Apr 25, 2022

Murderous AI, Funniest Reddit Thread, and the Never-Ending War

By In Plain English • Issue #24 • View online

Hello and welcome to another edition of Last Week in Plain English. This week, we take a short detour through the world of AI.

‘Assistive writing’, a new feature on Google Docs, is meant to offer suggestions using algorithms, to make your writing more inclusive. But how truly inclusive is it?

Meanwhile, using OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model, an inventor tried resurrecting his old childhood imaginary friend. And then it tried to murder him.

And finally, in contrast to these troubling stories, an indigenous couple in New Zealand is successfully challenging AI’s biases and articulating a new vision of AI that’s truly for the people.

In other news, author Bernard Bado details “the most hilarious Reddit thread” for programmers; the EU’s Digital Services Act will hold the algorithms of Google, Meta, and others accountable; and we look into what the future may hold if the war in Ukraine doesn’t end.

Don’t forget to check out the Featured Job section if you’re looking for an opportunity as a Senior Software Engineer.

All this and more in this week’s edition of Last Week in Plain English.

Google’s AI-Powered ‘Inclusive Warnings’ Feature is Very Broken

A feature rolling out this month uses algorithms to suggest edits in Google Docs, but falls into the same bias traps it’s trying to prevent.

www.vice.com • Share

An Inventor Resurrected His Imaginary Friend with AI — Then It Tried to Murder Him

As a kid, Lucas Rizzotto had an imaginary friend: a talking microwave. As an adult, Rizzotto resurrected his pal — with tragic consequences.

thenextweb.com • Share

The Indigenous Couple Pioneering a New Form of AI for the People

In a remote rural town in New Zealand, an Indigenous couple is challenging what AI could be and who it should serve.

www.technologyreview.com • Share

How to Deal with E-Commerce Fraud

While you can be reasonably safe if you take the right precautions, e-commerce fraud is much more of a threat than it was only a few years ago.

plainenglish.io • Share

Featured Job

Senior Software Engineer (Egypt) @ Via

Mobile commerce platform for D2C brands

inplainenglish.pallet.com • Share

For more opportunities visit our jobs page.

Aging Clocks Aim to Predict How Long You’ll Live

These clocks promise to measure biological age and help identify anti-aging drugs, but there are lingering questions over their accuracy.

www.technologyreview.com • Share

How to Perform Deep Cloning in JavaScript with structuredClone()

Deep cloning in vanilla JavaScript was long due and the next best thing to deep cloning an object in JavaScript was by using the spread (…) operator.

javascript.plainenglish.io • Share

Taliban Orders TikTok & PUBG Ban for 'Misleading' Youths

Access to the video-sharing app, along with the online shooting game PUBG, will no longer be allowed.

www.bbc.com • Share

5 Free React UI Components You Didn’t Know Existed

5 lightweight free UI components that can be used to enhance the user experience on your website very easily.

javascript.plainenglish.io • Share

What are Obama’s Plans to Fight Disinformation

Barack Obama has begun drawing attention to disinformation reform, delivering an hourlong keynote address at Stanford University titled “Challenges to Democracy in the Digital Realm.” Where to start?

www.theverge.com • Share

The Most Hilarious Reddit Thread

You can find a lot of interesting information if you scroll through Reddit (apart from funny memes, and disturbing comments).

javascript.plainenglish.io • Share

What if the War in Ukraine Doesn’t End?

The global consequences of a long conflict.

www.foreignaffairs.com • Share

Meet Pandas-Profiling: A Python Library for Data Analysis

How to use pandas-profiling for data analysis.

python.plainenglish.io • Share