Today’s Tech Sightings:
South Korea’s Lee Sedol (R), the world’s top Go player, shakes hands with Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind Technologies and developer of AlphaGO, after a news conference ahead of matches against Google’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo, in Seoul, South Korea, March 8, 2016. Go is an ancient Chinese board game, where players battle for more ground. (Reuters)
Computer 1, Human 0 as Google’s AI Wins First Game in Go Challenge
And the battle is on. Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) program has soundly beaten professional South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol in their first face-off. Google’s DeepMind’s AlphaGo made a clean 5-0 sweep in the first round of the complicated strategy board game. The competition is being heralded as a test of ongoing efforts to create machines that are smarter than humans. A $1 million prize is at stake.
UN Slams UK Government Web Surveillance Plans as Disproportionate, Intrusive
Britain’s Investigatory Powers Bill, which expands police powers to collect data, has come under fire again, this time from the United Nations’ special rapporteur on privacy, Joseph A. Cannataci. Dubbed the Snooper’s Charter by critics, Cannataci said the bill is disproportionate and threatens the spirit of privacy. His report on the state of privacy in 2016 can be found here.
Microsoft Is Beating Apple in Key Battle for Future of Computing
The prevalence of mobile devices in the past few years has hit the desktop PC market hard. And now the tablet market is also shrinking. Meanwhile future PCs are taking shape, becoming detachable and portable. Writer Matt Weinberger argues that Microsoft is currently better poised than Apple to take advantage of the detachable evolution.
More:
- The Rise of IoT Hacking: New Dangers, New Solutions
- Turning the Tide on Cybercrime
- Microsoft Patches Flaws in Windows, Office, IE, Edge That Let Attackers Control Your PC
- Game Critic Anita Sarkeesian’s New Project: Women in History
- Lollipop Becomes the Most Popular Version of Android
- Microsoft Skype Adds Arabic Support
