No, Scientists Did Not Say Light Drinking During Pregnancy Was Okay http://ift.tt/2wgfNUu
“I don’t know” and “yes” are very different things. “I don’t know if my child is allergic to peanuts” does not mean, “yes, I should feed my child peanuts.” “I don’t know if this berry is poisonous” does not mean, “yes, I should eat this berry.” And “I don’t know if light drinking will harm my pregnancy” does not mean, “I should drink alcohol while I’m pregnant.” New research published recently in BMJ Open set off a flurry of coverage this past week with various news outlets confused about what to do with the findings. That study from a team of British scientists in the United Kingdom scraped through the scienceverse looking for papers on the effects of just light or moderate drinking on pregnancy outcomes. Its conclusion was, almost literally, we don’t know: Advertisement “Evidence of the effects of drinking ≤32 g/week in pregnancy is sparse.” (32 g of wine is considerably less than a glass of wine—between one-third and one-fifth depending on the pour.) But that didn’t stop some outlets from proclaiming that, in fact, drinking a little bit during pregnancy is fine. This is shit advice. The New York Post and The Independent both wrote that it “does not harm” the unborn baby, and Refinery29 “reminded” us that it’s apparently fine. In fact, the BMJ Open paper explicitly says not to do that: “Describing the paucity of current research and explaining that ‘absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’, appears warranted.” In this case, the researchers went hunting for papers and were surprised by just how few studies have tried to gauge the effect of low alcohol levels on the outcomes of pregnancy. They found only 24, but were unable to collect enough data to make any real conclusions. Ultimately, they’re hoping to find if there is some safe limit for drinking during pregnancy. After all, heavy drinking during pregnancy can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome, birth defects, and neurological problems. And this new paper still finds evidence that the fetuses of pregnant mothers who drank some alcohol were more likely to be small for their age. Advertisement This science paper was not meant for you—it was a call to researchers that this is something that needs further studying. If you’d like to drink lightly during your pregnancy, there’s obviously nothing stopping you. But doctors shouldn’t be recommending that you do. Instead, they should be telling you that they don’t know whether or not it will be good for the baby. [BMJ Open] Digital Trends via Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com September 15, 2017 at 01:54PM
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The AIY Voice Kit Lets You Build a Google Home for Only $35 http://ift.tt/2ju4fa9 Google Home is one of the better smart home speakers you can buy. Along with Amazon's Echo, Home will duke it out with Apple's upcoming HomePod later this year. But, even at $130, Google Home is out of reach of many who might want to try it out. Now, the electronics retailer Micro Center is selling Google's officially-sanctioned AIY Voice kit, a $35 kit that includes all the parts you need to build your own smart-talkin' speaker on the cheap. While this bundle of wires and cardboard won't magically become a squawk box on its own, all you have to provide are your hands, a microSD card, and a screwdriver. Thankfully, unlike so many of these hobbyist kits, there's no soldering required. Google says assembly should take around 90 minutes. Originally, this kit appeared as a part of an issue of the official Raspberry Pi Magazine, MagPi. Since it was such a huge success, Google is releasing it to everyone who wasn't able to get it when it was first released. Believe me; issue 57, the one with the AIY kit, flew off shelves across the globe, and I was unable to find one anywhere either in person or online. Of course, since this is based on a Raspberry Pi board which runs open-source software, you also have a shot at using this kit with Amazon's Alexa assistant. There are plenty of tutorials outlining how the Alexa APIs can be used with just about any device. I can already tell that the twin microphone array included with the AIY voice kit seems like an awesome addition to any voice-powered project. Sure, the cardboard box you create won't be a seamless experience like a store-bought device. But once you buy this kit, you own this hardware and can use it however you want. Even Google is encouraging adventurous makers to remix their kits in unique ways. After all, that's the true maker way of doing things. Digital Trends via Feed: All Latest http://ift.tt/2uc60ci September 15, 2017 at 01:36PM Psychologists Think Google Probably Shouldn't