WEBVTT - Tech News: Elon Musk Names His Twitter Successor 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.239 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.840 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.079 I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio and how the tech 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:24.200 are you? It is time for the tech News or Tuesday, 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:31.120 May sixteenth, twenty twenty three. And as the band Stained 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:35.159 would say, it's been a while since we've had an 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:39.240 Elon Musk heavy episode of tech news, but today we're 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:42.199 going to make up for that. So let strap in. 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:47.480 Last week on Thursday afternoon, after I had already published 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.640 my news episode for the day, which can I just 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:54.639 say rude, Elon Musk tweeted out that he had selected 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.720 a new CEO for Twitter. This had been something Musk 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.760 had been promising us for a while while. He said 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:03.960 that he would get a CEO to come on board 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.280 and replace him, adding that he would do so once 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.200 Twitter was kind of in a stable place. Now, I'm 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.880 not sure that Twitter is actually anywhere close to being stable, 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.480 considering the chaos that seems to unfold every week. But 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:21.600 forget that. We now know that Linda Yakarino has been 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:27.440 named the next CEO of Twitter. She formerly headed advertising 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.640 over at INBC Universal, which I mean, that's a heck 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:33.800 of a job. I mean, NBC Universal is a truly 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.119 enormous company, and of course it's part of an even 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:41.560 bigger company called Comcast, and so she definitely knows how 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.800 advertising works like this, is an expert in that field. 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.920 So could her leadership help repair the relationships between Twitter 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:53.320 and advertisers. I think she's got a decent chance now. 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:55.960 Whether she can convince the people who have already jumped 0:01:56.040 --> 0:02:00.000 ship off of Twitter to come back remains to be seen. 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.920 So in other words, there may not be as many 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.560 folks to advertise too, even if she's able to convince 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.359 them to return to Twitter. Musk is also not leaving 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.320 Twitter entirely. Of course, he will stay on both as 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:18.480 the chief technology officer and as the executive chairman. Now, 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:20.480 I'll say this, I hope she can lead the company 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:24.560 toward true stability and success and create a place where 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:29.960 people aren't constantly bombarded by hate speech and misinformation and scams. 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.040 That would be nice. It's a long shot, because it's 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.520 I mean, I don't, honestly don't. I don't know what 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.519 you do to fix Twitter. At this point, it was 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:41.440 already not in the best of shape. Before Elon Musk 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.760 took over, and I don't see how you could argue 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:48.840 it's gotten any better since then. So yeah, it's a 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:51.600 huge not to untangle. But maybe she can do it. 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.200 We'll have to find out. Meanwhile, even though Elon Musk 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:59.200 is the current CEO and executive chairman of Twitter, he 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:03.600 still has to submit tweets about his other company, Tesla, 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:07.800 to a lawyer before he posts them. Now does he 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:12.720 do this? I don't know. Twitter has never identified this 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.320 lawyer that he's supposed to do this with, but you 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.919 know he's supposed to. The Verge reported on this because 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:24.720 Musk challenged this consent decree he had agreed to back 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.359 in twenty eighteen. He had challenged it in a recent 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.280 appeals case, and the federal court rejected his appeal. So 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:34.400 it all stems from a settlement Musk agreed to way 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.880 back in twenty eighteen. That's when the US Securities and 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:43.000 Exchange Commission, or SEC, accused Musk of making quote a 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:47.040 series of false and misleading statements regarding taking Tesla, a 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:52.480 publicly traded company private end quote. Essentially, the SEC was 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:56.240 saying that Musk wasn't following proper procedure if in fact 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.240 it was his intention to take Tesla private, and further, 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.400 whether he won to do it or not, it amounted 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:07.920 to market manipulation. Anyway, Musk settled with the SEC, and 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.119 as a concession, he agreed to this sort of babysitter 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.120 clause where he has to show his tweets to a 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:18.040 lawyer before he actually posts them. Musk wanted that thrown out. 