EU probes Facebook, Instagram over election disinformation worries


AFP
April 30, 2024


Facebook and Instagram are among 23 'very large' online platforms that must comply with the EU's new law - Copyright AFP STR

The EU on Tuesday launched an investigation into Meta’s Facebook and Instagram over concerns the platforms are failing to counter disinformation ahead of EU elections in June.

The probe is under the EU’s new Digital Services Act, a landmark law that cracks down on illegal content online and forces the world’s biggest tech companies to do more to protect users online.

The European Commission said it suspected Meta’s moderation of adverts was “insufficient” and that an increase in paid spots in those conditions could harm “electoral processes and fundamental rights, including consumer protection rights”.

EU leaders are especially worried about Russian attempts to manipulate public opinion and undermine European democracy.

The probe seeks “to make sure that effective actions are taken in particular to prevent that Instagram’s and Facebook’s vulnerabilities are exploited by foreign interference,” EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said.

“We suspect that Meta’s moderation is insufficient, that it lacks transparency of advertisements and content moderation procedures,” commission executive vice president Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

Facebook and Instagram are among 23 “very large” online platforms that must comply with the DSA or risk fines up running up to six percent of a platform’s global turnover, or even a ban for egregious cases.

Other platforms include Amazon, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

Meta did not comment on the investigation’s focus, instead stating more generally that the US company had “a well-established process for identifying and mitigating risks on our platforms”.

A Meta spokesperson added: “We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the European Commission and providing them with further details of this work.”

– Meta’s wide reach –

Brussels is especially concerned that Meta does not have an “effective” tool in place to monitor elections ahead of EU-wide polls June 6 to 9.

It pointed to Meta’s decision to shut down CrowdTangle, a digital tool considered vital in tracking viral falsehoods.

Meta has said it will replace CrowdTangle with a new Content Library, a technology still under development.

The commission said the company had five working days to explain what actions it has taken to mitigate the risks from decommissioning CrowdTangle.

The EU’s concern arises from the Meta platforms’ reach in the 450-million strong bloc. Both platforms have more than 260 million monthly active users respectively.

The focus of the EU investigation is wide, and also includes Meta’s move to reduce political content in Facebook and Instagram’s recommender systems.

Brussels fears this could be in violation with the DSA’s rules on transparency.

The EU also suspects that Meta’s mechanism to flag illegal content is not sufficiently easy to access or user-friendly, the commission said.

There is no deadline by which the probe must end.

AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking programme, in which Facebook pays to use fact checks from around 80 organisations globally on its platform, on WhatsApp and on Instagram.

– Multiple probes –

The DSA is one law in a bolstered EU legal armoury to bring big tech to heel.

Brussels has shown it is is willing to flex its legal muscle under the DSA, opening investigations into Elon Musk’s X, TikTok and Chinese retailer AliExpress.

TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, bowed to pressure from the commission last week and suspended a rewards programme on its spinoff Lite app in France and Spain after Brussels threatened a suspension.

Another regulation is the political advertising law that will complement the DSA when most of its provisions will enter into force in late 2025.

Record gold prices boost recycling: industry

AKA PAWN SHOPS 

AFP
April 30, 2024

Gold struck a record-peak at $2,431.52 per ounce on April 12 

- Copyright AFP/File STR

Emeline BURCKEL

Record gold prices have sent recycling of the precious metal to the highest level in more than three years, as consumers cash in on jewellery, an industry body revealed Tuesday.

The World Gold Council (WGC) added, however, that total demand for gold dropped five percent in the first quarter year-on-year as it became too expensive for some.

Gold, seen as a haven investment, has seen its price jump 13 percent since the start of 2024. It struck a record-peak at $2,431.52 per ounce on April 12.

Prices hit new heights thanks to a number of factors, notably the prospect of cuts to US interest rates, even if they may be some time away.

Expectations of reduced borrowing costs have weighed on the dollar, while gold is priced in the US unit.

The metal has won support also from the Israel-Gaza war and the long-lasting conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

– ‘Infinitely recyclable’ –

The WGC noted a 12-percent increase in recycling during the reporting period, the highest amount since the end of 2020.