Be Your Therapist http://ift.tt/2fplchv A few weeks ago, Google announced that it had teamed up with a mental health advocacy group to take a stab at addressing the American epidemic of depression. People who type the words “clinical depression” into Google search via mobile in the US are now presented automatically with a link to a screening questionnaire to assess their depression. The assertion that Google has the answer to everything just got taken to a whole new level. Google is not the only company hoping there may be some digital solutions to the problems of mental health. Apple recently posted a job application for programmers with psychology and counseling backgrounds in order to turn Siri into a better therapist. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first mobile app for treating substance abuse—an app from Pear Therapeutics originally designed to be prescribed by a physician. The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline inked a deal to create a “digitally guided therapy,” one of many such ventures in the growing “digital therapeutics” space hoping to move health apps beyond wellness trends. Advertisement It makes sense. Our phones have become intimate companions of sorts. As Apple noted in its job posting: “People talk to Siri about all kinds of things, including when they’re having a stressful day or have something serious on their mind. They turn to Siri in emergencies or when they want guidance on living a healthier life.” A small contingent of experts, though, is arguing that asking Google to diagnose depression might be taking things too far. In a paper published in the journal BMJ this week, University of York psychologist Simon Gilbody said the chance of receiving a “false positive” on Google’s depression questionnaire was high and the test “may in fact do harm.” Advertisement The patient health questionnaire offered by Google is a screening tool used by doctors to test a patient’s level of depression. For those with high scores, Google will offer links to materials from the National Alliance on Mental Illness and telephone helplines. The end goal is to drive higher percentages of people to seek treatment for depression. Gilbody raised concerns about inadequate treatment resources that Google offers its users. Advertisement “Google’s initiative has been reported positively and uncritically despite bypassing the usual checks and balances that exist for good reason. It is unlikely that their initiative will improve population health and may in fact do harm,” he wrote. John Grohol, a psychologist who runs the website PsychCentral, also said the move raises red flags, especially when it comes to questions of user privacy. “Google is a technology and marketing company that collects people’s data,” he told Gizmodo. “It’s not really clear about how they would use this information. I wouldn’t want sensitive information like mental health to be in the hands of a marketing company.” Advertisement Indeed, in its privacy policy, Google notes that while your individualized data will never link you to your answers or results without your consent, it also says that anonymized data “may be used in aggregate to improve your experience.” In other words, Google could use information about your mental health to serve you ads, among other things. While Google, Siri or some other app will not replace the need of a visit to a doctor’s office any time soon, these new developments offer a step towards technology products that do a better job of recognizing the complexity of human emotional needs. This is a big improvement. And just maybe, clinical psychiatrist Ken Duckworth wrote in BMJ in defense of Google, such initiatives can raise awareness and help more people seek treatment. Just don’t expect Google to hand you a tissue. Advertisement Digital Trends via Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com September 15, 2017 at 01:36PM Laurene Powell Jobs and Ron Conway will talk about investing in Americas youth at Disrupt SF9/15/2017
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Laurene Powell Jobs and Ron Conway will talk about investing in America’s youth at Disrupt SF http://ift.tt/2xEoyb1 The tech community and students need each other to thrive and compete and fuel innovation in this country. That’s why it is more important than ever to invest in America’s youth, and that starts with education and building opportunities for students and young grads across the U.S. At Disrupt SF, we’re hosting a conversation with one of the country’s most engaged entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Laurene Powell Jobs, to learn how the tech community can support and tap into the tremendous talent of students throughout America. She’s sitting down with legendary