Nigeria’s tech workers are under attack [TechCrunch]
Nigeria has been going through a tech revolution – but that has also made those who work in this up-and-coming sector a target of police harassment. Nigerian techies have started the hashtag ‘#StopRobbingUs’ to protest the practice of Nigerian police stopping young people on the streets who have laptops and arresting or attacking them – or even kidnapping them and forcing them to withdraw money for their release. The allegations are shocking and disheartening – especially as Africa becomes a promising global tech hub. The leaders of the movement are considering turning the momentum behind the hashtag into a lobbying group for the tech sector in Nigeria. Here’s to a safer future for those in Nigeria’s booming tech sector.
Will AI only be a success when applied to healthcare? [Wall Street Journal]
Of course, everyone hopes that artificial intelligence will improve health care by making it possible to diagnose diseases better and faster, individualise treatments, and modernise medical techniques. But it also raises many concerns when it comes to the means used to justify the end. Could algorithms exacerbate human biases and discrimination as, for example, characteristics differ from male to female? Are we going too fast when we try to use medical AI in practice before its validation for clinical use? And how to deal with bad patient outcomes? These are questions that we need to answer quickly to get the best of AI in the future.
Succeeding in tech without the hype [FT]
You could be forgiven for thinking that where there’s tech, there must be hype. We’ve become accustomed to the breathless claims, temper tantrums and big egos associated with the world of tech. How refreshing then to read about an unassuming, straight-talking CEO-by-accident who just seems to get on with it. And on and on. In fact, Mike Norris, chief executive of the UK’s Computacenter, is the longest serving CEO in the FTSE 350. His secret to staying in the job for 25 years? No need to brace for annoying management speak. He swears by plain old honesty.
AI Has a Solution to “biased” recruiting? [Bloomberg Businessweek]
The Brussels bubble is familiar with the phenomenon: EU Institutions, public affairs departments of big corporates, trade associations and consultancies very often recruit entry-level professionals from the same pool of “usual suspects” – a handful reputable “European Studies” schools and universities. Recruiters often consider it as a safe bet to recruit from specific schools for their industry. Would bringing AI to recruiting eliminate or reinforce this type of “bias” (psychologists call it “like-me” bias)? Look at Wall Street and you might soon have an answer: The startup Suited Inc. says it can use algorithms to screen a more diverse pool of job seekers, expressly for investment banks.
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In case you haven’t had enough…
Political Campaigns Know Where You’ve Been. They’re Tracking Your Phone [Wall Street Journal]
Autonomous ‘Mayflower’ research ship will use IBM AI tech to cross the Atlantic in 2020 [TechCrunch]
Vatican launches $110 ‘click to pray’ wearable rosary [Engadget]
Why social networks keep tripping over their own content moderation policies [The Verge]
Twitter says it will restrict users from retweeting world leaders who break its rules [TechCrunch]