Blockchain vs. slavery: Provenance, a London NGO, is using Blockchain to add transparency to seafood supply chains, in an effort to reduce the practice of slavery in the seafood industry in Southeast Asia. Blockchain can create end-to-end traceability for seafood products by storing data on all kinds of transactional history. This can help NGOs track suppliers using slaves and abusive employment practices, reports Forbes.
AI joins the HR team: Artificial Intelligence may soon be assisting human resources departments, Inc. reports. Spoke, an AI startup, learns information about the deploying company and answers worker questions through a chatbot. Companies installing Spoke can program it with answers to the most-asked employee questions, but then the service can learn more about the company as time goes on. The Spoke software can also handle meeting room requests and equipment reservations, and it can prioritize IT requests.
The dark side of AI: Many AI experts are concerned about its malicious uses, including the sci-fi sounding scenarios of swarms of micro drones and autonomous weapons. Using AI to automate security tasks could also expand existing surveillance, persuasion, and deception threats, according to a new report, detailed on CNBC.com and in Motherboard.
Can SIM cards improve IoT security? Chip designer Arm has targeted IoT security with a new device authentication service based on SIM cards. Arm plans to combine the functionality of SIM cards with a wireless modem and microcontroller, in an effort to create a secure system-on-chip for IoT devices, according to SiliconAngle.
Tiny, space-based mobile towers: Low-cost nano satellites may soon help bring mobile service to parts of the world where coverage is weak, the BBC reports. Sky and Space Global, an Israeli firm, plans to offer customers mobile phone connections through a network of 200 shoebox-sized satellites that each weigh just 22 pounds. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is another company aiming to offer Internet coverage by satellite, the story notes.
Is that an AI in your pocket? With Mobile World Congress coming this week, one of the major focuses will be on the use of AI in mobile devices, reports CNBC. Telecom providers will talk about using AI to enhance their networks, and mobile device makers will feature the technology in their products. But in some cases, AI will be more of a buzzword than an actual feature, with some companies using “rigid computer algorithms” and calling them AI.
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