ChatGPT: The New Chegg
December 13, 2024
Chegg is an education outfit. The firm has faced some magnetic interference related to its academic compass. An outfit in Australia has suggested that Chegg makes it possible for a student to obtain some assistance in order to complete certain work. Beyond Search knew AI would displace some workers and maybe even shutter some companies. But it is hard to find sympathy for this particular victim. “Chegg Is on Its Last Legs After ChatGPT Sent Its Stock Down 99%,” reports Gizmodo. So industrial scale cheating kills rich-kid cheating. Oh no.
Those of us who got our college degrees last century may not be familiar with Chegg. Writer Thomas Maxwell explains:
“[Chegg] started out in the 2000s renting out textbooks and later expanded into online study guides, and eventually into a platform with pre-written answers to common homework questions. Unfortunately, the launch of ChatGPT all but annihilated Chegg’s business model. The company for years paid thousands of contractors to write answers to questions across every major subject, which is quite a labor intensive process—and there’s no guarantee they will even have the answer to your question. ChatGPT, on the other hand, has ingested pretty much the entire internet and has likely seen any history question you might throw at it.”
Yep. The Wall Street Journal reports Chegg put off developing its own AI tools because of machine learning’s propensity for wrong answers. And rightly so. Maxwell suggests the firm might be able to make that case to “curious” students, but we agree that would be a long shot at this point. If Chegg does indeed go under, we will not mourn. But what other businesses, and the workers they support, will be next to fall?
Does the US smart software sector care if their products help students appear smarter and more diligent than they are in real life? Nope. Success in the US is, like much of the high-technology hoo-hah, creating a story and selling illusion. School education is collateral damage.
Cynthia Murrell, December 13, 2024
Autonomous AI Agents: The Next Big Thing for a Rolodex-Type Service
December 13, 2024
Are the days of large language models numbered? Yes, according to the CEO and co-founder of Salesforce. Finance site Benzinga shares, “Marc Benioff Says Future of AI Not in Bots Like ChatGPT But In Autonomous Agents.” Writer Ananya Gairola points to a recent Wall Street Journal podcast in which Benioff shared his thoughts:
“He stated that the next phase of AI development will focus on autonomous agents, which can perform tasks independently, rather than relying on LLMs to drive advancements. He argued that while AI tools like ChatGPT have received significant attention, the real potential lies in agents. ‘Has the AI taken over? No. Has AI cured cancer? No. Is AI curing climate change? No. So we have to keep things in perspective here,’ he stated. Salesforce provides both prebuilt and customizable AI agents for businesses looking to automate customer service functions. ‘But we are not at that moment that we’ve seen in these crazy movies — and maybe we will be one day, but that is not where we are today,’ Benioff stated during the podcast.”
Someday, he says. But it would seem the race is on. Gairola notes OpenAI is poised to launch its own autonomous AI agent in January. Will that company dominate the autonomous AI field, as it has with generative AI? Will the new bots come equipped with bias and hallucinations? Stay tuned.
Cynthia Murrell, December 13, 2024
FOGINT: Telegram Steps Up Its Cooperation with Law Enforcement
December 12, 2024
This short item is the work of the dinobaby. The “fog” is from Gifr.com.
Engadget, an online news service, reported “Telegram Finally Takes Action to Remove CSAM from Its Platform.” France picks up Telegram founder Pavel Durov and explains via his attorney how the prison system works in the country. Mr. Durov, not yet in prison, posted an alleged Euro 5 million with the understanding he could not leave the country. According to Engadget, Mr. Durov is further modifying his attitude toward “free speech” and “freedom.”
The article states:
Telegram is taking a significant step to reduce child sexual abuse material (CSAM), partnering with the International Watch Foundation (IWF) four months after the former’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested. The French authorities issued 12 charges against Durov in August, including complicity in “distributing, offering or making available pornographic images of minors, in an organized group” and “possessing pornographic images of minors.”
For those not familiar with the International Watch Foundation, the organization serves as a “hub” for law enforcement and companies acting as intermediaries for those engaged in buying, leasing, selling, or exchanging illicit images or videos of children. Since 2013, Telegram has mostly been obstinate when asked to cooperate with investigators. The company has waved its hands and insisted that it is not into curtailing free speech.
After the French snagged Mr. Durov, he showed a sudden interest in cooperating with authorities. The Engadget report says:
Telegram has taken other steps since Durov’s arrest, announcing in September that it would hand over IP addresses and phone numbers in legal requests — something it fought in the past. Durov must remain in France for the foreseeable future.
What’s Telegram going to do after releasing handles, phone numbers, and possibly some of that log data allegedly held in servers available to the company? The answer is, “Telegram is pursuing its next big thing.” Engadget does not ask, “What’s Telegram’s next act?” Surprisingly a preview of Telegram’s future is unfolding in TON Foundation training sessions in Vancouver, Istanbul, and numerous other locations.
