Latest news with #Futurism
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CEO Says AI Will Replace So Many Jobs That It'll Cause a Major Recession
The CEO of layaway startup Klarna is claiming that AI is coming for your white-collar jobs — even though his own experiments with replacing human workers with AI were a bust. Speaking to The Times Tech podcast, the Sweden-based CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski admitted that adoption of the technology will result in "implication[s] for white-collar jobs" that include, but are not limited to, "at least a recession in the short term." "Unfortunately, I don't see how we could avoid it, with what's happening from a technology perspective," the CEO said in reference to job loss and a recession. On that part, unfortunately, he may be right: we've been careening headlong towards a recession for a while now, and unemployment rates — affected, no doubt, by AI-obsessed CEOs like Siemiatkowski laying people off in droves — are a huge factor. Still, those are bold words coming from this particular Swedish CEO, considering that just a few weeks ago, he admitted to Bloomberg that he's looking to rehire for some of the 700 customer service positions he fired in favor of AI in 2024. The reason? Because, as Siemiatkowski acknowledged, the AIs perform at a "lower quality" than human workers. Despite prematurely pulling the AI trigger in his own business, the "buy now, pay later" CEO insists the technology will get there. "I feel like I have an email almost every day from some CEO of a tech or a large company that says we also see opportunities to become more efficient and we would like to compare notes," he told The Times Tech. "If I just take all of those emails and add up the amount of jobs in those emails, it's considerable." Were Futurism to stake our beliefs by a similar metric, we, too would believe that AI replacing human labor is inevitable. In this writer's inbox alone, there are dozens of similar pitches from companies and so-called "experts" seeking to get our attention from this week alone — and hundreds more where that came from, should we be curious to look. With AI's present-day capabilities, those emails read as little more than junk mail — but it makes sense that a tech CEO who made his fortune on financial promises would see things a bit differently. Like other AI boosters, Siemieatkowski added that eventually, the "value of that human touch will increase" and that flesh-and-blood workers will "provide a much higher quality type of service" — after learning new skills, which may or may not become obsolete at some vague point in the future. Siemieatkowski is, perhaps more than anyone else, the platonic ideal of an AI-boosting CEO — and unfortunately, there are lots of others who will take this kind of prognostication as gospel. More on clueless CEOs: Duolingo CEO Expresses Astonishment That People Were Mad When He Bragged About Replacing Workers With AI
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Why Elon Musk's satellites are 'dropping like flies'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Elon Musk has no shortage of targets for his animosity: the media, "woke" progressives, the trans "agenda" and, most recently, his former best buddy Donald Trump. But one less expected Musk adversary is more powerful than them all: the Sun. SpaceX's vast network of Starlink internet service satellites are "dropping like flies", due to an extraterrestrial weather phenomenon caused by the Sun, said Futurism. And it's only set to get worse. The thousands of Starlink satellites orbiting our planet have given space scientists a "golden opportunity to study the effects" of the Sun's activity on the lifespan of these "minimalist, constellation-based spacecraft", said Futurism. And it appears that Musk's "space internet constellation" is "particularly prone to the effect of geomagnetic storms", triggered by eruptions from the Sun, said The Independent. These "ferocious solar storms", Nasa scientists have found, are causing many of Musk's low-orbit satellites to fall to Earth "faster than expected". The impact is particularly significant at the moment because the Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year activity cycle, "known as the solar maximum", which provokes "large amounts of extreme space weather". The earlier than predicted satellite "re-entries" could "increase the chances of them not burning up properly in the Earth's atmosphere". and debris reaching the Earth. However, so far, the "only known instance" of this happening was in August 2024, when a piece of a Starlink satellite was discovered on a farm in Canada. The solar storm problem threatens one of Musk's biggest power grabs to date. When his engineers "bundled a batch of prototype satellites into a rocket's nose cone six years ago, there were fewer than 2,000 functional satellites in Earth's orbit". Now more than 7,000 of his satellites now surround Earth, "like a cloud of gnats", said The Atlantic. This is the most dominant any individual has been in the "orbital realm" since the late 1950s, when Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the Soviet engineer who developed Sputnik and its launch vehicle, was "the only guy in town" as far as satellites were concerned, space historian Jonathan McDowell told the magazine. But the Sun is an adversary not even Musk can overcome. Solar storm forecasting "has significantly improved over the past few years", Piyush Mehta, a US professor of aerospace engineering, wrote on The Conversation in 2022 but "there is only so much shielding that can be done in the face of a powerful geomagnetic storm". The Sun is "essential for life to go on," he said, but, like a child who often throws tantrums, "its ever-changing disposition make things challenging".
