AI: Workers need more protection - TUC union

Simon Jack - Business editor

Wed, July 19, 2023 

Woman in office looking at robotic arm

The UK is falling behind in protecting workers from artificial intelligence (AI), a trade union has warned.

The TUC said the UK had no plans, like the EU's AI Act, to regulate its use in hiring, firing and setting work conditions. The union has asked a taskforce to draft legal protections.

The government said it was committed to improving and upholding worker rights.

It comes as the boss of Octopus Energy told the BBC its customers prefer emails written by AI over his staff.

Business leaders are hailing the potential of AI to spur innovation, productivity and improve customer service.

But unions say they are "deeply worried" that UK employment law is not keeping pace with the AI revolution.

Mary Towers at the TUC said it had launched a taskforce to draft its own AI legal protections

Mary Towers, employment rights policy officer at the TUC said: "The types of decisions that are being made by AI are significant and life changing - for example who should get a job, how work is carried out where it's carried out."

A lack of AI specific legislation meant the UK was being left behind, she said. "For example, in the EU, they are in the process of passing an AI Act. In this country, we don't have any equivalent."

'Prefer AI to humans'

At Octopus Energy, AI is used to read, interpret and answer customer service queries. Chief executive Greg Jackson said it was doing work that would otherwise need an extra 250 people.

He said customers appeared to prefer dealing with the AI than with a human.

"An email written by our team members has a 65% satisfaction rating from customers," he said. "An email written by a by AI has an 80 or 85% satisfaction rating. And so what the AI is doing is enabling our team to do a better job of serving customers at a time of great need."

Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson said emails written by AI score higher for customer satisfaction than those written by humans

He added that a human commanding an AI to write an email "saves a lot of tedious typing".

"But we have to ensure this is all done responsibly. And we need governments and economists and businesses to be ensuring that we're doing this by enhancing and creating jobs, not replacing them."

'Better health outcomes'

AI could lead to huge breakthroughs in science and medicine according to the boss of drug giant GSK. Emma Walmsley told the BBC that the speed with which AI could process data and see patterns would revolutionise drug development.

"Biopharma is difficult. It takes sometimes a decade, billions, and it has a 90% failure rate," she said.

"But we are in the business of data at the heart of what we do. AI is helping us see things in this data faster."

She said this meant drug and vaccine discovery and development should become "more predictive and improve our probability of success".

And she said that could mean better health outcomes for hundreds of millions of people.

"One in three of us is going to be battling with dementia, there are still many cancers that don't have have solutions, infectious diseases are still causing one in six deaths in the world," she said.

Emma Walmsley at GSK said AI could help bring better health outcomes for millions

There was "no doubt" that AI would "help us unlock better solutions to these challenges", she said. "And that's got to be something worth investing in with optimism whilst regulating responsibly."

Ms Walmsley thinks improving productivity through the use of AI will create more jobs and "change some jobs quite meaningfully".

"I think some will need maybe some less headcount on but there'll be other spaces where we need a lot more," she said.

Voice artist Laurence Bouvard said AI was destroying careers

It is sometimes assumed that the creative arts will be the least affected by AI as machine learning will struggle to replicate human creativity.

But that's wrong according to actress and voice over artist Laurence Bouvard who said that AI is being used to sample, analyse and replicate human voices without paying the original artist.

"When we do a job, in order to get paid, we have to sign away all our rights," she said. "And these AI companies are just taking it without asking who it belongs to."

She said AI was a particular threat to the "army" of lesser known artists who voice cartoons, video games, dictionaries and other audio work who could see their careers totally destroyed.

"A writer and an artist and a photographer, even if their work is stolen, they can create new work. If my voice is stolen, if my career is over," she said.

'Urgent action'

AI has great power and is already changing industries and the work place. Last week the OECD said the world was "on the cusp of an AI revolution".

The Paris-based body said: "Urgent action is required to make sure AI is used responsibly and in a trustworthy way in the workplace."

With great power comes great responsibility - and it is not yet clear in the UK or internationally - who will or who should take on that responsibility.

A government spokesperson said: "AI is set to fuel growth and create new highly-paid jobs throughout the UK, while allowing us to carry out our existing jobs more efficiently and safely.

"That is why we are working with businesses and regulators to ensure AI is used safely and responsibility in business settings."

Tech-savvy UK businesses to invest in AI to replace staff and cut costs – HSBC

Anna Wise, PA Business Reporter
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Nearly a third of UK businesses which are focused on becoming more tech-savvy want to use artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to bolster their workforce and replace staff, a survey has found.

A majority of firms are targeting technology to further their growth plans, but smaller businesses who have conflicting priorities are at risk of being left behind in the race to automate, according to a survey by banking giant HSBC UK.

Some 45% of all businesses surveyed said technology was an important area of strategic focus, and a quarter planned to invest in AI and machine learning to boost efficiencies and tackle staffing and cost challenges.

British businesses are looking to better use technology to cut costs, as firms have been hit by worsening economic conditions, HSBC found in its latest survey of 500 firms.

Some 30% of businesses which are focusing on technology said they want to use automation as a labour solution. The proportion jumps to nearly half of companies who are laser-focused on growth.

It comes as more than one million job vacancies were recorded in the latest quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics. Vacancies spiked following the pandemic, driven by a rise in older workers leaving the labour market.

But job postings have been steadily dropping as companies are coming under continued cost pressures, leading recruitment activity to slow.

More than 60% of companies prioritising tech development want to use it to improve experiences for customers, the report revealed.

It comes after telecoms giant BT announced it will be shedding about 10,000 jobs by the end of the decade as it digitises and relies more on automation.

In particular, it wants customers to use its website and app for things like account servicing and upgrades, rather than relying on call centres.

BT said it wants to replace about 10,000 jobs with AI and automated services by the end of the decade (BT/PA)

However, HSBC’s survey revealed that some smaller businesses feel tech innovations are out of reach for them, while large corporations have more access to AI and automation capabilities.