But taking that “real” work next step is not in the cards for most Telegram watchers. The “finally” is simply bringing down the curtain of Telegram’s first act. More acts are already on stage.
Stephen E Arnold, December 12, 2024
Telegram: Edging Forward in Crypto
December 12, 2024
This blog post flowed from the sluggish and infertile mind of a real live dinobaby. If there is art, smart software of some type was probably involved.
Telegram wants to be the one stop app for anonymous crypto tasks. While we applaud those efforts when they related to freedom fighting or undermining bad actors, the latter also uses them and we can’t abide by that. Telegram, however, plans to become the API for crypto communication says Cryptologia in, “DWF Labs’ Listing Bot Goes Live On Telegram.”
DWF Labs is a crypto enterprise capital firm and it is launching an itemizing Bot on Telegram. The Bot turns Telegram into a bitcoin feed, because it notifies users of changes in the ten main crypto exchanges: Binance, HTX, Gate.io, Bybit, OKX, KuCoin, MEXC, Coinbase Alternate, UpBit, and Bithumb. Users can also watch foreign money pairs, launchpad bulletins, and spot and/or futures listings.
DWF Labs is on the forefront of alternative currency and financial options. It is a lucrative market:
“In a latest interview, Lingling Jiang, a Associate at DWF Labs, mentioned DWF Labs’ place on the forefront of delivering liquidity providers and forging alliances with conventional finance. By offering market-making assist and funding, Jiang stated, DWF Labs provides tasks the infrastructure needed to grasp of tokenized belongings. With the launch of the brand new Itemizing Bot, DWF Labs brings market information nearer to the retail consumer, particularly these on the Telegram (TON) community. Following the introduction of HOT, a non-custodial pockets on TON powered by Chain Signature, DWF Labs’ Itemizing Bot is one other welcome addition to the ecosystem, particularly within the mild of the latest announcement of HOT Labs, HERE Pockets and HAPI’s new joint crypto platform.”
What’s Telegram’s game for 2025? Spring Durov? Join hands with BRICS? Become the new Morgan Stanley? Father more babies?
Whitney Grace, December 12, 2024
Do Not Worry About Tomorrow. Worry About Tod”AI”
December 12, 2024
This blog post flowed from the sluggish and infertile mind of a real live dinobaby. If there is art, smart software of some type was probably involved.
According to deep learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio, we may be headed for utopia—at least if one is a certain wealthy tech-bro type. For the rest of us, not so much. The Byte tells us, “Godfather of AI Warns of Powerful People who Want Humans ‘Replaced by Machines’.” He is not referring to transhumanism, which might ultimately seek to transform humans into machines. No, this position is about taking people out of the equation entirely. Except those at the top, presumably. Reporter Noor Al-Sibai writes:
“In an interview with CNBC, computer science luminary Yoshua Bengio said that members of an elite tech ‘fringe’ want AI to replace humans. The head of the University of Montreal’s Institute for Learning Algorithms, Bengio was among the public signatories of the ‘Right to Warn‘ open letter penned by leading AI researchers at OpenAI who claim they’re being silenced about the technology’s dangers. Along with famed experts Yann LeCun and Geoffrey Hinton, he’s sometimes referred to as one of the ‘Godfathers of AI.’ ‘Intelligence gives power. So who’s going to control that power?’ the preeminent machine learning expert told the outlet during the One Young World Summit in Montreal. ‘There are people who might want to abuse that power, and there are people who might be happy to see humanity replaced by machines,’ Bengio claimed. ‘I mean, it’s a fringe, but these people can have a lot of power, and they can do it unless we put the right guardrails right now.’”
Indeed. This is not the first time the esteemed computer scientist has rung AI alarm bells. As Bengio notes, those who can afford to build AI systems are very, very rich. And money leads to other types of power. Political and military power. Can government regulations catch up to these players? Only if it takes them more than five years to attain artificial general intelligence, he predicts. The race for the future of humanity is being evaluated by what’s cheaper, not better.
Cynthia Murrell, December 12, 2024
Dark Web: Clever and Cute Security Innovations
December 11, 2024
This write up was created by an actual 80-year-old dinobaby. If there is art, assume that smart software was involved. Just a tip.
I am not sure how the essay / technical analysis “The Fascinating Security Model of Dark Web Marketplaces” will diffuse within the cyber security community. I want to highlight what strikes me as a useful analysis and provide a brief, high-level summary of the points which my team and I found interesting. We have not focused on the Dark Web since we published Dark Web Notebook, a complement to my law enforcement training sessions about the Dark Web in the period from 2013 to 2016.
This write up does a good job of explaining use of open source privacy tools like Pretty Good Privacy and its two-factor authentication. The write up walks through a “no JavaScript” approach to functions on the Dark Web site. The references to dynamic domain name operations is helpful as well.
