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Monthly Archives: April 2023
Student Showcase Preview: Customizing the ChatGPT Artificial … – CMUnow
Posted: April 27, 2023 at 2:53 pm
Discussions about the benefits and risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) are everywhere right now, and college campuses are grappling with how to address the rise of chat-based AI software like ChatGPT. At this years Student Showcase, several research projects related to machine learning and AI will be on display. The Student Showcase is a celebration of the creativity, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and artistic performance of Colorado Mesa University and Western Colorado Community College students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. This year will mark the 14th anniversary of the event and there will be 377 sessions, a near record number. Those curious to learn more about how students in the Computer Science Program are working with cutting-edge AI technologies are invited to come learn about their work and ask questions during one of the many sessions focused on AI.
One of these groups, comprised of CMU computer science students Sullivan Frazier, Zackary Mason and Axel Garces, is going under the hood to develop their own machine learning software program as well as experimenting to make the popular ChatGPT chatbot platform more user friendly and approachable. A chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation and allows humans to engage with digital devices as if they were speaking with a real person.
Working from the premise that many people find AI intimidating, this group has collaborated to build an interactive web application that allows users to customize the characteristics of the chatbot they interact with. For example, you can choose to have your chatbot assume the characteristics, speech patterns and knowledge of Yoda from Star Wars. In addition to making the chatbot experience more playful and fun, this feature can also allow users to select a chatbot based on their personal language and culture preferences allowing for a chatbot experience that reflects the individual using it.
Through their work the group has grappled with some of the deeper issues that AI presents. Mason explained, machine learning has been around since the 90s, but now we have the computing power to make products that people find useful and its not behind closed doors anymore. ChatGPT isnt creating new things, but it is quickly and accurately sorting through the huge repository of human knowledge that people have put into it, which is something new.
Machine learning has been around since the 90s, but now we have the computing power to make products that people find useful and its not behind closed doors anymore. ChatGPT isnt creating new things, but it is quickly and accurately sorting through the huge repository of human knowledge that people have put into it, which is something new. Zackary Mason
The team is specifically concerned about AI applications in which the programs are forced to make tough decisions where serious tradeoffs have to be considered. They believe that AI is great at collecting and organizing data, but the group argues there still needs to be a human element when the stakes are so high. Sometimes you need an ethical line, you need a moral line, you need a human with a heartbeat making those big decisions, said Frazier. Mason agreed, I dont think AI is going to take all our jobs, but we need to find the balance between humans and technology. The group is excited about the future of computer science, and they are optimistic that humanity will be resilient in the face of the changes and challenges that AI presents.
Frazier is excited to present their research and bring this discussion to the larger CMU community at the Student Showcase. Sometimes it feels like Im a bit cooped up in Confluence Hall in my daily life. I dont talk to a lot of people outside of computer science, and a lot of people dont have a clue as to what were doing and whats going on in here. Going to showcase allows people to come see what youre up to and you get to learn about things happening in totally different fields, said Frazier.
Sometimes it feels like Im a bit cooped up in Confluence Hall in my daily life. I dont talk to a lot of people outside of computer science, and a lot of people dont have a clue as to what were doing and whats going on in here. Going to showcase allows people to come see what youre up to and you get to learn about things happening in totally different fields. Sullivan Frazier
Frazier, Mason and Garces group received guidance and support from their faculty mentor Associate Professor of Computer Science and Co-Director of Cyber Security Center Ram Basnet, PhD. Basnet, along with other CMU computer science faculty, is looking to expand the AI program offerings in coming years and the department currently offers professional certificates in cybersecurity, data science and web application development for students pursuing a degree in computer science.
This years Student Showcase will kick off at 12pm on Friday, Apr. 28 at the Love Recital Hall in the Moss Performing Arts Center. Presentations, performances, demonstrations and exhibits will then take place throughout the day across campus. The day will wrap up with a celebration event at 4:30pm in the University Center Meyer Ballroom.
This event is free and open to the public and more information about this years sessions and parking details are available on the Student Showcase website.
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Artificial intelligence helps improve predictability of Indian summer monsoons – Times of India
Posted: at 2:53 pm
NEW DELHI: A newly devised algorithm powered by artificial intelligence can help increase the predictability of the Indian Summer Monsoons (ISMR), 18 months ahead of the season.The algorithm called predictor discovery algorithm (PDA) made using a single ocean-related variable could facilitate skillful forecast of the ISMR in time for making effective agricultural and other economic plans for the country, according to the ministry of science and technology.Scientists at the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, an autonomous institute of department of science and technology (DST), along with their collaborators have found that the widely used sea surface temperature (SST) is inadequate for calculation of long-lead prediction of ISMR. This, they found was because the potential skill of ISMR estimated by the predictor discovery algorithm (PDA) using SST-based predictors was low at all the lead months.The team consisting of IASST, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and Cotton University, Guwahati, devised a predictor discovery algorithm (PDA) that generates predictor at any lead month by projecting the ocean thermocline depth (D20) over the entire tropical belt between 1871 and 2010 onto the correlation map between ISMR and D20 over the same period.The new algorithm indicates that the potential skill of ISMR is maximum (0.87, highest being 1.0), 18 months before the ISMR season. At any lead month, the predictability of the annual variability of ISMR depends on the degree of regularities in the annual variability of its drivers.With the newly discovered basis of long-lead ISMR predictability in place, Devabrat Sharma (IASST), Santu Das (IASST), Subodh K. Saha (IITM), and B N Goswami (Cotton University) were able to make 18-month lead forecast of ISMR between 1980 to 2011 with an actual skill of 0.65 using a machine learning-based ISMR prediction model.According to the statement of the ministry, the success of the model was based on the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to learn the relationship between ISMR and tropical thermocline patterns from 150 years of simulations by 45 physical climate models and transferring that learning to actual observations between 1871 and 1974.As the potential skill of ISMR at 18-month lead is 0.87, there is still considerable scope in improving the model.
