🖥️ Telegram’s Dark Side, School Tech Wars & Google on Trial
Good morning. It’s Monday, September 09. Today we are covering:
How Telegram Became a Playground for Criminals, Extremists and Terrorists
The Battle to Ban Screens From School Now Includes Chromebooks and Tablets
US v. Google redux: all the news from the ad tech trial
'If journalism is going up in smoke, I might as well get high off the fumes': confessions of a chatbot helper
How Local Governments Got Hooked on One Company's Janky Software
Let’s dive in
How Telegram Became a Playground for Criminals, Extremists and Terrorists
By Paul Mozur via The New York Times
Telegram has become a hub for criminal activity, including the sale of drugs, weapons, and the coordination of extremist groups like Hamas and white nationalists.
The platform's founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France for complicity in crimes conducted on Telegram, though he claims the app is improving its moderation and removing millions of harmful posts daily.
Apple and Google have pressured Telegram to restrict harmful content, but Telegram's moderation efforts remain minimal compared to other major platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
𝕏: In light of Telegram founder Pavel Durov's arrest in Paris and subsequent debate about free speech and accountability for social media sites, it's worth reading this analysis of Telegram content by the @nytimes - Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08)
The Battle to Ban Screens From School Now Includes Chromebooks and Tablets
By Julie Jargon via Wall Street Journal
Parents concerned about excessive screen time in schools are now pushing to ban Chromebooks and tablets, arguing that these devices cause more distraction than learning.
Following the success of cellphone bans in major school districts like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, some parents want schools to return to more traditional methods like pencil and paper.
The shift to increased classroom tech during the Covid-19 pandemic has made opting out of screens difficult for parents, despite growing concerns over its impact on students.
𝕏: I’m team pencil-and-paper. @WSJ: After working to ban phones in the classroom, parents are now seeking a return to pencil and paper - Julia Pollak (@juliaonjobs)
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US v. Google redux: all the news from the ad tech trial
By Lauren Feiner via The Verge
Google is facing a new antitrust trial brought by the Department of Justice over allegations of monopolizing the advertising technology market, impacting publishers and advertisers.
This trial follows a recent ruling in favor of the DOJ in a separate case, where Google was found to have illegally monopolized the online search market.
The DOJ argues that Google has unfairly dominated ad tech tools, while Google claims its products are efficient and face significant competition.
By Jack Apollo George via The Guardian
AI annotators, including journalists and academics, are hired to train large language models like ChatGPT by providing high-quality, human-written data to improve the AI's output.
The reliance on human annotators highlights a paradox where writers are paid to train AI models that could eventually automate their jobs, creating a cycle of dependency between humans and machines.
Despite AI advancements, models can't sustain themselves by learning from their own output due to "model collapse", which degrades their ability to understand rare and diverse data points.
𝕏: "humans in the loop" has quickly moved from an assurance that humans will always play a key role in thinking/writing to euphemism for "humans are required to help AI companies make money" (this, from Guardian piece on writers who are being paid to improve LLMs, link below) - Jane Rosenzweig (@RosenzweigJane)
How Local Governments Got Hooked on One Company's Janky Software
By Austin Carr via Bloomberg
North Carolina's $100 million Odyssey software, designed to streamline court operations, has been plagued by 573 defects, leading to issues like wrongful arrests and erroneous court summons.
Users have experienced significant frustration with the system, including the "wheel of death" while loading cases, causing delays and inefficiencies in court proceedings.
Prior to Odyssey, counties relied on a paper-based system, and the sudden shift to cloud-based record keeping has caused concerns, especially among less tech-savvy legal professionals.
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