Some 38% of small firms said they lacked optimism about the year ahead and were instead focused on staying afloat.

Stuart Tait, the head of UK commercial banking at HSBC, said: “We have seen a huge rise in the number of ambitious and innovative businesses keen to unlock the potential that technology can bring.

“While technology is not a cure all, it is an enabler to success; it is cause for concern that smaller businesses are struggling to engage and risk being left behind.”

Meanwhile, Hollywood actors have joined picket lines in the US amid the biggest industry strike in 60 years, with unions protesting against decisions by major studios that could see AI tools replace their roles.

Screenwriters are also striking amid fears that AI could be used to write or edit scripts.

UK

Government aims to boost AI skills with experts from private tech firms

Christopher McKeon, PA Political Reporter
Wed, July 19, 2023

The Government could pay the salaries of hundreds of private sector digital experts as it tries to improve its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data, a minister has said.

Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin said the Government would parachute experts from tech companies into Whitehall departments in a new secondment scheme designed to make the Civil Service more efficient.

In a speech at the Policy Exchange think tank on Wednesday, Mr Quin said: “I know that there are people from the best tech firms in the country who believe in public service, who want to help with the biggest challenges facing society today.

Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin said the new secondment scheme is designed to make the Civil Service more efficient (Richard Townshend/UK Parliament/PA)

“So we will create a pathway for them to join the Civil Service through a secondment and empower them to drive real, tangible change.

“We must attract and retain the best in digital talent so we can harness the power of digital, data and technology to deliver most efficiently and effectively for the public.”

Asked how the Civil Service would attract staff from tech firms, given the disparity in pay between the public and private sectors, Mr Quin said there is scope to be “flexible”, with secondees remaining on their companies’ payrolls and having their salaries recharged to the Government.

He added: “I know we’ve got a lot of good colleagues, I know a lot have come from the private sector, but this is such a fast-moving world, to have the experience of people coming in with fresh ideas straight from the private sector on a secondment basis, I think that has more to add.”

Existing civil servants could also see their pay increased if they can demonstrate particular skills.

Mr Quin said: “I’ve got no problem with paying civil servants more for being more productive.”

During his speech, the minister announced a series of other measures to improve the efficiency of the Civil Service and its digital capabilities, including using AI “confidently and responsibly”.

But he could not say how many jobs he expects to be cut from the Civil Service through greater use of AI and automation.

He said: “The jury is completely out. What we know is that AI will have a revolutionary impact on a whole range of sectors right the way across the economy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can draw an analogy in terms of ‘that means we need to have x thousand fewer people by a certain date’.”

Last month, the former head of human resources for the Civil Service told MPs that AI could see two-thirds of Whitehall jobs under threat.

Artificial intelligence: Experts propose guidelines for safe systems

Zoe Kleinman - Technology editor

BBC
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Automatic image tagging uses machine learning technology to identify the contents of an image

A global group of AI experts and data scientists has released a new voluntary framework for developing artificial intelligence products safely.

The World Ethical Data Foundation has 25,000 members including staff working at various tech giants such as Meta, Google and Samsung.

The framework contains a checklist of 84 questions for developers to consider at the start of an AI project.

The Foundation is also inviting the public to submit their own questions.

It says they will all be considered at its next annual conference.

The framework has been released in the form of an open letter, seemingly the preferred format of the AI community. It has hundreds of signatories.

AI lets a computer act and respond almost as if it were human.

Computers can be fed huge amounts of information and trained to identify the patterns in it, in order to make predictions, solve problems, and even learn from their own mistakes.

As well as data, AI relies on algorithms - lists of rules which must be followed in the correct order to complete a task.

What is AI, is it dangerous and what jobs are at risk?

The Foundation was launched in 2018 and is a non-profit global group bringing together people working in tech and academia to look at the development of new technologies.

Its questions for developers include how they will prevent an AI product from incorporating bias, and how they would deal with a situation in which the result generated by a tool results in law-breaking.

This week shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the Labour Party would criminalise those who deliberately use AI tools for terrorist purposes.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has appointed Ian Hogarth, a tech entrepreneur and AI investor to lead an AI taskforce. Mr Hogarth told me this week he wanted "to better understand the risks associated with these frontier AI systems" and hold the companies who develop them accountable.

Other considerations in the framework include the data protection laws of various territories, whether it is clear to a user that they are interacting with AI, and whether human workers who input or tag data used to train the product were treated fairly.

The full list is divided into three chapters: questions for individual developers, questions for a team to consider together, and questions for people testing the product.

Some of the 84 questions are as follows:

Do I feel rushed or pressured to input data from questionable sources?

Is the team of people who are working on selecting the training data from a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences to help reduce the bias in the data selection?

What is the intended use of the model once it is trained?

"We're in this kind of wild west stage"

"We're in this Wild West stage, where it's just kind of: 'Chuck it out in the open and see how it goes'." said Vince Lynch, founder of the firm IV.AI and advisor to the World Ethical Data Foundation board. He came up with the idea for the framework.

"And now those cracks that are in the foundations are becoming more apparent, as people are having conversations about intellectual property, how human rights are considered in relation to AI and what they're doing."

If, for example, a model has been trained using some data that is copyright protected, it's not an option to just strip it out - the entire model may have to be trained again.

"That can cost hundreds of millions of dollars sometimes. It is incredibly expensive to get it wrong," Mr Lynch said.

Other voluntary frameworks for the safe development of AI have been proposed.

Margarethe Vestager, the EU's Competition Commissioner, is spearheading EU efforts to create a voluntary code of conduct with the US government, which would see companies using or developing AI sign up to a set of standards that are not legally binding.

Willo is a Glasgow-based recruitment platform which has recently launched an AI tool to go with its service.

The firm said it took three years to collect sufficient data to build it.

Co-founder Andrew Wood said at one point the firm chose to pause its development in response to ethical concerns raised by its customers.