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Artificial intelligence helps improve predictability of Indian summer monsoons - Times of India
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How is artificial intelligence revolutionizing financial services? – Cointelegraph
Posted: at 2:53 pm
What is the role of artificial intelligence in the financial services industry?
AI is proving to be a powerful tool for financial institutions looking to improve their operations, manage risks, and optimize their portfolios more effectively.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly vital role in the financial services industry. Predictive analytics, which can assist financial firms in better understanding and anticipating client demands, preferences and behaviors, is one of the most well-known uses of AI. They can then use this information to create goods and services that are more individually tailored.
Moreover, AI is also being utilized to enhance risk management and fraud detection in the financial services industry. AI systems can swiftly identify unusual patterns and transactions that can point to fraud by evaluating massive amounts of data in real-time. This can assist financial organizations in reducing overall financial risk and preventing fraud-related losses.
In addition, AI is being used for portfolio optimization and financial forecasting. By utilizing machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics, financial institutions can optimize their portfolios and make more accurate investment decisions.
Machine learning, deep learning and NLP are helping financial institutions improve their operations, enhance customer experiences, and make more informed decisions. These technologies are expected to play an increasingly significant role in the finance industry in the coming years.
Financial organizations may make better decisions by using machine learning to examine massive volumes of data and find trends. For instance, machine learning can be used to forecast stock prices, credit risk and loan defaulters, among other things.
Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that utilizes neural networks to model and resolve complicated issues. For instance, deep learning is being used in finance to create models for detecting fraud, pricing securities and managing portfolios.
Natural language processing (NLP) is being used in finance to enable computers to understand human language and respond appropriately. NLP is used in financial chatbots, virtual assistants and sentiment analysis tools. It enables financial institutions to improve customer service, automate customer interactions and develop better products and services.
AI is proving to be a powerful tool for financial institutions looking to improve their fraud detection and risk management processes, enabling them to operate more efficiently and effectively while minimizing potential losses.
Here are the steps explaining how AI helps in fraud detection and risk management in financial services:
Chatbots and virtual assistants are proving to be valuable tools for financial institutions looking to improve the customer experience, reduce costs and operate more efficiently.
Chatbots and virtual assistants are utilized to provide individualized services and assistance, which enhances the client experience. Customers can communicate with these AI-powered tools in real-time and receive details on their accounts, transactions and other financial services. They can also be used to respond to commonly asked inquiries, offer financial counsel and assist clients with challenging problems.
Suppose a bank customer wanted to check their account balance or ask a question about a recent transaction, but the banks customer service center was closed. The customer can make use of the banks chatbot or virtual assistant to receive the information they require in real-time rather than having to wait until the following day to speak with a customer support agent.
The virtual assistant or chatbot can verify the customers identification and give them access to their account balance or transaction details. If the customer has a more complex issue, the chatbot or virtual assistant can escalate it to a human representative for further assistance. This means that AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can provide immediate responses to customer inquiries, reducing wait times and improving customer satisfaction.
Because they are accessible round-the-clock, chatbots and virtual assistants are useful resources for clients who require support outside of conventional office hours. Through the automation of repetitive processes and the elimination of the need for human support, they can also assist financial organizations in cutting expenses.
The financial services industry can enjoy several benefits from AI systems, such as automating mundane tasks, improving risk management and swift decision-making. Nevertheless, the drawbacks of AI, such as security risks, potential bias and absence of a human touch, should not be ignored.
Potential advantages of AI in the financial services industry include:
The possible disadvantages of using AI in the financial services industry consist of:
The future of AI in finance is exciting, with the potential to improve efficiency, accuracy and customer experience. However, it will be essential for financial institutions to carefully manage the risks and challenges associated with the use of AI.
The use of AI in financial services has the potential to significantly improve the sector. Several facets of finance have already been transformed by AI, including fraud detection, risk management, portfolio optimization and customer service.
Automating financial decision-making is one area where AI is anticipated to have a large impact in the future. This could involve the examination of massive amounts of financial data using machine learning algorithms, followed by the formulation of investment recommendations. With AI, customized investment portfolios might be constructed for clients depending on their risk appetite and financial objectives.
In addition, AI-powered recommendation engines could also be developed to offer customers targeted products and services that meet their needs. This could improve customer experience and satisfaction while also increasing revenue for financial institutions.
However, there are also potential challenges associated with the use of AI in finance. These include data privacy concerns, regulatory compliance issues, and the potential for bias and discrimination in algorithmic decision-making. It will be important for financial institutions to ensure that AI is used in a responsible and ethical way and that appropriate safeguards, such as transparent algorithms and regular audits, are in place to mitigate these risks.
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Have AI and a smile: Coca-Cola leveraging artificial intelligence to improve customer service, ordering – Fox Business
Posted: at 2:53 pm
Tech expert Jessica Melugin discusses Twitter CEO Elon Musk's concerns about artificial intelligence and his claims the U.S. government had access to Twitter DMs on 'The Evening Edit.'
Coca-Cola has joined the list of companies integrating the power of artificial intelligence into its services and products.
In a first-quarter earnings release, the soft drink company said it was adopting emerging technologies like AI to "drive new approaches, more experimentation and improved speed to market."
FILE: Coca-Cola bottles sit in a delivery truck in Mexico City, Mexico, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The company highlighted its collaboration with OpenAI and the consulting firm Bain & Company to experiment with ChatGPT and DALL-E "to enhance marketing capabilities and business operations and to build capabilities through cutting-edge [AI]."
Within a month of this partnership, Coca-Cola launched the "Create Real Magic" platform, which allowed consumers to create original artwork with assets from the companys archives.
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Coca-Cola said it was also experimenting with ways to leverage AI "to improve customer service and ordering as well as point-of-sale material creation in collaboration with its bottling partners."
Amid the rapid rise of AI, companies and employees alike are increasingly using AI-powered tools like ChatGPT for everyday operations.
FILE: Coca-Cola bottles are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland. (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Coca-Cola competitor PepsiCo has begun incorporating AI into its processes for tracking consumer demand and new product development, helping the company boost sales and bring new products to customers faster.
