Microsoft says it will phase out facial recognition technology that's designed to identify a person's age, gender, emotional state, and other characteristics. The company acknowledged that the automated technology poses problems, such as a lack of privacy and a tendency to generalize, which can discriminate, perpetuate stereotypes, and potentially deny services to people. More: - The facial analysis capabilities, available in Azure Face API, are no longer available to new customers.
- Microsoft says it will phase out the tools for existing customers by June 30, 2023, unless they have special approval.
- For example, it could still permit the technology to be integrated into apps for people with disabilities, such as those with low vision, through its Seeing AI App.
- In a blog post, Microsoft chief responsible AI officer Natasha Crampton acknowledged the potential of AI programs to "exacerbate societal biases and inequities," calling these some of the "most widely recognized harms associated with these systems."
- For example, the gender classifier tool in Azure Face API is binary, "and that's not consistent with our values," she wrote.
- The company on Tuesday also released its Responsible AI Standard framework to the public, outlining its goals for privacy and transparent and responsible AI. The company has pledged greater controls for neural voice and speech-to-text AI, to name a few.
THE NEW YORK TIMES 
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DataRobot is facing criticism after several executives collectively sold $32M worth of stock last year, shortly after the machine-learning startup was privately valued at $6.3B, The Information reports. One of those involved was CEO Dan Wright, who was allowed to sell $20M worth of shares shortly after he took on the role last March. More: - None of the executives were founders, and all had worked at DataRobot for less than two years.
- Boston-based DataRobot's roughly 1,200 other employees did not get the opportunity to sell their shares.
- The stock sales occurred just after the company closed a $300M Series G funding round last summer at a $6.3B post-money valuation, up from $2.7B the year prior.
- Despite the fundraise, DataRobot laid off nearly 7% of its workforce in May. The job cuts occurred shortly after the company sent top executives and sales members to a retreat in the Virgin Islands.
- The company said it's open to employee feedback and remains focused on executing a "strategic growth plan."
Zoom-out: - DataRobot sells an automated platform that helps companies build and maintain AI-based predictive models without writing code.
- The company had been eyeing an IPO, which became a source of internal controversy for the company.
- In 2021, CEO and co-founder Jeremy Achin stepped down amid conflicts related to the IPO and sales and was replaced by Wright.
THE BOSTON GLOBE
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 A message from DATAGEN Meet Datagen at CVPR! Coffee is On Us. Come Talk with Datagen at CVPR! Coffee is On Us. Booth #813 Synthetic data is powering the AI revolution. That’s why we developed a self-service synthetic visual AI data generation platform focusing on human and object data. Datagen enables customers to generate data (images, videos, visual & textual metadata) according to their specific requirements for training CV algorithms. Our experts will be at CVPR, waiting to speak with you about the potential of synthetic data for bringing AI models to production for in-cabin automotive, AR/VR/metaverse, home security, smart office and more. Sign up and we can talk 1:1 about how synthetic data can help your use cases and how Datagen can help you. To say thank you, we’ll even provide a cup of coffee. Stop by and visit us at at booth #813, say “Hi” and see what we do. Let’s Meet
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GitHub Copilot has made its AI-powered code suggestion tool generally available to individual developers. The programming assistant costs $10 per month or $100 a year. It is initially free for students and "verified" contributors to popular open-source projects. More: - Microsoft-owned GitHub and AI research lab OpenAI developed and launched Copilot in technical preview last summer.
- The tool uses OpenAI technology to suggest lines and functions, as well as other ways to solve problems, write tests, and find new APIs without users needing to research answers on the internet.
- Copilot is powered by OpenAI Codex, an AI system trained on billions of lines of public code.
- More than 1.2 million developers have tested the Copilot preview in the past year. GitHub says the service now suggests about 40% of newly-written code where it's enabled.
TECHCRUNCH
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Researchers developed an algorithm that they say can diagnose Alzheimer’s disease from a single MRI exam. After training the AI system, they tested it on scans of patients with early or late-stage Alzheimer’s and those without the disease. The algorithm achieved a 98% accuracy, higher than other pre-existing diagnostic tools. More: - To train the algorithm, researchers divided the brain into 115 different regions and 660 size, shape, and texture imaging features.
- Notably, the algorithm identified several changes in brain regions that were not previously linked to Alzheimer’s, such as the ventral diencephalon and the cerebellum.
- The system could also differentiate early-stage Alzheimer’s from later-stage images at 79% accuracy.
- The tech could be incorporated into a tool to accelerate the Alzheimer’s diagnostic process, according to scientists.
- The research, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial Biomedical Research Center, was published in the journal Communications Medicine.
NEW ATLAS
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 A message from VELOCITY GLOBAL HR leaders face unprecedented challenges keeping teams happy, following a shift to remote work and an added emphasis on mental well-being in the office. Now, employees are leaving companies who cannot adapt to the quickly changing tides, and employee retention is a top priority for many HR teams. Velocity Global’s guide to global employee retention includes 18 proven strategies that keep your workforce engaged and, more importantly, on board. In the guide, you will learn: - Why employees are leaving jobs in record numbers
- Effective strategies to keep employees engaged
- The benefits of remote work for retention
Read the guide
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Microsoft partnered with Spain's CaixaBank to establish an AI Innovation Laboratory and develop new hybrid work environments and more for the metaverse. Researchers at the lab will be tasked with creating immersive virtual experiences for interactions between bank employees and clientele. More: - The IT subsidiary of CaixaBank, Spain's largest bank, will set up the lab in Barcelona in collaboration with Microsoft's local AI R&D hub.
- There, researchers will focus on creating prototypes, concept tests, and use cases of AI technologies for financial services.
- For example, they could create an AI-enabled cyber assistant to take on more low-value-added tasks, freeing up bank employees for other initiatives, according to the companies.
- The partners said the goal is to improve the customer experience along with cybersecurity and general efficiencies. They also plan to collaborate on AI training curricula for bank employees.
THE FINTECH TIMES
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- Cosmopolitan magazine used OpenAI's DALL-E 2 to design its latest cover.
- IBM unveiled highlight reels and other AI-powered fan experiences for Wimbledon 2022.
- The Pentagon's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center awarded BlackSky Technologies with a contract to develop and optimize datasets for AI models and applications. The agreement has a $241M ceiling over five years.
- Northwestern University researchers used machine learning algorithms to identify speech patterns in children on the autism spectrum. The patterns were the same in English and Cantonese, suggesting they could be used in diagnostic tools.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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