Gene Munster, Managing Partner at Loup Ventures, joins Cheddar to talk about Facebook's new A.I. feature, which detects suicidal posts. Munster gives the company huge props for using this technology to help its users. And he believes that this type of technology will be integrated into voice assistants around your home.
“It’s pretty clear that people are having conversations about taking their own lives with their digital assistants,” he said.
It's been reported that Amazon Alexas, Google Homes, etc. have picked up people talking about suicide. Munster hopes the technology can start to help those users as well.
Facebook tested the technology with over 100 cases in the last month. It found that its recognition system identified and helped prioritize posts that seemed concerning, which expedited communication with local authorities twice as fast.
The company says that it will continue to improve its suicide detection and prevention methods. The prevalence of suicide streaming and crime-related videos has become a critical issue for Facebook Live. Just in October, a Turkish father, upset that his newly-engaged daughter didn’t ask for his permission, broadcast his own death.
“With the help of our partners and people’s friends and family on Facebook, we hope we can continue to support those in need,” a Facebook blog post said.
But rolling out programs like Facebook’s globally doesn't come without challenges. The UK won’t allow the feature because regulators say it goes beyond the bounds of what a social media platform should do.
Sticking with the A.I. theme, but switching companies: at Amazon Web Services’ re:invent conference this week, that tech giant’s cloud unit announced a new feature called Sumerian. It's a platform for developers to build and host VR, AR, and 3D apps.
Munster explains the difference between mixed reality and augmented reality. He believes Amazon’s A.I. technology will impact the entire shopping experience as we know it. Right now, it has a top-down approach, and when Amazon adds in mixed-reality it will be an entirely new ballgame.
“Mixed-reality allows you to actually interact with these virtual objects, where augmented reality you can just see them,” he told Cheddar. “Imagine grabbing a virtual shoe and being able to pivot it and look at it from different angles before you’re able to purchase it on Amazon.”
Amazon has already launched some augmented reality features. Earlier this month the company added AR view to its app, a feature that allows users to preview furniture in their home through augmented reality before making a purchase. Other AR features may still be on tap at the AWS event this week. Amazon says it will notify users of any new launches through their Alexa-enabled devices.
Munster says that the growth of Amazon's cloud business is an important area of growth for the company. In the last quarter, AWS revenues grew 42 percent and the unit now comprises 9 percent of the company’s total sales.
“This is growing fast. It’s an important area of investment,” he said.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
