A Double Standard?
Google’s parent company Alphabet is warning employees about how they should use AI — including its own homegrown chatbot Bard, Reuters reports .
That’s despite the company making considerable investments in the tech. According to the report, Alphabet is particularly concerned about employees feeding confidential data into the chatbots — a reasonable concern, although it’s striking to warn employees about tech that it’s heavily marketing to customers. Stop the Leaks
Companies worldwide are now looking for ways to protect themselves from employees giving away secrets to chatbots.
Earlier this year, Amazon warned employees not to leak sensitive information to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In April, Samsung employees got into trouble for reportedly leaking sensitive company information to the chatbot as well. Even Apple restricted the use of ChatGPT and other AI-based tools over fears of workers leaking confidential data.
But the cat is already out of the bag. Despite these warnings, a survey found that almost half of professionals were using AI tools like ChatGPT as of February.Google is already — conveniently — offering expensive chatbot tools to enterprises that it claims won’t leak data to any public-facing AI models, as Reuters reports.But the company clearly still has a lot of convincing to do. It’s already facing major headwinds in the global rollout of its Bard chatbot, and was forced to postpone its launch in the European Union this week, according to Politico , after regulators raised privacy concerns.As AI rattles the world, it’s worth remembering: watch what they do, not […]Greetings, lovely readers. Let’s dive into the swirling vortex of Silicon Valley, where once again, the tech titans are embroiled in a controversy that has everyone clutching their AirPods in disbelief.
You see, it all began when the little blue bird we call Twitter decided to spread its wings and fly into the world of subscription services. Yes, that’s right: Twitter Blue, the company’s new subscription offering, promises to provide an “enhanced”experience for those willing to shell out a few extra dollars a month.
Now, one might think that the good folks at Twitter would take this opportunity to address the myriad of issues that have plagued their platform since its inception. You know, things like rampant harassment, malicious bots, and the ever-present cesspool of toxicity that is the comments section.
But no, my friends, instead of addressing these pressing concerns, Twitter Blue offers a smorgasbord of, well, let’s just say, less-than-essential features. For the low, low price of $2.99 per month, subscribers can look forward to such game-changing innovations as an “undo tweet”function, customizable app icons, and the pièce de résistance: a special reader mode that somehow justifies charging people for the privilege of reading tweets.
As you can imagine, the announcement was met with the kind of enthusiasm typically reserved for a root canal or a dinner party with your in-laws. The general consensus seems to be that Twitter Blue is a solution in search of a problem, a classic case of Silicon Valley hubris run amok.
And yet, there’s something almost endearing about the whole affair. It’s as if Twitter looked at all the ways it could improve its platform and said, “Nah, we’re good. Let’s just charge people for some fancy new icons and call it a day.”
Now, I’m not one to rain on anyone’s parade, but it’s hard not to see this as a missed opportunity for Twitter to make some meaningful changes to its platform. After all, this is a company that has struggled to find new revenue streams, and a subscription service could have been a chance to offer users a genuinely improved experience.
But perhaps that’s asking too much of a company that seems hell-bent on maintaining its status as the internet’s premier destination for angry rants and 280-character hot takes. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it stop tweeting inane nonsense.
So, as we collectively roll our eyes at Twitter Blue and its underwhelming offerings, let us take solace in the fact that at least it’s given us something new to complain about on the platform. After all, isn’t that what Twitter is really all about?
Until next time, my lovelies, keep your wits about you in the wild world of tech.