“Unlike many other metals, gold is kind of almost infinitely recyclable,” said Krish Gopaul at the WGC.

“Historically, there’s a strong relationship between the gold price and recycling, understandably when prices are going up, people will tend to sell their gold holdings or a portion of them to kind of lock in the higher price,” he told AFP following release of the quarterly report.

At the same time, he said “the macroeconomic and uncertainty in a number of markets caused people to actually hold to their gold”.

For those wishing to get their hands on the metal, demand in Asia offset falls in Europe and North America.

“In addition, demand for gold in technology recovered 10 percent year-on-year driven by the AI boom in the electronics sector,” the WGC said.

Louise Street, senior markets analyst at the WGC, said that “looking ahead, 2024 is likely to produce a much stronger return for gold than we anticipated at the beginning of the year, based on its recent performance.

“Should the price level off in the coming months, some price-sensitive buyers may re-enter the market and investors will continue to look to gold for a safe haven asset as they seek clarity around rate cuts and election results,” she added.

The year sees numerous votes around the world to elect prime ministers and presidents, including upcoming elections due in Britain and the United States.

Among national elections so far in 2024 have been Pakistan, Russia and Senegal, while India is holding its six-week-long polls.

UNRWA chief says $267 mn in aid still suspended

AFP
April 30, 2024

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini gave a press conference in Geneva - Copyright AFP TIMOTHY A. CLARY

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that $267 million in its funding was still suspended over allegations some UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The accusations in January led to many donors freezing some $450 million in funding at a time when Gaza’s 2.3 million people are in dire need of food, water, shelter and medicine.

Many countries have since resumed their donations, while others have not — including the United States, which passed a law blocking funding until at least March 2025.

“It’s money we were aware which was committed and which remains suspended for the agency. The total amount is $267 million. The bulk of it comes from the United States,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told a press conference in Geneva.

He said that up to 16 countries had suspended contributions to UNRWA following the allegations in January but as of Tuesday, “most of the donor countries have resumed their contribution to the agency.

“We just have a handful of countries that still need to make a decision,” he said, citing Britain and Austria among them.

Switzerland is due to take a decision on whether to resume support on Wednesday.

Lazzarini said countries which had never donated to UNRWA before were now coming forward with contributions, including Algeria.

Over the last six months, more than $115 million had also been raised in private donations, “which is an indication of the extraordinary grassroots solidarity expressed towards Palestinians and also to the agency”, he added.

He said the agency had the money to keep running until the end of June, but noted that during his tenure since 2020, the agency had rarely been able to look more than two to three months ahead financially.

– Rafah ‘anxiety’ –

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the Israeli military will launch a ground offensive in Rafah “with or without” a truce with Hamas in Gaza.

Lazzarini said there was deep anxiety in the Gaza Strip over the fear of a ground invasion in the far-southern city, which is packed with displaced civilians.

“People have not yet been asked to evacuate from Rafah,” he added. “My colleagues on the ground are also describing a constant state of trauma among the people.”

The war started after Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,535 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Gaza boycott continues to weigh on McDonald’s sales

US BUSINESS CHANNELS, BLOOMBERG, CNBC, FOX FAILED TO REPORT ON THIS WHEN REPORTING TODAYS  MACDONALD'S EARNINGS


By AFP
April 30, 2024


McDonald's Image: © AFP/File Emmanuel DUNAND

McDonald’s reported a modest increase in quarterly profits Tuesday despite a boycott stemming from the Middle East conflict expected to drag on sales for the foreseeable future.

While the boycott is not “getting worse,” Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski does not have a timeframe for a return to normal conditions.

“We’re not expecting to see any meaningful improvement in the impact… until the war is over,” he told analysts on a conference call.

Sales of McDonald’s were dented after its Israel franchise in October announced it had given thousands of free meals to the Israeli army.

That move was followed by relief pledges to Gaza from McDonald’s Kuwait and McDonald’s Qatar, both of which are managed separately from the Israeli business.