BBC News
04-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
BBC Learning English - Learning English from the News / North Korean secrets revealed by phone
() ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The story The BBC has gained access to a North Korean phone which has been smuggled out of the country. The phone doesn't have access to the internet and is designed to make sure its users follow the rules in North Korea, which is closely controlled by its leader Kim Jong-un. The phone creates a screenshot every five minutes, which is used by the country's authorities to watch the user. The phone also has an autocorrect function which changes terms used in South Korea to expressions favoued by the North Korean regime. News headlines Smartphone smuggled out of North Korea shows chilling details implemented by Kim Jong-un's regime LADbible From 'oppa' to comrade: North Korea's phones auto-correct to fit party line India Today This smartphone smuggled out of North Korea is absolutely wild Futurism Key words and phrases chilling frightening I read a chilling story about a ghost and now I can't sleep. party line the official opinion of an organisation, usually political The mayor didn't say anything new in her speech. Just the usual party line. wild strange or unexpected This TV show is wild. I have no idea what's going to happen next. Next Learn more English vocabulary from the news with our News Review archive. Try our podcast The English We Speak to learn more idiomatic language.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SoundCloud updates AI policy after backlash: ‘AI should support artists, not replace them'
Following controversy over a quiet update to the terms of use that seemed to permit the content uploaded to the streamer being used to train AI, SoundCloud has updated its AI policy. Futurism had previously reported that SoundCloud 'quietly' updated its terms and conditions in February 2024 in which users were 'explicitly agreeing' by using the platform to have their content used to train AI. The policy read: 'You explicitly agree that your Content may be used to inform, train, develop, or serve as input to artificial intelligence technologies as part of and for providing the services.' Users were understandably upset and now, following backlash, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton has responded regarding the platform's stance on AI and 'how content may interact with AI technologies within SoundCloud's own platform'. The letter, titled 'A Letter from our CEO: Clarifying our Terms of Use', states: 'SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models. Not for music creation. Not for large language models. Not for anything that tries to mimic or replace your work.' It also states: 'We don't build generative AI tools, and we don't allow third parties to scrape or use artist content from SoundCloud to train them either.' 'Our position is simple: AI should support artists, not replace them.' Seton went on to explain the updates to the Terms Of Use last February were meant to clarify how 'we may use AI internally' to improve SoundCloud for its users, including 'powering smarter recommendations, search, playlisting, content tagging, and tools that help prevent fraud'. Now, SoundCloud has changed its Terms Of Use, and it will only use AI-training on content uploaded to the platform with users' consent. The new policy reads: 'We will not use Your Content to train generative AI models that aim to replicate or synthesize your voice, music, or likeness without your explicit consent, which must be affirmatively provided through an opt-in mechanism.' Today, the Data (Use and Access) Bill returns to the UK House of Lords for consideration, in order to address how the government's desire to foster a British AI industry could allow technology companies to circumvent copyright laws and use creative content to train their models – all without the permission of the creators. Chi Onwurah, the chair of the cross-party committee, has previously urged the government to bring forward the AI safety bill. Onwurah told the Guardian: 'It's absolutely critical that the government shows it is on the side of people when it comes to technology, particularly when it comes to the tech platforms and the impact technology is going to have in their lives.' This also comes at a time when artists have been speaking out against companies exploiting copyrighted works and warning against 'predatory' use of AI in music. Earlier this year, more than 200 artists featured on an open letter submitted by the Artist Rights Alliance non-profit, calling on artificial intelligence tech companies, developers, platforms, digital music services and platforms to stop using AI "to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.' Amongst those names were Stevie Wonder, Robert Smith, Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, R.E.M., Peter Frampton, Jon Batiste, Katy Perry, Sheryl Crow, Smokey Robinson, and the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra. The letter, while acknowledging the creative possibilities of new AI technology, addressed some of its threats to human artistry. Those include using preexisting work to train AI models - without permissions - in an attempt to replace artists and therefore 'substantially dilute the royalty pools that are paid out to artists.' The letter stated: 'Make no mistake: we believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere. Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightsholders. When used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music and our livelihoods.'
