Episode 35: AI + Ethics, Google Playing with Search Results, and a Note from the Mailbag
Release Date: 11/26/2019
KIT Episode Episode 210 - Robots, Industry Finance, and a Practical Approach to AI
The Killing IT Podcast
The Q4 2024 Killing IT Podcast features what may be our last discussion of robots for a long time! Topic One - Where Are My Robots??? We’ve been talking about this for five years - So where are the robots? We have a massive personnel shortage on many fronts. AI is creating jobs faster and faster. So why haven’t robots evolved to serve us? We’re on the verge. What’s the holdup? If nothing else, we're tired of talking about it. Topic Two - The Changing Economy of Our Industry In just the last five years, a layer of billion-dollar and near-billion-dollar companies are major players...
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KIT Episode 209 - AI Risk Repository, Google Monopoly, and Quantum Cryptography. Or Not.
The Killing IT Podcast
We're back for Q3 2024. Quick question of the day ... then onto the topics of the day. Topic 1: MIT Releases the AI Risk Repository Thanks to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a major resource. It's definitely more for you than your clients. But we see great opportunity here. The public database contains 700+ risks as documented by published papers. It includes many categories, based on severity and other variables. Check it out here: https://airisk.mit.edu/ You can poke around online and gets some good information. Or download the entire database in Excel format. You...
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Episode 208 - Botnet Battles, the State of AI, and M&A Activity in SMB
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Massive Botnet Network Taken Down Police coordinated by the European Union's justice and police agencies have taken down computer networks responsible for spreading ransomware via infected emails, in what they called the biggest-ever international operation against the lucrative form of cybercrime. The European Union's judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, said that police arrested four “high value” suspects, took down more than 100 servers and seized control of over 2,000 internet domains. Related Link:...
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Episode 207 - Bigger and Bigger MSPs, AI, and How to Consume Advice
The Killing IT Podcast
Check out the bonus Killing IT content on MSP Radio's Business of Tech podcast! Today's a great day to subscribe to that: https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe/ -- -- -- Topic 1: The Current State of Mergers, Acquisition, and MSP Consolidation Mergers and Acquisitions are alive and well in the MSP channel. Jay McBain from Canalys predicts a growth of M&A of 50% in 2024. In addition to MSPs themselves, he says that we’ll see some major vendors acquired as well. The promise of these larger organizations is always that they’ll bring efficiency and profit. So far, that hasn’t...
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Episode 206: ChatGPT Year 1, Robots Multiplying by Thousands, and Destructive Private Equity
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Chat GPT 1 year later. AI Article Summary: Elon Musk creates his own AI company called X.AI, while Satya Nadella of Microsoft invests in OpenAI and accelerates plans to incorporate AI into Microsoft's products. OpenAI releases ChatGPT as a "low key research preview," which becomes a hit. Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, faces challenges with its own chatbot and struggles with the decision to go open-source. Microsoft introduces its own chatbot in Bing, surpassing Google's efforts. Geoffrey Hinton, a prominent AI scientist at Google, decides to quit and reflects on the rapid advancements...
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Episode 205 - Overworking, AI, AR, and More!
The Killing IT Podcast
We're Baaaaaack! The Killing IT team returns . . . with a fun and educational Q4 show. Topic 1: Overworking Have you heard the term Over Employment or Overworking? These are folks who manage to hold down two or three full time jobs using apps and BS. Are these just eager, hardworking "gig" folks, or are they thieves who are simply more interested in making money than earning an honest living? A few links: They even have their own web site. Topic 2: Catch up on Artificial Intelligence Wow! What a year. Are we in the middle of a singularity? ow much is this like the early...
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Episode 204: KIT LIVE at the SMB Online Conference
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: How much will AI change our business in the next twelve months? ChatGPT now has over 100 million users. Government wants to regulate it. We’re past the hockey stick moment. --- Topic 2: Oh Dear God - Minority Report crack for Ryan: Movie clip reconstructed by an AI reading mice's brains as they watch Researchers have put together a 30-second movie clip based on a group of mice's brain activity data that was recorded while they watched the footage --- Topic 3: How dead is the metaverse? KP: Not every “cool” technology has a big future. It will find its...