Although profits edged higher, McDonald’s executives pointed to a continued drag in sales due to a boycott in the Middle East – Copyright AFP/File PASCAL GUYOT

Most McDonald’s restaurants in the Middle East are operated under a franchise agreement in which the corporate parent does not invest capital, McDonald’s said in a securities filing.

Earlier this month, McDonald’s agreed to acquire Alonyal, which has over 30 years built the McDonald’s brand to 225 restaurants in Israel, employing more than 5,000 people.

McDonald’s has described the boycott’s greatest impact as in the Middle East, while also pointing to effects in markets like Malaysia and Indonesia and in parts of France where the Muslim population is higher.

The big fast-food chain experienced a dip in comparable sales in “International Developmental Licensed Markets,” which comprises emerging markets.

“The continued impact of the war in the Middle East more than offset positive comparable sales in Japan, Latin America and Europe,” McDonald’s said of the division.

Overall, profits in the first quarter rose seven percent to $1.9 billion on a five percent increase in revenues to $6.2 billion.

The chain scored higher comparable sales in the United States — where results were boosted by “strategic” price increases — and in the “International Operated Markets” division, where gains in Britain and Germany compensated for negative sales in France.

Chief Financial officer Ian Borden said sales in the United States and in many other large markets will probably be “below” the historical range in 2024 due to the cumulative effects of inflation on customers.

“Affordability is clearly an area where consumer expectations are heightened,” Borden said. “Obviously (consumers) are getting hit across their full basket of goods and services by all the inflationary impacts.”

Shares of McDonald’s declined 0.1 percent in midday trading.

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/gaza-boycott-continues-to-weigh-on-mcdonalds-sales/article#ixzz8YulvXTIH

Dying salmon trouble Norway’s vast fish-farm industry


AFP
April 30, 2024


Salmon like these are dying prematurely at fish farms in Norway

 - Copyright AFP BAY ISMOYO

Pierre-Henry DESHAYES

They are hailed for their omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients, but Norway’s salmon are not in the best of health themselves at the fish farms where they are bred.

Almost 63 million salmon — a record — died prematurely last year in the large underwater sea pens that dot the fjords of Norway, the world’s biggest producer of Atlantic salmon.

That represents a mortality rate of 16.7 percent, also a record high and a number that has gradually risen over the years — posing an economic and an ethical problem to producers.

The salmon succumb to illnesses of the pancreas, gills or heart, or to injuries suffered during the removal of sea lice parasites.

“The death of animals is a waste of life and resources,” Edgar Brun, director of Aquatic Animal Health and Welfare at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, told AFP.

“We also have a moral and ethical responsibility to guarantee them the best possible conditions.”

Norway’s salmon exports exceeded $11 billion last year, with the 1.2 million tonnes sold representing the equivalent of 16 million meals per day.

The 63 million prematurely dead salmon represent almost $2 billion in lost income for the industry.



– Not so appetising –



Salmon that die prematurely are usually turned into animal feed or biofuel.

But according to Norwegian media, some fish that are in dire health at the time of slaughter, or even already dead, do sometimes end up on dinner plates, occasionally even sent off with a label marked “superior”.

“I see fish on sale that I myself would not eat,” a former head of quality control at a salmon slaughterhouse, Laila Sele Navikauskas, told public broadcaster NRK in November.

Eating those salmon poses no danger to human health, experts say.

“The pathogens that cause these illnesses in the salmon cannot be passed on to humans,” Brun explained.

But the revelations damage the salmon’s precious image.

“If you buy meat in a store, you expect it to come from an animal that was slaughtered in line with regulations and not one that was lying dead outside the barn,” said Trygve Poppe, a specialist in fish health.

“Otherwise, as a consumer you feel tricked.”

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority said it observed anomalies at half of the fish farms inspected last year, noting that, among other things, injured or deformed fish had been exported in violation of Norwegian regulations.

In order to maintain its strong reputation, only salmon of ordinary or superior quality is authorised for export.

