Latest news with #Twine
Forbes
03-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
What Are Digital Defense AI Agents?
We're in the new world of agentic AI, which means that everyone's looking at how to use AI agents to their advantage. In a certain simplistic sense, that means that companies are looking to use AI agents to sell, while governments are trying to use AI agents to do - whatever they are used to doing. Some consumer advocates argue that individual people who are so often being targeted by businesses and government activities need their own AI agents to defend them. When Alex 'Sandy' Pentland took the stage at this year's Imagination in Action event, he was talking about specifically this type of thing. 'They're going to try and hack me, do bad things to me,' he said of those ubiquitous agents controlled by business, government or big interest parties. 'They are going to twist my mind around politics, all of those things. And my answer to this is I need an AI agent to defend me. I need something who's on my side who can help me navigate returning things or avoiding scams, or all that whole sort of thing.' The idea that Pentland describes is that your AI agent addresses all of that other agent activity that's aimed at you, and intervenes on your behalf. The idea of a personal 'digital defender' in the form of an AI agent is not very widely talked about on the web. Pentland's video is up there, but you don't see much about the specific type of project in research papers, or on corporate sites, or even at Consumer Reports (more on this later). In a way, it's like having a public defender in court. There's a legal effort against you, so you need your own advocacy to represent you on your side. Although some might call these attorneys 'public pretenders' due to underpayment, short staffing, or other problems, hopefully the AI agent is more effective in a global sense. It's also sort of like consumer reporting – Pentland mentioned how Consumer Reports has been doing this kind of work for 80 years with polls and other tools. 'This is why we have seat belts in cars,' he said. 'At Consumer Reports, what they do is, they pull all their people, they do tests and things like that to find good products. That's what I want, is, I want somebody who's on my side that way.' Another sort of similar idea is cybersecurity agents who are created by a company called Twine that are intended to protect people from cyberattacks. But all that aside, Pentland's idea is still in its infancy. In fact, one of the most interesting parts of his presentation was when he talked about all of these business people making their way into one room to talk about personal AI defense agents. 'We had C-level representation, the head of AI products for every single major AI producer, show up on one week's notice,' he explained. 'We also had all the payers show up … people (who handle) credit cards, etc. We had all the systems guys show up. Now (you're in a) little room with more C-level people than you've ever seen in your entire life. Very busy people who showed up on one week's notice.' It's largely liability, he suggested, that brought them to the table 'If they're going to deploy these things, and they're going to be interacting with you, they had better not cheat, they'd better not be biased, or scam you,' he said. 'They have a lot of liability, legal liability, as well as reputational liability. They have to be fair in helping you do things, otherwise they're going to end up in class action courts. That's what they wanted. They wanted someone to build a standard best practice personal agent.' He mentioned a couple of caveats: the agentic system has to undergo legal testing. Ideally, it should be hosted in academia to show impartiality. While best practices are good, he said, companies and other parties really want a standard, because a standard is bulletproof. Pentland also talked about a sort of digital populism that's appealing to those who feel like there's strength in numbers. 'You're just you,' he said. 'But if there were a million yous, or 10 million yous, all (of them) trying to get a good deal, avoid scams, fill out that legal form, you could actually have Ais that are competitive with the best results. So that solves the own, your own data problem (pretty well).' In response to questions, Pentland went over some advice for those who are just starting their careers now. Part of it had to do with solving big questions around how these defense agents will work. 'How do I know what's good for me, and what I want?' he asked, raising some of the essential questions of how an AI agent can target its efforts correctly, according to the user's preference and welfare. He also brought up questions around how to put agents together, to build toward what he called a 'network effect' that magnifies what a connected system of agents can do. He also talked about another kind of game theory where it's easy to upset the apple cart with just a small adjustment. Essentially, Pentland argued, a bad actor can easily throw a system out of balance by being 'just a little edgy,' by making small changes that lead to a domino effect that can be detrimental. He used the example of a traffic jam, which starts off as just one car in dense traffic changing its behavior. This type of game theory, he asserted, has to be factored into how we create our digital defense agent networks. With all of this in mind, it's probably a good idea to think about building those digital defense agents. They might not be perfect right away, but they might be the defense that we need against an emerging army of hackers utilizing some of the most potent technologies we've ever seen. The idea also feeds back into the whole debate about open source and closed source models, and when tools should be published for all the world to use. It's imperative to keep a lid on the types of bad actors that could otherwise jeopardize systems. In the cryptocurrency days, we had the notion of a 51% attack, where as soon as somebody held more than half of a given blockchain item, they had full control, with no exceptions. The solution to our AI liability might be something like this. Look for this type of research to continue.
