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OpenAI’s Recent Announcement: What Went Wrong, and How It Could Be Better Earlier this month, OpenAI revealed an impressive language model that can generate paragraphs of believable text. It declined to fully release their research “due to concerns about malicious applications of the technology.” OpenAI released a much smaller model and technical paper, but not the fully-trained model, training code, or full dataset, citing concerns that bad actors could use the model to fuel turbocharged disinformation campaigns. Whether or not OpenAI’s decision to withhold most of their model was correct, their “release strategy” could have been much better. The risks and dangers of models that can automate the production of convincing, low-cost, realistic text is an important debate to bring forward. But the risks attached to hinting about dangers without backing them up with detailed analysis and while refusing public or academic access, need to be considered also. OpenAI has appeared t...

Facebook Doubles Down On Misusing Your Phone Number When we publicly demanded that Facebook stop messing with users’ phone numbers last week, we weren’t expecting the social network to double down quite like this: By default, anyone can use the phone number that a user provides for two-factor authentication (2FA) to find that user’s profile. For people who need 2FA to protect their account and stay safe, Facebook is forcing them into unnecessarily choosing between security and privacy. While settings are available to choose whether “everyone,” “friends of friends,” or “friends” can use your phone number this way, there is no way to opt out completely. The problems with Facebook’s phone number look-up feature are not entirely new. Facebook even promised to disable the functionality last April in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Now, others can no longer enter your phone number directly into the Facebook search bar to find your profile. Instead, they can ...

Managing a global infrastructure portfolio of new build-outs, ongoing services and modernization efforts is no small feat. But a thoughtful CapEx to OpEx program can alleviate budget constraints — and allow you to focus on your core business. I recently led a panel at the 2018 Innovation Summit Session in Atlanta called “Unlocking the Value of Your Assets: Shifting Investment from CapEx to OpEx,” where we discussed the rising shift in investment strategy from CapEx to OpEx for a host of investments. Below I’ll offer a high-level overview of the presentation, share three key trends we’ve observed in its transition and apply these findings to the case of aging switchgear. Defining “CapEx” and “OpEx” For purposes of this discussion, we’ll forgo the FASB accounting definitions and talk about these terms more practically. Here, “CapEx” refers to capital outlays and typically a major and rigid process for investment. Conversely, “OpEx,” or capital outflows, are associated with a more fle...

Congress Invites Industry Advocates to Hearings. Industry Talking Points Ensue. In back-to-back hearings last week, the House and the Senate discussed what, if anything, Congress should do about online privacy. Sounds fine—until you see who they invited . Congress should be seeking out multiple, diverse perspectives. But last week, both chambers largely invited industry advocates , eager to do the bidding of large tech companies, to the table. The testimony and responses from the industry representatives were predictable: lip service to the idea of strong federal consumer privacy legislation, but few specifics on what those protections should actually look like. These witnesses also continue to advocate for unwritten, vague federal preemption of existing state laws like California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) or Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). However, there were a few bright spots. In the House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair, Rep. Jan Schakows...

A few months back I was part of a team outing to Goa (gorgeous beach state of India) and it was the best trip I ever had with colleagues. Quite simply fantabulous. What made it so fun? I guess because everyone I cared for, loved, was part of the troop. It didn’t matter where we went, because wherever we went, it was a party. It didn’t matter what we did, because when we were together – it was a house on fire. We planned the whole outing together, what location, what budget, what kind of entertainment would suit everybody. Every concern was heard and accommodated, every need was considered (This was no mean feat considering there were a dozen of us). When I sit back and reflect, the vivid memory of how relaxed the whole experience was becomes even more significant. This trip to me was an excellent example of the joy of including others. I am conscious of the fact as I relate this example is that inclusion comes easy when you truly like, relate and connect with others. What is more diff...

German Data Privacy Commissioner Says Article 13 Inevitably Leads to Filters, Which Inevitably Lead to Internet “Oligopoly” German Data Privacy Commissioner Ulrich Kelber is also a computer scientist, which makes him uniquely qualified to comment on the potential consequences of the proposed new EU Copyright Directive. The Directive will be voted on at the end of this month, and its Article 13 requires that online communities, platforms, and services prevent their users from committing copyright infringement, rather than ensuring that infringing materials are speedily removed. In a new official statement on the Directive ( English translation ), Kelber warns that Article 13 will inevitably lead to the use of automated filters, because there is no imaginable way for the organisations that run online services to examine everything their users post and determine whether each message, photo, video, or audio clip is a copyright violation. Kelber goes on to warn that this will exacer...