The lower quality fish — which accounts for a growing share of stocks, up to a third last winter — can only be sold abroad after it has been transformed, into fillets for example.



– Matter of trust –



Robert Eriksson, head of the Norwegian Seafood Association which represents small producers — generally considered less at fault — said the irregularities reported at some breeders were “totally unacceptable”.

“We live off of trust,” he said.

Taking shortcuts means “you get punished by the market and the economic impact is much bigger than the few extra kilos you sold.”

The Norwegian Seafood Federation — representing the biggest fish farming companies, those most often singled out over quality — insists it is addressing the matter but says more time is needed.

“On average, it takes three years to breed a salmon,” said the body’s director, Geir Ove Ystmark.

“So it’s very difficult to see immediate results today, even though we have launched a series of initiatives and measures.”

It is precisely the speed at which the fish are bred that is the problem, according to fish health specialist Poppe, who criticised the “terribly bad animal conditions” and who has stopped eating farmed salmon.

“The salmon are subjected to stress their entire lives, from the time they hatch in fresh water until their slaughter,” said Poppe.

“For example, during the first phase in fresh water, the light and temperature is manipulated so they’ll grow as quickly as possible,” he explained.

“In the wild, this phase takes two to six years. When they’re bred, it takes six months to a year.”



– New technology –



Truls Gulowsen, head of Friends of the Earth Norway, said recent years’ higher mortality rates were the result of aggressive industrialisation.

“We have bred a farmed fish that has poor chances of survival and which is dying from a combination of stress and bad genes because it’s been bred to grow as fast as possible and subjected to a major change in diet.”

The Norwegian Seafood Association aims to halve the mortality rate by 2030, and industry giant Salmar has allocated $45 million to tackle the issue.

Among the frequently mentioned possibilities are greater spacing between fish farms, and new technology, including so-called closed facilities.

The latter, where sea water is filtered, would help prevent sea lice but are more costly.

The government insists it is up to fish farms to respect the rules.

“Not all producers have the same mortality rates, so it is possible to reduce them,” said Even Tronstad Sagebakken, a state secretary at the fisheries ministry.

In the meantime, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority says it has not yet received any reports of salmon not fit for export being sold abroad.

Chinese tech giant Huawei profit surges 564%, biting into Apple sales

By AFP
April 30, 2024

Huawei's latest Pura 70 series phone is displayed at a store in Shanghai in April - Copyright AFP/File STR

Tech giant Huawei’s first-quarter profits surged over fivefold year-on-year, a company filing showed Tuesday, as the US-sanctioned firm continues a rebound and bit into competitor Apple’s sales in China.

Huawei has long found itself caught in the middle of an intense technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington, which has warned the firm’s equipment could be used for Chinese espionage operations — allegations denied by Huawei.

Sanctions imposed by Washington in 2019 restricting the company’s access to US-made components greatly inhibited Huawei’s production of smartphones at the time.

The Shenzhen-based company has since responded by diversifying into other fields including 5G, artificial intelligence and smart-driving technology in a bid to rescue flagging sales.

Net profit in the January-March period amounted to $2.7 billion, up 564 percent from the first quarter of last year, according to a results filing by Huawei’s holding company on an official website and confirmed by a representative of the firm.

Revenue during the period also rose 36.7 percent year-on-year to reach $24.7 billion, the filing showed.

It did not break down profits by sector.

Huawei is a private, unlisted company, and is therefore not subject to the same obligations as other major firms to publish detailed results.

– ‘Seizing opportunities’ –

The firm unveiled the Mate 60 Pro last summer, a high-performance smartphone equipped with a chip that experts say would be impossible to produce without foreign technologies, questioning the effectiveness of US restrictions.

In an apparent snub to Washington, the Mate 60’s August 2023 announcement coincided with a visit to China by Gina Raimondo, head of the US Department of Commerce which was responsible for the sanctions.

Huawei competitor Apple saw iPhone sales slump by 19 percent in the first quarter in China, Bloomberg reported, citing market research firm Counterpoint.

