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Advanced Software Serves Elemental Needs; Facial Recognition Courts Controversy
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Welcome back. Smart software is breaking out of the high-tech bubble and finding down-to-earth uses, like catching fish and putting out forest fires. During the coronavirus pandemic, AI has helped state officials keep families in their homes and it is being used to help office workers find a more comfortable chair. But that advance into everyday life is also creating thorny issues, such as police use of facial recognition tools, which continues to raise alarms over privacy, misuse and bias.
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Bottles at the Castello di Amorosa winery, destroyed by the Glass Fire in Calistoga, Calif., this week.
PHOTO: ADREES LATIF/REUTERS
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Firefighting crews are turning to AI to combat the spread of wildfires, which this year have burned more than 3.8 million acres in California, including wine country. The AI-based tools are helping officials monitor fires, evacuate threatened areas and send often-stretched resources to places they will do most good, WSJ’s John McCormick reports.
How it works. The Wildfire Analyst Enterprise tool is designed to predict where fires might be heading by applying machine learning to fire-spread models running data on weather conditions, the moisture content of ground vegetation and satellite images of hot spots.
Who’s using it. The tool, developed by La Jolla, Calif.-based Technosylva Inc., is being deployed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s predictive services program, among other state firefighting agencies.
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Large AI developers are working with Norway’s fish farms to test models that are designed to cut costs and improve efficiency in raising salmon, an $11 billion export industry, WSJ’s Catherine Stupp reports.
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Scaling up. Developed by Norwegian telecommunications carrier Telenor, the models are designed to optimize feeding, keep the fish clean and healthy, and help companies make better decisions regarding farm operations.
Big players. Microsoft, IBM and Google are working with Norway’s fish farmers and the seafood industry to provide AI-powered tools to track fish populations, monitor ocean conditions and detect parasites.
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1.7 terabytes
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The amount of trading data analyzed to uncover an eight-year market-manipulation scheme to rig silver prices by traders at JPMorgan Chase, equivalent to 125 million pages of information (WSJ)
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The Dallas Housing Authority's system for managing Cares Act funds is based on customer-relationship management software from Zoho Corp.
PHOTO: DALLAS HOUSING AUTHORITY
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A tweaked sales-software system is helping the Dallas Housing Authority automate the distribution of $4 million in Covid-19 aid to eligible renters, ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline, WSJ’s Jared Council reports.
How it works. The customized software, a customer relationship-management tool developed for sales teams by Zoho Corp., quickly maps out the most economically vulnerable neighborhoods to better manage aid distribution.
Up and running. The automated system went live in late August and started approving checks to landlords last week, enabling agency staffers to know who is applying for help and from which sections of the city.
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“There’s live geocoding in our software that allows us to channel applicants based on their district so they can access their respective pool of funding.”
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— Myriam Igoufe, vice president of policy development and research at the Dallas Housing Authority
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The Detroit City Council last week voted to renew its police department’s $220,000 contract with a provider of facial recognition tools, despite concerns over misuse, WSJ’s Jared Council reports.
Supporters. Councilman Roy McCalister, who voted in favor of the measure, said facial-recognition technology is a tool that helps solve crimes and that upgrades are needed to minimize mistakes.
Stepping back. Major cities including Portland, Boston and San Francisco have curtained the use of facial-recognition technology amid pressure fueled by racial-justice protests in recent months.
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The WSJ Pro AI Executive Forum takes place online on Oct. 28, convening business executives to discuss digital transformation and artificial intelligence. Topics will include what Covid-19 has taught us about AI, navigating ethical issues and how to find talent. You can view the full agenda and registration details here.
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The CFTC has sifted exchange trading data to pursue cases relating to price manipulation.
PHOTO: ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS
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Bad bankers beware. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week levied a $920 million fine against JPMorgan Chase in a case bolstered by the use of data analytics and algorithms to uncover market manipulations. (WSJ)
Patent infringement. Robotics firm AutoStore last week sued British online supermarket company Ocado for allegedly infringing on its patent for robotically operated warehouses. AutoStore is seeking financial damages. (Reuters)
Low scores for Tesla. Autopilot, Tesla's driver assistance system, ranked sixth out of 10 competing systems evaluated in a European safety assessment, scoring especially low on the tool’s ability to keep drivers focused on the road. The top rating went to Mercedes GLE. (Reuters)
AI on TV. “Next,” a pandemic-delayed Fox drama that debuts this week, stars “Mad Men” alum John Slattery as an AI developer whose Alexa-like assistant begins to interfere in other characters’ lives. (Boston Herald)
Everyone’s a critic. Smart systems are being used to gauge potential hits and misses in the entertainment business by using data from millions of movies, TV shows and songs to feed algorithms programmed to detect patterns in audience preferences. (Variety)
Parkland parents’ video message. The parents of Joaquim Oliver, a high school student killed in the 2018 Parkland, Fla., school shooting, have released an AI-enabled video depicting their son delivering an election-year message promoting tougher gun laws. (Fox News)
Free AI course. The Belgian government is providing a free online course devised by the University of Helsinki to teach the basics of AI to students without advanced knowledge in math or computer science. To date, more than 530,000 students in 170 countries have signed up. (Brussels Times)
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A government effort to split Instagram and WhatsApp from Facebook would defy established law, cost billions of dollars and harm consumers, according to a paper that company lawyers have prepared in the wake of rising antitrust legal threats. (WSJ)
The U.S. government is ramping up efforts to secure minerals critical to modern technology but whose supply is dominated by China—a stranglehold that miners warn could take years to break. (WSJ)
Europe’s second coronavirus wave is spreading and rising hospitalizations and deaths are prompting governments to impose more restrictions, from travel bans in Madrid to the closure of bars in Paris. (WSJ)
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