Year: 2024

In Big Election Year, A.I.’s Architects Move Against Its Misuse
16
Feb
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By William Lee
Technology

In Big Election Year, A.I.’s Architects Move Against Its Misuse

Artificial intelligence companies have been at the vanguard of developing the transformative technology. Now they are also racing to set limits on how A.I. is used in a year stacked with major elections around the world.Last month, OpenAI, the maker of the ChatGPT chatbot, said it was working to prevent abuse of its tools in elections, partly by forbidding their use to create chatbots that pretend to be real people or institutions. In recent weeks, Google also said it would limit its A.I. chatbot, Bard, from responding to certain election-related prompts to avoid inaccuracies. And Meta, which owns Facebook and…
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Amazon Argues National Labor Relations Board Is Unconstitutional
16
Feb
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By William Lee
Business

Amazon Argues National Labor Relations Board Is Unconstitutional

In the latest sign of a growing backlash within corporate America to the 88-year-old federal agency that enforces labor rights, Amazon argued in a legal filing on Thursday that the National Labor Relations Board was unconstitutional.The move followed a similar argument by SpaceX, the rocket company founded and run by Elon Musk, in a legal complaint in January, and by Trader Joe’s during a labor board hearing a few weeks later.The labor board consists of a prosecutorial arm, which issues complaints against employers or unions deemed to have violated federally protected labor rights; administrative judges, who hear complaints; and a…
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How to Vote in the Mexican Elections From Abroad
15
Feb
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By William Lee
New miscellaneous

How to Vote in the Mexican Elections From Abroad

Two women will face off for Mexico’s highest office in what is set to be a historic election this spring.Mexicans will choose their first female president on June 2, and they will also vote to renew all 500 deputies for the lower chamber of Congress and the 128 members of the Senate. At the same time, 30 of the country’s 32 states will be holding elections — with 19,000 state and local offices up for grabs.This is the first national election in which Mexico will allow residents living abroad to vote in person. More than 12 million citizens live outside…
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Could Your Cat Give You the Plague?
15
Feb
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By William Lee
Health

Could Your Cat Give You the Plague?

How common is it?In the United States, there are an average of seven human cases per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 80 percent of those cases are the bubonic form of the disease.The disease is most common in rural, Western areas, especially in parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon. In those places, the bacteria can circulate in prairie dogs, ground squirrels, chipmunks, wood rats, and other animals.Globally, 1,000 to 2,000 cases are reported each year, according to the C.D.C.How do cats get the plague?Cats can be infected when they…
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How Maple Leafs staff helped save a rec-leaguer from a skate cut to the throat: ‘I thought I was going to die’
15
Feb
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By William Lee
Sports

How Maple Leafs staff helped save a rec-leaguer from a skate cut to the throat: ‘I thought I was going to die’

It was inside the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room that Ike Werner first allowed himself to believe he was going to survive.After having his throat cut accidentally by a skate blade during a Sunday afternoon rec league game at the NHL team’s practice facility earlier this month, a terrifying experience turned surreal when the 37-year-old looked over and saw Maple Leafs forward Nick Robertson receiving treatment in an adjacent room.“That was my visual,” Werner told The Athletic. “Him being worked on.”Werner had taken note of the luxury cars behind the gated section of the parking lot when he pulled into…
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Terrorists Are Paying for Check Marks on X, Report Says
15
Feb
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By William Lee
Technology

Terrorists Are Paying for Check Marks on X, Report Says

X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, is potentially violating U.S. sanctions by accepting payments for subscription accounts from terrorist organizations and other groups barred from doing business in the country, according to a new report.The report, by the Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit focused on accountability for large technology companies, shows that X, formerly known as Twitter, has taken payments from accounts that include Hezbollah leaders, Houthi groups, and state-run media outlets in Iran and Russia. The subscriptions, which cost $8 a month, offer users a blue check mark — once limited to verified users like celebrities…
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