Digital Content

Wherever you’re at in your AI journey, it’s time for a digital inclusion community discussion. What we know for sure is that AI will cause another digital divide, or further exacerbate the one we already have. To jump-start the discussion, I have some overarching thoughts about AI and digital inclusion: 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) that would place new restrictions on the use and disclosure of children’s personal information and further limit the ability of companies to condition access to services on monetizing children’s data. The proposal aims to shift the burden from parents to providers to ensure that digital services are safe and secure for children. In a notice that will be published in the Federal Register, the FTC has proposed several changes to the rule, including:

Google will allow developers on its Play app store to offer direct payment options to users in the company’s latest move to navigate increased regulatory scrutiny of its power. Google will allow apps to charge consumers directly rather than having to charge through Google.

Since around 2016, telecommunications companies like ViaPath and Securus (which owns JPay) have issued thousands of tablets in prisons and jails nationwide. These devices are populated with prison-approved content and can’t connect to the internet unless they are hacked and updated with software, a process otherwise known as jailbreaking, or rooting. Jailbreaking a tablet can cost up to $300, and the reasons for doing it vary.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) has already initiated a seismic shift in work and value creation. A recent McKinsey report identified up to $4.4 trillion in potential global economic impact from gen AI across functions and industries. With gen AI in its infancy, organizations are just beginning to understand the potential of applying it to their own goals. As often happens, the advent of a new technology can create or exacerbate divides, including the racial wealth gap. This article explores how gen AI may affect Black communities and Black workers.

Tens of millions of U.S. consumers will get a payout as Google shells out $700 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit brought by state prosecutors over the high fees it charges app developers. Google will pay $630 million into a fund that will be divided among an estimated 102 million eligible consumers across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the settlement terms for Utah et al v. Google.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a public event for creative professionals entitled, “Creative Economy and Generative AI.” The purpose of this report is to summarize the information provided to the FTC in that roundtable. Some of the issues surfaced at the event implicate the FTC’s enforcement and policy authority, though some certainly go beyond or outside the FTC’s jurisdiction. This report begins by briefly summarizing the technological developments in AI and generative AI that make this roundtable and report timely. Next, it explains the FTC’s jurisdictional interest in AI.

For more than 25 years, I’ve been in prison, where TV is a staple of prison life as essential as staff and more immutable than any rehabilitative program. Cell-block televisions are equal parts library, time machine, and mecca, instructing the incarcerated in the ways of the world they aspire to return to. Traditionally, most prisons have a communal TV, though some also sell personal TV sets.

Masheika Allgood and Alexander Tsado left their 2020 meeting with Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang feeling frustrated. The pair had spent a year working with colleagues from across the company on a presentation meant to warn Huang of the potential dangers that artificial intelligence technology posed, especially to minorities. The 22-slide deck and other documents pointed to Nvidia’s growing role in shaping the future of AI and warned that increased regulatory scrutiny was inevitable.

TikTok staff were told they should avoid flagging potential problems on Amazon accounts to protect the video platform’s lucrative commercial relationship with the e-commerce multinational, according to internal communications seen by the Guardian. Some moderators were told in the autumn not to take negative action against a list of more than 60 Amazon-related accounts on TikTok because the US company is a heavy advertiser on the platform.