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.839 I'm sure it's humiliating to be the person who bought 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.440 Twitter and still have a legal requirement to submit tweets 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:29.239 for review. Musk's argument was that the SEC was essentially 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.880 using this consent decree to infringe upon Musk's free speech, 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.919 and we all know what a believer Musk is in 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:42.520 free speech, at least for himself. Anyway, the Court said no, 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.720 dice Elon, and pointed out that the SEC has investigated 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:51.159 a grand total of three of Elon Musk's tweets over 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.479 the years, and that includes the tweet that actually started 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:56.960 off the whole mess in the first place, so only 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:01.760 two since then, and of course Elon hid posted many 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:06.240 many times more than just three over the last five years. Personally, 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.360 I think Musk should just consider it a fair trade 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:12.599 because obviously, I mean, like an earlier investor lawsuit sought 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.000 billions of dollars in damages against Elon Musk. They were 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:20.040 arguing that Musk's tweets ended up costing investors enormous amounts 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.400 of money, but a jury found that Musk was not 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.960 liable for those losses, so he didn't have to pay 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:29.800 out the billions. He's just gonna have to mine this babysitter. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.080 And to be honest, I'm very skeptical that he actually 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:36.800 goes through it. He just I don't know. I guess 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:40.640 he just wants the whole thing lifted. And you know, 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.600 I think it's pretty fair to say that Elon Musk's 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.360 mo for a long time has been wishing to avoid 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.640 consequences of his own actions. I don't think that's unfair 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.880 to say. Over at Tesla, Elon Musk has shown that 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.599 he wants to be more involved with the company, which 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.960 is something that shareholders have been asking for for age 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.920 ever since he first announced that he wanted to buy Twitter. Now, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:07.240 more specifically, Elon Musk wants to be more involved if 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.760 anyone in the company wants to hire anyone else, Musk 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.960 sent out a memo throughout Tesla, saying that all new 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:18.719 higher requests have to come to him or his personal approval. 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.760 Doesn't matter who the person is or what position is 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.920 being filled, it has to go to Musk first. Even 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.440 in the case of contractors, it has to come to 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.119 him for approval. He instructed managers to send him hiring 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.880 requests on a weekly basis. However, he also followed this 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.560 up by saying that people should quote unquote think carefully 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.560 before submitting a request. Now, to me, this is me 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.760 inferring from that statement that seems to be kind of 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.760 an intimidation tactic, Like it's meant to discourage people from 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.320 making requests in the first place, because they need to 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:57.480 think carefully before they ask, And it just seems like 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.960 it's Musk trying to head that off and avoid having 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.960 to hire more people. Later today, Musk is actually going 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.920 to hold an earnings call with shareholders, so I imagine 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:08.920 we'll have a lot more to say about his increased 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:11.720 involvement with the company later this week when we do 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:15.080 another news episode on Thursday. One thing that could be 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:19.120 discussed on that call, if shareholders get their wish, is 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:23.280 a discussion about succession planning. So if you're not familiar 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:26.200 with succession, and I'm not talking about the television series. 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:29.200 It's when a current leader outlines their plan regarding who 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.680 should take the top spot after they leave the company. 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:35.720 Investors will soon vote on whether or not to compel 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:40.720 Tesla to publish a key person risk report. The concern 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.760 is that Tesla may be too tightly bound to the 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.000 personality of Elon Musk, which means if something were to 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:52.800 happen to Musk, whether it's something catastrophic or maybe Musk 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:57.120 ends up getting distracted wanting to build his AI company 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:00.680 and he runs off from Tesla, that the company could 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.560 end up being directionless and investors would lose out on 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.280 a lot of money, and that the company could be 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:11.320 in danger in the wake of Musk's absence. I think 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.640 the closest similar example I can think of right now 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.400 is how investors were thinking about Steve