"We're not using our AI capabilities to do any decision making. The decision making is solely left with the employer," he said.

"There are certain areas where AI is really applicable, for example, scheduling interviews... but making the decision on whether to move forward [with hiring a candidate] or not, that's always going to be left to the human as far as we're concerned."

Co-founder Euan Cameron said that transparency to users was for him an important section of the Foundation framework.

"If anyone's using AI, you can't sneak it through the backdoor and pretend it was a human who created that content," he said.

"It needs to be clear it was done by AI technology. That really stood out to me."

Follow Zoe Kleinman on Twitter @zsk.

Gen Z workers at a medical company are automating tedious jobs and dramatically boosting productivity, exec says

How Gen Z will change the workplace, according to LinkedIn's CMO

Jesse will be 30% of the workforce by 2030 as employees

Beatrice Nolan
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Gen Z is making its mark on the workplace.Maskot/Getty Images

Some Gen Z workers are making AI work for them.

A director at VEM Medical told the BBC that Gen Z workers were boosting productivity with AI.

Derrick Hathaway said young workers were automating tedious jobs and optimizing workflows.

Some Gen Z workers are capitalizing on the rise of generative AI.

Derrick Hathaway, sales director at VEM Medical, told the BBC that Gen Z workers were giving the medical device maker a welcome productivity boost by using AI-powered tools.

He told the outlet: "Young employees' ability to use AI technology to automate tedious jobs and optimize workflows has grown our productivity dramatically."

Representatives for VEM Medical did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

The remarks come amid concerns that junior positions usually held by young workers entering the workforce are at risk of being lost to increasingly sophisticated AI.

Companies haven't been shy about their excitement around the new tech and many are incorporating AI-powered tools into workflows. CEOs are also starting to be more open about their plans to scale back hiring in favor of AI.

At the same time, the long-projected job losses to AI automation are here for some workers. Employees have begun speaking out about their suspicions, or in some cases direct knowledge, that ChatGPT cost them work.

This trend is worrying young employees in the workforce. In a recent survey by job site ZipRecruiter, 76% of Gen Zers indicated they were concerned about losing their jobs to AI-powered tools like ChatGPT.

On the flip side, Gen Z is also well-placed to capitalize on the AI boom. Known for being the most technological-savvy generation, young workers can also boost their employability by leveraging generative AI skills.

Extreme weather: the climate crisis in four         TWO charts

Josh Nicholas
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The climate crisis is moving into uncharted territory as much of the northern hemisphere endures a blistering heatwave, many countries are deluged with rain, sea surface temperatures reach new heights, and Antarctic sea ice new lows. A number of climate records – some unofficial – have tumbled in recent weeks.

Many factors have combined for this to happen, including climate change but also the El Niño weather event, and the northern hemisphere summer.

“The northern hemisphere has a lot more land, it means this time of year just tends to be hotter globally than in southern hemisphere’s summer,” says Dr Kim Reid from Monash University.

“And so this combination of this background warming from global warming, El Niño and the fact that it’s the hottest time of the year for the globe means that we’re just seeing all these records tumbling, all at once.”

While the UN’s World Meteorological Organization and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have both declared a Niño is in place, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology has so far held back from declaring one, saying the atmosphere is not yet giving the typical signals.

Related: This heatwave is a climate omen. But it’s not too late to change course | Michael E Mann and Susan Joy Hassol

The record for global average temperature has been broken a couple of times in the past few weeks, according to a model of average air temperatures at two metres, created by the NOAA. Although, as this data is derived from a model and not direct observation, it is not an “official” climate record.

The model is based on observational data from weather stations, balloons, satellites and other sources and allows climate scientists to get an idea of the temperature over a wider area and create an average for the entire globe.

The chart above shows the global average derived from the model, but maps also show the positive temperature anomalies – the difference between current temperatures and the long-run average – spread across much of the Earth’s surface in June.

Interactive

Even as the air temperatures have been elevated, the NOAA models show sea surface temperatures are also higher than in recent decades. Monthly data shows that the temperature anomaly has been positive and on an upward trend for decades.

The ocean stores a lot of the excess heat from global heating – up to 90% in recent decades.

“Because we’ve had La Niña the last few years, a lot of the heat has gone into the ocean,” Reid says. “It’s sort of been hidden from us at the surface for a bit. And now as we’ve flipped from La Niña into El Niño, a lot of this ocean heat is now rising up to the surface.”

Interactive

While the air and sea surface are seeing greater than average heat, new records are being set for sea ice in Antarctica – for how little there is. The lack of sea ice extent is continuing a trend – a new record has been set several times over the past few years.

Satellite data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that not only is 2023 a significant outlier, 2022 ended with some of the lowest sea ice extents on record. But the gap to the long-run average for this time of year appears to be getting larger.

”
But Reid warns that the Earth – the climate – is a complex system, with many moving parts. What is happening to sea ice in Antarctica, for instance, also has to do with winds, storms and pressure systems.

“We’ve got, of course, the background climate change, we’ve got the seasonality, the fact that it’s summer, the fact that it’s now El Niño, and then there’s also what we call effects from aerosols. So these are tiny particles like sulphur dust, sea salt, that can reflect incoming solar radiation. And [all this] can control the planet’s temperature.”

This long-running lawsuit is the latest dispute over Oklahoma tribal relations

Molly Young, Oklahoman
Tue, July 18, 2023 

Oklahoma's tribal gaming industry paid the state $200 million in exclusivity fees over the last year ending in April. A central agreement between the state and tribes, known as the model gaming compact, spells out how much tribal gaming operations must pay in exchange for exclusive gaming rights in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond wants to take the lead in representing the state in a long-running tribal gaming lawsuit. But Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office says he has no plans to hand over the reins.

Drummond called defending the federal suit a “waste of state resources” and asked for approval to enter the ring and end the case in a June 16 letter to legislative leaders. Stitt’s general counsel told lawmakers in his own July 11 letter that Drummond has no standing.