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Epsiode 203: AI is Moving Fast, Killing IT Revisits the Cabana, & This Isn't Goodbye but See You Later
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: The Arms Race is Here...AI is Definitely Moving Fast, but Will It Break Things? ChatGPT is now integrated in Bing as “Prometheus.” That sounds ominous. But Bard is also coming. And now Ernie. And Claude. Soon there will be AI bots generating “conversations” and disrupting the search industry on all sides of the globe. Is that a good thing? Sample alternative tools - ...And also, apparently writing software is about to become a less-lucrative career path. --- Topic 2: Revisiting the Cabana... Four years ago, we set out to change the way our industry discussed...
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Episode 202: The Good Guys win the Cyber Wars, Scientist Using Wifi to See Through Walls, & AI and Ethics
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Score 1 for the Good Guys in the Cyber Wars In a significant development in the fight against ransomware, the FBI announces that they have shut down a notorious cyber gang after infiltrating their system months ago and secretly giving decryption keys to ransomware victims. Topic 2: Ummmm … This is Some Seriously Scary Big Brother Stuff Scientists have announced that they are able to see people through walls using WiFi technology. And not just the “heat blob” from Hollywood movies … but detailed movements and positions. On a scientific note, this is cool. On a security /...
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Episode 201: Jobs Again, FBI Crime Data is NOT Good, & First Personal Drone to be Produced by India
The Killing IT Podcast
Topic 1: Sorry: Let’s talk jobs. December: Total new jobs UP 235,000. That is despite the fact the enterprise companies (500 employees+) reduced jobs by 151,000 ← Great summary stats Spotify 600 (6% of workforce) Twitter 3,700 (50% of those who lasted this long) Salesforce 7,000 (10% of workforce) Microsoft 10,000 (5% of workforce) Tesla 10,000 (10% of workforce) Google 12,000 (6% of workforce) Amazon 18,000 (1% of workforce) Oh, and . . . Apple 0 (0% of workforce) - Minor adjustments at retail locations See also the big Layoff-Tracker Service at TrueUp -...
info_outlineEverything this week is related to AI and ethics.
Topic 1:
Follow-up on Episode 33 - AI ethics across cultural boundaries.
Karl: “China will call it protecting our culture.”
Ryan said: “Crossing geographic boundaries is one things, but crossing cultural boundaries is another.”
So, how do we address cultural norms and ethics in a worldwide discussion. Business ethics and laws are different everywhere, yet we practice economic relationships without boundaries.
What should we be discussing here? We have thoughts.
Topic 2:
More ethics. The Wall Street Journal had a long article addressing the fact that Google is messing with search results to fit corporate needs and political biases.
Google has more than 90% of the worldwide search traffic. They made about 500 changes to their search algorithm in 2010. And about 2400 in 2017, and 3200 in 2018. That's a lot of changes! Most of them are in response to some kind of request.
It turns out, Google’s super-secret algorithm favors big companies over small companies; favors eBay and other large advertisers; and favors already-big web sites over lesser-known web sites.
Google also works hard to crafting “knowledge panels” in order to keep you on their site. AND they change the results of auto-complete in an attempt to be politically correct and less divisive.
Related Link:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-interferes-with-its-search-algorithms-and-changes-your-results-11573823753
Related topic: AI is male biased
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/technology/algorithmic-ai-bias.html
Note: Update. In the days after this posted, Google’s “Top Stories” included links to articles refuting the WSJ post. :-)
And now for the Mail Bag . . .
Topic 3: Listener Joe asked our thoughts on companies that negotiate - or pay off - ransomware.
Should you (and your clients) negotiate with ransomware criminals? Should you engage a company to negotiate for you? What's "right" and what are the best practices.
Related ProPublica story on this topic:
https://features.propublica.org/ransomware/ransomware-attack-data-recovery-firms-paying-hackers/
:-)