Jobs and Apple 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.880 like the two were synonymous. Now, Jobs actually did the 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.840 proper steps to plan for his successor, but it didn't 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.920 stop folks from worrying that the company Apple could fall 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:34.000 apart after Steve Jobs's death. Obviously that didn't happen, So 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:38.120 Tesla's shareholders may force the company to do a thorough 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:41.240 report then not only examines how important Musk is to 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.480 the company, but also identify key personnel who could potentially 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:46.920 take on the role of CEO in the future. The 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.520 shareholders will also vote on whether or not to approve 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:54.800 certain board member nominees, some of which are contentious. And 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.200 like I said, we'll circle back to this on Thursday 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:00.360 to talk about what unfolded during the actual earnings call 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:04.880 if there are any significant updates. Now it's time to 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:08.720 shift to AI. And I know I cover AI a lot, 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.760 but it keeps creeping into the tech news and so 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:16.680 we're gonna talk a bit about AI today. Open AI's 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:20.239 CEO Sam Altman is set to appear before a congressional 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.920 panel here in the United States. Altman has previously appeared 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:27.560 to be fairly straightforward in his assessment of AI. He's 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.560 even suggested that folks were overplaying the capabilities of his 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:35.480 own company's chat pot Chat GPT. Prior to his meeting today, 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:39.400 Altman submitted written testimony to the panel and suggested a 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:43.600 framework for a licensing procedure for AI companies. So essentially, 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:46.760 Altman's proposal is to create a system where companies that 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:50.120 want to develop certain types of AI tools, will have 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:54.280 to procure a license and follow established safety standards. Of course, 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.560 Congress would have to establish those standards first and InterMine 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.079 what sort of parameters AI I should fall into and 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:05.800 what would constitute an unsafe version of AI. Altman also 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:10.559 reportedly use the phrase regulation of AI is essential. This 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.640 is according to Reuters, which you know, again that might 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.640 come as a surprise considering he's the CEO of arguably 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:21.600 the most famous AI company right now. Typically, business owners 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.480 aren't really gung hole and calling out for regulation of 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:28.600 their own industry, and when they are, sometimes it turns 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:32.480 up that they were being, you know, perhaps less than 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:37.400 forthright about it. See also Sam Bankman freed of FTX fame. 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:43.000 Some critics worry that regulation could discourage startups and potentially 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:47.960 cause smaller AI companies to sort of fade away and 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:52.160 just leave AI to the larger established companies. That is possible, 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.199 but then you also have to admit these larger companies 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:59.000 are progressing at such a rapid pace, they're investing billions 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:01.959 of dollars in re search and development, that there does 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:03.800 seem to be a need for some sort of checks 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:05.600 and balances to be put in place in order to 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:09.400 head off problems before they get too severe. Okay, We've 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:12.600 got more stories, including more AI stories to go over, 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:25.520 but first let's take a quick break. Okay, we got 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:29.880 some more AI stories to cover. The World Health Organization 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:35.000 or who Who? By the way, A side note if 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.840 you've ever seen the film Clue, it's a comedy mystery 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:43.320 film that I absolutely adore. It's very, very silly and 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.920 I love it. One of the characters there mentions that 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:51.520 he works for the United Nations Organization, which would be no, 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:55.800 and then asked about him being a politician, he says, no, 0:11:55.880 --> 0:12:00.640 he works for the World Health Organization. Who's joke there 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.040 That never gets actually used in the in the film, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.920 but it means he works for you know who. Okay, 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:12.160 I'm sorry, I got distracted anyway. The World Health Organization, 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.520 which is a real thing, issued a statement cautioning the 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:19.520 medical field about the use of AI and cited concerns 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:25.600 that AI can potentially misinform patients and or healthcare providers. Also, 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:30.560 as we have seen in other areas, AI can contain bias, 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:35.160 and bias can ultimately cause harm to people, particularly people 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:41.400 in specific populations. Right like with facial recognition technologies. We've 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:46.280 seen AI cause disproportionate harm to people of color Overall. 