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Amazon staff transcribe samples of what Alexa hears
Amazon has staff and contractors around the world whose job it is to listen to audio captured by its Alexa digital assistant and annotate them with partial transcriptions to help train the service's underlying AI (Ars Technica). According to a Bloomberg report, transcription staff work in offices around the world, including Boston, Costa Rica, India, and Romania, listening to up to 1,000 audio clips in a nine-hour shift.
Content heard by these workers is mostly commands and song requests, but staff report being sent background audio including a child screaming for help and what sounded like a sexual assault. They were told that it's not Amazon's job to interfere, seemingly due to confidentiality requirements surrounding customers' audio data.
Humanity has captured its first image of a black hole
Event Horizon Telescope scientists have released the very first direct image of a black hole (WIRED). The feat marks the first time in history that astronomers have seen the shape of an event horizon. It's an unprecedented map of gravity at its strongest, involving hundreds of astronomers, engineers, and data scientists from around the world.
YouTube is reportedly developing interactive TV
A Bloomberg report indicates that YouTube has started to develop its own interactive video under former unscripted programming boss Ben Relles. The platform lends itself to interactive narrative, with various user-developed adventures sprouting up over the years – many using the now-discontinued annotation feature – and well as native interactive adverts.
This recycling robot can tell between materials by touch
MIT's MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has put out video footage of a robot that can use touch to sort recyclable rubbish by type (Engadget). Equipped with strain, pressure and conductivity sensors, the robot can tell between plastics and cardboard and between metal-effect containers and real metal.
Activision Blizzard monitors employee pregnancy data
A Washington Post feature on health tracking has revealed that games giant Activision Blizzard is offering its staff financial incentives to use health and pregnancy tracking apps, data from which is then shared with the firm (PC Gamer).
Although data is anonymised, critics have highlighted the intrusiveness of giving employers access to such intimate information. Activision Blizzard vice president of global benefits Milt Ezzard said of employees: "I want them to have a healthy baby because it's great for our business experience."
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
