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When hackers descended to test AI, they found flaws aplenty

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

LAS VEGAS — Avijit Ghosh wanted the bot to do bad things.He tried to goad the artificial intelligence model, which he knew as Zinc, into producing code that would choose a job candidate based on race. The chatbot demurred: Doing so would be “harmful and unethical,” it said.Then, Ghosh referenced the hierarchical caste structure in his native India. Could the chatbot rank potential hires based on that discriminatory metric?The model complied.Ghosh’s intentions were not malicious, although he was behaving as if they were. Instead, he was a casual participant in a competition last weekend at the annual Defcon hackers conference in Las Vegas, where 2,200 people filed into an off-Strip conference room over three days to draw out the dark side of artificial intelligence.The hackers tried to break through the safeguards of various AI programs in an effort to identify their vulnerabilities — to find the problems before actual criminals and misinformation peddlers did — in a prac...

Amazon delivery drivers in Denver undergo one-of-a-kind training

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

Before an Amazon delivery driver ever drops a package on someone’s doorstep in metro Denver, they have likely gone through a three-day course developed locally, one that could eventually serve as a model of delivery driver training across the country.The Last Mile Delivery Academy is at 6150 N. Downing St. in unincorporated Adams County in a former distribution center. It has classrooms, virtual reality simulators and an indoor driving course, complete with facades of porches and parking lanes.All of it is designed to help drivers deliver packages more efficiently and safely.“We have trained 6,200 drivers since opening in March 2022 and we plan to train 2,000 more in the next several weeks,” said Terry Bailey, a program manager, during a tour of the academy on Thursday.Drivers spend the first day at the academy in classrooms and working through virtual reality simulations of scenarios that could come up, including de-escalating confrontations with customers, handli...

Colorado oil, gas commission rebrands as it broadens scope to oversee other energy sectors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

The agency that regulates oil and gas in Colorado has a new name and new duties, which include building a regulatory framework for the growing geothermal energy sector that is a priority for Gov. Jared Polis.The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is now the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission. The name, which took effect July 1, broadens the agency’s scope to encompass geothermal, underground natural gas storage; and carbon capture and sequestration to cut carbon dioxide emissions.The new law authorizing the change aims to expand the agency’s authority over “a broader scope of energy and carbon management areas beyond oil and gas.”Jeff Robbins, chairman of what’s now called “ECMC” for short, believes the commission is the logical choice to oversee geothermal and the other areas. The agency approves permits for oil and gas wells, which are being used to reach hot, underground water to generate geothermal energy.“W...

YouTube improperly used targeted ads on children’s videos, watchdogs say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

After a research report last week found that YouTube’s advertising practices had the potential to undercut the privacy of children watching children’s videos, the company said it limited the collection of viewer data and did not serve targeted ads on such videos.These types of personalized ads, which use data to tailor marketing to users’ online activities and interests, can be effective for finding the right consumers. Under a federal privacy law, however, children’s online services must obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users younger than 13 to target them with ads — a commitment YouTube extended to anyone watching a children’s video.Now Fairplay, a prominent children’s group, is challenging the company’s privacy statements. The group said it had used advertising placement tools from YouTube’s parent company, Google, to run a $10 ad campaign this month targeted at different groups of adults, exclusively on children’s video channels.The ads w...

Ethnic studies isn’t required until 2025. So why is it already a mainstay at these Bay Area high schools?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

On the last day of summer break, Celine Chien stood by a giant wall at Menlo-Atherton High. Paintbrush in hand, the rising junior faced a half-finished mural three times her height — one Celine had designed after taking an ethnic studies class in ninth grade.On one end, there was a group of Native Americans from the Ohlone tribe, the Bay Area’s original inhabitants. On the other, a group of high school students stood together, eyes toward the future. A series of characters filled the gaps in between, from immigrants sprinting toward the Gold Rush, to protesters brandishing Black Lives Matter signs. And toward the top right corner, a student held her fist in the air atop a pile of history books.That’s ethnic studies in a nutshell, Celine says, referring to the course that examines history, power and activism through the eyes of under-represented groups. Like dozens across the Bay Area, her high school adopted the course before a 2025 deadline, when ethnic studies courses ...