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:51.920 The Who said that AI stands to provide great benefit 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.040 in the field of healthcare, like there are obvious applications 0:12:56.040 --> 0:13:00.760 where it could be of huge help. However, we have 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.800 to address issues like bias and misinformation, as well as 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.240 the potential for bad actors to use AI to create 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.680 outright disinformation in an attempt to harm I think the 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:16.200 takeaway here is that WHO is suggesting it might be 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:18.600 a little too early for the healthcare sector to just 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:23.000 fully embrace AI. I think that is fair to say. Now, 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.160 we also have to admit AI already plays a huge 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:30.120 part in the world of healthcare, because AI is more 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:35.760 than just chatbots and large language models. AI includes lots 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:37.960 of stuff, and a lot of that is already being 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.640 used regularly in healthcare. That doesn't appear to be what 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:46.680 the WHO is specifically referencing here. My interpretation is that 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:51.559 they're talking more about the generative chatbots style AIS that 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.559 have been taking over the news. The New York Times 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:58.600 reported that some AI researchers at Microsoft think that the 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:02.320 AI system there work looking on could be showing the 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:08.240 faintest signs of approaching artificial general intelligence or AGI. They 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:13.199 called it sparks of AGI. That would mean that we're 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.160 talking about machines that appear at least to be able 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:18.600 to reason in a way that is similar to how 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:22.720 we humans reason. The science fiction definition of AI has 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:27.000 long been one of general intelligence, often passing into the 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:32.960 category of superhuman intelligence. The article, which is titled Microsoft 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.680 says new AI shows signs of human reasoning, and it 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:41.040 describes an experiment in which researchers asked this sort of 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:45.640 AI chatbot to solve a bit of a puzzle. They said, 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:49.200 how can you create a stack out of this weird 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:53.560 collection of objects that would result in a stable structure, 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:58.280 And the objects included nine eggs, a laptop, a book, 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:02.640 a bottle, and an So the AI chatbot suggested using 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.200 the book as the base and then set the eggs 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.960 on top of the book in a three x three grid, 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.960 and then gently laying the laptop on this layer of eggs, 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:15.960 and then putting the remaining items on top of the 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:21.480 laptop's surface. The researchers concluded that the system was at 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.440 least appearing to use some real world knowledge, such as 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.960 that eggs are delicate, and therefore they would need to 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.760 be in a arrangement like a grid in order to 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.760 have enough support to avoid cracking, and that the laptop's 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.440 upper surface would be flat so it would be able 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.840 to support the bottle and then the nail. Earlier versions 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:46.000 of the AI system gave more nonsensical answers, so it 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.520 was an argument that this newest version of the AI 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:54.360 model was sophisticated enough that it could actually reason out 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:58.400 an answer that would potentially work. So could that mean 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:03.560 we're now approaching general intelligence? Maybe? Maybe not. While the 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:08.040 researchers appear convinced that these are some early signs of 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:12.640 limited but still general intelligence, other experts argue that the 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.320 results just give the appearance of intelligence, and that this 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:21.080 is another case where because of the perspective someone takes, 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.680 you see a particular outcome. I talked about this recently 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.920 in another episode. If you pull an Obi one Kenobi, 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:30.920 then you look at things from quote unquote a certain 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:35.640 point of view, then maybe you'll see signs of general intelligence. 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:37.840 But if you look at it from a different point 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:41.440 of view, maybe those signs of general intelligence just vanish, 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.320 and it turns out that the thing you thought was 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:48.960 real was just an illusion? So is that what's going on? 