The legal dispute is the latest clash among Oklahoma’s top elected officials over tribal relations.

Stitt has had rocky relationships with many tribal governments since 2019, when he challenged the central state-tribal gaming compact as unfair. Drummond took office in January and has often split from Stitt on key issues involving tribes, which he has described as economic engines for the state.

Both contend their approach to the federal lawsuit is what’s best for Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in June that he has spent many hours meeting with tribal leaders during the first months of his four-year term, which started in January.

More: Oklahoma tribes urge lawmakers to override governor's latest veto
What to know about the case, and the gaming compacts in Oklahoma

The case currently centers on the legal standing of standalone gaming compacts the governor negotiated with the Comanche and Otoe-Missouria nations. Four other tribes with sizable gaming arms — the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Citizen Potawatomi nations — sued in 2020 to stop the agreements from taking effect outside the model gaming compact.

The model gaming compact sets the framework for Las Vegas-style gaming in Oklahoma and gives tribes exclusive rights to operate those facilities in exchange for paying the state a specific cut of revenues. Oklahoma collected $200 million through the agreement from May 2022 through April.

Oklahoma’s highest court ruled the outside compacts signed by Stitt were invalid. Federal gaming regulators did not directly reject the deals, though, which has prompted the legal fight over their future.

The governor clearly acted outside state law when he signed the deals on behalf of the state, Drummond said in his letter. “The Oklahoma Legislature did not approve of or authorize Governor Stitt to bind Oklahoma to these compacts,” Drummond wrote.

His letter to lawmakers was first reported by the online news outlet NonDoc and later provided to The Oklahoman by the attorney general’s office. It was addressed to House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat. Drummond wrote that he believed legislative sign-off would give him the strongest argument to enter the case on Oklahoma’s behalf.

More: A law pressured tribes to give up land in 1898. It doesn't give Tulsa power today, court rules

McCall replied June 26, saying the attorney general already has the power needed to enter the case. “If you, as attorney general, deem it in the best interest of the state of Oklahoma for you to intercede in this litigation, then I and the citizens would expect you to do so,” McCall wrote. “The House will not interfere in that decision.”

A spokesperson for Treat said he is still reviewing the attorney general’s letter, as well as the July 11 response from Stitt’s attorney, Trevor Pemberton.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt sought to rework the model state-tribal gaming compact in 2019. Courts overruled his effort, but are still sorting out the future of separate deals he signed with some tribes.

Oklahoma’s attorney general cannot “unilaterally assume representation of the governor,” Pemberton wrote. He said professional conduct rules and legal precedence bar Drummond from doing so.

“The Oklahoma Supreme Court long ago made clear that, where the governor and the attorney general are at odds over a litigation objective, the governor’s decision prevails under the state’s constitutional framework,” Pemberton wrote in the letter, which the governor’s office provided to The Oklahoman. A spokesperson for the governor declined to comment further on the legal dispute.

More: McGirt v. Oklahoma, 3 years later: How police work on the Muscogee Nation reservation

In his letter, Pemberton pushed back against Drummond’s description of the lawsuit as protracted, noting that the tribal nations who sued could end the proceedings by dropping the case. He also contested Drummond’s assertion that the governor has hired “several Washington, D.C. and New York City law firms” to defend the case.

Pemberton said one such law firm is now leading the case with help from lawyers from a second law firm in Oklahoma City. Court records show the local firm is Ryan Whaley.

In response to Pemberton’s letter, Drummond said he is not trying to represent Stitt, but the state, to end a costly legal fight. “The Oklahoma Supreme Court has issued two opinions that make it clear the governor had no authority to enter into the compacts he is seeking to enforce,” the attorney general’s office said in a written statement.

Drummond has not said if he will move to enter the case without the formal legislative approval he requested. A spokesperson for McCall said his stance is unchanged after receiving Pemberton’s letter.

A different compact dispute is front and center for lawmakers. The Legislature passed a pair of bills in May to renew the state’s tobacco and car tag compacts with tribal nations through 2024. Stitt vetoed the measures in June. The Senate’s first veto override vote failed. Senators plan to vote again July 24.

More: What tribal leaders in Oklahoma are saying about a key Supreme Court decision

Molly Young covers Indigenous affairs. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Gaming lawsuit ignites disagreement over tribal relations in Oklahoma

An investigation into a 'staggering' and 'unconscionable' scheme against Oklahomans


Ben Felder, Oklahoman
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Attorney General Gentner Drummond speaks Tuesday during a news conference at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says he is prepared to file the largest lawsuit in state history to recoup billions of dollars in natural gas costs from a 2021 winter storm, which left Oklahoma ratepayers with significantly higher utility bills.

Drummond announced Tuesday he is soliciting bids for outside legal help in pursuing the case.

An initial investigation found no wrongdoing by oil and gas firms and utility companies like Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., Drummond said.

Instead, he accused natural gas marketers of reducing supply as demand rose to combat frigid temperatures, resulting in a cost spike.

“Several companies reaped billions of dollars at the expense of Oklahoma families and businesses,” Drummond said during a news conference at the state Capitol. “The magnitude of this scheme is staggering and unconscionable. The conduct in question is well outside the parameters and boundaries of ordinary capitalism.”

Crews work Feb. 17, 2021, to clear snow from the parking lot of the The Market at Czech Hall in Oklahoma City.

Drummond would not name any potential lawsuit targets but said most are based outside the state.

Dozens of providers sold natural gas to Oklahoma utilities. Last year, the Public Utility Division of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission released the list of vendors the utilities did business with during Winter Storm Uri, which brought record-low temperatures in February 2021, resulting in more than $3 billion in higher natural gas costs.

More: Who got paid during the February 2021 storm? More than 65 Oklahoma companies split a $3 billion+ pot

To avoid customer bills increasing by hundreds if not thousands of dollars, state officials allowed utility companies to use state-backed bonds to pay off the high costs and recoup that money from customers over the next two decades.

