Month: October 2023

Who’s going (and who’s not) to the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park?

Who’s going (and who’s not) to the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park?

Ahead of the AI Safety Summit starting tomorrow morning taking place outside of London in Bletchley Park, today, the U.K. government has confirmed more details about who is actually going to be attending the event. The list’s publication comes after weeks of speculation and criticism that the event’s line up — both in terms of topics and attendees — would fall short of giving a full representation of the different stakeholders and issues at play. Organizers have said that some of the headline conversation topics will include the idea of catastrophic risk in AI; how to identify and respond to it; and establishing an agreed concept of “frontier AI”. Depending on how close you think those risks are to reality, some of the ideas might appear more abstract, and less about some of the more specific and pressing worries people have voiced about the role AI is playing right now, for example in furthering misinformation, or offering a helping hand to malicious hackers looking for ways to break into networks. As we wrote yesterday, the …

AI better than biopsy at assessing some cancers, study finds | Cancer research

Artificial intelligence is almost twice as accurate as a biopsy at judging the aggressiveness of some cancers, according to research that experts say could save the lives of thousands of patients. Cancer kills 10 million people globally every year, according to the World Health Organization. For millions more patients, the disease can be thwarted if detected promptly and dealt with quickly. A key challenge for health workers is to find patients with high-risk tumours and treat them early. A study by the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) found that an AI algorithm was far better than a biopsy at correctly grading the aggressiveness of sarcomas, a rare form of cancer that develops in the body’s connective tissues, such as fat, muscle and nerves. By giving clinicians a more accurate way of grading tumours, researchers hope AI will improve outcomes for patients. Because high-grade tumours can indicate aggressive disease, the new tool could help to ensure those high-risk patients are identified more quickly and treated promptly. Low-risk patients could …

King Lear review – Kenneth Branagh’s fast and feverish tragedy | Theatre

Kenneth Branagh has confirmed his mercurial ability to inhabit Shakespeare’s flawed heroes over decades on stage and film. We have come to expect great things: energy, polish and accomplished verse diction. That is what we get here, in his production of what some believe to be the most tragic of Shakespearean downfalls. But although Branagh delivers his Lear with slick, almost playful efficiency, it is not his towering achievement. Some of the dissonance is down to pace which, under Branagh’s direction, is as fast and feverish as Macbeth. So much takes place amid the shadows on Jon Bausor’s set design that it bears more than a few shades of that tragedy in its look, with silhouettes of birds and an ancient warrior king who does not wear a crown or ermine but has a dagger tucked in his belt. Staged at a hurtling two hours with no interval, it is almost cinematic in its action-packed speed, which on stage appears like haste. Actors barrel from one scene to another with too few pauses. This divests …

Could the courts actually take Trump off the ballot?

Could the courts actually take Trump off the ballot?

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. A group of voters in Colorado are trying to use the power of the court to keep Donald Trump’s name off the state’s 2024 ballot. Below, I look at this week’s contentious Fourteenth Amendment trial in Denver—and speak with Trump’s co-defendant in the case. First, here are four new stories from The Atlantic: Testing the System Back when X was called Twitter (back when it was fun), certain tweets had a way of explaining the Trump era better than any news article ever could. This one, from Jesse Farrar, comes to mind: Well, I’d like to see ol Donny Trump wriggle his way out of THIS jam! *Trump wriggles his way out of the jam easily* Ah! Well. Nevertheless, That tweet was sent six days before Trump’s Access Hollywood tape scandal. (He wriggled his way out.) Trump later went …

Carlos Alcaraz dumped out of Paris Masters after shock defeat to Safiullin | Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 2, has crashed out of the Paris Masters at the first hurdle after losing to Roman Safiullin. The Spaniard had designs on ending his year on the regular tour with victory in the French capital but they were extinguished by the world No 45 Safiullin. The Russian, who came through qualifying, posted a career-best victory, winning 6-3, 6-4 in under two hours. Footage of Alcaraz giving Novak Djokovic the run around in practice had gone viral in the last couple of days, but there will be no meeting between the two heavyweights on the main show court in the final Masters event of the season. A routine night for Alcaraz looked on the cards when he broke Safiullin in just the third game, but he was immediately broken back and his opponent then went on to take control, breaking again at 4-3 and then serving the first set out. Alcaraz made another early move in the second set leading 3-1, but Safiullin again responded and won five of the next …

