AI Journalism

Tag: Google

  • Google to Invest $2 Billion in Polish Data Center

    Google to Invest $2 Billion in Polish Data Center

    Dubai- AI Journalism

    Google will invest as much as $2 billion in a data center in Poland to deal with cloud services, according to Reuters.

    Report said that news of the investment follows an announcement by Microsoft in May that it will invest $1 billion in a Polish data center, as the largest economy in the European Union’s eastern wing tries to position itself as a regional technology hub.

    Magdalena Dziewguc, Google Cloud’s business development director in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe,said“Region Google Cloud in Warsaw is the biggest investment in infrastructure of this type in Poland

    She said “We are getting ready for it to be operational at the beginning of 2021.”

    Jadwiga Emilewicz, Poland’s deputy prime minister, said that she estimated Google could invest $1.5 billion to $2 billion in the project.

  • Coronavirus: Google Shuts Down Toronto Smart City project

    Coronavirus: Google Shuts Down Toronto Smart City project

    Dubai- AI Journalism
    Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs abruptly abandons Toronto smart city , as a result of complications caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a company press release.

    Project Fund

    The company (Google affiliate Sidewalk) plan was projected to cost over a billion dollars, and has been under development for over two years  to build a digital-first smart city in Toronto “from the internet up”.

    In an online statement, Sidewalk Labs CEO Daniel L. Doctoroff  said: ” the “unprecedented economic uncertainty” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the proposed project financially unviable.

    “ For the last two-and-a-half years, we have been passionate about making Quayside happen — indeed. we have invested time, people, and resources in Toronto, including opening a 30-person office on the waterfront.

    But as unprecedented economic uncertainty has set in around the world and in the Toronto real estate market.
    It has become too difficult to make the 12-acre project financially viable without sacrificing core parts of the plan we had developed together with Waterfront Toronto to build a truly inclusive, sustainable community.”, added Doctoroff.

    He mentioned that: “While we won’t be pursuing this particular project, the current health emergency makes us feel even more strongly about the importance of reimagining cities for the future.

    I believe that the ideas we have developed over the last two-and-a-half years will represent a meaningful contribution to the work of tackling big urban problems, particularly in the areas of affordability and sustainability.

    This is a vital societal endeavor, and Sidewalk Labs will continue our work to contribute to it.”

    Autonomous Cars


    The vision was to have a city full of technology, from autonomous cars to innovative ways of collecting rubbish, and hundreds of sensors collecting data on air quality and the movements of people.

    Buildings would be sustainable and built in radical new ways, and cycle lanes would be heated.

    Since it first was announced in 2017, Sidewalk Labs’ Toronto project has faced constant criticism, both from city residents and others who oppose urban profiteering by tech giants about the opacity of its plans.

    In 2019 The Toronto Star published a report based on leaked documents that revealed the company to have grander ambitions than just a 12-acre lot.

    The documents revealed Sidewalk Labs was interested in developing a larger 350-acre swath that encompasses the current parcel.

  • Apple & Google Work on Tracing Coronavirus Infected

    Apple & Google Work on Tracing Coronavirus Infected

    Dubai – AI Journalism
    NHS tech experts ( Apple and Google ) are working on developing a mobile app that reveals if you’ve been near someone who has coronavirus , according to the Sun.

    It will allow mobile phones to trace users who have come into contact with sufferers and alert them to get tested for the killer infection.
    NHSX – the health services’s tech wing – is now working at “breakneck speed”with tech giants Apple and Google to face coronavirus , sources have reported.
    “We believe this is important in helping the country to return to normality,” one Whitehall insider revealed.
    Health Secretary Matt Hancock is now reportedly looking at ways to get people to install the app – as at least 60 per cent need to for it to work efficiently.
    It’s already been revealed Apple and Google are teaming up to develop phones which will reveal if you have been within two metres of someone who has the virus.
    The powerful pair – who operate 99 per cent of the world’s smartphones – plan to add new software to make it easier to track down people who may have been infected.
    The ‘contact tracing’ will play a vital role in managing the deadly virus, according to health experts.
    The system will work by emitting unique Bluetooth signals and then phones within around two metres can record information about their encounters.
    Those who test positive for coronavirus can then opt to send an encrypted list of the phones they came near to onto Apple and Google.
    The system will then trigger alerts to those who have potentially been exposed to the killer infection.
    Medics would then need to confirm that a person has tested positive for COVID-19 before they can send on the data.

  • How to see AR Animals on Google 3D ?

    How to see AR Animals on Google 3D ?

    Dubai – AI Jourmalism
    Have you experienced the augmented reality (AR) feature from Google for 3D Animals ?

    You and your kids could discover many animals to learn about. For parents with children staying indoors, this provides a fun new way to learn about their favourite animals.

    What does AR enabled mean?

    In order to access this feature, your device will need to be AR enabled.

    For Android users, Google requires an operating system of Android 7.0 or later, originally shipped with the Google Play store already installed, and internet access.

    For iPhone users, you need to be running iOS 11.0 or later. You’ll likely already be running iOS 11.0 or later, but if you’re not sure, simply head to your settings > general and then tap software update.

    If there is a software update available, hit download and install.

    How do I view 3D animals on Google (AR) ?

    To use the feature, you’ll need to google an animal, for example: ‘giant panda’.

    Just underneath the image search results and the Wikipedia description of the panda, you’ll be able to see a little box that says, “Meet a life-sized giant panda up close”.

