Thought-provoking Things Worth Sharing - Issue #132
Fake Voices Being Used to Scam Loved Ones Was an Obvious Use of AI - Why Are We Here?
If you haven’t seen the story, I recommend reading it
The Terrifying A.I. Scam That Uses Your Loved One’s Voice
If your mother was on the phone and then someone said she was in their custody and threatened to kill them, if you didn’t Venmo $750, you would do it without question.
This was an obvious use of AI tools that take just a few moments of voice to generate fake audio of someone’s voice—the same as the obvious use of creating fake porn, fake speeches, etc. Yet tech companies were allowed to throw these tools out to the public without the slightest protection against these built-in uses.
Welcome to this week’s collection of thought-provoking things. Each week, I’ll share information about careers and workplace culture, mental health in the workplace, talent development, and important information about privacy, security, and legal tech.
You can find out all about me here - Mike McBride Online.
If you’ve ever published a video online, had your voice recorded for even a few minutes, or know someone who has a video or audio recording of you, there’s nothing you can do to prevent your voice and image from being used to produce fakes.
That’s pretty much everyone. There aren’t laws against creating fake audio and video files in many cases.
When we talk about AI being as much harm as it is good, this is what we’re talking about. This is the harm when I talk about technology companies claiming regulations can’t limit them because they are innovating too fast. There’s no regulation, so anyone can use any AI tool to scam people, blackmail people, etc. It’s happening already, and still, AI investors will argue that we shouldn’t place any limits on this technology.
I beg to differ. We are doing actual harm and only seeing “potential” benefits with AI. I say that as someone who is currently using AI products. There is potential, but there is also potential for actual harm done to millions of people. That shouldn’t go unrecognized.
Careers and the Workplace
Is It Time to Retire Values Like Resiliency and Grit in the Workplace?
We are seeing a demand to create jobs that don't require ever-growing amounts of grit and resilience. It's not the worst idea I've heard. It places responsibility where it belongs—on employers. Instead of pushing people to break and replacing them with the next person and repeating the cycle, it allows workers to have a career and a life outside of work. I don't think that is too much to expect.
Many of us are not good at small talk. We aren’t confident in talking to others and struggle to network. Luckily, the critical aspects of networking have more to do with listening than talking - Why Genuinely Connecting With Other People (and Building Instant Relationships) Has Very Little to Do With Speaking, Backed by Harvard Research
Training and Development
LinkedIn is making learning about AI easier - Build Critical AI Skills with These 250 (Free) AI Courses
On the other hand….
Linked - Employees need AI skills — but what does that training look like?
Training will continue to consist of identifying the necessary skills to get the work done and teaching those skills. There is an adjustment coming to those skills, but we've faced many adjustments.
This should go without saying, but I keep seeing it being said - Educate Employees to Practice Better Cybersecurity
Mental Health in the Workplace
Have you been feeling it this week? - Why Daylight Saving Time Messes With Your Brain.
When I used to travel for work all the time, my go-to statement about rest was that as long as I got six hours of sleep, I would be good to go. This might explain why I would crash for 10-12 hours every two weeks, even when I could grab six hours.
Why Six Hours Of Sleep Is As Bad As None At All
Privacy, Security, and Legal Tech
Stolen Data is a Risk. Here's an Example of Altered Data That is Worse
The entire system is based on the license plate database being connected to all of the automated plate readers. All it took for this to become a problem was for part of that not to stay safe. Since the license plate database isn't, anyone can create a fake license plate, pop it on a similar-looking vehicle, and the collected data is tainted. All those people who had nothing to hide now have a system that assumes they were driving illegally, causing accidents, etc. They are facing actual fines, increased insurance costs, and possible arrests because of surveillance data that's been hacked. Data that should show them as innocent but false information has been injected into it.
Will America See its First Cyber Death? - someone can die as a result of healthcare service disruptions. Is this a matter of when?
I wonder if this will change some long-standing eDiscovery practices - Using LLMs to Unredact Text.
Is Reddit’s IPO just another service that will chase unsustainable growth at the expense of user experience? - Are We Watching The Internet Die?
That’s all, folks. If you found something interesting in this week’s newsletter, please share it with your friends. It’s the best way to help support the effort I put in each week to share this with you.