Per its earnings report, Coca-Cola reported higher-than-expected sales in the first quarter as it continued to hike prices and its business in China improved.
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The company said revenue rose 5% to $11 billion for the January-March period, beating Wall Street's expectations.
FOX Business Breck Dumas and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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Artificial Intelligence Technology : AITX’s Subsidiary, Robotic Assistance Devices, Releases Exclusive AI-Powered Tracking Feature Company Expected to…
Posted: at 2:53 pm
AITX's Subsidiary, Robotic Assistance Devices, Releases Exclusive AI-Powered Tracking Feature
Company Expected to File Patent Application on Its Advanced Analytics
Detroit, Michigan, April 27, 2023 - Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc., (the "Company") (OTCPK:AITX), a global leader in AI-driven security and productivity solutions along with its wholly owned subsidiary, Robotic Assistance Devices, Inc. (RAD), today released a new AI-based analytic providing enhanced tracking of vehicles and humans.
This unique analytic is being added to the list of provisional patent applications the Company plans on filing in the near future. Analytics refers to the process of identifying, interpreting, and communicating significant or meaningful patterns of collected data.
This new analytic solves two challenges important to end users and security operations centers, specifically the reduction of false positive alarms, and the introduction of advanced functionality that can be used to detect stolen cars, new vehicles and persons entering spaces with existing cars and persons. The Company believes that an analytic with this functionality does not exist in the marketplace, although it may.
The Company noted that this tracking functionality has been successfully tested at several client locations across the US and is now being made available to all subscribed RAD clients. The Company has identified 31 ROSA devices that the analytic will be deployed on in the coming weeks. The addition of this analytic strengthens RAD's value to its end users, increasing retention and exclusivity.
Tracking is part of a suite of internally developed AI analytics which includes human detection, vehicle detection, license plate recognition, and firearm detection. Tracking is included with a subscription to any RAD device, including RAD's top-selling solution ROSA (Responsive Observation Security Agent).
"Although we deploy hardware as a device-as-a-service model, at our core AITX is a software company," said Steve Reinharz, CEO of AITX and RAD. "Surveillance systems have struggled to reduce what are referred to as 'false positives', where slight or typical movement of an object triggers an alert. This is particularly troublesome when observing the movement, or non-movement of vehicles. This new analytic knows when a vehicle is on the move or remaining in place. We have made incredible advancements to reduce the instances of false positives."
"We know that every client is unique and there's no 'one size fits all' approach to how they will utilize our solutions," commented Mark Folmer, CPP, FSyI, President of RAD. "The vehicle tracking analytic is completely customizable by the end-user or authorized remote monitoring service. It's our objective to make deploying RAD solutions a seamless and easy process for our clients and channel partners."
"AITX has made substantial investments in R&D and software development," added Reinharz. "To help protect these investments, we have carefully reviewed the need for patents in each area of research to formulate more effective R&D strategies. We've identified the projects where the Company should file relevant patent applications as necessary to help build a strong global intellectual property portfolio."
The Company expects to provide future announcements regarding the status of the aforementioned patent applications.
ROSA is a multiple award-winning, compact, self-contained, portable, security and communication solution that can be installed and activated in about 15 minutes. Like other RAD solutions, it only requires power as it includes all necessary communications hardware. ROSA's AI-driven security analytics include human, firearm, vehicle detection, license plate recognition, vehicle tracking, responsive digital signage and audio messaging, and complete integration with RAD's software suite notification and autonomous response library. Two-way communication is optimized for cellular, including live video from ROSA's dual high-resolution, full-color, always-on cameras. RAD has published three Case Studies detailing how ROSA has helped eliminate instances of theft, trespassing and loitering at car rental locations and construction sites across the country.
AITX, through its subsidiary, Robotic Assistance Devices, Inc. (RAD), is redefining the $25 billion (US) security and guarding services industry through its broad lineup of innovative, AI-driven Solutions-as-a-Service business model. RAD solutions are specifically designed to provide cost savings to businesses of between 35%-80% when compared to the industry's existing and costly manned security guarding and monitoring model. RAD delivers this tremendous cost savings via a suite of stationary and mobile robotic solutions that complement, and at times, directly replace the need for human personnel in environments better suited for machines. All RAD technologies, AI-based analytics and software platforms are developed in-house.
RAD has a prospective sales pipeline of over 35 Fortune 500 companies and numerous other client opportunities. RAD expects to continue to attract new business as it converts its existing sales opportunities into deployed clients generating a recurring revenue stream. Each Fortune 500 client has the potential of making numerous reorders over time.
CAUTIONARY DISCLOSURE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The information contained in this publication does not constitute an offer to sell or solicit an offer to buy securities of Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc. (the "Company"). This publication contains forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees of future performance and may involve subjective judgment and analysis. The information provided herein is believed to be accurate and reliable, however the Company makes no representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. The Company has no obligation to provide the recipient with additional updated information. No information in this publication should be interpreted as any indication whatsoever of the Company's future revenues, results of operations, or stock price.
About Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions (AITX)
AITX is an innovator in the delivery of artificial intelligence-based solutions that empower organizations to gain new insight, solve complex challenges and fuel new business ideas. Through its next-generation robotic product offerings, AITX's RAD, RAD-M and RAD-G companies help organizations streamline operations, increase ROI, and strengthen business. AITX technology improves the simplicity and economics of patrolling and guard services and allows experienced personnel to focus on more strategic tasks. Customers augment the capabilities of existing staff and gain higher levels of situational awareness, all at drastically reduced cost. AITX solutions are well suited for use in multiple industries such as enterprises, government, transportation, critical infrastructure, education, and healthcare. To learn more, visit http://www.aitx.ai, http://www.stevereinharz.com, http://www.radsecurity.com, http://www.radgroup.ai, and http://www.radlightmyway.com, or follow Steve Reinharz on Twitter @SteveReinharz.
