Tech Round-up Week 3 Oct 2020: Ethical Frameworks for AI Implementation, Netflix Cancelling Free Tri

Singapore Computer Society (SCS) launches Governance Book of Knowledge (BoK) for ethical AI implementation

Credit: Singapore Computer Society

Supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), SCS has launched its BoK as an extension of IMDA’s Model AI Governance Framework. The BoK aims to provide a resource directory to guide business leaders, professionals as well as students on the adoption of ethical AI practices in an evolving technology landscape.

With updates continually being made to the document for it to remain relevant, the BoK will incorporate use cases to illustrate both positive and negative outcomes of AI adoption. President of the SCS, Dr Chong Yoke Sin, said: “The focal point is the individual who is using or affected by AI. It is not merely the technology and methodologies, but the human that should be at the centre of our analysis and decision-making.”

Minister S Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information, concurs, stating: “In recent years, AI has risen as a frontier technology that holds much potential to improve lives, enhance productivity, and open up entirely new fields and growth opportunities. To drive adoption and maximise the benefits of AI, it is absolutely critical that we build trust through responsible use.”

Netflix removes free trial option in America

Credit: Lifewire

For years now, Netflix has offered a 30-day free trial for new customers to entice them to experience what the streaming platform has to offer and subscribe. Recently though, it seems that American customers will no longer be able to access the free trial offer.

It’s not just Netflix, however. Disney+ also removed their free trial option earlier this year. For us here in Singapore though, the free trial option still appears to be available, so if you haven’t tried out Netflix yet, you might want to get on it soon.

Twitter outage due to “system change”

Social media platform Twitter went down last night for a few hours, resulting in many being unable to access the service. Plenty of people were worried that it was the result of a security breach or hack, but Twitter has come out to clear the air.

According to Twitter’s Twitter Comms account, the outage was due to a “system change”, or planned migration that wasn’t planned to go live then. This comes amidst reports that Senate Republicans were debating on whether to subpoena Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, over Twitter blocking a New York Post story on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Sony releases Imaging Edge Webcam desktop application for macOS

Sony’s Imaging Edge Webcam software, which allows owners of Sony cameras to use the cameras as a webcam when connected to a computer, is now released for macOS. It previously launched for Windows 10 back in August this year, so this version for Mac users will definitely be a plus.

The list of supported cameras as well as the software downloads can be found on Sony’s website.

Hum to search songs with Google

If you have a song stuck in your head that you can’t figure out, hum it to Google. With the Google App or Google Assistant, users will be able to hum tunes and get the artiste, song title and more details. It’s basically Soundhound or Shazam’s song recognition feature, but instead of downloading a third-party app, you’ll be able to do it entirely through Google.

Nothing groundbreaking, but definitely a matter of convenience since you can just pull up Google Assistant on your phone quickly and hum right to it!