06.560 if they develop their own product individually. These proposals are 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.720 just proposals right now. These are not rules that Google 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:12.320 is going to have to immediately abide by. In fact, 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:14.800 this is something that will be brought before a judge 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.120 in the United States later in twenty twenty five, possibly 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.000 in the second half of twenty twenty five. So we're 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.840 far from a point where Google is facing actual consequences 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:28.320 just yet. And seeing where the US elections went this 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:31.120 past year, I would be shocked if the government continues 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.960 to take such a strong stance against corporations and anti 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:39.840 competitive practices moving forward. Generally speaking, Donald Trump has shown 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:45.320 to be very friendly toward corporations and less concerned about 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.839 things like, you know, anti competitive behaviors, so it would 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:53.080 really surprise me if we see continued movement on those fronts. 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:57.120 But that being said, the Trump administration also has its 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.840 own acts to grind against Google for perceived bias, not 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.800 saying there's actual bias, but there's definitely they perceive a 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.840 bias and have since identified Google as like an enemy 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:15.760 of the people by presenting search results that conservatives sometimes 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:20.479 argue are purposefully biased against them. And so it could 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.039 be possible that we'll still see government action brought against Google, 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.039 but it will be driven more by retribution than by 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.160 a desire to break up a trust, which is kind 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:34.040 of a weird place to be. Bahima abdel Rahman and 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:37.800 Joe Teddy have an article on BBC World Service. It 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.160 was in Arabic and so I had to rely upon 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:44.560 a translate feature, so hopefully everything that I read was 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.000 accurately translated. That can always be tricky, but it revealed 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.080 some pretty disturbing information about verified users on X, some 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:55.400 verified users a small selection, and of course X is 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.599 the service formerly known as Twitter. So the reporters say 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:04.400 that a BBC investigation found verified users on X who 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.560 were sharing links to sites that traffic in images and 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:12.160 videos of child sexual abuse material or CEESAM. The reporters 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:16.719 state that once they alerted X to these accounts, in question. 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:21.160 The service did ban those accounts, but questions remain about 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:25.240 the actual verification process, because one would hope that if 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.760 you're providing a check like a verified check, and if 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:33.560 you're allowing verified accounts to have a much larger reach 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.680 than standard accounts, you would also have a process that 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.400 would include some sort of vetting to make sure that 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.440 those accounts in question aren't violating the law. The BBC 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.560 reported that at least one verified account had been posting 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.240 links to illegal material for at least six months without 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:54.039 any intervention on behalf of x The investigators found the 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.159 accounts by searching for a few keywords in quote unquote 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.560 Arabic dialect. These words have been used as a sort 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:03.680 of code among se Sam traffickers as a means of 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:07.800 finding one another without directly raising suspicion. According to the BBC, 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.880 the verified accounts didn't have very many followers, but because 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.360 those accounts were verified, their posts actually had a really 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:19.440 broad reach and thousands of people saw these posts. So 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.920 while there weren't a lot of followers for the individual accounts, 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.120 they still had a pretty big impact. And obviously the 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:29.039 story is absolutely horrifying, and in my opinion, it also 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.279 puts a spotlight on how X's approach to verification, where 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.919 it becomes just a simple paid option, is far inferior 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.480 to the way it worked in the old Twitter days. 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.200 But I guess I should stop beating that drum and 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:47.960 just accept that X is, in my opinion, totally inferior 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:53.000 to what Twitter used to be. Smritty Malapti and my 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:58.840 apologies for Armalapati. I suppose I'm mispronouncing this name terribly anyway. 