  • New Powers, New Responsibilities to AI Journalism

    New Powers, New Responsibilities to AI Journalism

    A new book published about AI Journalism, wrote by Charlie Beckett. The Journalism AI report is based on a survey of 71 news organisations in 32 different countries regarding artificial intelligence and associated technologies.

    A wide range of journalists working with artificial intelligence answered questions about their understanding of AI, how it was used in their newsrooms, and their views on the wider potential and risks for the news industry.

    What emerges from this research is that artificial intelligence is a significant part of journalism already but it is unevenly distributed. AI is giving journalists more power, but with that comes editorial and ethical responsibilities.

    The future impact of AI is uncertain but it has the potential for wide-ranging and profound influence on how journalism is made and consumed.

    AI can free up journalists to work on creating better journalism at a time when the news industry is fighting for economic sustainability and for public trust and relevance. It can also help the public cope with a world of news overload and misinformation and to connect them in a convenient way to credible content that is relevant, useful and stimulating for their lives.

    This report is not a manual for implementation, but rather an introduction to and discussion of journalism and AI. We hope it will help newsrooms make decisions around strategy, and think proactively about the ethical and editorial challenges, as well as the potential implications of adopting these new technologies

  • Artificial Intelligence Discussed in Masterclass in DPC with Google

    Artificial Intelligence Discussed in Masterclass in DPC with Google

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the subject of the Masterclass that was held by Dubai Press Club (DPC) and Google . The workshop, which sought to give participants a strong understanding of AI and machine learning technologies, was attended by UAE-based journalists specialised in technology and business reporting.

    The masterclass, led by Dr. Ahmad Khwileh, Senior Consultant on AI & Data Science at Google MENA, sought to demystify AI and machine learning and debunk some common myths about these technologies. Ziad Jammal, Cloud Consultant at Google MENA, also joined the session to highlight the latest regional and global developments in AI.

    During the masterclass, the Google experts spoke about how artificial intelligence powers many of the products the tech major uses every day and how AI can be applied to transform work. The session also explained the practices Google follows to ensure AI is used in a responsible way.

    Welcoming the collaboration between GDMO and Google to host the masterclass, Salem Belyouha, Acting Director of the Dubai Press Club (DPC), said: “Organising the workshop is part of our commitment to introduce UAE-based journalists to new technologies shaping the future of the world, With Artificial Intelligence being a key priority for Dubai’s future strategy, we want to ensure media professionals are aware of the various ways AI can be used to overcome challenges and provide efficient solutions for the challenges we face in various spheres of life.”

    Belyouha added that DPC is keen to partner with leading media organisations to host workshops for media professionals in order to impart the knowledge and skillsets required to excel in today’s rapidly evolving media sector.

    Joyce Baz, Head of Communications for Google in MENA, said: “At Google, we are committed to bring the benefits of AI to everyone and help people access the latest technologies. We are very excited to host Google’s very first AI masterclass in the region. This event was focused on helping media professionals stay abreast of the latest developments in AI and machine learning.”

    The session gave insights into how Google is using advanced machine learning to reinvent its value offering, from products like YouTube and Translate to new experiences like Google Assistant, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant. Participants in the Masterclass were given a deeper understanding of new machine learning approaches with examples of Google products and features including classification, prediction, generation and understanding.

    The session also explained how Google uses AI in products like Google News, Gmail (Smart Reply), Assistant and Lens. During the workshop, Senior Consultant on AI & Data Science at Google MENA Dr. Ahmad Khwileh introduced journalists to the seven principles guiding Google’s use of AI. “Google believes AI should provide social benefits, avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias, be built and tested for safety, be accountable to people, incorporate privacy design principles, uphold high standards of scientific excellence, and be made available for uses that are in harmony with our seven principles,” he said.

    Cloud Consultant at Google MENA Ziad Jammal spoke about the types of Cloud Machine Learning APIs developed by the organisation and gave demos of how they can be used to assist journalists in their work.

  • What is Google Explainable AI ?

    What is Google Explainable AI ?

    Google’s cloud computing division pitched a new facility that it hopes will give it the edge on Microsoft and Amazon, which dominate the sector. Its name: Google Explainable AI, according to BBC.

    It will give information about the performance and potential shortcomings of face- and object-detection models. But in time the firm intends to offer a wider set of insights to help make the “thinking” of AI algorithms less mysterious and therefore more trustworthy.

    One AI service you aren’t offering clients is facial recognition. You’ve limited yourselves instead to letting clients detect but not recognise faces, with an exception made for those of celebrities. Microsoft and Amazon, by contrast, allow users to build more general facial recognition capabilities into their tools.
    In general, within Google, we understood how important it is that artificial intelligence (AI) is applied responsibly. And so, our chief executive Sundar Pichai commissioned a set of a principles that we operate with. They include the fact that we should never be doing harm, and that we should be making sure that the decisions of the systems are unbiased, fair and accountable.

    As a result of this it does mean that we are very careful. And it does sometimes come across that we are reluctant to just release something and hope that it works because we subject everything to a battery of tests to make sure they are working in a way that’s desirable.

    One of the things I love about Google, and why I chose to return to Google to work is that it is full of lots of creative voices. And pretty much everything we do, including the design of the shape of buttons on a front-end system, we end up having massive internal arguments about.

    Eventually you do have to make a decision one way or the other. The idea of doing top-down management is completely out of Google’s culture. But knowing that people are going to disagree and having leadership commit is also something that we are very clear that we do.