Sustainable Finance Newsletter - Robot overlords to track your flirting
By Ross Kerber
July 3 (Reuters) -Online gaming got us used to seeing videos shown from the first-person point of view and gave rise to the graphic technologies that have come topower many Hollywood blockbusters.
Now thegaming world looks set to spread another norm: monitoring audio conversations for offensive language, bullying and other negative content.
I can think of various fascinating and chilling scenarios for applying the tech but mostly I wanted to lay out what I heard from the provider of a war game's audio moderation software and how it could be on its way to whichever dating app you use.
There ismore in this week's main story below. I've also got links to my report on AI at last week's Morningstar investor conference in Chicago, and a colleague's review of how a court ruling has chilled interest in diversity-focused venture funds.
You can connect with me on LinkedIn. If you have a news tip, potential content, or general thoughts you can email me at ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com
Robot overlords to track your flirting
Artificial intelligence systems could soon be monitoring the audio of your online dating chats, remote educational classes and other situations, according to the head of a company that has already made a business of policing gamers' conversations.
"As a prediction of the industry, expect to see more sophisticated moderation in many places," Mike Pappas, chief executive of Modulate, told me in a recent interview. When its software detects a violation of a company's code of conduct during a live conversation, it flags the episode for further review that could lead to a warning or an account suspension.
Talking to Pappas and others involved in the growing industry of monitoring online chats provided a fascinating look at how technology can shape human behavior for good or ill. Networks make it ever-easier to interact with people we haven't met in person, meaning fewer social norms exist to keep things polite.
One predictable downside is that 22% of Americans experienced "severe harassment" on social media during the past 12 months, according to a survey taken earlier this yearby the ADL Center for Technology & Society found, up from 18% a year earlier.
This poses risks for social media providers, which can be held liable for things like violating prohibitions on chat capabilities for children.
Privately held Modulate, based near Boston, supplies its "ToxMod" software to Activision's Call of Duty online war game for enforcing its Code of Conduct. Activision, owned by Microsoft,MSFT.O says it took action on more than 2 million accounts for "disruptive voice chat" during a period starting last August, and that it saw an 8% reduction of repeat offenders and a 50% drop in player exposure to the most severelanguage after it started moderating the voice chats.
That's good business, since toxic language or bullying can put off users. Beyond the gaming industry, Pappas said he's gotten interest from dating apps, call center operators, online education platforms and other organizations where strangers converse, though he declined to name potential partners.
Pappas said he's wary of some of the software's theoretical capabilities. He wouldn't build software that flagsconversations about geopolitics, for instance and he said ToxMod doesn't record everything and includes privacy safeguards. He also said that what counts as "misinformation" raises thorny questions. But the majority of the cases that ToxMod flags involve simple threatening, sexist or racist speech.
The sensitivity of the software can be adjusted, he added, and gave this analogy: "When you're in the playground, you keep it kid-friendly. You go to a sports bar, you're allowed to be a little rowdy," Pappas said.
Lewis Ward, gaming research director for IDC, said he expects to see AI audio monitoring spread beyond gaming, such as for music or sports conversations that social platforms stage amongstrangers. Just as in gaming, sponsors will want to discourage bad behavior lest they face fines or hits to their reputations.
"If people start flaming each other and you're the official moderator for that community, will you have some liability? That's a legal gray zone," Ward said.
Company News
American Airlines AAL.O will buy 100 hydrogen-electric engines from aviation startup ZeroAvia. The engines have the potential for close to zero carbon emissions while in flight, and theyuse hydrogen in fuel cellsto power electric motors. American is buying jet engines for regional jet aircraft, and ZeroAvia also makes turboprop engines.
BP's BP.L new CEO Murray Auchincloss has imposed a hiring freeze and paused new offshore wind projects as he places a renewed emphasis on oil and gas amid investor discontent over its energy transition strategy, sources at the company said.
Legal & General's LGEN.L investment management arm will sell its stake in global commodities trader Glencore GLEN.L this year on concerns over its production of thermal coal.
On my radar
Executives and investors I spoke with at last week'sMorningstar MORN.O Investment Conferencein Chicago said the spread of AI software and systems offers big opportunities for financial services firms, but the sensitivity of the consumer data they handle means companies should tread with care.