angel investor Ron Conway for a fireside chat before TechCrunch announces the winner of Startup Battlefield. Powell Jobs is the founder of Emerson Collective, advocating for policies concerning education and immigration reform, social justice and environmental conservation. She is also cofounder of College Track, a non-profit that empowers students from underserved communities to graduate from college. The tech industry impacts social progress and we’re thrilled to have Powell Jobs and Conway join us to share their perspectives. In addition to focusing on investment in education, and ensuring career opportunities for students and young grads are evenly distributed throughout our country, we’ll also talk with Powell Jobs about the importance of passing the Dream Act and how the tech community can get involved to affect change. Social activism is a theme woven throughout Disrupt SF. When planning this summit we strived to showcase individuals and companies that share this mission. Lisa Jackson is Apple’s VP of Environment, policy and social initiatives and under her leadership, Apple set a goal for itself, promising to only use renewable materials in its products in order to protect the environment. Uber’s new chief brand officer Bozoma Saint John will sit down to talk about how to create a workplace that’s representative to all types of people. The show starts on Monday and general admission tickets are still available. We hope to see you there. Digital Trends via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com September 15, 2017 at 01:27PM
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Why One Portland Comic Con Has Banned All Nazi Costumes http://ift.tt/2xEYvAF Rose City Comic Con has banned all cosplay that features Nazi symbols or designs, including old-school Hydra and Red Skull costumes. This comes after groups in Nazi-esque gear were spotted at the con, in what Rose City Comic Con’s founder has indicated is a growing trend. “I would say that I’ve seen more people dressed up as some form of Nazi this year at conventions around the country than I’ve ever seen before,” founder and convention director Ron Brister told us. Advertisement The con issued a statement Thursday announcing they were officially changing their costume policy on “hateful symbols” to specifically include Nazi paraphernalia, even when the costume is designed to be ironic or issue a political statement. It also names as banned “Old School Hydra and Red Skull” costumes as the original comic book incarnations of both were strongly associated with Nazis. The policy does not include modern Hydra cosplay, like from Secret Empire, so long as it doesn’t feature overt Nazi symbolism. The new policy reads, as reported by Bleeding Cool:
According to Brister, there were about three or four groups at the convention who were sporting Nazi regalia. This included people dressing up in older, distinctly Nazi-style Hydra costumes claiming they were meeting a Red Skull cosplayer, as well as those who dress up as Hello Kitty in the uniform of an SS officer. The Hello Kitty SS cosplay, which has been around for years, is presented as satire, but Brister said it’s still in poor taste. Advertisement “I don’t think as a parent that’s something we should have to explain to our kids as something that is funny,” Brister said. As previously mentioned, Brister has noticed an uptick in Nazi cosplay. It could be because there are more shows with Nazi characters, like Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle. It could be the result of some cosplayers sharing their actual political views, wanting to be shocking or controversial, or reflecting online troll culture, which sometimes uses Nazi imagery. It’s also possible that the amount hasn’t actually changed much, we’re just more aware of it thanks to the rise in Neo-Nazi activity over the past several months. Brister said he has no idea why there’s more Nazi cosplay spotted nowadays, but he did call it “disturbing to say the least.” And while he thinks it’s a bad idea overall, he added that dressing in Nazi gear is an especially insulting thing to do in Portland, given recent events. Two people were killed earlier this year trying to stop 35-year-old Jeremy Christian from assaulting a pair of Muslim women on a commuter train. Christian, who spouted openly racist rhetoric during the attack, was seen a month beforehand at a rally giving the Nazi salute. Advertisement “Five years ago, we probably didn’t think much about [Nazi-esque cosplay]. But I think given the events that have taken place, and especially here in Portland, where we have a white supremacist self-proclaimed Nazi who tried to attack some girls ... We’re just really sensitive to this, and we just don’t want this in our