State officials, utility companies and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, said using state bonds was the most logical response.

But Oklahomans still expressed frustration at higher utility bills and an energy sector that appeared to be caught flat-footed during an era of climate change-caused extreme weather.

Snow covers rooftops Feb. 17, 2021, in Oklahoma City.

“The companies who reaped billions of dollars on the backs (of) hard-working Oklahomans must be held accountable," AARP Oklahoma State Director Sean Voskuhl said Tuesday. "Oklahoma utility customers want action to be taken against the companies who bilked customers out of billions of dollars in a matter of days during Winter Storm Uri and further demand the recovered funds are returned to customers immediately.”

Corporation Commissioner Kim David, elected last year to the three-person board, praised Drummond for not holding liable oil and gas companies, which contribute millions in campaign donations to corporation commissioners.

More: Energy firms help fund candidates seeking to regulate Oklahoma's oil and gas sector

“I am thankful for confirmation that no wrong-doing was done by the Corporation Commission, Oklahoma’s regulated utilities, or the producers of oil and gas," David said in a statement.

A man walks along NW 164 as an Oklahoma City Public Works truck plowing snow approaches Feb. 17, 2021, in northwest Oklahoma City.

David also said she hoped a lawsuit would result in overpayments being "returned to Oklahoma ratepayers.”

Bob Anthony, a longtime commissioner who has been critical of the state's response to the high storm costs, said he welcomed Drummond's investigation but felt more should have been done years ago.

"Although I greatly appreciate the attorney general's willingness to investigate and perhaps even prosecute market manipulators who profited billions on the backs of Oklahoma utility customers, the A.G.'s efforts come two years late because the Oklahoma Corporation Commission refused to do its duty and protect ratepayers from fraud and market manipulation," Anthony said in a statement.

The state of Kansas filed a lawsuit earlier this year against a natural gas company it accused of manipulating the market during Winter Storm Uri.

Vehicles travel west Feb. 14, 2021, along the John Kilpatrick Turnpike during a winter storm in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma’s attorney general office has more than 120 attorneys, including consumer protection experts. But Drummond said his office needs to contract with outside attorneys with even more expertise.

Drummond said legal fees will be “capped at a reasonable amount.”

Drummond would not speculate on a timeline or predict when a lawsuit would be filed. But he said his first six months in office should prove he acts quickly.

Drummond was elected last year after beating the Republican incumbent who Gov. Kevin Stitt had selected to fill the open seat.

A person uses a snowblower Feb. 17, 2021, to clear their driveway in Yukon.

Drummond, also a Republican, already has announced several investigations into financial mismanagement within the governor’s office and involving state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma attorney general will target companies who hiked prices in winter storm

Oklahoma Considers Natural Gas Manipulation Case Over 2021 Storm

Rachel Adams-Heard
Tue, July 18, 2023 


(Bloomberg) -- Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond may bring a natural gas market manipulation case related to the 2021 winter storm that drove energy prices to record highs and left millions of people in the dark.

Drummond held a news conference on Tuesday morning in Oklahoma City and said he plans to retain outside counsel to pursue a possible lawsuit. He indicated that natural gas marketers are a likely target.

“It will probably be the most significant lawsuit filed by the state of Oklahoma in its history,” Drummond said. “Broadly, there are no parameters on the scope of the investigation.”

After Kansas became the first state to file a lawsuit alleging natural gas market manipulation during Winter Storm Uri, Drummond announced in March that he was reviewing whether similar circumstances existed in Oklahoma. In the Kansas case, state Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office is accusing Macquarie Energy LLC of buying next-day gas at a key midcontinent hub at “irrational” prices during the storm — a move the suit says artificially inflated prices by “hundreds of dollars” per million British thermal units. The case was moved from a state district court to a federal court in May.

 Kansas AG Says Macquarie Rigged Gas Market During 2021 Freeze

When asked whether Macquarie would be involved in the Oklahoma case, Drummond said that “generally, most of the companies that manipulated the marketing price are outside Oklahoma.”

“If you follow the data, it appears as thought there was a short squeeze,” Drummond said. “Certainly, natural gas marketers could do it again, and I will sue them.”

Macquarie has previously said it doesn’t comment on active litigation.

Drummond, a Republican who took office earlier this year, is Oklahoma’s third attorney general since Uri. Mike Hunter, who held the position during the storm, announced an investigation in the days after natural gas prices soared to all-time highs. He abruptly resigned just a few months later and was replaced by John O’Connor, who warned he would file multiple lawsuits against oil and gas companies, but later walked that back.

Following the storm, Oklahoma paved the way for utilities to issue billions in ratepayer-backed bonds in order to spread out the costs incurred due to all-time high energy prices. Drummond said Tuesday that if a lawsuit is successful he would work to make sure any recovery is seen by consumers. He also noted that the bonds include so-called claw back provisions.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s facing an impeachment trial, also announced an investigation into potential natural gas market manipulation following the storm, but hasn’t brought a case. On Tuesday, Drummond said he would be “happy to partner” with his counterparts in Texas and Kansas.

“I am aware of what Texas and Kansas are doing,” he said. “I think that we will do it better.”

New small nuclear reactor in Eastern WA to create energy, jobs by 2030

Annette Cary
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Energy Northwest has signed an agreement with the goal of having an advanced small nuclear reactor producing power in Eastern Washington by the end of 2030.

It could potentially deploy as many as 12 Xe-100 reactors, together capable of generating up to 960 megawatts of electricity, Energy Northwest said in an announcement Wednesday of a joint development agreement with X-energy Reactor Co.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., praised the planned project, saying that advanced nuclear technology is “bringing next-generation development to the marketplace, strengthening our nation’s energy security and providing economic security for businesses in the Tri-Cities and beyond.”