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:53.600 I honestly don't know. I will say that there are 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.360 some critics who have a pretty strong point to make, 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.480 which is that Microsoft is a company that has made 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.480 massive investments in AI to the tune of more than 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:07.399 ten billion dollars, So it has a vested interest in 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.760 AI becoming a huge success, right Like, They've poured a 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:16.320 lot of money into this, so they have a desire 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.320 for this to come out the other side as a 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:24.000 huge revenue generator. So it's possible that such a company could, 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:28.080 as Professor Martin Sapp of Carnegie Mellon University has said 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:32.800 to be quote co opting the research paper format into 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:37.480 pr pitches in the quote, in other words, trying to 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:43.600 manufacture support to make a tool seem more sophisticated than 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.119 it potentially is. I don't know the truth of the matter. 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:53.320 If I'm being honest, I'm still skeptical about machines capable 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:58.720 of making the leap to general intelligence. However, that's based 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.000 largely upon the fact that we don't fully understand general 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:06.960 intelligence within humans, let alone in machines. But maybe that 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:11.520 isn't necessary. Maybe we will achieve general intelligence with machines 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:14.520 without having a full appreciation of how it works in humans. 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:19.560 That's possible, I guess, So I just I mean, I 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.440 keep going on to I don't know, but I do 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:26.880 remain somewhat skeptical. Apple has announced a host of new 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:32.000 accessibility features coming to various Apple devices, both on iOS 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:36.760 and mac os, and that's great. So accessibility is getting 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:41.439 more attention and support these days, and it's been long overdue. 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:45.280 I follow a lot of people who work in improving 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:50.439 accessibility in technology, particularly in things like video games, where 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.399 there are now settings and a lot of video games 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.639 that are meant to allow people who might have limitations 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.760 in some way or another still be able to enjoy that. 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.080 I think that's great. I think being able to increase 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.159 the spectrum of folks who get to experience stuff is fantastic. 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.400 I think everyone's a winner when that happens, and seeing 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:17.720 companies put attention toward accessibility is one of the big 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:22.919 steps toward addressing gaps that can otherwise exist between different 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.639 populations when it comes to their ability to use tech. 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:31.120 So I love accessibility technology in general, but the specific 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:33.840 feature I wanted to talk about that Apple is introducing 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:38.880 is called personal voice. So with personal Voice, users can 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:44.680 train their device to sound just like they sound. Then 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.919 the Apple device can speak in a synthesized version of 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:52.520 the user's own voice. For people who have conditions that 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:56.480 affect their ability to communicate, potentially it might mean that 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:59.359 they're facing a future where they will no longer be 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.600 able to speak at some point. Well, this kind of 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.720 feature is huge for them. Rather than them having to 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:12.040 rely upon an impersonal, generic synthetic voice to speak when 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:14.800 they cannot, the voice that will come out of their 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:19.399 devices will be their own. I think that's incredible. I 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:24.360 think it's a really great use of the synthetic voice technology. 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.119 We have talked about how synthesized voices can cause disruption 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.840 and bad ways, right, how it can impersonate people in 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:37.280 the arts where those people suddenly feel like their identity 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.240 has been stripped from them and put to use in 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:43.280 something that they had no involvement with. That's bad, right, 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:45.960 Or people like me, I would be out of a 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:49.760 job if iHeart decided, you know what, We're just going 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:56.520 to train of synthesizer on Jonathan's voice because he's got 0:20:57.160 --> 0:21:01.439 thousands of hours of content out there. Well, we're going 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:04.520 to train it on his voice. We're gonna get a 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:09.399 chat GPT style bought to write episodes of tech stuff 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:12.680 as if it were Jonathan. Have the voice that sounds 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:15.359 like Jonathan, deliver it, and then we don't have to hire, 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.240 you know, we don't have to pay Jonathan anymore. He 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:21.119 could just he could just be cut free. It's a 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.679 scary thought, like I get it, like, and it's potentially 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:28.359 a possible thing, But you know, I U still argue 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:36.280 that humans have their own, actual, legitimate contributions to various activities, 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:41.240 including things like creating episodes. So yeah, it's nice to 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:45.760 see a version of voice synthesis that isn't potentially scary 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:49.439 or bad, but rather an application that can protect a 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:56.240 person's agency and personality and independence. I think that is fantastic. 