With "every week, there is some new technology that I am learning about," Chairman Ajit Pai is wondering "how can the FCC overall stay abreast of some of these new developments." One answer: Invite experts to discuss new tech. He will perhaps this year "start with a forum on" artificial intelligence and machine learning, "a huge area of innovation," Pai said in Q&A at an Axios event Thursday, asking what can this mean for communications businesses and consumers. "How will this affect how companies use spectrum more smartly?" Though he's "not sure there is a formal regulatory role" about tech's effects on kids, Pai identified pros and cons to screen use by his two children. "I do worry a little bit about the way it changes how they interact with the world," he said, wondering "are my kids’ cognitive processes changed" via looking at screens. "It’s a challenge for parents." With this busy time on mergers and acquisitions including a court clearing AT&T to buy Time Warner after DOJ tried to block it (see 1806120060 and 1806140041), Pai said his agency takes a case-by-case approach to reviewing M&A. "We don’t start with a premise that vertical integration is good or bad," he said. "We start from the ground up." A goal is to "make sure that there is a competitive marketplace" via a "holistic view" of market structure, the FCC chief said. "The marketplace is changing very, very quickly," he said, citing digital ads. As his agency's net neutrality deregulation took effect Monday (see 1806110054) and includes transparency rules, Pai noted the "FTC has broad authority … to take action" and its Chairman Joseph Simons has told Congress "he is willing and determined to do just that." There's a memo of understanding between the commissions, he noted. "Our agencies are going to work hand in glove to make sure consumers are protected." While "people are going to clash" on policies, Pai indicated one way he wants to be judged is by how much the commission closes the digital divide. "If we can make a dent in that problem, then I think our time will be viewed as a success," he said. "Where our mark is going to be made is helping to get people onto the internet."
Google will pursue artificial intelligence applications that are socially beneficial, tested for safety, accountable to people and possess “high standards of scientific excellence,” CEO Sundar Pichai blogged Thursday. Laying out principles for AI, he wrote that the company also won't design or deploy AI for specific reasons. Google will avoid technology likely to cause overall harm, weapons and other devices meant to injure people, and technology that violates internationally accepted norms or human rights.
Vuzix is developing augmented reality smart glasses based on Qualcomm’s XR1 platform for consumer and enterprise markets, said the company Wednesday. The Snapdragon XR1, based on a Qualcomm ARM-based multicore central processing unit, vector processor, graphics processor and artificial intelligence engine, allows on-device processing of vision-based machine-learning algorithms that can help with augmented reality use cases such as pose prediction and object classification, said the companies. Native voice processing, 3D audio, motion tracking and head tracking were designed for an immersive user interface experience, and Vuzix’s Blade glasses, due next year, will deliver visual, audio, voice, and intuitive interactions for an immersive UI in an untethered pair of AR smart glasses, they said: Advances in Vuzix waveguides and display engines will enable “smaller more fashionable form factors."
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, wrote Amazon Friday, prodding the company about child privacy issues with the new Echo Dot Kids Edition (see 1804250061 or 1805010067). Geared toward children ages 5 to 12, the digital assistant device records and stores voice recordings and other data. Markey and Barton asked Amazon how the device complies with the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act. “While these types of artificial intelligence and voice recognition technology offer potentially new education and entertainment opportunities, Americans’ privacy, particularly children’s privacy, must be paramount,” the lawmakers wrote to CEO Jeff Bezos. An Amazon spokeswoman said the company received the letter and is working with Markey’s office to address each question: “Amazon takes privacy and security seriously, and [Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited subscription service] on Alexa is no different.” The device works in tandem with FreeTime, the children’s version of Amazon’s Alexa. Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy joined experts warning the device poses “significant threats to children’s wellbeing and privacy.”
The White House is right to explore “constraints that may unnecessarily limit [artificial intelligence] research and innovation,” the Computer & Communications Industry Association said Wednesday. Amazon, Facebook, Alphabet, Intel and Nvidia are among some 40 companies expected to meet Thursday with White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios to discuss AI. Cabinet officials and academics also are expected to participate in the discussion concerning government support for AI innovation.
The European Commission will invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in artificial intelligence research across the region through 2020, the commission announced Wednesday, drawing guarded praise from the Computer & Communications Industry Association. “We welcome the commission’s constructive approach to boost the uptake of AI in Europe. While we support this positive approach, we caution that the current copyright proposal risks hindering Europe’s leadership ambition,” said CCIA Senior Policy Manager Maud Sacquet. “Since this is a new technology, a cautious approach to regulation will allow AI to have the space to grow.” American Enterprise Institute scholar Bret Swanson cited a report from McKinsey Global Institute projecting AI could “generate incremental value of between $3.5 and $5.8 trillion annually across nine business functions in 19 industries.”
Artificial intelligence will have “massive implications” for marketing, advertising and sales in the health industry, NPD analyst Michael Diamond blogged Thursday. He cited driving up a mountain road and getting a car or smartphone notification alerting a driver to turn around “since 1,000 people who were on the same medication you’re taking, at the same elevation and weather conditions, had a heart attack.” People could face such a scenario as AI plays a growing role and more sensors and chips are integrated into consumer devices that monitor such things as temperature changes, proximity, pressure, smoke, infrared, chemicals, gas, image, motion and acceleration, he said. To get there, “a lot will have to change, from the way data centers are managed, to the type of components that are being put in storage subsystems,” said Diamond, along with the processing speed of data analytics software.
Artificial intelligence is “ubiquitous in the conversation about the power of technology changing lives,” blogged CTA Foundation Coordinator Anthony Maestri Wednesday. “The possibilities are endless for a technology as robust as AI to positively impact the lives of people of all ages and abilities.” Saying an estimated 5.7 million Americans live with Alzheimer's and that number is expected to more than double to 14 million by 2050, Maestri said AI “is showing promise in being able to identify the disease before the symptoms are obvious to loved ones.” Machine-learning technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology “is being adapted to look at movement patterns like pacing and wandering,” behavior that’s symptomatic of Alzheimer's, he said. CTA is devoting a full day of its Technology & Standards Forum agenda May 1-3 in Santa Clara, California, to AI’s technological, commercial and policy implications.