The latest earnings report comes a month after Huawei said its profits more than doubled in 2023, a year in which the smartphone maker continued its efforts to diversify.

Revenue growth in the first quarter was achieved by “seizing opportunities in digitalization, intelligence, and decarbonization”, a Huawei representative told AFP, adding: “the industry and global markets will remain rife with uncertainty for the rest of 2024”.

“We are confident that we can meet our annual business targets and achieve sustainable growth,” the representative added in a statement.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington remain high as the world’s two largest economies lock horns over everything from trade to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which is claimed by China.

The United States has urged allies to follow its lead in banning Huawei’s 5G technology from domestic telecommunications networks, arguing that China could use it to monitor communications and data traffic in other countries.

Vienna conference urges regulation of AI weapons


By AFP

April 30, 2024

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg warned autonomous weapons systems would 'soon fill the world's battlefields' - Copyright AFP/File STR

The world should establish a set of rules to regulate AI weapons while they’re still in their infancy, a global conference said on Tuesday, calling the issue an “Oppenheimer moment” of the time.

Like gunpowder and the atomic bomb, artificial intelligence (AI) has the capacity to revolutionise warfare, analysts say, making human disputes unimaginably different — and a lot more deadly.

“This is our generation’s ‘Oppenheimer moment’ where geopolitical tensions threaten to lead a major scientific breakthrough down a very dangerous path for the future of humanity,” read the summary at the end of the two-day conference in Vienna.

US physicist Robert Oppenheimer helped invent nuclear weapons during World War II.

Austria organised and hosted the two-day conference in Vienna, which brought together some 1,000 participants, including political leaders, experts and members of civil society, from more than 140 countries.

A final statement said the group “affirms our strong commitment to work with urgency and with all interested stakeholders for an international legal instrument to regulate autonomous weapons systems”.

“We have a responsibility to act and to put in place the rules that we need to protect humanity… Human control must prevail in the use of force”, said the summary, which is to be sent to the UN secretary general.

Using AI, all sorts of weapons can be transformed into autonomous systems, thanks to sophisticated sensors governed by algorithms that allow a computer to “see”.

This will enable the locating, selecting and attacking human targets — or targets containing human beings — without human intervention.

Most weapons are still in the idea or prototype stages, but Russia’s war in Ukraine has offered a glimpse of their potential.

Remotely piloted drones are not new, but they are becoming increasingly independent and are being used by both sides.

“Autonomous weapons systems will soon fill the world’s battlefields,” Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Monday when opening the conference.

He warned now was the “time to agree on international rules and norms to ensure human control”.

Austria, a neutral country keen to promote disarmament in international forums, in 2023 introduced the first UN resolution to regulate autonomous weapons systems, which was supported by 164 states.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for KILLER ROBOTS 

India’s influencers still struggle years after TikTok ban

By AFP
April 30, 2024


India's decision to TicTok foreshadows what the social media landscape could look like in the United States next year - Copyright AFP Jalees ANDRABI
Asma HAFIZ with Anuj SRIVAS in Mumbai

Choreographer Sahil Kumar found fame showcasing folk dances on TikTok, but his profile has been dormant since the video he posted four years ago supporting India’s decision to ban the platform.

The world’s most populous country offers a glimpse of what the social media landscape could look like in the United States next year, should a move to block local access to the Chinese-owned short video app goes ahead.

Several local copycats tried to fill the void left by TikTok’s departure — prompted by a wave of nationalist fervour that followed a border clash between Chinese and Indian troops — but the biggest beneficiaries of the decision were YouTube and Instagram.

Kumar and many other content creators eventually flocked to those US-owned platforms, but few were able to replicate their earlier followings.

“It is difficult to recreate the success elsewhere, because I haven’t got the same engagement on any other platform,” Kumar, 30, told AFP from his studio in Rohtak, a short drive south of the capital New Delhi.

“It takes years to grow an audience on Instagram and especially on YouTube,” he added.

Kumar was an engineer by training but ditched white collar work when he found an audience for his dance routines on TikTok, eventually garnering more than 1.5 million followers.