###
Steve Reinharz
949-636-7060@SteveReinharz
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Will Microsoft and Artificial Intelligence Save the Market? – RealMoney
Posted: at 2:53 pm
The market experienced a significant shift on Tuesday. There were several weak reports like that from UPS (UPS) , and a number of strong reports like McDonald's (MCD) and General Motors (GM) as well, but the market gapped lower at the open and trended down the rest of the day.
The selling was very broad and persistent, and the dip buyers that have been so active lately stood on the sidelines and watched.
It looked quite gloomy at the close, but Microsoft (MSFT) posted an extremely strong report, and Alphabet (GOOGL) announced a substantial buyback of shares. This action is producing a substantial bounce in the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) , which was trading up about 1% after dropping 1.9% on Tuesday.
There are still hundreds of earnings reports to come, including heavyweights like Meta (META) , Amazon (AMZN) , and Apple (AAPL) , but will they help to shore up the broad damage that is occurring in other areas of the market like Semiconductors (SMH) and Financials (XLF) ?
The problem is that the stellar report from Microsoft, and to a lesser degree Google, is company specific. Both companies are benefiting from a boom in artificial intelligence (AI). The growth there is even faster than what occurred during the internet bubble in the late 1990s, and Microsoft is the leader.
AI is going to benefit many companies in various ways, but it is not going to stop the economic cycle. The shift in market action on Tuesday was largely due to concerns about banks because of the collapse of First Republic Bank (FRC) and growing concern about economic growth. A poor report from UPS and broad weakness in trucking indicated that the economy is slowing very quickly. A poor Philly Fed report and other economic news is also a sign that things are slowing.
Another indication that a major shift is occurring is that bonds rallied sharply as equities fell and money flowed into safe plays like soft drinks and pharmaceuticals. There was a major rotation out of the stocks that are most likely to suffer from a recession, such as small-caps (IWM) and chips, and into the safety of bonds and drugs.
We have a slew of earnings ready to hit, and we will see how far Microsoft can lead the market, but the danger lies in thousands of smaller stocks that will be offset to some extent by Google and Microsoft.
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Will Microsoft and Artificial Intelligence Save the Market? - RealMoney
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Will we lose jobs to Artificial Intelligence? Are such fears well founded? IIT Madras professor explains – The Indian Express
Posted: at 2:53 pm
(A Lesson from IIT is a weekly column by an IIT faculty member on learning, science and technology on campus and beyond. The column will appear every Friday.)
Sutanu Chakraborty
The quest for building machines that think and act like us has propelled significant advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). While we now have systems that do restricted tasks very well, the vision of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), where machines can seamlessly learn and do anything that a human does, continues to elude us. But ChatGPT is around and it seems magical, right? Does it have AGI? Not quite.
For the uninitiated, ChatGPT is powered by technology that belongs to the family of Large Language Models (LLMs). A language model can tell us that a cat is sitting on the mat is better English than a cat is sitting in the mat. If given the last few words in a sentence, a language model can also predict which word is most likely to come next. You can think of a language model as a black box with a lot of numbers, called parameters. These parameters implicitly capture diverse aspects of language such as grammar, word usage and even world knowledge (I like noodles with sauce is more likely than I like noodles with pizza, for instance).
Any sentence that you type in at the ChatGPT prompt is converted into a set of numbers that interact with the parameters of the language model to finally yield another set of numbers, which are rendered as output text. Large Language Models have on the order billions of parameters that are learnt from really large volumes of data. An example is all of the textual content that can be scraped from the entire web.
As part of training ChatGPT, it was also ensured that the system learns from human feedback. As a consequence, it got rewards for doing its job very well and was punished otherwise. Consequently, the end result is impressive: this new tribe of AI technologies is undoubtedly disruptive in more ways than we could have imagined. ChatGPT excels at many jobs humans traditionally take pride in writing poems, code, online web content and so on. Do many of us then end up losing our jobs? Are such fears well founded?
First things first, LLMs, at their very core, are not as smart as they appear to be. Consider the case of two kindergarten kids arguing on whether the movie Titanic is romantic or tragic. Neither of them has experienced either tragedy or romance. The debate is literally a war of words, purely based on what they heard their parents talk about. As they grow up, they realise that both of those things were right after all Titanic is tragic and romantic at the same time. In a way not very different from the kindergarten kids, LLMs spits out words. However, the meanings of those are not grounded in experiences.
We must, therefore, not lose sight of the fact that LLMs lack a robust theory of the world. We should not be surprised if a six-year old beats ChatGPT in tasks that demand common-sense reasoning and basic logical inferencing. To quote the noted linguist Noam Chomsky, LLMs are incapable of distinguishing the possible from the impossible. Consequently, they have the propensity to fabricate things and generate factually incorrect or biased responses that are not meant for serious professional consumption.
In the context of software jobs, LLM models can write functions or boilerplate code given a well-defined goal, but may not be able to factor vaguely-specified high level business goals into components that need to be designed. They may also not be able to analyse how these components should interact, prescribe how best to leverage competencies of the existing workforce to get the whole job executed in a given timeframe, and suggest ways of recovering from aberrations in case plans do not get executed as expected.
Edsger Dijkstra, a stalwart in the field of computing, had famously observed that computer science should be called computing science for the same reason why surgery is not called knife science. In the context of programming, ChatGPTcan help us code faster and thereby get our tools ready, but we cannot effectively use them unless we have a good grasp of the pathology of the problem we have set out to solve.
The post-LLM age will trigger the shift from a tool-centric approach to a problem-centric one. Stuart Russell, a leading AI expert, observes that despite all advances, AI systems need to be explicitly provided with an objective. As humans, not only are we aware of all we need to do to get a job done, we carry strong normative assessments of all that should not be done.
We need people to figure out what to do. Machines can help us with the how as long as people are at the wheels. And in this new age, those with a good mix of wisdom to make best use of the technological resources at hand and strong interpersonal skills will be well sought after.