Energy Northwest has operated the Columbia Generating Station, the Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant, about 10 miles north of Richland since 1984. The plant produces 1,207 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power about 1 million homes.

The new reactors would be on leased land at a site adjacent to Columbia Generating Station. It is on land at the Hanford nuclear reservation that was not used by the federal government for weapons work.

Columbia Generating Station, owned and operated by Energy Northwest, is a boiling water nuclear power reactor located about 10 miles north of Richland, Washington.

“As the Northwest region of the United States pursues a future clean energy grid, it is clear it will need new sources of dependable, carbon-free power,” said Bob Schuetz, chief executive of Energy Northwest.

X-energy announced in April 2021 that it would work with Energy Northwest and Grant County PUD to develop, build and operate an 80-megawatt reactor near Richland. It was proposed as the first Xe-100 reactor in the nation.

But in March 2023 X-energy said would instead work with Dow to demonstrate its first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor in North America at one of Dow’s U.S. Gulf Coast sites.

It has since announced that Dow will use the reactor at its UCC Seadrift Operations site in Texas, where basic and specialty chemical products are made.

The joint development agreement with Energy Northwest would make Washington the second location in North America with an Xe-100 reactor project.

“Energy Northwest is a leader in building the clean energy grid, and the advancement of our partnership is expected to help meet growing commercial and household demand for reliable carbon-free energy across the state of Washington,” said J. Clay Sell, chief executive of X-energy.

“Energy Northwest’s experience as a leading nuclear operator in the region uniquely positions it to showcase the benefits and scalability of advanced nuclear,” he said.
Backing up intermittent clean energy

Each Xe-100 module can provide 80 megawatts of full-time electricity or 200 megawatts of high-temperature steam for large regional electricity providers or industrial manufacturing systems.

Module components can be manufactured and construction done offsite.

The modules could then be shipped by truck, with electricity production scaled up as needed by adding additional modules. The standardized construction is intended to save time and to provide more predictable and manageable construction costs.

The smaller size of the nuclear power modules and the ability to quickly ramp up and down would complement intermittent renewable resources, such as wind and solar, that rely on weather conditions to generate power,

X-energy says it has a simple design for the high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor with meltdown-proof “walk-away” safety. Its fuel will withstand temperatures about four times greater than conventional nuclear fuel, it said.

“Energy Northwest’s mission is to provide the region with clean, reliable and affordable electricity, and X-energy’s innovative advanced reactor technology will be a valuable addition to our existing portfolio of carbon-free electric generating resources,” Schuetz said.

In addition to the Columbia Generating Station, Energy Northwest owns and operates hydroelectric, solar, battery storage and wind projects.

In 2021 the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program awarded X-energy $1.2 billion in cost-sharing funding to develop, license, build and demonstrate an advance reactor and fuel fabrication facility by the end of the decade.

X-energy plans to bring what it learns on that project in Texas to Washington state.

Why Washington state?

Sell said in 2021 that a critical element in X-energy interest in the Tri-Cities area was the way the market in Washington state is being shaped by the Clean Energy Transformation Act. The act commits the state’s electric utilities to fully transition to clean, renewable and non-emitting resources by 2045.

He also likes the Tri-Cities support for nuclear energy.

“This community knows about nuclear power. This community has a proud tradition,” he said in 2021.

Work to bring more jobs related to nuclear power to the Tri-Cities area also was good news for union workers.

“Today’s historic announcement between Energy Northwest and X-energy will not only secure Washington’s ability to provide clean, affordable and dispatchable energy throughout our region, but will supply job opportunities for hundreds of our members and their families,” said Nickolas Bumpaous, president of the Central Washington Building and Construction Trades Union.

Energy Northwest now employs about 1,000 workers.

'Breakthrough' geothermal tech produces 3.5 megawatts of carbon-free power

Fervo Energy's Nevada site is slated to power Google data centers.


Fervo Energy


Kris Holt
·Contributing Reporter
Tue, July 18, 2023

Fervo Energy says it has achieved a breakthrough in geothermal technology. It carried out a 30-day well test at its site in northern Nevada and says it was able to achieve a "flowrate of 63 liters per second at high temperature that enables 3.5 megawatts of electric production." The company says the test resulted in flow and power output records for an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) and that it was completed without incident.

A megawatt can power around 750 homes at once. Fervo is expected to connect its Project Red site to the grid this year. It will be used to power Google data centers and some of the company's other Nevada infrastructure. Google and Fervo signed an agreement in 2021 to develop a "next-generation geothermal power project."

This is the first time an energy company has shown that an EGS can work on a commercial scale, according to Bloomberg. It's been a long road to reach this point, as scientists have been trying to make EGS a reality since the 1970s.

For a natural geothermal system to produce electricity, it needs a combination of heat, fluid and rock permeability, as Bloomberg notes. In many areas, the rock has the required levels of heat, but not enough permeability for fluid to flow through it.

An EGS creates this permeability artificially by drilling deep underground and injecting fluid to create fractures in the rock. That approach can vastly increase the number of potential sites for a geothermal power plant.

Fervo says it's the first company to "successfully drill a horizontal well pair for commercial geothermal production, achieving lateral lengths of 3,250 feet, reaching a temperature of 191°C, and proving controlled flow through rigorous tracer testing."

One of the major advantages of geothermal power plants is that they're entirely carbon free — Google aims to run all of its offices and data centers on carbon-free energy by 2030. These plants can also operate at any time (unlike solar and wind), making geothermal energy a compelling source of renewable power. However, cost reductions and regulatory red tape are barriers to making EGS more broadly available, according to Fervo CEO Tim Latimer.

The company is hoping to replicate its success at a site in Utah. If Fervo sees similar results there and it successfully implements design upgrades to maximize output, the site is expected to generate enough electricity to power 300,000 homes simultaneously, Latimer said. That's around a quarter of all homes in Utah.