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:02.440 A reporter for Nature has an article that's titled a 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:06.000 Place of Joy Why scientists are joining the rush to 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.320 Blue Sky. Now, if you recall, blue Sky is an 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.640 alternative to x, slash, Twitter or Meta's threads, it's closer 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:17.520 to mast it on. It's like the federated version of 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:21.400 these services, which means that it's housed on multiple servers 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:25.200 that connect to one another, but it's not centralized the 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.800 way Twitter was or is. Blue Sky itself started as 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.280 a project within Twitter. Jack Dorsey was behind the initial creation, 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.080 although he is no longer involved with the company. So 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.960 why are scientists migrating to blue Sky? Well, according to 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.760 the article, it's for several reasons. One, there's more control 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.440 over what you see on Blue Sky, You're more likely 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.560 to see messages posted by people and accounts you actively follow, 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.800 rather than stuff that some algorithm is just shoving at 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.800 you for whatever reason, For example, prioritizing posts from folks 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.480 who paid to be verified over other stuff that you 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:02.040 actually want to see. Moderation has taken far more seriously 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.320 at blue Sky. If you block someone on blue Sky, 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:06.720 it is a real block. It's not the way it 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.080 is over on X. People who are blocked from you 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.520 on X can still see what you post, which is wild, 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.800 and it sounds like their reasons for leaving X are 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.520 pretty similar to my own reasons when I left X 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.240 a couple of years ago. If you still have an 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.680 account on X, I'm not throwing any shade at you. 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.240 I mean, lots of people have accounts for lots of reasons. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.880 But it just became clear that X is not the 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.800 right place for me, and I think for a lot 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.400 of other folks they're coming to a similar conclusion. Sticking 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.679 with Blue Sky, Jonathan Vanian of CNBC has an article 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:41.040 in which Blue Sky's CEO Jay Graber has explained that 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.720 Blue Sky is quote unquote billionaire proof, meaning that Blue 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.720 Sky couldn't be bought and repurposed the way Elon Musk 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.200 bought and transformed Twitter. Blue Sky's design is based on 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.600 an open source approach with federated service as I mentioned, 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.000 so even if someone were buying up blue Sky servers, 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.480 you could create a new one and port your server 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.520 over to that one and maintain all your previous connections 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.320 with those whom you follow and those who follow you. 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:09.920 And Blue Sky's approach appears to be resonating with lots 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.360 of people. The service has seen millions of people sign 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:14.520 up in the wake of the US elections. It now 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.520 has more than twenty one million registered users, but that 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:21.360 is still minuscule compared to a service like Twitter. Twitter 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:25.520 has reported having hundreds of millions of monthly users. So 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:29.040 let's keep everything in perspective. Okay, we've gotten more news 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:31.000 to get through. Before we get to that, let's take 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:44.760 a quick break. We're back. The US Consumer Financial Protection 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:48.959 Bureau or CFPB issued rules that will group large digital 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.440 payment providers under the Bureau's regulations. So this is only 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.520 going to apply to digital payment apps that handle more 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.560 than fifty million transactions a year. That covers heavy hitters 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.800 like Google Wallet and Apple Pay that kind of thing. Initially, 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:08.080 the CFPB was planning on a much more comprehensive list 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:12.160 that would include apps that handle five million transactions or 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.880 more per year, but it switched to this, so these 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.760 services are now going to be subjected to regulations the 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:19.960 same way that banks and credit unions are here in 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.640 the United States. The CFPB issued a statement saying that 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:26.360 the rules mean that consumers are going to receive more 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:31.080 protection as a result, including against actions like illegal account closures, 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:35.120 just meaning that if these digital payment systems do certain 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:40.360 acts that are questionable or illegal, the CFPB has the 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:45.320 authority to regulate that and to punish a company for 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:47.880 doing those kinds of things, and that this was just 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.840 to establish that they do have to follow these rules. 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.640 There's some rough news for gamers as we head into 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.920 the holidays. Nvidia announced that it is facing a potential 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.480 gaming GPU shortage this quarter. This is a into an 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:04.600 article by Hassam Nasir of Tom's Hardware. Nasir reports that 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:08.120 during the most recent Nvidia earnings call to shareholders that 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:12.760 chief financial Officer Collette Kress revealed a possible squeeze in 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.680 GPU supplies, one that would likely be addressed early next year, 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.400 and this could mean that finding graphics cards in the 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:22.760 short term the holiday season, particularly graphics cards that are 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:27.360 not exorbitantly expensive, might be a little tricky. Nasir writes 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:30.839 that one possible reason for this shortage could actually be 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.000 in Vidia's plan to launch a new series of cards, 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:37.640 a new generation of GPUs called Blackwell, and this will 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:41.160 happen in January of next year, So the reduction in 