community,” Brister said. Brister said that, after the cosplaying groups were confronted by security staff, some of them complied, while others left and came back the next day in the same costumes to “push the envelope,” reciting cosplay guidelines as a defense against being excluded from the convention—hence why the con changed the rules. As of now, the punishment for arriving in Nazi-related cosplay is a lifetime ban, but Brister said that was the work of an “overzealous marketing person” and it will be changed to simply ask the person to leave and change their clothes. “I believe all these individuals are not truly Nazi sympathizers,” Brister said. “We’d just appreciate it if they wore something else.” Digital Trends via Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com September 15, 2017 at 01:18PM
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Is Apple's iPhone Upgrade Plan Right for You? http://ift.tt/2foZTMV Dropping at least $700 to get an iPhone 8 is a hefty burden. Thankfully, mobile carriers and Apple have both made it easy for iPhone lovers to still get the latest phone without having to pay the full amount up front. Under the industry's standard payment plans, the full cost of the phone is spread out over 24 payments, so you slowly pay off the phone over two years. (Of course, the final cost of the phone ends up being a little more than the retail cost, just like any financing agreement.) But the carriers' plans and Apple's plan have different terms. So which one is better for you? For most people, Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program is the best option. You get the flexibility to switch carriers if you want, insurance and support are included, and you get to upgrade to the new iPhone every year when the new models are released. The SkinnyApple first launched its program with the release of the iPhone 6S in late 2015. Anyone who signed up at that time will get an iPhone 8 or iPhone X this month—Apple's plan allows for iPhone users to turn in their current phones and receive a brand new model every year without penalty. Some carrier agreements let you upgrade as frequently, like T-Mobile's. Others require you to keep the device for two years before you upgrade, or at least pay off 75 percent of the total cost before upgrading. Apple requires you to pay off only 50 percent before you can upgrade. For most people, that's twelve monthly payments, but if you hit that 50 percent mark sooner by making extra payments, you can upgrade to a brand new iPhone as soon as six months in. The cost is a little bit higher for Apple. Pricing among the carriers for iPhone payment plans ranges from $27 to $41 per month, and Apple's pricing ranges from $34.50 to $45.75. All of these plans require you to return the current phone when you upgrade, and it has to be in good working condition. This is where Apple's plan starts to pull ahead. The monthly installments to Apple include AppleCare+, which gives you 24/7 technical support and covers accidental drops and spills for all the clumsy people (I very much need this). Carriers offer their own insurance, which incurs a charge of $5 or $10 every month. Since Apple's payments are slightly higher, things even out financially if you tack insurance onto a carrier's payment plan. However, in some cases, a carrier's coverage is not as comprehensive as Apple's. Another biggie: The iPhone you get from Apple is unlocked. Thank you, smartphone gods. When a phone is activated through a carrier, you will only be able to use it on that carrier. An unlocked phone can be used for pretty much any carrier, including those in different countries. Just take out the SIM card, put the new one in, and you've switched. A smaller benefit is that you don't have to deal with your carrier when you want to get a new phone. Carrier stores and call centers can be soul-crushing and filled with upsells. Dealing directly with Apple is much easier. Bye bye, pushy cellphone salesman. Hello, friendly employees. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns; there are a few catches, of course. After you've made 24 payments, you can keep the phone if you'd like. But if you're upgrading sooner than that, you never get to keep the phone. This is standard across any payment plan, whether from Apple or a carrier, and it is a big turn-off for some. Also, if you're upgrading, the iPhone you've been using for a year has to be in working condition with no noticeable physical damage. A cracked screen will cost you $29 to fix, and excessive damage to any other part of the phone will cost you $99. These are service fee rates for AppleCare+ customers. Yes, even with Apple Care+, you're responsible for upkeep on the phone. And yes, you have to pay these fees before upgrading