His newfound celebrity netted him paid opportunities to choreograph dance numbers for other influencers on the platform and music videos featuring Indian celebrities.

But his career was derailed in June 2020 after a deadly clash far from his home on the Himalayan frontier dividing India from China.

– ‘India comes first’ –

Twenty Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in the encounter, the deadliest face-off between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in half a century, and two weeks later the app vanished from Apple and Google’s online stores.

The official government order mandating the removal made no reference to the incident or even China, only saying that TikTok had engaged in activities that were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India”.

Kumar said in his final video on the platform that he agreed with the ban, urging those watching to follow him over to Instagram and YouTube.

“They must have thought thoroughly before making this decision,” he said in a short speech to camera. “India comes first.”

Four years later, just under 94,000 people follow him on Instagram — a tiny fraction of his earlier audience — and he laments that his chances to make money have dried up.

“For us, the work stopped,” he said.

TikTok arrived in India years after other established social media platforms, but quickly became a national phenomenon.

A year before it was kicked out of the market, the platform said it had more than 200 million users in India — one out of every seven people in the country.

– ‘Everyone was helter-skelter’ –

“Every influencer, every personality trying to build an online following had to tap into the platform whether or not they liked it,” Viraj Sheth, co-founder of influencer marketing agency Monk Entertainment, told AFP.

“As soon as we got the news of TikTok getting banned, everyone was helter-skelter.”

Several local tech start-ups attempted to capitalise on TikTok’s disappearance by rushing their own short-form video apps to market.

But it was established US platforms that eventually proved best primed to triumph in the new market.

In the first year after the ban, Instagram saw about six million short videos from India posted each day to Reels, its own interface attempting to match TikTok’s content model.

That compared to 2.5 million videos posted each day to Indian video sharing platform Moj, according to local media reports.

Market tracker Statista estimates that more than 362 million people in India use Instagram and 462 million more use YouTube — which rolled out Shorts, its own TikTok rival, the same year as the India ban.

That compares to a total audience of 250 million people across manifold homegrown video apps, according to estimates by Redseer Strategy Consultants published last November.

“When TikTok was banned, we were all expecting that there will probably be some other app which will come and take over,” Amiya Swarup of professional services firm EY India told AFP.

“But you know, it’s still the Instas and the YouTube Shorts which are still really ruling in terms of short-form videos.”

While that had been beneficial for their respective parent companies Meta and Google, Sheth of Monk Entertainment said some influencers had struggled to make the transition.

TikTok’s endless-scroll interface and algorithm are renowned for both matching audiences with the content they want to see and boosting niche content creators, but Sheth said its rivals require a different formula for success.

“You probably didn’t need to show personality on TikTok as much,” he said. “On a platform like Instagram, that’s not something that replicated that well.”

‘Have to be outside’: Thai delivery riders swelter in heatwave

“Our rate is low. But the more we work, the more we earn”


AFP
April 30, 2024

Thai motorbike delivery drivers are hard hit by soaring temperatures as as the country swelters through a heatwave - Copyright AFP MANAN VATSYAYANA
Watsamon TRI-YASAKDA

In Bangkok’s central Siam Square, Suriyan Wongwan sweats while he waits to collect the food that he will deliver by motorbike as Thailand bakes through a heatwave.

“I’m afraid of getting heatstroke,” the 51-year-old told AFP as the mercury hit 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit), with humidity pushing the “real feel” to a sticky 43C (109F).

Large swathes of Southeast Asia are struggling through a heatwave that has broken temperature records and forced millions of children to stay home as schools close across the region.

Experts say climate change makes heatwaves more frequent, longer and more intense, while the El Nino phenomenon is also driving this year’s exceptionally warm weather.

Among those hit hardest are workers whose jobs require them to be outdoors all day, such as the motorbike drivers who deliver food and offer taxi rides through Bangkok’s traffic-choked streets.

“My self-protection is to drink more water, so I can carry myself and not pass out,” Suriyan said.

“In hot weather like this, I drink whenever I park my bike.”

