Rainwater everywhere on Earth unsafe to drink due to ‘forever chemicals’, study finds

A study by scientists at the University of Stockholm has revealed that rainwater all over the planet--even in Antarctica--is polluted with "forever chemicals", which are stable synthetic polymers that do not degrade and are toxic for humans. Rainwater is now unsafe to drink.

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Facebook's AI Chatbot: ‘Since Deleting Facebook My Life Has Been Much Better’

When Facebook tested a prototype Chatbot, it didn't get the results it had hoped for. The AI bot, which took its replies from the Internet, was particularly critical of Facebook and also repeated misinformation, failing to filter out fake news.

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This startup is setting a Dall-2-like Ai free, consequences be damned

While most AI-based image generator tools include content filters to prevent the creation of deepfakes or images that could incite hatred, not so for Stable Diffusion. Created by Stability AI, the open-source tool is widely available. The article notes that users have created fake images of the war in Ukraine or of China invading Taiwan.

Note from the archivist: During the final months of Flat Eye's development, quite a few image generator tools based on machine learning have gone public: Dall-E 2, Craiyon, MidJourney and Stable Diffusion to name a few. Their abilities and use by a larger audience have forced several sectors to take them into account. For example, the pay-to-use Getty Images database has forbidden their use to prevent copyright issues, since these tools use a body of existing images to create their own. Video game creators have started to use AI during prototyping, to generate temporary decors or audio. Independent teams have even started using it for finalized graphics, using the novelty of the process as the core of their marketing strategy.

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Think Your Street Needs a Redesign? Ask an AI

New York artist Zach Katz used the Dall-E 2 image generator tool to reimagine busy, car-filled American city streets to be pedestrian-friendly. He suggests that tool could be useful to help city planners create previsualizations quickly and on a budget.

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Plastic-munching superworms offer hope for recycling

Zophobas morio, also known as the "superworm" has two advantages. First, the one we've known about for some time: it's easy to raise and works great as reptile food in pet stores. Second, and this part is new, it can thrive eating nothing but polystyrene. "Superworms are like mini recycling plants, shredding the polystyrene with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut," explains Dr. Chris Rinke of The University of Queensland in Australia. Scientists plan to study superworms to isolate the enzyme that enables them to digest plastic. The enzyme could then be used in recycling.

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Director Jean-Luc Godard, who ended his life on his terms, brought forth the long-drawn debate on assisted suicide

French daily Libération revealed that Jean-Luc Godard, who was "simply exhausted", had turned to assisted suicide--which is legal in Switzerland where the Franco-Swiss director lived--to hasten his passing. The Mashable article notes that Godard was "fascinated by suicide" and suggests that his death will bring social debate on end-of-life care and assisted suicide back to the fore, particularly on social networks.

Note from the archivist: On September 13, 2022, the same day Jean-Luc Godard's death was announced in Switzerland, France's National Ethics Committee delivered an opinion favorable to "ethical application of assisted suicide" under certain conditions. That same day, just one month before Flat Eye's release, the French president announced he would host a public debate on end-of-life options. A citizen's convention on the issue will be held in October 2022, with conclusions expected in February 2023. France's legal framework could be modified by the end of 2023.

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NetDragon Appoints its First Virtual CEO

In a press release, Chinese company NetDragon Websoft announced that Mrs. Tang Yu, a humanoid robot run by artificial intelligence, had been named "Rotating CEO" of its Fujian NetDragon Websoft subsidiary. The company wants to prove that it's ready for the metaverse and argues that AI is "the future of corporate management".

Note from the archivist: For my own piece of mind, I did a little research on NetDragon Websoft. The company was founded in 1999, so this can't be a publicity stunt developed for the launch of Flat Eye just a few weeks later. It's almost a shame.

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EPS Statement on DNA Phenotyping

To find the perpetrator of an unsolved sexual asault from 2019, the Edmonton Police Station in Canada decided to create a suspect sketch using DNA phenotyping. The police called on a specialized company, which claims it can not only obtain general characteristics like gender and skin color from DNA, but also precise details that enable it to create a physical representation of the suspect. In reality, the resulting portrait shared with the media was of a nondescript Black man, which led to concerns about unjustified racial profiling and racist arrests. Faced with a flurry of criticisms of the method on social networks, the Edmonton Police Station decided to remove the sketch from all the sites it had been published on and apologized for not having properly weighed the associated risks.

Note from the archivist: Could the rest of the world just take a break from using technology in terrifying ways for a minute, or even better, for about two weeks? We have a game to finish and it would be a shame to have to start over so close to release day!

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Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights

The White House has published a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which outlines five major principles that aim to protect U.S. citizens in their interactions with automated systems: safe and effective systems, algorithmic discrimination protections, data privacy, notice and explanation, and human alternatives, consideration and fallback.

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