History is testimony to the fact that technological innovation initially displaces workers but creates fresh avenues for employment in the long run. A recent study by economist David Autor and others reveal that more than half of workers today are employed in occupations that did not exist in 1940.Amidst growing concerns of layoffs in major software industries in the near future, Geoffrey Hinton, one of the pioneers of the deep learning revolution that led to the creation of LLMs, opines that we could alternately retain the same workforce, and target achieving a lot more, by leveraging the leap in productivity.
Over time, we are likely to see a flurry of new jobs that do not exist today. In my childhood, I would fancy winning quiz competitions by memorising facts. With Google around, such faculties are no longer held in high esteem. The yardstick of competence has evolved today, students are assessed on the basis of their critical thinking, creativity and argumentative skills instead. As technology evolves, we will have to adapt to newer ways of re-evaluating ourselves.
In this age of fierce competition, it is important to remind ourselves that each of us is uniquely gifted. Career choices need to be made carefully so that they align with ones natural instincts and are not merely driven by societal pressures. This will make sure we enjoy the job we do at the very least, this can surely set us apart from ChatGPT and its future incarnations.
A story goes that Albert Einsteins chauffeur who had heard Einstein lecturing so many times over that he felt confident he could do the job of Einstein. The legendary physicist offered the chauffeur an opportunity to lecture, put on the chauffeurs attire and occupied one of the rear benches. The chauffeur did a fabulous job and skillfully answered a few questions as well. However, when a rather esoteric question on anti-matter that seemingly digressed away from the main theme came up, the chauffeur replied, Sir, this is so simple, Ill let my chauffeur seated at the back answer it on my behalf.
Like the chauffeur, LLMs are exposed to content very much a product of human thought but cannot substitute an expert who has first-hand experience of the process by which such content came into being. On the other hand, a single human beings range of expertise is miniscule compared to the wide expanse of content that fuels ChatGPT. The future is about exploring interesting ways in which machines can complement and augment our abilities, not substitute them. The new generation will adapt a lot faster to this change, since they would not carry the baggage of how things were done in the past this seamless coevolution of humans with technology, would be, for them, the norm.
We must embrace the new age with the readiness not only to do things differently but also to do different things.
(The writer is a professor at the department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras. He is part of the Artificial Intelligence and Databases (AIDB) Lab.)
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Hay River testing artificial intelligence for communications – Cabin Radio
Posted: at 2:53 pm
The Town of Hay River says it is trialling artificial intelligence to help prepare material for some of its communications with residents.
Assistant senior administrative officer Patrick Bergen told town councillors on Monday that the municipality is testing the use of artificial intelligence in some circumstances.
Various AI applications have made headlines in recent months, from tools like Midjourney which can create realistic images based on text prompts to ChatGPT, which provides answers to users questions in a form of online conversation.
AI is also being introduced to search engines. Some Bing users can now search the web using an AI interface, while Google is carrying out limited testing of an equivalent tool named Bard.
On a broad level, concerns remain that AI tools to search the web or generate answers arent always accurate. They sometimes reproduce false or misleading information found online, an error known as hallucination.
But having been trained on a vast online resource of written material, AI apps are increasingly used to handle tasks like editing text or writing summaries of dense information.
The system is good at crunching large of pieces of information into something readable, Bergen said.
Its also good at grouping large amounts of data and summarizing it. That will speed up some of the releases that go out.
Its not clear if any of the towns communications to date have been published with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
Bergen told councillors that recent requests from journalists had been fairly routine in that they focused on breakup season, which has proceeded quietly to date, and were handled by senior administrator Glenn Smith.
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Bitcoin Mixers: Clearnet vs. Darknet Which Offers Greater Anonymity? – Crypto Mode
Posted: at 2:52 pm
As the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin becomes more widespread, ensuring payment privacy and Bitcoin anonymity is becoming increasingly important. With the public nature of the blockchain, its easy for anyone to trace transactions and identify the parties involved. This has led to the development of tools like Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers, which allow users to break the link between the sending and receiving addresses, providing an additional layer of privacy and anonymity.
Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers are essentially the same thing. They both work by mixing together multiple transactions and redistributing the funds to new addresses, making it impossible for anyone to trace the transactions back to their original sources. By using a Bitcoin mixer or Bitcoin tumbler, users can ensure that their transactions are completely anonymous and untraceable. While the use of Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers is not illegal, they are often associated with illegal activities. This is because they are often used by individuals who wish to conceal their transactions for nefarious purposes.
However, Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers are also widely used by individuals who simply want to maintain their privacy and keep their financial transactions confidential. In this article, well explore the benefits of using Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers, and whether they should be accessed on clearnet addresses or on their onion alternatives. By the end of this article, youll have a better understanding of how Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers work, and how they can be used to protect your privacy and anonymity when transacting with cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin mixers, also known as Bitcoin tumblers or Bitcoin blenders, are an important tool for anyone looking to maintain their privacy while using cryptocurrencies. With the increasing use of blockchain analysis tools, its becoming harder to transact anonymously, and Bitcoin mixers offer a solution to this problem. Most bitcoin mixers offer two types of URLs for accessing their services. One is a standard clearnet domain, and the other is an onion domain alternative. The question you may be asking is: which is more secure and anonymous?
Firstly, lets understand the nature of clearnet and darknet. Clearnet refers to the regular internet that most people use every day. Websites on the clearnet are indexed by search engines and are accessible to anyone with an internet connection. On the other hand, the darknet is a collection of websites that are not indexed by search engines and are not accessible through regular browsers. Darknet websites are accessed through special browsers like Tor or Brave, which hide the users IP address and allow them to browse anonymously.
The darknet is often associated with illegal activities, and while its true that some darknet marketplaces sell illegal products and services, its also home to legitimate websites offering services that require a higher degree of privacy. Bitcoin mixers are one such service. By accessing a Bitcoin mixer through Tor, users can ensure that their transactions are completely anonymous and untraceable.
Although the clearnet is generally considered to be a safer and more reliable option for accessing websites, it is still vulnerable to cyberattacks. One of the most common types of attack that clearnet websites face is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.
