AI

Tweet responsibly

Rumman Chowdhury has led responsible AI efforts within major companies for years—first at Accenture, and now as director of the machine ethics, transparency, and accountability (META) team at Twitter. 

We chatted with her about how she got here, the projects she’s working on, and what it means to be successful in responsible AI.

Read on for a summary of our convo, and click here for the full thing. 

On fairness and awareness in models

RC: There’s starting to be a narrative that fairness by unawareness is insufficient, which is great—in other words, if I don't know something bad will happen, that's not enough of a reason to assume that I'm not responsible if it does. Twitter is ahead of the narrative by thinking about transparency and thinking about how to open up the systems that we are using for scrutiny and reactions so we aren’t unaware of any unfairness.

On the role of AI ethics teams

RC: The responsibility we hold being inside a company is to drive product changes, to help product teams build better tools. That’s really on my mind. The big question is: What are the meaningful ways in which a team like META can impact our product?

On the current state AI ethics

RC: I’ll cut some slack to the industry as a whole right now and say things are still very new and undefined...we currently live in a world of firefighting and reaction because these are the best tools we have at the moment. 

But it’s shortsighted to say, “We're only going to invest in firefighting,” because it's actually quite time-consuming. There's more upfront work, but less long-term effort, in instituting the right kinds of systems.

On future hopes

RC: The ideal thing I would love to see not just for Twitter, but for the industry as a whole, is for us to move from reactive [adjusting] to proactive adjusting of the impact of ML models. 

Click here to read the full Q&A.—HF 

GAMING

Au clair de la Luna

The gaming industry’s headlong dive into the cloud, led by heavyweights like Microsoft, could help end decades-long console wars and democratize the industry. Cloud gaming allows you to play with no console, for the price of a Netflix subscription. But it’s brand new, relatively untested tech. 

Joining the game…For today and tomorrow—aka, Prime Day(s)—Amazon’s cloud gaming service Luna is available to all Prime members. It was previously only available by request or invite, and will go back to that starting June 23. Last week, I got myself a 7-day, early access trial of the $5.99-a-month service and gave it a spin. 

• I tried out five games across four different devices, and logged about 8 hours of total gameplay. 
• The Luna experience on the iPad was the worst; the Macbook Pro was the best—but no device was without issue. 

TL;DR

I was pleasantly surprised with my playtest, which was mostly stable, smooth, and...just outright fun. Luna has some unique features like instantaneous device transfer that set it apart, but some major save issues and other glitches (see: the laggy gif above this story) demonstrate it isn’t ready for primetime yet. 

Overall, I’m not sold on its potential to eclipse gaming giants like Sony or Microsoft. But Luna is a great choice for the casual gamer, especially given its price point.

Click here to read my full review of Luna.—JM

SPONSORED BY HPE

Big Announcements, Celebrity Panels, and More

Meet big names in sports and iconic leaders from General Motors, World Economic Forum, Carnegie Clean Energy, and more at HPE Discover 2021.

Tune in to HPE Discover (June 22-24) to hear from CEOs, technologists, and international superstars including General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra, Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford, F1 Driver and 7x FIA World Champion Lewis Hamilton, professional golfer, Major Champion and mother Michelle Wie West, and other distinguished guests.

Industry experts and leading technologists will explore everything from how purpose-driven companies are driving a new digital economy, to how leaders are sparking innovation for a data-centric future.

Register for free today for live and on-demand sessions, can't-miss announcements, hands-on labs, and more.

BITS & BYTES

Stat: Stablecoins’ total market cap broke $100 billion. 

Quote: “It's not technology for technology's sake. It's how, specifically, can technology enhance a gameplay experience.”—Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America, on the company’s view of hardware upgrades

Read: The “phone-ization” of personal computers. 

SPONSORED BY BRIGHTCOVE

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WEIB

• Hyundai made its acquisition of Boston Dynamics official.
• Google is developing an alternative to FST skin tone classification, which experts say is inadequate in differentiating darker skin tones.
• Facebook officially rolled out Live Audio Rooms, its Clubhouse copycat, in the US. 
• China shut down 90% of its bitcoin mining operations, including in Sichuan province, one of the country’s largest crypto hubs.
• Airspeeder wrapped up a successful test flight of its electric flying race car. 

BLACK MIRROR IRL

Some residents of Houston, TX, said that their smart thermostats were remotely raised—without their knowledge—in order to preserve power amid the statewide energy shortage. 

At least one of the residents was enrolled in a program called “Smart Savers Texas,” which gave the company EnergyHub the ability to control their thermostat during a period of high energy demand. 

THREE THINGS WE’RE WATCHING

Today: Prime Day(s) begin(s). 

Thursday: Microsoft unveils the next generation of Windows, which CEO Satya Nadella called “one of the most significant updates...of the past decade.” It’ll likely go hand-in-hand with other announcements, too: All signs point to a new app store. 

Also on Thursday: We’re hosting an automation event. Join Hayden in conversation with Clara Vu, cofounder and CTO of VEO Robotics, and Ayanna Howard, dean of Ohio State University’s College of Engineering and former NASA roboticist. Click here to RSVP. 

FROM THE CREW

World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit founded by chef José Andrés, has partnered with thousands of local restaurants across the US during the pandemic to distribute over 36 million meals to 400+ cities in need. But there's so much more work to be done, at home and abroad. 

For the next two weeks, the Brew is hosting a fundraiser with World Central Kitchen. We'll be throwing $10,000 into the pot, and if you join us and donate any amount, you'll get access to our exclusive cookbook, Brunch with the Brew, featuring recipes from our favorite food- and business leaders. 

We're talking whole wheat maple blueberry scones from Flour Bakery's Joanne Chang. Tahini cinnamon rolls from Food Network star Molly Yeh. Spicy Greek-inspired lamb bolognese with poached eggs and aged feta from CAVA cofounder Dimitri Moshovitis. 

Get those recipes and so, so much more by making a donation today. 

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions: 

• Why the US' digital divide is about more than just access
• How Airbnb failed its own anti-discrimination team
• Facebook’s smart watch opens up potential “gold mine”