Euronews
02-06-2025
- Business
- Euronews
SoundCloud updates AI policy following backlash
Following controversy over a quiet update to the terms of use that seemed to permit the content uploaded to the streamer being used to train AI, SoundCloud has updated its AI policy. Futurism had previously reported that SoundCloud 'quietly' updated its terms and conditions in February 2024 in which users were 'explicitly agreeing' by using the platform to have their content used to train AI. The policy read: 'You explicitly agree that your Content may be used to inform, train, develop, or serve as input to artificial intelligence technologies as part of and for providing the services.' Users were understandably upset and now, following backlash, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton has responded regarding the platform's stance on AI and 'how content may interact with AI technologies within SoundCloud's own platform'. The letter, titled 'A Letter from our CEO: Clarifying our Terms of Use', states: 'SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models. Not for music creation. Not for large language models. Not for anything that tries to mimic or replace your work.' It also states: 'We don't build generative AI tools, and we don't allow third parties to scrape or use artist content from SoundCloud to train them either.' 'Our position is simple: AI should support artists, not replace them.' Seton went on to explain the updates to the Terms Of Use last February were meant to clarify how 'we may use AI internally' to improve SoundCloud for its users, including 'powering smarter recommendations, search, playlisting, content tagging, and tools that help prevent fraud'. Now, SoundCloud has changed its Terms Of Use, and it will only use AI-training on content uploaded to the platform with users' consent. The new policy reads: 'We will not use Your Content to train generative AI models that aim to replicate or synthesize your voice, music, or likeness without your explicit consent, which must be affirmatively provided through an opt-in mechanism.' Today, the Data (Use and Access) Bill returns to the UK House of Lords for consideration, in order to address how the government's desire to foster a British AI industry could allow technology companies to circumvent copyright laws and use creative content to train their models – all without the permission of the creators. Chi Onwurah, the chair of the cross-party committee, has previously urged the government to bring forward the AI safety bill. Onwurah told the Guardian: 'It's absolutely critical that the government shows it is on the side of people when it comes to technology, particularly when it comes to the tech platforms and the impact technology is going to have in their lives.' This also comes at a time when artists have been speaking out against companies exploiting copyrighted works and warning against 'predatory' use of AI in music. Earlier this year, more than 200 artists featured on an open letter submitted by the Artist Rights Alliance non-profit, calling on artificial intelligence tech companies, developers, platforms, digital music services and platforms to stop using AI "to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.' Amongst those names were Stevie Wonder, Robert Smith, Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, R.E.M., Peter Frampton, Jon Batiste, Katy Perry, Sheryl Crow, Smokey Robinson, and the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra. The letter, while acknowledging the creative possibilities of new AI technology, addressed some of its threats to human artistry. Those include using preexisting work to train AI models - without permissions - in an attempt to replace artists and therefore 'substantially dilute the royalty pools that are paid out to artists.' The letter stated: 'Make no mistake: we believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere. Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightsholders. When used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music and our livelihoods.' First, Donald Trump lashed out at one music icon... Now, Elon Musk is following suit and making his own rock star enemy. Bono was on the Joe Rogan podcast on Friday (30 May) to talk about the release of his documentary Bono: Stories Of Surrender. During the three-hour conversation, the U2 frontman took the opportunity to critise the Trump administration and singled out Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which oversaw the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Bono, who has been a campaigner for humanitarian aid for decades, criticised the cuts to international aid and cited a Boston University study that estimated that the cuts will cause more than 300,000 deaths around the world. 'There's food rotting in boats, in warehouses – 50,000 tons of it,' Bono said. 'The people who knew the codes, who were responsible for distributing that aid, were fired. That's not America, is it?' Unsurprisingly, considering Rogan voted for Trump, his audience were quick to react – and not in a happy way. One wrote: 'That guy's about as evil as they come Joe', while others stated they would be skipping the episode altogether and that it would be 'the first time I look forward to commercials'. Then came Elon Musk's reaction, who took to X to say brand the singer 'such a liar/idiot', before adding that 'zero people have died' as a result of the USAID cuts. In a later exchange, he said: 'South Park lampooned Bono as the biggest shit in the world. They were right.' Musk stepped down from his wildly unpopular role at DOGE last week after serving the maximum 130-day term as a special government employee without Senate confirmation. During his time at DOGE, hundreds of thousands of people participated in the "Hands Off" protests across all 50 states of the US to express their opposition to the policies of the Trump administration and cuts made by Musk's DOGE. "Hands Off" event organizers said: "They're taking everything they can get their hands on — our healthcare, our data, our jobs, our services — and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now." Check out some of the best signs seen during these nation-wide protests. Bono: Stories Of Surrender is a hybrid of concert movie and visual memoir, featuring spoken word passages from the singer's 2022 autobiography, 'Surrender.' It is streaming on Apple TV+ now.