A DDoS attack occurs when a website is flooded with a large volume of traffic from multiple sources, rendering the website inaccessible to legitimate users. Hackers often use botnets, which are networks of infected computers, to launch these attacks. The goal of a DDoS attack is to overload the websites servers, causing the website to crash or become unavailable.
DDoS attacks can make the bitcoin mixers clearnet address unresponsive, which is another reason why users should prefer the onion version of the bitcoin mixer. If you really value your privacy, you should always access Bitcoin mixer through Tor, a secure and anonymous network.
The benefits of using a Bitcoin mixer are many. Firstly, Bitcoin mixers break the link between the sending and receiving addresses, making it impossible for anyone to trace the transaction back to the sender. Secondly, Bitcoin mixers provide an additional layer of security by encrypting the transaction data, making it impossible for anyone to intercept and steal the funds. Finally, Bitcoin mixers offer users the ability to control the timing of their transactions, making it harder for blockchain analysis tools to detect patterns in the transactions.
To access a Bitcoin mixer through Tor, users will need to download the Tor browser, which is available for free on the Tor Project website. Once the browser is installed, users can browse the darknet and access Bitcoin mixers through their onion addresses. Onion addresses are unique URLs that end in .onion, and they are only accessible through the Tor network.
Its important to note that not all Bitcoin mixers are created equal, and users should take the time to research and find the best Bitcoin mixer for their needs. Some of the factors to consider when choosing a Bitcoin mixer include the fees charged, the level of anonymity provided, and the reputation of the mixer. When searching for the best Bitcoin mixer, users should also look for mixers that offer features like delayed payouts or multiple deposit addresses. Delayed payouts allow users to control the timing of their transactions, while multiple deposit addresses allow users to make multiple deposits to the mixer, further increasing the anonymity of the transaction.
In conclusion, the use of Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers can provide an additional layer of privacy and anonymity when transacting with cryptocurrencies. By breaking the link between the sending and receiving addresses, these tools make it impossible for anyone to trace the transactions back to their original sources. While the use of Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers is not without controversy, they can be a valuable tool for individuals who want to maintain their financial privacy and keep their transactions confidential. By using these tools, individuals can protect themselves from identity theft, fraud, and other malicious activities.
Its important to note that while Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers can help ensure payment privacy and Bitcoin anonymity, they are not foolproof. As the world of cryptocurrencies continues to evolve, its likely that well see new tools and technologies emerge to help protect users privacy and anonymity. In the meantime, its up to individuals to take the necessary steps to protect themselves when transacting with cryptocurrencies. Whether youre a casual user or a serious investor, taking the time to learn about Bitcoin mixers can help you stay one step ahead of potential threats and keep your financial transactions private and secure.
None of the information on this website is investment or financial advice and does not necessarily reflect the views of CryptoMode or the author. CryptoMode is not responsible for any financial losses sustained by acting on information provided on this website by its authors or clients. Always conduct your research before making financial commitments, especially with third-party reviews, presales, and other opportunities.
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Matt Taibbi: Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex – Scheerpost.com
Posted: at 2:52 pm
By Matt Taibbi / Racket News
Today youll find two new #TwitterFiles threads out,oneby longtime Racket contributor Matt Orfalea, andanotherby Andrew Lowenthal, who worked for 18 years defending digital rights at EngageMedia and watched activists in his space slowly be absorbed by what were now calling The Censorship-Industrial Complex.
The two new threads collectively show the wide political range of revelations in the #TwitterFiles material, which have been slandered absurdly as a partisan exercise. Lowenthal, who in his Insiders Guide to Anti-Disinformation describes himself as a progressive-minded Australian, printed a series of exchanges between journalists who attended a summer tabletop exercise at the Aspen Institute about a hack-and-leak operation involving Burisma and Hunter Biden, weeks before the actual event. When the actual scandal broke not long after, the existence of that tabletop exercise clearly become newsworthy, but none of the journalists present, who included David Sanger of theNew York Timesand currentRolling Stoneeditor Noah Schactman said a word. Perhaps, as was common with anti-disinfo conferences, the event was off the record. (We asked, and none of the reporters commented). It doesnt matter. Lowenthal showed how another anti-disinformation conference featured the headline speaker Anthony Blinken. Hes currently suspected of having triggered the infamous letter signed by 50 intelligence officers saying the Hunter Biden laptop story had the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.
As Lowenthal writes: See how it works? The people accusing others of disinformationrunthe biggest disinformation campaigns themselves.
On the flip side, Orfalea found a document showing that both the Wikileaks account and that of Dr. Jill Stein were algorithmically added by Twitter to a list given the creepy nameis_russian. This was one of two buckets of Russians Twitter was collecting, one called A Priori Russians (usually, accounts identified as Russian by 3rd party researchers), the other Inferred Russians (accounts that had strong, medium, or weak signals of Russianness, involving language, type of email account, location of IP address, tweet time, etc). Even Twitters own analysts noted that any system that captured Jill Stein as Russian spoke to the overly broad nature of is_russian. It was just such a signals or marker-based methodology that Twitter and other researchers used to identify Russians on the Internet, a methodology Twitter internally called one of educated guesses, concealing a company secret about identifying accounts linked to Russias Internet Research Agency: We have no realistic way of knowing this on a Twitter-centric basis.
As Stein noted when I spoke to her yesterday, these unseen algorithmic tweaks to the political landscape have the effect of decreasing the visibility of political independents during a time of record hunger for political alternatives. Stein noted a Gallup poll justshowedidentification with the Democratic and Republican parties is at an all-time low, and said such digital meddling is an outrageous excuse for political repression, and more that Joe McCarthy would be proud of.
When Stella Assange was told about the is_russian list, she first speculated that any algorithm that demerited users based on location might produce false positives if account holders used, say, the Tor Browser, which could randomly result in an RU exit node. Since Tor is an essential tool for civil liberties and privacy communities, you could have people being tossed in a Russian bucket for the crime of trying to evade surveillance.