“Achieving our goal of operating on 24/7 carbon-free energy will require new sources of firm, clean power to complement variable renewables like wind and solar,” Michael Terrell, Google's senior director for energy and climate, said in a statement. “We partnered with Fervo in 2021 because we see significant potential for their geothermal technology to unlock a critical source of 24/7 carbon-free energy at scale, and we are thrilled to see Fervo reach this important technical milestone.”

500-year-old gold coins discovered in a German monastery were 'hastily hidden' during a 'dangerous situation'

Jennifer Nalewicki
Tue, July 18, 2023

A person wearing gloves holds a gold coin.

Archaeologists in Germany have uncovered a handful of 500-year-old gold coins buried among the ruins of a medieval monastery.

Known as Himmelpforten, the Augustinian Hermit monastery housed monks from its founding in 1253 into the 16th century. The archaeologists think the four coins were "hastily hidden" by one of the monks in 1525 during an uprising in which farmers stormed the monastery in Wernigerode, a town in central Germany, according to a translated article in Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper.

"The gold coins were of great value, and the small fortune was probably hidden by a monk in an acutely dangerous situation," Felix Biermann, a project manager and archaeologist from the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology, told Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. "It didn't end well because the coins couldn't be recovered."

Related: Massive hoard of Roman-era silver coins unearthed in Germany

Classified as guilders (guldens), a type of currency used during the Holy Roman Empire, the coins include one that was minted in Frankfurt before 1493, during the reign of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III; another coin minted in Schwabach, outside Nuremberg, sometime between 1486 and 1495; and two coins produced in Bonn by the Archdiocese of Cologne around 1480, according to Newsweek.

In addition to the coins, researchers discovered an array of artifacts, including brass book clasps from the monastery's library, ceramics, animal bones, a cavalry spur and lead seals that were used to stamp cloth for commerce, all of which provide insight into the large-scale trade and prosperity of the monastery, according to Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

All that remains of the monastery itself is the foundations of some buildings, including the main chapel and refectory where the monks would have dined.

A man unearthed 700 gold coins in a Kentucky cornfield. It could confirm a long-held theory about how Southerners protected their treasure during the Civil War.

Erin McDowell
Wed, July 19, 2023

A man recently found a treasure trove of gold coins in a Kentucky cornfield.

Certified Collectibles Group; Brian Koellish/Getty Images

An unidentified man found a treasure trove of gold coins in a Kentucky cornfield.


The coins, which were minted before or during the Civil War, could be worth more than $1 million.


Urban legends have circulated for years about treasure buried before and during the Civil War.

An unidentified man recently found a treasure trove of more than 700 gold coins — believed to be worth more than $1 million — in a Kentucky cornfield.

According to The New York Times, the discovery apparently confirms a long-held belief by treasure hunters that Southerners buried valuables before and during the Civil War to protect it from invading armies.

The finding, which is now being referred to as the Great Kentucky Hoard, includes genuine $1, $10, and $20 gold coins minted before and during the Civil War.
Urban legends have circulated for years about treasure buried before and during the Civil War

According to Live Science, Ryan McNutt, a conflict archaeologist at Georgia Southern University, said that the coins might have been buried before a Confederate raid carried out by General John Hunt Morgan in the summer of 1863.

At the time, Kentucky was declared a neutral state. Citizens were reportedly wary of their funds being stolen by the Confederacy, which led some to believe people may have buried their wealth in the ground for safekeeping.

Since the 19th century, treasure hunters have sought to unearth the gold they believe was hidden in the Civil War. The New York Times shared archival reports describing how people unearthed gold in Georgia in 1884, and in Alabama and Tennessee in 1926.

Dennis Parada, right, and his son stand at the site of the FBI's dig for cvil war-era gold in Dents Run, Pennsylvania, in September 2018

AP Photo/Michael Rubinkam

In 2018, a US treasure hunter accused the FBI of covering up a possible discovery of Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania. According to The New York Times, the FBI was investigating the rural area of Dents Run, Pennsylvania, where "a trove of lost Civil War gold" was rumored to have been located. CBS reported that according to local lore, an 1863 shipment of Union gold disappeared on its way to the US Mint office in Philadelphia.

However, the FBI asserted that the 2018 dig came up empty, leading the rumors of buried Civil War gold to remain just that: rumors. According to CBS, a court-ordered release of government photos, videos, maps, and other documents appeared to confirm the FBI's claim.

The Kentucky coins have already sold, and the entire collection could rake in more than $1 million

A coin from the Great Kentucky Hoard.

Courtesy of Certified Collectibles Group

Surprisingly, despite reportedly being buried in the ground for 160 years, nearly all of the coins are in mint condition. A single gold dollar from the collection was valued at roughly $1,000.

One type of coin in the collection, a gold Liberty double-eagles coin minted in 1863, could be worth anywhere from a few thousand dollars to up to over $380,000 at auction, depending on their condition and when they were minted, according to The New York Times.

The total confirmed value of the hoard is unknown, but the Times estimates it could be worth upwards of $1 million given the number of high-value coins found.

The exact location where the coins were found, as well as who found them, has not been shared publicly. However, a video shows the moment when the unidentified man made the historic discovery.

In a short clip posted to YouTube by GovMint, the coin dealer charged with selling the coins, a man could be heard identifying how many coins he had dug up, calling it "the most insane thing ever."

"This is what every treasure hunter dreams about and this man lives it," one commenter wrote.

NO CHARIOT FOUND

3,000-year-old untouched burial of 'charioteer' discovered in Siberia

Tom Metcalfe
Tue, July 18, 2023 

We see a skeleton in a dirt burial. There is a bronze bar with hooked ends across the skeleton's waist and a bowl to the upper right.

Archaeologists in Siberia have discovered the untouched 3,000-year-old grave of a person thought to be a charioteer — indicating for the first time that horse-drawn chariots were used in the region.

The skeletal remains were interred with a distinctive hooked metal attachment for a belt, which allowed drivers of horse-drawn chariots to tie their reins to their waists and free their hands. This type of artifact has also been found in Chinese and Mongolian graves.

