Will AI hit higher paying jobs first? We might not be as eager to get humanoid robots as you might think. First there was WormGPT, now there’s FraudGPT. And finally something we call the X-Files – The Musk is out there.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to have a significant impact on the job market, but particularly in the realm of white-collar, high-paid jobs, according to experts. AI, unlike past technologies, is in office spaces and tackling higher-paid positions.
A new study by Pew Research Center found that 19 per cent of U.S. workers are in jobs with high exposure to AI. These jobs include roles like budget analysts, tax preparers, technical writers, and even web developers.
Interestingly, workers in the most exposed jobs earned $33 an hour, on average, almost one and a half times the jobs with the least exposure which averaged $20 per hour.
Despite the potential disruption, there has been a significant uptick in the number of employers looking for workers with AI-related skills. This indicates that while AI might disrupt some roles, it’s also creating new opportunities in the job market.
Sources include: CNBC
Softbank Robotics Europe, the group behind the famous Nao and Pepper robots, is cutting its workforce by 40 per cent and not because of AI. The Paris-based workforce, which had 330 employees as of March 2021, will be significantly reduced due to economic issues. The company has reported losses of $38 million in its fiscal 2019-2020 year and over $119 million in the last three years.
Despite the popularity of Nao and Pepper, they have not achieved financial success. Most of the 27,000 units sold were in Japan, a market more receptive to humanoid robots than Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world. Also the high cost of Pepper, which is priced at $30,000 in the U.S., has also been a challenge.
Nao and Pepper will be available in the U.S. exclusively through RobotLAB, a company that specializes in educational robots. This move is part of Softbank’s strategy to outsource much of the sales, service, and support work for these robots that do not generate significant revenue.
Meanwhile, the company is now shifting its focus to commercial products like the Whiz autonomous floor cleaning robot. Not sexy, but maybe floor cleaning makes money.
Sources include: Analytics Week
A new tool called FraudGPT is the newest AI tool for cybercriminals. This model, which has been circulating in darknet forums and Telegram channels since July 22,of this year, is available for subscription at a cost of $200 per month, $1,000 for six months, or a bargain $1,700 for a year.
FraudGPT can generate malicious code, create undetectable malware, find leaks, and identify vulnerabilities. It can also generate phishing pages, craft scam pages and letters, and help hackers find data leaks and weaknesses in a target’s infrastructure. Further, it can assist in identifying sites where stolen credit card data can be used for fraudulent transactions and help automate the use of those cards.
This tool follows the launch of WormGPT, another tool popular among cybercriminals for its ability to draft Business Email Compromises (BECs), which is one of the most widely-used attack vectors for spreading malicious payloads.
While governments are discussing what to do about threats of world domination, the spread of AI to cybercriminals apparently has escaped their notice.
Do you mind closing that barn door so we can go watch the horses run off?
Sources include: Analytics India Mag
And in a new segment we are calling the X-Files – a lot of news from the artist formerly known as Twitter.
Gene X Hwang, the original owner of the @x handle on Twitter, was surprised to find that his username was suddenly taken. Apparently, Elon Musk who rebranded Twitter to “X” took the username. Hwang, who had used the @x handle since 2007, received an email from the company explaining that his account data would be preserved, and he’d get a new handle. And they offered Hwang some merchandise, a tour of its offices, and a meeting with company management as compensation.
Hwang is reported to be looking at other social media sites in the meantime.
Sources include: NPR
Twitter has removed the large, brightly lit X logo that was recently placed on top of its San Francisco headquarters. The sign, which was quickly installed and partially supported by sandbags, had already drawn complaints from nearby residents. The city’s complaint indicates that Twitter denied access to inspectors seeking to examine the roof, stating that the X logo was a “temporary lighted sign for an event.” The logo, which was in use for about a week, emitted a bright light that pulsed across the night sky which prompted some X rated comments from neighbours.
Sources include: The Verge
And X Twitter, has threatened legal action against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that tracks hate speech and disinformation online. X’s legal representative, accused CCDH, alleging that the organization had made “troubling and baseless claims” intended to harm X and its digital advertising business. The CCDH has published numerous reports on hate speech and disinformation on X, including one that claimed the company failed to act on 99 percent of hate speech reports from Twitter Blue subscribers.
X disputes these findings and suggests that the CCDH’s operations are funded by X’s commercial competitors and government entities. The CCDH denies these allegations, stating it does not accept funding from tech companies, governments, or their affiliates.
Oh, did we mention that Kanye is back on Twitter?
That’s it for the X files. Except for that one question we don’t know if anyone can answer. Y?
Sources include: Mashable
And finally, NASA’s Voyager 2 probe, which has been in space for nearly 46 years, is currently unable to communicate with Earth due to an antenna misalignment. The antenna on the spacecraft has been pointing two degrees away from Earth for over a week, preventing it from receiving commands or transmitting data to the Deep Space Network (DSN).
However, NASA is confident that this is a temporary situation. The probe is programmed to recalibrate its position a few times a year, with the next scheduled reset on October 15.
Yes, you heard it right. They are waiting for ET to phone home.
Sources include: The Register
These are the top tech news stories on today’s Hashtag Trending. No it’s not you, it was a crazy day for news.
I’m your host Jim Love, CIO of IT World Canada and Tech News Day in the US.
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