if Apple decides they're necessary. Another slight annoyance is that you will now have two phone bills. Buy your phone from a carrier and everything (service fees and the device payment) goes onto one bill. Buy your phone from Apple, and you have to pay the carrier for the phone service, then pay Apple separately for the phone. It's not a big deal, but you should be aware of it. Bigger SavingsThe cheapest way to get a new iPhone is to pay for the full cost of the device upfront. You get the best price, and there are no payments to worry about. But if you're willing to put yourself on the hook for monthly payments, an installment plan makes sense—especially since you can automatically upgrade when the new iPhone comes out. With its unlocked devices and well-regarded Apple Care+ coverage, the iPhone Upgrade Plan is the payment plan we'd recommend. This post was updated on 9/15/2017. It was originally published on 9/15/2016 by Michael Duran. Digital Trends via Feed: All Latest http://ift.tt/2uc60ci September 15, 2017 at 01:06PM
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How Zoic’s VFX magic brought winter to ‘Game of Thrones’ and gave Arya a new face http://ift.tt/2wgFrIP The penultimate season of Game of Thrones was filled with shocking moments made possible by the show’s talented cast and creative team, which includes a visual effects crew that has brought home a Primetime Emmy Award for their work almost every season the series has aired. Among the studios tasked with bringing the world of Westeros and surrounding regions to life in Game of Thrones is Zoic Studios, a visual-effects company based in Culver City, California, with a long list of contributions to some of television’s most popular shows. Along with developing visual effects for Marvel’s The Defenders and Iron Fist series on Netflix — and HBO’s vampire drama True Blood before that (among a long list of other shows) — Zoic cooked up some of the VFX magic that made Season 7 of Game of Thrones one of the most popular seasons of one of the most popular shows of all time. Digital Trends spoke with Zoic VFX Supervisor Mat Krentz, who led the studio’s team on Game of Thrones, about some of the key elements — and moments — from the recent season that his team helped bring to the screen. (Note: Multiple season 7 spoilers lurk below. If you’ve yet to see the latest season, proceed at your own risk!) Digital Trends: Looking at the visual-effects highlight reel you released recently, there’s a lot of focus on creating the world of Westeros beyond the practical set. What sort of guidance do you get when you’re doing that kind of literal world-building? Mat Krentz: Joe Bauer and Steve Kullback [Game of Thrones visual effects supervisor and producer, respectively] will do a lot of pre-work before introducing some of the shots, so they’ll have the art department create concept art and have a vision ready to go, and then there’s always a lot of prep work to do before they bring it to us. Once we get involved, we take what they’ve developed and try to work on top of that and enhance that. One specific thing we did this year was, any of the Winterfell scenes that they shot on set had to have a castle built, and we would do a lot of the top ups [enhancing and extending practical elements] for that. They had an idea what the castle would look like and we would take those ideas and build out a full, CG castle and place our castle in CG over the top of what they’d shot on set, and we’d work from there. That was always a cool way to start — particularly when they have something physical, pre-created on set, and you can start from that. In some of the scenes in that VFX reel, you’re completely changing the environment around the set from a green, almost spring-like appearance to a bleak, winter version of that same environment. What sort of challenges does that present? Over the past three or four seasons, we kept saying that winter was coming, and finally this year winter was here. So they tried to wait and see if they could get a lot of the snow practically on set, and they were shooting in Iceland and Ireland while trying to get some really wintery seasons in camera. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that. It just never happened. So a lot of our work was done on green, lush areas, and basically we would do matte paintings over the top of that and rework the entire environment. We’d add in falling snow, and all of these layers of atmosphere in the background, making it feel like it was foggy and there were heavy amounts of clouds in the background. It was a lot of fun, and you take a lot of real-world references for what you’re doing, looking online and doing research to find out what it really does look like if there’s a giant snowstorm happening in the background of those areas. Zooming in a bit now, the scene in which Walder Frey (David Bradley) removes a mask to reveal that he’s actually Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) was a big moment that you worked on in the Season 7 premiere. That scene easily could have slipped into a sort of campy Scooby-Doo visual, but it worked in the episode. What went into creating that scene? That was something they tried doing on set practically, and Maisie was wearing a mask that kind of resembled David Bradley, but it wasn’t a strong enough resemblance to him and it also moved a little too rubbery. They weren’t happy with the rubbery texture and feel of it. So basically we recreated his face in 3D and added a cloth dynamic to it. We had a fully built face model with all of the necessary texture, and then we applied a silk-like cloth effect to it. So when she lifted her head in the scene and pulled off the mask, it basically had a nice, seamless, fabric-like feel instead of that rubbery feel you get when it’s a traditional mask on top of a person’s face. The reveal of Gregor Clegane’s face a season earlier was also a big moment you and your team had a hand in creating. What can you tell us about the process there? I suspect that this particular effect might have gone through some development stages as you try to find the right balance with how far to go with the rot and the open wounds and such. Gregor is kind of like a zombie, so the basic direction with him was that he had to look more and more decayed over time. You try on set to create that look with makeup on, but it’s never quite enough — especially with the closeups. Even through the eyeholes of his faceplate, he looked a little too life-like, a little too alive. So we basically went through rounds of concept and design evaluating how dead he looks at each point. How dead should he look? Is it too grotesque now? Is there not enough decay? So we went through several rounds of design, eventually coming up with things like the purple hue we added to his eyes to make him look more like a zombie. In the end, it looked pretty nasty — and nasty enough to live up to the concept. Was there a particular sequence or VFX moment that you’re particularly proud of in season 7? What’s the first effect that first comes to mind when you think of your work on the show this season? The stuff that really shines is the stuff that people don’t notice. One of the environments we worked on was Daenerys’ audience chamber in Dragonstone. It’s this massive room where her throne is, and she sits there a lot of the time. They built a portion of that set practically, but a larger portion is also CG that we built. It’s this whole 3D environment. The way the light comes from the windows and the dust particles floating in the room, it’s all stuff you might never even notice, but that’s the stuff that’s really exciting to visualize and create. It’s this huge environment that looks all real, and you imagine that they built everything, but a lot of it was created by us — which we were pretty proud of. Season 8 of Game of Thrones is expected to premiere in late 2018 or early 2019. No premiere date has been announced by HBO as of this interview’s publication.
Digital Trends via Digital Trends http://ift.tt/2p4eJdC September 15, 2017 at 01:02PM
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Tesla’s Autopilot Trouble, the Mercedes-Benz Hypercar, NHTSA Guidelines, and More Car News From This Week http://ift.tt/2vYFLHO After years of hearings, investigations, and states doing whatever they like in the absence of federal decision-making, self-driving car decrees flowed out of Washington, DC, this week like your data from Equifax. The Department of Transportation updated its policy on automated vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Board released the results of a yearlong investigation into a deadly Tesla Autopilot crash. The Senate took on self-driving trucks, with a hearing that pitted the industry against the truckers who ply the nation's highways. Transportation change is happening, and this country’s policymakers finally seem ready to tackle it. Oh, and the Frankfurt Motor Show, the biggest in the world, kicked off this week with an unprecedented focus on electric driving. Missed it all? Let’s get you caught up. HeadlinesStories you might have missed from WIRED this week
The “Caption That GIF” Contest of the WeekThis is a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researcher fastening himself into a car seat costume so he can study human reactions to autonomous vehicles. But it’s also a metaphor for … something. Please send suggestions to @AarianMarshall. There are no prizes. Required ReadingNews from elsewhere on the internet.