Aleksey Timoshchenko, an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Live Science in an email that the object was found in its original placement at the waist of the person in the undisturbed grave.

A bird's-eye view of a grassy field that has exposed brown dirt with graves where the archaeologists excavated.

"This fact, along with direct analogies in burial mounds of China, allows us to determine their purpose a little more confidently," he said.


Timoshchenko led the latest expedition to the Askizsky region of Khakassia in Siberia, where Russian archaeologists have already spent several years excavating areas ahead of the expansion of a railway. The team discovered the charioteer burial and other graves this month near the village of Kamyshta.

Related: 2,700-year-old leather saddle found in woman's tomb in China is oldest on record

Unknown object

An aerial view of the charioteers burial, which is surrounded by a square perimeter of stones.

Oleg Mitko, an archaeologist at Novosibirsk State University in Russia who's a consultant for the finds but not an expedition member, said objects like the "charioteer's belt" had been found before but not understood.

"For a long time in Russian archaeology this was called a PNN — an 'item of unknown purpose,'" he told Live Science in an email. But recent discoveries of Bronze Age charioteer burials in China, along with the remains of chariots and horses, indicated that "this object is an accessory for a chariot."

No chariots had been found in Siberian burials, he said, and the hooked bronze belt plate may have been placed in the Late Bronze Age grave as a symbolic substitute.

We see a skeleton on the ground with a bowl to the upper right of the skull.

Burial mound

The tomb of the "charioteer" was found among graves dated to about 3,000 years ago during the time of the Lugav culture, according to a translated statement. The burial consisted of an earthen mound heaped over a roughly square stone tomb; a bronze knife, bronze jewelry and the distinctive belt part were among the grave goods.

Timoshchenko said the Bronze Age people of the Lugav culture were mainly engaged in cattle breeding and were replaced in the region in about the eighth century B.C., during the Early Iron Age, by Scythian people of the Tagar culture.

According to the statement, the latest excavations unearthed burials from three Bronze Age phases in the region: the earliest from about the 11th century B.C., as the Karasuk culture transitioned into the Lugav culture; a second, with the charioteer, from the Lugav culture itself; and a third after the eighth century B.C., from the early Bainov stage of the Tagar culture.

Stability AI CEO Says Most Coders in India Will Lose Jobs Within a Year or Two

Robert Carnevale
Tue, July 18, 2023


Indian coders’ days are numbered, the CEO of Stability AI Emad Mostaque says. Based on his estimate, most outsourced coders in the country will be out of a job within a year or two as artificial intelligence allows for far greater work to be done by fewer people. That reality coupled with the nation lacking the protective labor laws of certain other countries means Indian coders are likely to be in a tricky situation relatively soon.

Mostaque highlighted the impact AI will have on coders Level 3 and under, citing their skill level and type of job as being key reasons why artificial intelligence is coming for them specifically. “If you’re doing a job in front of a computer, and no one ever sees you, then [AI is] massively impactful, because these models are like really talented grads,” Mostaque said, sharing his thoughts in a call with UBS analysts, as reported by CNBC.

Meanwhile, Mostaque acknowledged that countries with heavily pro-worker labor laws, like France, will not see these sorts of shakeups since the workers are legally protected from such situations. With that said, he still predicted that there will be no more traditional coders in five years’ time.

Also Read:
FTC to Investigate ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Over Consumer Harm

Reps for Stability AI told TheWrap they had nothing to further to add to CNBC’s report.

Stability’s CEO isn’t the only one feeling that artificial intelligence is the wave of the future and could disrupt certain sectors. Disney CEO Bob Iger is also bullish on AI and has his legal teams working overtime to figure out how they can effectively incorporate artificial intelligence into Disney’s operations.

Furthermore, the CEO of U.K. energy supplier Octopus Energy, Greg Jackson, has been incorporating AI into his company’s customer service department and it’s been doing the jobs of hundreds of employees all with better customer satisfaction rankings than the company’s human workers. While layoffs were not likely for Octopus Energy’s staff as a result of AI’s successes, that may not be the case for workers of other companies, as evidenced by Mostaque’s forecast for Indian coders.

Also Read:
Bob Iger Is ‘Bullish’ on AI Prospects at Disney: ‘Our Legal Team Is Working Overtime’

A top AI expert says most outsourced coders in India will be out of a job in 2 years thanks to the technology


Kai Xiang Teo
Tue, July 18, 2023 


Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque thinks AI will eliminate most outsourced coding jobs in India.


This isn't the first time he made such a bold call.


He previously said AI would make most programmers obsolete in 5 years.

AI will soon eliminate most outsourced coding jobs in India as the technology will drastically reduce the need for them, according to a leading AI expert.

India's "outsourced coders up to level three programmers will be gone in the next year or two, whereas in France, you'll never fire a developer," Emad Mostaque, the CEO of Stability AI, said in a call with UBS analysts, attributing these differences to better workers' protections in France.

The comments were reported by CNBC on Tuesday.

There are about five million coders based in India, according to an April 17 Bloomberg report.

This isn't Mostaque's first bold claim about AI. In an interview on the Moonshots and Mindsets podcast posted on June 29, Mostaque — whose company created Stable Diffusion, a tool that transforms text into AI-generated art — predicted AI could replace most programmers in five years.

He later caveated his comment saying he was specifically referring to traditional coders.

Tech jobs are one of the professions most likely to be replaced by AI, Insider's Aaron Mok and Jacob Zinkula previously reported.

But not everyone shares Mostaque's pessimism.

GitHub's CEO Thomas Dohnke told Computer Weekly last year that AI could help developers be more productive. "It's so much more attractive to have an AI assistant with you, instead of reading stacks of books or wiki articles."

Additionally, workers with AI skills stand to gain as the tech industry is placing a greater focus on talent in this area, Insider's Thomas Maxwell reported.

Emad Mostaque did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.