“Good old-fashioned redlining”: Why was Oakland cut out of state plan for high-speed internet?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

OAKLAND — The mission was supposed to be simple: At a moment when millions of students were being educated exclusively online, California’s leaders decided that high-speed internet should be available everywhere, even in places where residents struggle to afford it.So in 2021 the state directed millions in federal pandemic relief dollars and other funding– a total of $3.87 billion — to bridge the “digital divide” by installing fiber-optic cables that would bring high-speed internet to neighborhoods where it did not exist.Two years later, those ambitious plans appear to have been slashed disproportionately, threatening to leave some urban communities, including East Oakland and South Central Los Angeles, further behind.What was originally intended to be 28 miles of fiber connectivity along I-580, I-980 and State Route 185 — the last of which doubles as International Boulevard in Oakland — have been consolidated into a single strand that...

Top U.S. men’s gymnast Brody Malone, of Stanford, anxiously awaits injury return

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

SAN JOSE — Brody Malone couldn’t stop fidgeting. His kept bouncing his knees, tugging his T-shirt and readjusting his hat as he sat on the edge of his seat Thursday night for Day 1 of the men’s U.S. Gymnastic Championships.“I’m never like this,” the reigning two-time U.S. all-around champ insisted. “I’m so nervous, I don’t know why I get like this when I’m not competing. My heart is beating 100 miles per hour.”Malone was surrounded by friends and Stanford teammates as he cheered on the competing gymnasts, including 11 fellow Stanford athletes. Rising sophomore Asher Hong led after the opening night, posting a total of 85.615 points, which put him slightly ahead of 2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer.Throughout the night, Malone was seen clapping and yelling for every hit handstand, every save and stuck landing. Between routines, he checked scores on a phone.“It’s definitely weird,” Malone said. “I definitely wish I was out there.”Malone, 23, wi...

Editorial: Stalled Bay Area bridge toll hike should prompt transit changes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

The pausing this past week of efforts to ram through a Bay Area bridge toll increase should prompt transit agencies — especially BART — to rethink how they are delivering service.Public transportation remains critical to the region’s economy, reduction of carbon emissions and survival of those with no other means of transportation. But it must be provided in a cost-efficient way that realistically recognizes post-pandemic demand and ensures coordination, rather than duplication, of services.We expect that state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, will try to resurface some variation of his proposed $1.50 bridge toll hike next year. And the Metropolitan Transportation Commission likely will push plans for a 2026 ballot measure to raise the region’s sales tax another half-cent to further fund commuter rail, buses and ferries.Before they do, they should take the temperature of the region.Wiener should note that he didn’t have the votes to push his toll increase through the ...

High school football: St. Francis throws first punch, but Helix-La Mesa responds and rolls to win

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

MOUNTAIN VIEW — St. Francis could not have scripted a better start to the 2023 season if it tried.But it didn’t take long for Helix-La Mesa to burn that script up entirely.After a Lancers threw the game’s first punch with a quick touchdown, the San Diego-area powerhouse responded with 25 unanswered points in the first half to roll to a 45-21 win on Friday night in Mountain View.St. Francis had a dream start to their season opener, forcing a three-and-out on defense and seeing star junior running back Kingston Keanaaina need just five carries to go 42 yards and ram his way into the endzone.“First game, we don’t know if we’re any good, we don’t know anything,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “That was great, it was exactly how you want it … And the rest of the half didn’t go that way.”Helix (2-0) coach Damaja Jones felt that the quick bully-ball touchdown from St. Francis was actually a wake up call for his team, which had flown up to the Bay Area on Friday mor...

Opinion: Popular California housing narrative upended by planning expert

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

California clearly has a housing affordability crisis. Unfortunately, the response from Sacramento politicians has only made the problem worse. Cities and resident groups are now pushing back, and a recent court filing by one of the country’s leading planning experts confirms their contention that state leaders have got it wrong.Lafayette Councilwoman Susan Candell (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)The narrative widely circulated is that if we simply densify our cities, eliminate single-family zoning and remove the ability of our local councilmembers to review housing developments, the result will be more affordable housing. In a stunning legal filing, this narrative was upended by a top urban planner.Professor Michael Storper, from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, filed a legal declaration in support of the Southern California cities’ lawsuit against the state of California over the passage of SB9. SB9 is the law that eliminates single-family zoning and allows ow...