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:44.520 supply could partly be due to Nvidia wanting to set 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:46.720 the stage for a huge launch with a new generation 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:48.480 of cards next year. And I know it's a lot 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.960 easier to sell a bunch of new cards if there 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:55.000 aren't a bunch of previous generation cards on sale for 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.240 a lower price on the market already. Tom Warren of 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.000 The Verge has an article explaining how Microsoft appears to 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.640 be urging Windows ten owners to upgrade to a new 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.800 computer in order to migrate to Windows eleven and to 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.760 take advantage of copilot features. Warren reports that some Windows 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:14.320 ten users are encountering full screen pop ups that not 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.199 only point out that Microsoft will be ending support for 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.880 Windows ten in October next year, but also that it 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.160 might be time to get a new machine because as 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.360 Warren points out the messaging is suggesting, you know, well, 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.840 you need a new computer to run Windows eleven because 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.520 Windows eleven has system requirements that a lot of older 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.640 computers just don't meet. But Warren also points out the 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:39.640 messaging could be considered a little misleading because Microsoft will 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:43.560 continue to provide limited ongoing support for Windows ten. However, 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:45.680 you will have to pay thirty dollars a year to 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.800 get those extra updates. But yeah, I don't know how 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:50.920 I would feel if I were working on my computer 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.840 and I just got a message that completely took up 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.960 the entire screen that essentially is saying, Hey, I know 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.680 stuff's real expensive right now, and you probably have a 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:01.800 lot of other things on your mind, but you should 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.840 really get a new computer. That would really cheese me off. Obviously, 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:09.079 the actual messages don't say that. I am liberally paraphrasing 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:13.800 and interpreting here and switching over to Alfonso Maruccia of 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.840 techt Spot, let's talk about another article that details a 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.400 move by Microsoft that is rubbing people the wrong way. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:23.480 That article is called the Official Bing Wallpaper app does 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.800 some nasty malware like things to Windows. Yikes. So here's 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.600 the deal. The app is meant to let users swap 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.840 out their desktop wallpaper on their computers in a really 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:37.120 easy and seamless way. Only it seems to do stuff 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.840 that's not at all related to displaying wallpapers, you know, 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:45.720 stuff like decrypting cookies, including cookies saved in browsers other 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.320 than Microsoft Edge, like Chrome or Firefox. It also apparently 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:53.800 incorporates some sort of geolocation features and installs bing visual 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:56.640 search on the computer, as well as prompts users to 0:13:56.679 --> 0:14:00.360 make Edge their default browser and install some sneaky browser 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.960 extensions and competing browsers of Chrome and Firefox. So it 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:08.400 certainly sounds like the Being Wallpaper app is drastically overstepping 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.880 itself here. I'm reminded of Sony and DRM, where Sony 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:18.760 inadvertently created malware with its digital rights management approach. That 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.040 sounds kind of like what we're talking about here, But 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.720 I have no idea what the intent was, but it 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.680 definitely doesn't doesn't sound like it was a good move 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.880 on in my opinion. Maxwell Zef of tech Crunch reports 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.960 that Apple is apparently developing an updated version of Siri 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:38.280 that will lean heavily on the large language model approach 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:42.640 to AI. This means that Siri would ideally become more conversational. 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.800 Presumably this will make it possible to use Siri to 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.520 interact with apps in a deeper, more complex way, but 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.840 it is going to take some time. Zef says. The 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:54.400 plan is for Apple to release this new version of 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.440 Siri in the spring of twenty twenty six. In the 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.000 do As I Say and Not As I Do category, 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.800 our next story is about generative AI and why you 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.960 should not rely on it, especially for important stuff like say, 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:12.360 filing expert testimony in a lawsuit that is aimed to 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:17.200 take on generative AI. All right, so not really generative AI. 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.640 Deep fakes. It's related, but not the same thing. So 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.840 in Minnesota, there is a state law that makes it 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:27.040 illegal to knowingly disseminate deep fakes up to ninety days 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:30.440 before an election if the material in that deep fake 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:34.200 video was made with an intent to influence the election, 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.480 and if the subject of the deep fake video did 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:42.120 not consent to being in it. Christopher Coles has challenged 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.520 this law, filing a lawsuit that argues this violates the 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:49.080 First Amendment the Freedom of speech in the US Constitution. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:54.000 The state Minnesota has tapped the director of Stanford University's 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.080 Social Media Lab a guy named Jeff Hancock to provide 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.600 expert testimony regarding the dangers of deep fake technology. So 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.760 Hancock did, but apparently the testimony he submitted contains hints 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:08.320 that he himself relied on Generative AI in order to 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:11.600 write it, which is a big old whoopsie. Hancock's testimony 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:15.240 cites a study that doesn't appear to actually exist, which 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:19.200 suggests it is an AI hallucination. Now, some of y'all 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.120 might remember that several months ago I did an episode 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.800 of Tech Stuff that was quote unquote written by Generative AI, 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.400 and one of the things I found really upsetting when 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:31.800 I did this was that the AI invented experts in 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:35.960 order to present certain information as having academic validity, like 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.080 it was presenting a point of view, and then inventing 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:42.080 a person to have apparently given that point of view. 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:44.280 But those experts, as far as I can determine, were 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.040 not real people at all. So the same sort of 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.440 thing appears to have happened here in this case with 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.320 the expert testimony, and at the very least that is embarrassing. Now, 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.440 for the record, I do think deep fakes are incredibly 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.200 dangerous and that regulation is needed. I understand the First 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.440 Amendment argument, but if I can create a video that 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.399 appears to show you proclaiming beliefs that you absolutely do 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.320 not hold, or that shows you admitting to a crime 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.960 that you did not commit, or your calling for action 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.399 that you would never actually agree to, all of that 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.280 is a problem. Right, Like, if I create something that 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.360 makes it seem like you, like it's coming from you 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:26.119 and you are the ones saying these things, that's not really, 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:29.440 in my opinion, a First Amendment thing, because the First 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.600 Amendment covers my freedom of expression. But if I'm using 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.520 deep fakes, it appears that I am co opting your 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.240 freedom of expression to say whatever it is I want 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.840 you to say. At least that's my opinion. I'm not 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:43.800 an expert. I am not a legal expert by any means, 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:48.040 but yeah, I think the law actually has merit in 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:52.000 this case. But I guess that's a matter for the 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.800 courts to decide. And of course it kind of stinks. 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.920 I mean, it really stinks that the expert witness apparently 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.560 used generative AI to create their testimony, because it really 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:06.080 undermines their credibility and I think hurts the state's case, 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.000 and I don't want to see this go the other way. 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:13.040 One last story page, Gaully of Vice dot Com has 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.800 a piece titled AI Jesus is now taking confessions at 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:19.639 a church in Switzerland. That headline, I think is a 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:23.280 tad bit misleading. The AI Jesus is not meant to 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:26.320 take confession at least, it's not meant to perform the 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:32.800 sacrament of confession. So instead, this AI power generative tool 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:35.800 is meant to communicate in a way that's aligned with 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:39.560 at least depictions of Jesus. I don't know which depiction 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:42.320 of Jesus, like I don't know which interpretation of the 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.960 Bible was used to create this particular AI chatbot. But 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.440 church attendees can go into a confessional booth and have 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:55.200 a conversation with an AI chatbot that's meant to emulate Jesus, 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:58.080 and they receive answers to their questions that are meant 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:02.160 to engage their spiritual wary thoughts and questions and things 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:05.040 like that, And it sounds like lots of people find 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:08.679 the experience actually pretty enlightening, but others have dismissed it 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.520 as just a gimmick. It actually reminds me a lot 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.679 of early chat thoughts, because those were programmed to mimic 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:19.320 specific kinds of social interactions, like talking to a psychoanalyst, 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:23.080 for example. So this doesn't exactly surprise me. But again, 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.280 this isn't to say that there's some sort of robopowered, 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:29.359 coin operated confessional booth or something. We haven't gotten to 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:33.119 that point. We're not quite at Futurama levels of absurdity 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.399 just yet. But you know, give it a year, we'll 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.640 see where we end up. That's it for the tech 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.359 News for this week, the week ending November twenty second, 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:43.200 twenty twenty four. I hope all of you out there 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.760 are doing well, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:57.920 Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.920 visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:03.040 to your favorite shows.