WeWork reportedly on the verge of filing bankruptcy, stock plummets

WeWork reportedly on the verge of filing bankruptcy, stock plummets

WeWork is on the verge of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal. If WeWork does indeed file, it shouldn’t come as a shock to close followers of the flexible workspace provider. WeWork warned in August in its second-quarter earnings that “substantial doubt exists about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” The company has faced a number of challenges for years as demand for its co-working spaces has steadily declined over time. Those troubles compounded during the COVID pandemic when companies abandoned office space and employees began working remotely. Even as some companies have returned to the office, the appetite for WeWork space didn’t rebound to those pre-pandemic days. Earlier this month, WeWork missed interest payments to its bondholders, and was granted 30 days to come up with those payments, according to a securities filing. On October 30, WeWork said it had begun discussions with “certain stakeholders in its capital structure” such as SoftBank and Goldman Sachs about improving its balance sheet as it …

Latte Lath caps Middlesbrough rally to end Exeter’s Carabao Cup run in last 16 | Carabao Cup

At least when Michael Carrick and his Middlesbrough side return to Devon later this week they will carry ultimately happy memories from this visit. An 82nd-minute penalty by Emmanuel Latte Lath propelled Boro into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and proved the difference against third-tier Exeter City after four fantastic goals, two by Exeter’s Ryan Trevitt, punctuated a thrilling tie. This was anything but a comfortable evening for Boro, however, their analysts, as well as the first-team coach, Grant Leadbitter, in conversation with Carrick’s staff on the touchline throughout, were stationed in the main stand surrounded by some of the 1,031 away fans who made this mammoth trip. As Middlesbrough’s players and staff filed off the team coach about an hour and 15 minutes before kick-off some of the more eager Exeter supporters that had congregated on the Big Bank terrace at one end of this ground were already making a racket. A thudding drum provided the soundtrack for Boro’s players as they headed for the away dressing room and the home support invariably turned up …

Microsoft accused of damaging Guardian’s reputation with AI-generated poll | The Guardian

The Guardian has accused Microsoft of damaging its journalistic reputation by publishing an AI-generated poll speculating on the cause of a woman’s death next to an article by the news publisher. Microsoft’s news aggregation service published the automated poll next to a Guardian story about the death of Lilie James, a 21-year-old water polo coach who was found dead with serious head injuries at a school in Sydney last week. The poll, created by an AI program, asked: “What do you think is the reason behind the woman’s death?” Readers were then asked to choose from three options: murder, accident or suicide. Readers reacted angrily to the poll, which has subsequently been taken down – although highly critical reader comments on the deleted survey were still online as of Tuesday morning. A reader said one of the Guardian reporters bylined on the adjacent story, who had nothing to do with the poll, should be sacked. Another wrote: “This has to be the most pathetic, disgusting poll I’ve ever seen.” The chief executive of the Guardian …

FAA completes SpaceX Starship safety review as environmental assessment remains ongoing

FAA completes SpaceX Starship safety review as environmental assessment remains ongoing

The Federal Aviation Administration has finished a key portion of the launch license review for SpaceX’s Starship, bringing the company one step closer to a second launch. Regulators said Tuesday that they completed a safety review focused on how a Starship launch could affect public health and property. That review evaluates SpaceX’s “safety organization, system safety processes, flight safety analysis, and quantitative risk criteria for launch, reentry, and vehicle disposal,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. That regulators have completed the safety review portion of the license is critical – especially considering that the first Starship orbital flight test in April ended in a spectacular mid-air explosion of the vehicle. However, this does not mean that regulators have given SpaceX a green light for launch. The company is still awaiting the results of the environmental assessment, which the FAA is conducting in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). That updated biological assessment, being performed under the Endangered Species Act, will examine potential impacts to the local environment. The FWS and FAA …

Taylor Swift’s Tinder Masterpiece – The Atlantic

Taylor Swift’s Tinder Masterpiece – The Atlantic

Taylor Swift’s 1989 reminds me of 2014, the year of its release, which is to say that it reminds me of Tinder. That’s when the dating app, founded two years earlier, settled into ultra-popularity: It was logging 1 billion “swipes” a day as singles smudged their thumbs over pictures of strangers, judging and being judged. Tinder turned the classic, nervous thrill of the dating experience into a game, one that millions of people could play at once. Then, with uncanny timing, Swift released an album all about fun and flaky romance, helping listeners bounce along to their next potential rejection. The enduring success of Swift’s fifth album—now out as a rerecorded Taylor’s Version—makes it easy to forget how perfectly it fit a particular cultural moment. Marketed as her full turn from country to “official pop,” it incorporated the synthetic sounds of her titular birth year and the tried-and-true melodic tricks of the producers Max Martin and Shellback. With 12.3 million units sold and three Hot 100 No. 1 hits (“Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and …