The Obtain: AIDS denialism, and AI security mechanisms

A number of million folks had been listening in February when Joe Rogan falsely declared that “celebration medication” had been an “vital think about AIDS.” His visitor on The Joe Rogan Expertise, the previous evolutionary biology professor turned contrarian podcaster Bret Weinstein, agreed with him.

Talking to the most important podcast viewers on this planet, the 2 males had been selling harmful and false concepts—concepts that had been in reality debunked and totally disproved a long time in the past.

These feedback and others like them add as much as a small however unmistakable resurgence in AIDS denialism—a false assortment of theories arguing both that HIV doesn’t trigger AIDS or that there’s no such factor as HIV in any respect.

These claims had largely fallen out of favor till the coronavirus arrived. However, following the pandemic, a renewed suspicion of public well being figures and businesses is giving new life to concepts that had way back been pushed to the margins. Learn the total story.

—Anna Merlan

AI “godfather” Yoshua Bengio has joined a UK venture to stop AI catastrophes

What’s new: Yoshua Bengio, a Turing Award winner who is taken into account one of many “godfathers” of contemporary AI, is throwing his weight behind a venture funded by the UK authorities to embed security mechanisms into AI techniques.

What’s it? The venture, known as Safeguarded AI, goals to construct an AI system that may test whether or not different AI techniques deployed in vital areas are protected, and supply danger scores. Bengio is becoming a member of this system as scientific director and can present vital enter and scientific recommendation.

Why it issues: Safeguarded AI hopes its efforts will assist to alter the established order of the AI business, nudging folks constructing techniques to suppose extra about their security, and their affect on the world. Learn the total story.

—Melissa Heikkilä