Technology Archives - Attention to the Unseen

Capitulating to AI: How humanity might surrender to machine rule

From elsewhere — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:34:41 +0000

Ruxandra Teslo writes: [W]hat is striking about current discussions around AI risks is that they return to one dominant fear: that humanity might summon into existence a power whose capacities exceed its comprehension, and discover, too late, that it cannot control it. In this vision of the world, AI would essentially take over the world and after that, potentially destroy humanity. Although I do not regard such fears as frivolous, my own anxiety concerns the rather less spectacular way humans...

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In California, three quarters of voters view AI as a threat

From elsewhere — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:34:24 +0000

Politico reports: Even Silicon Valley’s backyard is bracing for a dark AI future. California voters are overwhelmingly pessimistic about AI and believe the rapidly advancing technology poses a serious risk to humanity, according to a new poll by POLITICO and its partners. The anxiety in the hub of the global tech industry cuts across partisan and demographic lines, with voters of different ages and party affiliations expressing remarkably similar concerns about where the technology is headed. “The drumbeat of negativism...

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The existential threat that AI poses to universities

From elsewhere — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:34:08 +0000

The New York Times reports: The worries that artificial intelligence is degrading education have been building for months. Students are using it for everything, including cheating, and a recent report out of M.I.T. said it is triggering “cognitive surrender.” Many university leaders are embracing A.I. with enthusiasm anyway. As A.I. leaders warn about the dangers of their own technology, the dissonance between the optimism of university leaders and the fears of many students and professors may increase. Professors and students...

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How the American revolt against Flock cameras mirrors the Boston Tea Party of 1773

From elsewhere — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:33:00 +0000

A license plate recognition camera is seen in Boulder. Colo., on March 5, 2026. Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images By G. Patrick O’Brien, University of Tampa A grassroots revolt against automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, has gained momentum across the United States. ALPRs are AI-powered cameras that capture images of all passing vehicles. The camera systems turn details into datapoints searchable by anyone with access to the information. Today, there are more than 130,000 ALPRs on...

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Anthropic quietly sets up biology lab as it ramps AI drug program

From elsewhere — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 23:26:31 +0000

Reuters reports: Anthropic has quietly set up a laboratory to do physical biology work as it pushes its artificial-intelligence ambitions into the world of drug science. At a time when fears of AI are gripping the public, the startup has built a wet lab, or place for physical experiments, in the San Francisco Bay Area, two people familiar with the matter said. Anthropic has said it wants to unlock treatments for rare diseases, and its biology work has gone beyond...

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Hackers who broke into OpenAI warn the AI industry has a security problem

From elsewhere — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 23:26:15 +0000

The Washington Post reports: Cybersecurity researchers who broke into ChatGPT maker OpenAI earlier this summer say the artificial intelligence industry is unprepared for the security risks created by the growing power of its own technology. Researchers from computer security start-up Hacktron got inside the company’s systems with help from the Claude chatbot made by OpenAI’s primary rival, Anthropic. After first targeting a public-facing messaging board they were able to access OpenAI’s private systems, including some of the AI company’s internal...

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AI’s flimsy house of cards puts markets and U.S. economy at alarming risk

From elsewhere — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 23:26:00 +0000

Bloomberg reports: The heads of America’s leading AI development labs have started a national conversation about tapping the brakes on a technology that’s offering so much promise for society, while at the same time showing it can do a frightening amount of harm. It’s a debate that needs to be had, and a real solution invariably will be hard to come by. But considering the trillions of dollars of investment gains and market value that have been built on the...

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Trump and sons invest heavily in AI economy as he resists calls for slowdown

From elsewhere — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 23:25:41 +0000

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump’s sprawling family business empire has become increasingly intertwined with the boom in artificial intelligence, at the same time that he has resisted calls to slow the development of the technology, a Washington Post analysis of his financial disclosures and corporate announcements found. Several factors play into Trump’s push for rapid AI development: He has surrounded himself with technology executives and investors who have advocated for the government to accelerate AI development, including venture...

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Tennessee woman falsely charged with bank theft in North Dakota, sues for $10m over AI facial recognition

From elsewhere — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 23:25:27 +0000

The Guardian reports: A Tennessee woman who was falsely charged with bank theft in North Dakota and jailed for six months has sued for $10m in damages, alleging in a federal lawsuit that Fargo police improperly relied on an artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition system to wrongly accuse her. Angela Lipps, 50, was arrested at gunpoint by US marshals at her home in Tennessee while babysitting her neighbor’s four children in July 2025. The mother of three and grandmother of...

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Did OpenAI carry out the biggest IP heist of all-time?

From elsewhere — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:26:18 +0000

The Hollywood Reporter reports: VCR recordings. Book digitization. The use of existing code to build a new operating system. The legality of some of the most consequential technology and products in the last century have come down to a singular question: Are they protected under fair use, the legal doctrine allowing the use of copyrighted works without a license? Now, that question has become the central battleground in landmark lawsuits between publishers, studios and recording companies against artificial intelligence companies...

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