Stop blabbin’: Dropbox’s AI may share your files with OpenAI and other third parties. Don’t remember signing up for that? Me, neither. To turn it off, log in to Dropbox, hit your Account icon, go to Settings, find the Third-Party AI tab and toggle the switch to Off.
🗣️ Alexa’s makeover is going to cost you: This is interesting. Amazon’s in-house Alexa AI software struggled, sometimes taking seven seconds (a digital lifetime) to reply. Now, they’re using Anthropic’s Claude AI. Amazon invested $4 billion in Anthropic. A smarter Alexa is coming in October, costing $5 to $10 a month.
🤖 Want a job in AI? Recruiters want candidates with a technical background and degree in data science, computer science, mathematics and applied science (paywall link). You also should be proficient in a few programming languages, starting with Python and JavaScript. Bonus points if you’ve taken a course in AI ethics.
His password is 1Forrest1: Tom Hanks is warning fans about online ads promoting “miracle cures and wonder drugs” using an AI-generated Tom. The vids are fakes, of course, created without his permission. This isn’t the first time scammers have stolen Tom’s voice; last October, a deepfaked Hanks was promoting a dental plan online.
Amazing Grace: Meet Grace Hopper, the legendary computer scientist and U.S. Navy rear admiral, who gave a lecture in 1982 called “Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software and People.” This iconic talk has been unavailable to the public because it was stuck on outdated AMPEX tapes. Now, it’s digitized. Here’s Part 1 and here’s Part 2.
New Instagram features: Add text to photos by tapping the text button, or throw in stickers via the gallery. Reels got an upgrade, too, with new fonts, animations and text effects. Simply tap the text button, and then hit the animations button and effects button. Plus, you can now upload up to 20 photos in one post.
Crime gets clicks: A beauty store in Concord, California, came up with a clever way to stop shoplifting: Posting videos of thieves on TikTok. They have a sign warning would-be bandits, and it’s working. Since they started posting, thefts are down, sales are up, and their TikTok account is racking up millions of views.
A mom’s worst nightmare: She put her special needs son on the bus for his first day of kindergarten, but the school said he never arrived. Thankfully, she’d placed an Apple AirTag in his backpack, and police tracked him down on the bus ride home. It turns out the teacher mistakenly marked him as absent. I’d find a new school.
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