The air-conditioned malls from where he collects his deliveries offer some respite, but he also worries the rapid change in temperature risks making him sick.

Isara Sangmol is one of the city’s legion of “win motosai” — motorbike taxi drivers — and has been on the job since he was 17.

These days he drinks four or five bottles of water a day to stay hydrated — double his normal intake.

“We need to get enough sleep to work, otherwise the heat would affect our body and our health,” the 48-year-old told AFP as he sipped water from a tumbler.

He waits for customers in the early afternoon at a motorbike stand that offers some shade.

“If it gets too hot for me, I can take off my orange ‘win’ jacket (worn by motorbike taxi drivers) and go inside the mall to cool down,” he said.

He switched up his clothing for lighter fabrics that are more breathable, but driving a motorbike means he needs to wear long trousers and proper shoes.

Seksith Prasertpong has been delivering food for the Line Man app for the past two years and said the heat “makes my job harder”.

“I have to wash my face more often, go to the toilet, and drink cold water regularly,” the 38-year-old told AFP during a break.

Though the heat eases later in the day, Seksith said changing his working hours is not an option.

“Our rate is low. But the more we work, the more we earn,” he said.

He would like to see incentives for drivers during hot weather, as is currently the case during heavy downpours when delivery rates are increased.

Suriyan also thinks rates ought to be raised to reflect the difficulties of the job.

Even in the heat, “riders like me still have to work because we need money to live our daily life… especially now when everything is getting more and more expensive,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s any option to help us, because we have to be outside.”

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/have-to-be-outside-thai-delivery-riders-swelter-in-heatwave/article#ixzz8YuhvjFPG

ChatGPT faces Austria complaint over ‘uncorrectable errors’


AFP
April 30, 2024


'ChatGPT keeps hallucinating -- and not even OpenAI can stop it,' say privacy campaigners NOYB - Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

A Vienna-based privacy campaign group said Monday it would file a complaint against ChatGPT in Austria, claiming the “hallucinating” flagship AI tool has invented wrong answers that creator OpenAI cannot correct.

NOYB (“None of Your Business”) said there was no way to guarantee the programme provided accurate information. “ChatGPT keeps hallucinating — and not even OpenAI can stop it,” the group said in a statement.

The company has openly acknowledged it cannot correct inaccurate information produced by its generative AI tool and has failed to explain where the data comes from and what ChatGPT stores about individuals, said the group.

Such errors are unacceptable for information about individuals because EU law stipulates that personal data must be accurate, NOYB argued.

“If a system cannot produce accurate and transparent results, it cannot be used to generate data about individuals,” said Maartje de Graaf, data-protection lawyer at NOYB.

“The technology has to follow the legal requirements, not the other way around.”

ChatGPT “repeatedly provided incorrect information” about the birth date of NOYB founder Max Schrems “instead of telling users that it doesn’t have the necessary data”, said the group.

OpenAI refused Schrems’s request to rectify or erase the data despite it being incorrect, saying it was impossible, NOYB added.

It also “failed to adequately respond” to his request to access his personal data, again in violation of EU law, said NOYB, and the firm “seems to not even pretend that it can comply”.

OpenAI said it was “committed to protecting data privacy” in response to an AFP request for comment.

“We want our AI models to learn about the world, not individuals; we do not actively seek personal information to train our models, and we do not use publicly available information on the Internet to profile, advertise to, or target people, or to sell their data,” said an OpenAI spokesperson.

NOYB, which has emerged as a fierce critic of tech giants since its creation in 2018, said it was asking Austria’s data protection authority to investigate and fine OpenAI to bring it in line with EU law.

Bursting onto the scene in November 2022, ChatGPT sparked a frenzy among tech users dazzled by its ability to reel off dissertations, poems or translations in mere seconds.

But criticism of the technology has prompted legal action in some countries.

Italy temporarily blocked the programme in March 2023, while France’s regulatory authority began an investigation after a series of complaints.

A European working group has also been set up to improve coordination, although NOYB said it was sceptical about the authorities’ efforts to regulate AI.