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Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, the EU will propose a legal ban on terrorist content to replace current voluntary measures, DeepMind's AI has taken over Google's data centre cooling, the patent on teledildonics has expired and more.
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1. Proposed EU law would ban terrorist content from the web
According to Financial Times sources, the EU is working on draft legislation that would force online service providers to rapidly delete content flagged by police as terrorist-related (Engadget). Currently, companies such as Facebook and YouTube follow voluntary industry guidelines when dealing with extremist material, but proposed legislation is mooted to include an absolute requirement for sites to remove flagged content within an hour. EU security commissioner Julian King said that officials assessing the current voluntary model had "not seen enough progress" and warned that Europe "cannot afford to relax or become complacent" in tackling terrorist content.
2. DeepMind's AIs run Google's data centre cooling
Google subsidiary DeepMind has announced that its AIs have taken control of cooling systems in a number of its parent company's data centres(TechCrunch). The AI temperature management system follows a 2016 AI framework for recommending energy-efficient changes to data centre climate control, but now the machines have direct control over cooling, rather than simply making suggestions to a human supervisor. The neural network system provides energy savings of approximately 30 per cent compared to the installations' historical usage and works by analysing information from thousands of sensors positioned around each data centre.
3. The patent on teledildonics has expired, bringing the Internet of Sex Toys a little closer
A 20-year-old US patent describing a very general "Method and device for interactive virtual control of sexual aids using digital computer networks" has expired, making the development of internet-connected sex toys a little more accessible to companies and open source groups without the means to pay significant licence fees (The Register). However, industry commentator Metafetish has observed that there are still plenty of other patents standing in the way of those keen to develop and sell connected sex toys in the USA. Fortunately, that's not been enough to deter the creation of USB vibrators and Bluetooth butt plugs elsewhere in the world, although their markets are still very niche.
4. There's no proof that Android and iOS wellbeing tools reduce screen time
Do you know how much time you spend on Facebook or your smartphone? (WIRED) You're about to find out, as tech platforms leap onto the "wellness" trend with tools to track and reduce our screen time, despite a lack of scientific evidence that doing so will benefit your mental health. "I think many people are actually quite interested in how they spend their time," says Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at LSE. "It'll help people reflect. If the feedback is way out of line with what people thought, it'll invite them to change their behaviour. It's helpful. Is it going to improve the wellbeing of the country in a significant way? I doubt it."
5. Witcher TV series casting scripts leak
Lauren S. Hissrich, showrunner for Netflix's forthcoming The Witcher TV series, has confirmed that a pair of casting scripts leaked on Reddit are genuine (IGN). The two scenes – which won't be going into the series itself – feature some snappy dialogue for sorceress and Witcher Geralt of Riva's perennial love interest Yennefer of Vengerberg. The eight-episode series, based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski, will come to the streaming service in 2020.
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