The first observation I would offer is that in the case of the Dark Web site analyzed in the cited article is that the security mechanisms in use have matured and, in the opinion of my research team, advanced to thwart some of the techniques used to track and take down the type of sites hosted by Cyberbunker in Germany. This is — alas — inevitable, and it makes the job of investigators more difficult.
The second observation is that this particular site makes use of distributed services. With the advent of certain hosting providers to offer self managed virtual servers and a professed inability to know what’s happening on physical machines. Certain hosting providers “comply” and then say, “If you try to access the virtual machines, they can fail. Since we don’t manage them, you guys will have to figure out how to get them back up.” Cute and effective.
The third observation is that the hoops through which a potential drug customer has to get through are likely to make a person with an addled brain get clean and then come back and try again. On the other hand, the Captcha might baffle a sober user or investigator as well. Cute and annoying.
The essay is useful and worth reading because it underscores the value of fluid online infrastructures for bad actors.
Stephen E Arnold, December 11, 2024
Bitext NAMER: Simplifying Tracking of Translated Organizational Names
December 11, 2024
This blog post is the work of an authentic dinobaby. No smart software was used.
We wrote a short item about tracking Chinese names translated to English, French, or Spanish with widely varying spellings. Now Bitext’s entity extraction system can perform the same disambiguation for companies and non-governmental entities. Analysts may be looking for a casino which operates with a Chinese name. That gambling facility creates marketing collateral or gets news coverage which uses a different name or a spelling which is different from the operation’s actual name. As a result, missing a news item related to that operation is an on-going problem for some professionals.
Bitext has revealed that its proprietary technology can perform the same tagging and extraction process for organizational names in more than two dozen languages. In “Bitext NAMER Cracks Named Entity Recognition,” the company reports:
… issues arise with organizational names, such as “Sun City” (a place and enterprise) or aliases like “Yati New City” for “Shwe Koko”; and, in general, with any language that is written in non-Roman alphabet and needs transliteration. In fact, these issues affect to all languages that do not use Roman alphabet including Hindi, Malayalam or Vietnamese, since transliteration is not a one-to-one function but a one-to-many and, as a result, it generates ambiguity the hinders the work of analysts. With real-time data streaming into government software, resolving ambiguities in entity identification is crucial, particularly for investigations into activities like money laundering.
Unlike some other approaches — for instance, smart large language models — the Bitext NAMER technology:
- Identifies correctly generic names
- Performs type assignment; specifically, person, place, time, and organization
- Tags AKA (also known as) and pseudonyms
- Distinguishes simile names linked to unelated entitles; for example, Levo Chan.
The company says:
Our unique method enables accurate, multilingual entity detection and normalization for a variety of applications.
Bitext’s technology is used by three of the top five US companies listed on NASDAQ. The firm’s headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. For more information, contact the company via its Web site, www.bitext.com.
Stephen E Arnold, December 11, 2024
FOGINT: Pavel Durov: A Waffling Borzoi with a Shock Collar Now?
December 11, 2024
Information from the FOGINT research team. No smart software involved.
Cointelegraph, one of the “future of money” news services covering crypto ran an interesting story on Saturday, December 7,2024. “Telegram Found Pavel Durov Questioned in Paris Court for First Time: Report.” We know this is a blog post about a write up sharing information from another source. Keep this dicey chain in mind.
The core of the story is that Pavel Durov was under the control of French authorities in August 2024. Wikipedia reports that Mr. Durov may have met with Vladimir Putin before jetting to Paris and landing at Paris-Le Bourget Airport. In the last three months, information about Mr. Durov’s and his lawyer’s interaction with the French authorities has been limited. After 90 days of having his movements restricted, Mr. Durov has been rumored to:
- Expressed a desire to cooperate with law enforcement when duly authorized requests for alleged bad actors is provided to “Telegram”, which is Mr. Durov for practical purposes. Pavel’s brother Nikolai seems pre-occupied with technical issues related to the Telegram platform.
- Telegram has apparently agreed to interact with organizations focused on preventing human trafficking and child sexual abuse material
- Reversing course on his statements about responding to government pressure. One example was Telegram’s blocking of Ukrainian content from Ukrainian government agencies to Telegram users in Russia and possibly other countries in the Russian Federation.
Here’s what Cointelegraph reported:
Durov appeared in a Parisian court at 10 am CET on Dec. 6, alongside his lawyers David-Olivier Kaminski and Christophe Ingrain.