ABC News
29-04-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Queensland government slammed for featuring e-bike on beach in new tourism ad
The Queensland government has been criticised for promoting the use of e-bikes on the state's beaches in its latest tourism campaign. The one-minute clip, designed to attract tourists to the state, shows a man riding an e-bike on the sand at a Surfers Paradise beach on the Gold Coast. It has prompted the local council to consider introducing laws around the use of electric vehicles along its 50-kilometre coastline. Bicycle Queensland has also expressed safety concerns for other beachgoers. The state's cycling body says it does not condone the use of bikes on beaches. ( Supplied: Tourism and Events Queensland ) Alton Twine, Bicycle Queensland CEO and former City of Gold Coast transport director, said "e-bikes in particular don't belong on the sand". "The beach is there to be enjoyed by people recreating, lying on the sand, going for a swim, going for a surf, not to be riding a bike or any other vehicle up and down the beach itself," he said. The government's new tourism brand "That Holiday Feeling" was launched on Sunday. Mr Twine says bikes should not be used on beaches. ( Supplied: Bicycle Queensland ) Mr Twine said Bicycle Queensland would support the campaign if the scene was pulled from its ads. "One of the unintended consequences might be that people might look at that and then think that it's okay to ride their bike on the beach," he said. "We would support if they wanted to re-edit it and put it up on a bikeway — you can still show that people are happy and enjoying the tremendous environment that we have in places like Surfers Paradise." Tourism minister backs campaign However, Tourism Minister Andrew Powell has defended the campaign. "People complaining about a production clearly need a holiday," he said in a statement to the ABC on Tuesday. Tourism Minister Andrew Powell has hit back at critics and stands by the campaign. ( ABC Gold Coast: Danielle Mahe ) Queensland Tourism's last campaign, which centred around the popular animated series Bluey about a family of blue heelers, cost about $9.2 million. Mr Powell said the cost of this year's campaign was yet to be determined. "The exciting thing about this brand is that it's not just one campaign, this is multiple campaigns, this could go four or five years … until we know how long it plays out, I haven't got a number for you," he said. No laws breached In Queensland, electric bikes can be used on roads and footpaths and there are no state laws prohibiting people from riding them on beaches. With local councils responsible for governing beaches within their jurisdiction, acting Gold Coast Mayor Mark Hammel said the council would now review its local laws around the use of e-bikes in that environment. "It's great to see the Gold Coast featured in the ad — I understand cycling on the beach isn't in breach of any by-laws," Cr Hammel said. " As part of the local law review, we will look at e-bikes on the beach. " A City of Gold Coast council spokesperson urged beachgoers to behave safely and respect others at all times. "Safety is our number-one priority. Electric bikes are required to be ridden in accordance with the Queensland government rules," the spokesperson said. "Illegal behaviour may be reported to police."
BBC News
27-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Twine 'looking forward' to Turf Moor return
Bristol City midfielder Scott Twine says he is looking forward to returning to Turf Moor on Saturday for the first time since leaving Burnley permanently last August. Twine played 14 games for the Clarets during the 2022-23 campaign scoring three goals, when they won promotion to the Premier League under Vincent Kompany. "I enjoyed my time at Burnley, felt like fans treated me well as well. I am looking forward to it," Twine told BBC Radio Bristol. Twine said he was still "quite close" to a number of players still at the club. However he admitted that does not hinder his ambition when he faces them this weekend."I desperately do want to score against them and do want to win the game," he said. "But they're a great team and they deserve to be where they are and it's no surprise to me that they're doing that well."
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pick of the stats: Bristol City v Swansea City
Swansea City will seek to stop the rot in the Championship as they head to Ashton Gate to face Bristol City on Sunday (12:00 GMT). The Robins go into the weekend sat ninth, two points outside the play-off places and eight ahead of the Swans, who have slipped to 17th, only seven clear of the drop-zone. Bristol City are unbeaten across their past three league games against Swansea City (W2 D1), last having a longer run against the Welsh side during a run of four matches between 2006 and 2008. Swansea have won just one of their past six away league games against Bristol City (D3 L2), beating them 1-0 in August 2021. Bristol City have won each of their past four home league games, last winning more consecutively between December 2014 and February 2015 in League One (5). Swansea City have lost each of their past four league games, last losing five in a row in April/May 2018 as a Premier League side. Scott Twine has been involved in five goals in his past six home games in the Championship, scoring four and assisting one. Indeed, all seven of his league goals for Bristol City have come at Ashton Gate.
BBC News
07-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Pick of the stats: Bristol City v Swansea City
Swansea City will seek to stop the rot in the Championship as they head to Ashton Gate to face Bristol City on Sunday (12:00 GMT).The Robins go into the weekend sat ninth, two points outside the play-off places and eight ahead of the Swans, who have slipped to 17th, only seven clear of the City are unbeaten across their past three league games against Swansea City (W2 D1), last having a longer run against the Welsh side during a run of four matches between 2006 and have won just one of their past six away league games against Bristol City (D3 L2), beating them 1-0 in August City have won each of their past four home league games, last winning more consecutively between December 2014 and February 2015 in League One (5).Swansea City have lost each of their past four league games, last losing five in a row in April/May 2018 as a Premier League Twine has been involved in five goals in his past six home games in the Championship, scoring four and assisting one. Indeed, all seven of his league goals for Bristol City have come at Ashton Gate.