Please tip your local transportation reporters: @adavies47, @stewart_jack and @AarianMarshall. Digital Trends via Feed: All Latest http://ift.tt/2uc60ci September 15, 2017 at 01:00PM Save $5 On OxyLED's Biggest Stick-Anywhere Light Strip http://ift.tt/2jtVoFj Our readers have bought tens of thousands of OxyLED’s motion-sensing night lights, and now they’re offering you only the second deal we’ve ever seen on the supersized T-02 Plus. The Plus features 36 individual LED bulbs, a rechargeable battery, and unlike a several similar models, the ability to turn on manually, rather than relying on the motion and ambient light sensors. It’s big and bright enough to light up an entire closet or a large cabinet, but personally, I’d stick mine under my kitchen cabinets to light up the counter below. Digital Trends via Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com September 15, 2017 at 01:00PM
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Why Do Facebook’s Algorithms Keep Abetting Racism? http://ift.tt/2h849Av Call it algorithmic ignorance. Or maybe, algorithmic idiocy. On Thursday, Pro Publica uncovered that Facebook’s ad targeting system, which groups users together based on profile data, offered to sell ads targeting a demographic of Facebook users that self-reported as “Jew Haters.” “Jew Haters” started trending on Twitter when the piece went viral, and by Friday Facebook announced it had removed “Jew Haters” and other similarly ranked groups from its advertising service, offering a predictably anodyne apology and explanation. Advertisement As Facebook explains, the categories were algorithmically determined based on what users themselves put into the Employee and Education slots. Enough people had listed their occupation as racist bile like “Jew Hater,” their employer as “Jew Killing Weekly Magazine,” or their field of study as “Threesome Rape” that Facebook’s algorithm, toothless by design, compiled them into targetable categories. Facebook’s response is repetitious in emphasizing that users themselves self-reported the data and Facebook removed the categories as soon as it was aware of them. But claiming ignorance of its own algorithms lets Facebook equivocate more obvious questions: What does it tell us about Facebook that Nazis can proudly self-identify on their platform? Why can’t Facebook’s algorithms determine that words like “rape,” “bitch,” or “kill” aren’t valid occupational terms? Facebook says its AI can detect hate speech from users—so why, seemingly, did Facebook choose not point its AI at the ad utility? Despite a user base of two billion people, Facebook as a company has very few human faces. There’s COO Sandberg, CEO Zuckerberg, and very few others. So when a company of this size—one this reliant on automation—makes as huge a mistake like embedding anti-semitism within its revenue schemes, there’s no one to blame. Even the apology is uncredited, with no human contact listed, save for the nameless press@fb.com boilerplate. Advertisement Zuckerberg and his cohorts made algorithmic decision-making the heart of its ad-targeting revenue scheme, and then enshrouded those systems in a black box. And as Facebook’s user base has grown, so have its blindspots. Last year, lawyersfiled a class action suit against Facebook over concerns that its ad-targeting scheme violated the Civil Rights Act. In addition to self-reported ad targeting, Facebook also compiled data to place users into categories they may not even be aware of. In October, Pro Publica revealed that, based on data like friend groups, location, likes, etc., Facebook put users into categories analogous to race, called an “ethnic affinity.” Advertisers could then either target or exclude users based on their affinity, a grave concern in a country that outlaws denying people housing and employment based on their race. Facebook ended its “ethnic affinity” targeting after the backlash. Unlike with the “Jew Hater” debacle, where Facebook said it didn’t know what its algorithms were doing, here Facebook claimed it couldn’t foresee the disproportionate impact of its algorithms. Call that algorithmic idiocy. Advertisement Why do Facebook’s algorithms keep abetting racism? The more specific answer is hidden inside Facebook’s black box, but the broader answer may be: It’s profitable. Each Facebook user is a potential source of revenue for the company. And the more they use the site, the more ads they engage, the more shareable content they produce, and the more user insight they can generate for Facebook. When users reveal themselves as racist, anti-semitic, and so on, what obligation does Facebook have to remove them or frustrate its own revenue structure? Does removing or censoring users violate their first amendment rights? In both the original Pro Publica report and the follow-up from Slate, researchers have called for a public database of Facebook’s ad-targeting categories and a broader, de-automation push across the company. At this point, Facebook can no longer deny the sore need for an ethical and moralistic compass somewhere within its advertising business; the company’s algorithms and its racist and anti-semitic controversies are linked. It’s time for an enormous paradigmatic shift towards accountability, out in the open, and not another tepid half step from Facebook within the comfort of its black box. Digital Trends via Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com September 15, 2017 at 12:48PM |
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