A U.S. appeals court ruling that blocked a Black-owned venture capitalist from funding women-of-color-led businesses has had a chilling effect across the small industry of diversity-focused venture capital funds, according to founders, investors and lawyers who spoke to my colleague Krystal Hu.
Amazon.com AMZN.O is backing a new standard for verifying carbon offsets, sidestepping a global standard developed by a non-profit funded largely by the U.S. technology conglomerate's founder Jeff Bezos, my colleague Virginia Furness reports. Critics worry the move could lead to market confusion and compromise in the standards for carbon offsets.
Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio
متعلقہ اثاثے
تازہ ترين خبريں
دستبرداری: XM Group کے ادارے ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت تک صرف عملدرآمد کی خدمت اور رسائی مہیا کرتے ہیں، کسی شخص کو ویب سائٹ پر یا اس کے ذریعے دستیاب کانٹینٹ کو دیکھنے اور/یا استعمال کرنے کی اجازت دیتا ہے، اس پر تبدیل یا توسیع کا ارادہ نہیں ہے ، اور نہ ہی یہ تبدیل ہوتا ہے یا اس پر وسعت کریں۔ اس طرح کی رسائی اور استعمال ہمیشہ مشروط ہوتا ہے: (i) شرائط و ضوابط؛ (ii) خطرہ انتباہات؛ اور (iii) مکمل دستبرداری۔ لہذا اس طرح کے مواد کو عام معلومات سے زیادہ کے طور پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے۔ خاص طور پر، براہ کرم آگاہ رہیں کہ ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت کے مندرجات نہ تو کوئی درخواست ہے، اور نہ ہی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں کوئی لین دین داخل کرنے کی پیش کش ہے۔ کسی بھی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں تجارت میں آپ کے سرمائے کے لئے ایک خاص سطح کا خطرہ ہوتا ہے۔
ہماری آن لائن تجارتی سہولت پر شائع ہونے والے تمام مٹیریل کا مقصد صرف تعلیمی/معلوماتی مقاصد کے لئے ہے، اور اس میں شامل نہیں ہے — اور نہ ہی اسے فنانشل، سرمایہ کاری ٹیکس یا تجارتی مشورے اور سفارشات؛ یا ہماری تجارتی قیمتوں کا ریکارڈ؛ یا کسی بھی فنانشل انسٹرومنٹ میں لین دین کی پیشکش؛ یا اسکے لئے مانگ؛ یا غیر متنازعہ مالی تشہیرات پر مشتمل سمجھا جانا چاہئے۔
کوئی تھرڈ پارٹی کانٹینٹ، نیز XM کے ذریعہ تیار کردہ کانٹینٹ، جیسے: راۓ، خبریں، تحقیق، تجزیہ، قیمتیں اور دیگر معلومات یا اس ویب سائٹ پر مشتمل تھرڈ پارٹی کے سائٹس کے لنکس کو "جیسے ہے" کی بنیاد پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے، عام مارکیٹ کی تفسیر کے طور پر، اور سرمایہ کاری کے مشورے کو تشکیل نہ دیں۔ اس حد تک کہ کسی بھی کانٹینٹ کو سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیقات کے طور پر سمجھا جاتا ہے، آپ کو نوٹ کرنا اور قبول کرنا ہوگا کہ یہ کانٹینٹ سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیق کی آزادی کو فروغ دینے کے لئے ڈیزائن کردہ قانونی تقاضوں کے مطابق نہیں ہے اور تیار نہیں کیا گیا ہے، اسی طرح، اس پر غور کیا جائے گا بطور متعلقہ قوانین اور ضوابط کے تحت مارکیٹنگ مواصلات۔ براہ کرم یقینی بنائیں کہ آپ غیر آزاد سرمایہ کاری سے متعلق ہماری اطلاع کو پڑھ اور سمجھ چکے ہیں۔ مذکورہ بالا معلومات کے بارے میں تحقیق اور رسک وارننگ ، جس تک رسائی یہاں حاصل کی جا سکتی ہے۔