In another part of his thread, Orfalea notes that a Clemson University researcher hailed as a troll hunter in the press and used as a source by major media outlets, speculated that an account called @drkwarlord that was sharing a hashtag, #BloombergisRacist because the account was tweeting at odd hours:
Thats the expert opinion. Orfalea just called @drkwarlord, who laughed, Im a nurse at a hospital in Indiana. In 2020, I worked the night shift.
Whether its suppression of a news story conservatives care about like the Hunter Biden laptop tale, or deamplification of a left-leaning Green Party candidate like Jill Stein, the #TwitterFiles consistently hit at the same theme, but its not partisan. Its really summed up by something Stella Assange said, about the difference between Wikileaks and the anti-disinformation facsimile, Bellingcat. Wikileaks coined intelligence agency of the people. Bellingcat went with for the people.
Civil society institutions, the media, politicians, and government are supposed to maintain distance from one another in democracy. The Censorship-Industrial Complex shows an opposite instinct, for all of these groups to act in concert, essentially as one giant, incestuous intelligence operation not of the people, but paternalistically for the people, or so they believe. Journalists attend conferences where news happens and do not report it, breaking ranks neither with conference organizers, nor with each other. The Trump era has birthed a new brand of paranoid politics, where once-liberalizing institutions like the press and NGOs are encouraged to absorb into a larger whole, creating a single political cartel to protect against the contagion of mass movements. As Lowenthal notes, this explains why so many anti-disinformation campaigns describe language as a kind of disease, e.g. infodemic, information pollution, and information disorder.
Surrounded by the disease of dangerous political ideas, checks and balances are being discarded in favor of a new belief in banding together. TheGuardiansLuke Harding laid out this idea a few years ago, in a gushingreviewof a book about Bellingcat by its founder, British journalist Eliot Higgins:
Higgins thinks traditional news outlets need to establish their own open source investigation teams or miss out. Hes right. Several have done so. The New York Times has recruited ex-Bellingcat staff. Higgins approves of this. In his view,rivalry between media titles is a thing of the past. The future is collaboration, the hunt for evidence a shared endeavour, the truth out there if we wish to discover it.
Harding makes this sound cheery, but the rivalry of media titles is the primary (if not only) regulatory mechanism for keeping the press honest. If theTimes, Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC no longer go after each other for uncorrected errors like the Hamilton 68 fiasco exposed in the #TwitterFiles, or Hardings own infamous report that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort managed to have a secret meeting in Londons Ecuadorian embassy with the worlds most-watched human, Assange they can and will indulge in collective delusions. A shared endeavour vision of politics is just a synonym for belief in elite concentration of power.
As noted in Lowenthals thread, the story of the #TwitterFiles and the Censorship-Industrial Complex is really the story of the collapse of public trust in experts and institutions, and how those experts struck back, by trying to pool their remaining influence into a political monopoly. The losers in any advancement of this story would include anyone outside the monopoly, and they can be on either the right or the left. The intense negative reaction by traditional press to the #TwitterFiles stories published to date is rooted in a feeling of betrayal. The new media leaders see themselves as doing the same service police officers in the stop-and-frisk era called order maintenance, pouncing on visible signs of discord or disruption. Theyre gatekeepers, and the #TwitterFiles classic old-timey journalism that assumes the public has a right to know things represents an unacceptable breach of the perimeter.
Orfalea is also releasing today a video he compiled for the Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex. Titled Eleven Minutes of Media Falsehoods, Just On One Subject, Just On One Channel, its whats left of a more ambitious plan theRacketteam tried to put together as part of this wider series, whose first pieces are coming out today. Andrew and Matts material is coming out first, but in the next weeks youll be reading from a series of contributors in this Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex, each looking at this subject from different angles.
The project started with a question: whos on this list?
Youre looking at page 7 of areportby the State Department Inspector General from August, 2020, featuring the forgettable title, Audit of Global Engagement Center Federal Assistance Award Management and Monitoring. On the first page, the State IG explained it was auditing a new agency, the Global Engagement Center, which was housed in the U.S. State Department and dedicated to the fight against foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation. The IG added some history:
In March 2016, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13721, which required the Secretary of State to establish the Global Engagement Center (GEC). The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2017 then mandated that GEC lead, synchronize, and coordinate efforts of the Federal Government to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States national security interests.
The report went on to say that in Fiscal Year 2018, the new anti-disinformation wing of the State Department received $98.7 million, including approximately $78.7 million in congressionally appropriated funds, and $20 million transferred from the Department of Defense. That was distributed among 39 different award recipients, whom the Inspector General was kind enough to list. Only, they redacted all but three names, none of which have what one would describe as vibrant online presences today:Park Advisors, the Democracy Council of California, and the CNA Corporation.
I first read this report in mid-February, roughly three months into the #TwitterFiles project. At the time, I was trying to learn more aboutHamilton 68, the reporter-friendly anti-disinformation dashboard purporting to track a list of accounts linked to Russian influence activities. Internal Twitter emails showed executives reverse-engineered the Hamilton list andfound it to be a fraud, mostly tracking not Russians but ordinary people here at home.
Multiple sources told me to look for Hamilton ties to the GEC. Among those who claimed to help design the site included a writer called J.M. Berger, who told me hed been on the GEC payroll until about a month before the lists launch (though he vigorously denied doing work on Hamilton for GEC). Hamiltons public spokesperson Clint Watts, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, worked at GECs predecessor agency, the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, or CSCC. The first head of GEC, formerTimeeditor Rick Stengel,laudedthe Hamilton 68 project in odd language, saying, If only wed had it during the election:
Trying to answer these questions about a relatively small amount of money and 39 names, I soon realized the anti-disinformation world was awash in cash from a range of public and private sources, and we werent dealing with dozens of organizations butat leasthundreds, many engaged in language-policing at scale. By early February, seeing that keeping track of which group did what was clearly too much work for one person to even begin to take on, Iput out an APBfor help mainly in trying to answer one question: exactly how big is this new speech bureaucracy?