0:21:56.280 --> 0:22:00.000 So good on you Apple for developing those particular excess 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:03.320 stability features. There are other ones that Apple also announced 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:07.479 which are equally great. I was calling this one out 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:11.520 specifically because it kind of has that AI connection with 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:17.920 the voice synthesis model that is worked into this particular tool. Okay, 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:20.040 we're going to take another quick break. When we come back, 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:22.919 we will wrap up with a few more big stories. 0:22:33.040 --> 0:22:36.399 So we're back, and I saw on CNN that a 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:40.960 former byte Dance employee has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:45.960 against byte Dance. That employee, Yin Tall You says that 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:50.440 he formerly served as head of engineering for US operations. 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:53.800 Now you might recall that byte Dance is the parent 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:58.679 company of the popular video social platform TikTok, and you 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:01.960 probably also know that in the United States as well 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:04.679 as many other parts of the world, there's a growing 0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:08.640 concern that TikTok might serve as a kind of data 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:13.840 siphon and shoot that data to the Chinese Communist Party. 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:17.880 Because if you aren't aware Bye Dance being a company 0:23:17.920 --> 0:23:22.199 that's centered in China, that means that that by law, 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:28.159 the company is supposed to aid the Chinese Communist Party 0:23:28.720 --> 0:23:33.040 when it comes to things like gathering information about, you know, 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:36.239 enemies of China and that sort of thing. They are 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:39.639 supposed to be obligated to share that kind of information, 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:42.800 and a lot of companies in China have to reserve 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:47.480 a spot for an official from the Chinese Communist Party 0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:52.160 to essentially kind of sit on the board of the company. 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:56.800 So You says, the fears of all these different nations 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:02.399 that perhaps bye Dance is gathering information using its platforms 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:04.960 and then sending it on to the Chinese Communist Party. 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:08.000 He says that those fears are totally justified. He says 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:12.320 that Chinese officials have full access to get data that 0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:16.600 was gathered through byte Dance applications, including presumably TikTok, and 0:24:16.600 --> 0:24:19.560 that they had full backdoor access to data even that 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:24.440 data saved on US servers. Now ByteDance disputes this. They 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:27.400 say that this is just not true. They point out 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:30.359 that you worked for the company for less than a 0:24:30.480 --> 0:24:34.879 year before his employment was terminated, that it ended in 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:38.720 twenty eighteen. You, by the way, says that byte Edance's 0:24:39.359 --> 0:24:43.800 description of his time of employment is not true. I'm 0:24:43.920 --> 0:24:48.280 sure that use accusations are confirming a lot of fears 0:24:48.880 --> 0:24:52.800 that are held in various political circles. But security experts 0:24:53.080 --> 0:24:56.880 say that there really hasn't been any evidence that Chinese 0:24:56.880 --> 0:25:01.800 officials were actually accessing TikTok data in the United States. 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:05.080 So this very well could be a situation where a 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:09.679 former employee is leveraging growing suspicion in order to support 0:25:09.760 --> 0:25:14.320 their own claims, or it's possible that as accusations are 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:18.560 all true, I honestly don't know the answer. I will, however, 0:25:18.640 --> 0:25:23.960 point out again that even if TikTok was actively being 0:25:24.040 --> 0:25:28.439 used by China to spy on Americans, the fact is 0:25:28.960 --> 0:25:31.879 you can buy and sell data from pretty much every 0:25:31.960 --> 0:25:35.400 online platform, which means you don't have to rely on 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:39.199 a single app to be like your way to gaze 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:43.280 into an enemy's territory. That's not necessary. You don't need 0:25:43.320 --> 0:25:45.399 to do that because you can just buy the data 0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:50.000 online from all sorts of different data brokers. Unless there 0:25:50.040 --> 0:25:53.159 are really strict controls about that sort of thing, the 0:25:53.200 --> 0:25:57.840 information is out there, So that's something we should really 0:25:57.880 --> 0:25:59.879 think about, is that. You know, if you were to 0:25:59.880 --> 0:26:05.199 eat even shut down TikTok, that's one potential stream of 0:26:05.240 --> 0:26:12.320 information that could potentially go to an adversary, but there's 0:26:12.359 --> 0:26:15.280 still all the other ones. It's like putting your finger 0:26:15.960 --> 0:26:18.960 in a hole in a dam and then like fifteen 0:26:19.000 --> 0:26:22.520 feet down from you, there's a massive breach that's allowing 0:26:23.400 --> 0:26:26.200 millions of gallons of water to pass through what You're 0:26:26.200 --> 0:26:29.680 not really doing anything at that point. But we've gone 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:32.280 over this before, so we'll move on. Now. Here's a 0:26:32.359 --> 0:26:37.520 quick update on the Microsoft Slash Activision Blizzard deal. If 0:26:37.560 --> 0:26:41.080