#TwitterFiles reporters like Michael Shellenberger, and myself didnt have much of a hint of what we were looking at until later in the project. That larger story was about a new type of political control mechanism that didnt really exist ten years ago. In preparation for testimony before the House in March, Shellenberger gave it a name: the Censorship-Industrial Complex.
The allusion was an unpleasantly perfect fit. America was introduced to the original Military-Industrial Complex on January 17, 1961, in the farewell address of President Dwight Eisenhower. The former Commander of Allied Forces in Europe in WWII warned of something new in the American experience: an interlocking network of financiers, extra-governmental organizations and official bureaucracies who were organized around permanent arms production and who collectively wielded more power than kings, presidents, and other such titular authorities.
Ike forced Americans for the first time to think of power as suffuse, insuperable, and geographically indistinct, less like a kings scepter than electricity running through a brain. In the context of the Military Industrial Complex, the Oval Office from which Eisenhower delivered his famous farewell was just a room, Eisenhower himself just a recoiling pile of bones and fluids, following a final stage direction:
The Censorship-Industrial Complex is much the same. Shellenberger coined the term while working with me on a #TwitterFiles project that began with a parallel mystery story: who had the power to muzzle a president?
We didnt understand at the time, but thethird,fourth, andfifthinstallments of the #TwitterFiles about the three days of infighting at Twitter between the Capitol riots on January 6th and their decision to remove Donald Trump on January 8th served as an introduction for all of us to the major components of a vast new public-private speech bureaucracy, one that appeared to have been founded in the United States, but was clearly global in scope.
The material youll be reading in the next week or so is designed to accomplish two things. The first task we settled on was to create, through interactive lists and other features, a quantitative map of the world Shellenbergerdescribedin his written testimony, a censorship industrial complex that:
Combines established methods of psychological manipulation with highly sophisticated tools from computer science, including artificial intelligence. The complexs leaders are driven by the fear that the Internet and social media platforms empower populist, alternative, and fringe personalities and views, which they regard as destabilizing.
In pursuit of that first goal, organized loosely around a thing weve been calling The List,Racketwelcomed people likeLowenthalandGeneve Campbell, (formerly of theBerkman Klein Centerat Harvard). With their experience in the anti-disinformation space, Andrew and Geneve helped a team of journalists and researchers put together what we hope will be an accessible starter kit for everyday readers hoping to acquaint themselves with the biggest organizational names in the CIC.
The second goal had reporters like Aaron Mat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Susan Schmidt, The Hunt for Tom Clancy writer Matt Farwell (a co-worker of my late colleague Michael Hastings), military-veteran-turned-reporter Tom Wyatt, the wonderfully obsessiveRacketcontributor Orfalea, and others attempt to tell the broader history of the new international censorship phenomenon.
Each took on different stories under the theme of the CIC, aided by leads from the Twitter Files, like: what was the genesis of the Senate Intelligence Committees Trump-Russia investigation? How did the post-9/11 counter-terrorism project morph into a post-Trump counter-populism project? How does the development of the CIC fit with the broader history of American information operations? Does a CIC that claims to stop fake news actually create it spoiler, it does and if so, how many media stories need retracting, or at least an editors note, in the face of information found in the Twitter Files? Lastly, can the CIC target individuals, and if so, what would one particularly devastating test case look like? These stories will be coming out in the next weeks.
All the contributors to this report are independents. Many are not formally trained journalists, and some, like the tireless @Techno_Fog, represent a new kind of citizen journalism it seemed important to recognize. A major subtext of the CIC story is that ordinary people are going to have to build their own media and oversight institutions to represent them, as virtually the entire landscape of traditional institutional checks on power seems to have been compromised.
If the Military Industrial Complex was propped up by an Iron Triangle of donors, Congress, and quasi-private interest groups, the CIC is more like a four-legged animal: government, civil society organizations, tech companies, and a shocking fourth partner, news media. Stanfords Election Integrity Project, a supposedly independent group that director Alex Stamos said was created in 2020 to fill the gap of what government couldnt do by itself, did us the favor of creating a graphic representation of these four major stakeholders:
Note the way reports flow both to and fromthe media, which has completely rethought its rolevis a visthe public. Over and over in the #TwitterFiles, we saw newspapers finking on their own readers instead of advocating for them. The typical progression involved a civil society organization like the Britain-based Center for Countering Digital Hate reaching out to reporters with lists of people or accounts deemed to be bad actors, followed by queries from those reporters to Twitter, demanding to know: why hasnt this group been deleted? These voices? This idea?
One of the first observations Andrew made when he started looking through the Files was how bizarre it was to see civil society organizations holding tabletop exercises about election security with representatives of the military.
Not the military is whatcivilsociety is supposed to mean, he says. Theyre not supposed to be partners.
Democracy relies on the dynamic tension between liberalizing institutions like the press, NGOs, and the media, but the CIC seeks to unite these groups and homogenize information flow. This is not only morally wrong, but ridiculous: theres no way to keep a cap on 8 billion voices forever. The people youll be reading about in this series want to try, however. How? Raw numbers. Money. The sheer application of political will and computing power. As youll read and see, if they have to build one NGO for every human on earth, theyll do it.
Franz Kafka dreamed up the one gatekeeper per person idea over a century ago as ironic metaphor inBefore the Law,but the modern United States is moving in that direction as political reality. Its the ultimate convergence of the huge-scale-waste approach to governance as perfected across generations of forever wars and Pentagon spending, and the authoritarian thinking that flowered all over in response to episodes like 9/11, Brexit, and the election of Donald Trump. The core concept is too much democracy and freedom leads to mischief, and since the desire for these things cant be stamped out all at once but instead must be squashed in every person over and over and endlessly, the job requires a massive investment, and a gigantic bureaucracy to match.
How gigantic? Read on, starting with todays threads, and Matts mind-boggling video. Stay tuned to this space for more.
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