The lawyers have offices at 126 Boulevard St. Germain. Kaminski’s Web site says:
We specialize in criminal defense. The Kaminski law firm has built up recognized expertise in all areas of criminal defense. We can represent our clients at any stages of the judicial procedure, including police custody, preliminary investigation, judicial information, criminal court and before the assize court). The firm defends individuals as well as companies, legal entities, or institutions (Non-governmental organizations, associations, professional bodies). Kaminski’s catchphrase is, “The culture and practice of criminal defense is respect for fundamental freedoms.” https://www.kaminskiavocats.com/
Christophe Ingrain is part of the defense team. He was / is affiliated with Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier. He was named one of the 30 most influential lawyers in France, and he appeared on a list of the “best layers” in France. His office is on Avenue Victor Hugo.
According to Cointelegraph:
An anonymous source familiar with the matter told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the questioning focused on the allegations tied to Telegram’s potential use for illicit transactions. When asked about the legal proceedings, Durov reportedly told the AFP that he “trusts the French justice” system but refused to elaborate on the case.
His “refusal” to comment means that the 40 year old with more than 100 children is listening to his French attorneys. He may also have been informed about France’s low profile prison system. La Santé was built in 1867 and entertains a number of high-risk criminals. For those who chat with French law enforcement officials, La Santé is often described as a place one goes but never leaves. This prison has a VIP section which is somewhat different from the VIP services available for online gamblers in pursuit of an ejunket. It is located in the 14th arrondissement. There are two other facilities in Paris as well. France also has some special purpose prisons located near military bases and allegedly a couple of in-ground facilities in North Africa. If “in-ground” does not resonate with you, you may not want to know the set at these alleged incarceration facilities. As a point of reference, French prisons are overcrowded but c’est dommage. As a rule of thumb one may want to avoid getting ensnared in the French judiciary or prison system. Red tape is a specialty of French bureaucrats, and it can be a challenging situation for defendants and their lawyers.
Cointelegram observes:
Industry insiders are worried that the case against Durov raises alarming concerns for privacy-preserving Web3 technologies.
The Web3 reference includes blockchain technology, distributed infrastructures like Telegram’s, distributed finance, and a number of other innovations. These can add to the investigative burden of law enforcement and tax authorities.
Durov has paid bail of $5 to $6 million. However, Cointelegraph points out:
If convicted, Durov could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €500,000 ($550,000).
Was Durov’s interaction with French authorities an accident or coincidence? No. France allegedly began a preliminary investigation if February 2024. In July 2024 that was promoted to a judicial inquiry. In August, he was apprehended.
Sean Brizendine, a blockchain researcher, told Beyond Search:
Mr. Durov definitely appears to be listening to his high-power legal team. He is obviously aware that everything is at stake.
Net net: FOGINT wonders if the prosecution of CSAM perpetrators will ramp up as Durov demonstrates his willingness to cooperate. What’s at risk for Telegram is that the significant push into crypto services could be derailed. Other “free speech” advocates will create alternative services, but that will be expensive and time consuming. The core of Telegram is not available as open source software. Most cyber professionals are not aware of the scope of the Telegram platform.
Stephen E Arnold, December 11, 2024
KPMG FOMO on AI
December 11, 2024
This blog post flowed from the sluggish and infertile mind of a real live dinobaby. If there is art, smart software of some type was probably involved.
AI is in demand and KPMG long ago received the message that it needs to update its services to include AI consulting services in its offerings. Technology Magazine shares the story in: “Growing KPMG-Google Cloud Ties Signal AI Services Shift.” Google Cloud and KPMG have a partnership that started when the latter’s clients wanted to implement Google Cloud into their systems. KPMG’s client base increased tenfold when they deployed Google Cloud services.
The nature of the partnership will change to Google’s AI-related services and KPMG budgeted $100 million to the project. The investment is projected to give KPMG $1 billion in revenue for its generative AI technology. KPMG deployed Google’s enterprise search technology Vertex AI Search into its cloud services. Vertex AI and retrieval augmented generation (RAG), a process that checks AI responses with verified data, are being designed to analyze and assist with market and research analysis.
The partnership between these tech companies indicates this is where the tech industry is going:
“The partnership indicates how professional services firms are evolving their technology practices. KPMG’s approach combines its industry expertise with Google Cloud’s technical infrastructure, creating services that bridge the gap between advanced technology and practical business applications… The collaboration also reflects how enterprise AI adoption is maturing. Rather than implementing generic AI solutions, firms are now seeking industry-specific applications that integrate with existing systems and workflows. This approach requires deep understanding of both technical capabilities and sector-specific challenges.”
Need an accounting firm? Well, AI is accounting. Need a consultant. Well, AI is consulting. Need motivated people to bill your firm by the hour at exorbitant fees? You know whom to call.
Whitney Grace, December 11, 2024
The EU Cafeteria Wants to Serve Grilled Google
December 10, 2024
This write up was created by an actual 80-year-old dinobaby. If there is art, assume that smart software was involved. Just a tip.
How does one cook a kraken (a Norwegian octopus)? Here’s the recipe from Garlic & Zest:
- Clean the octopus, remove the beak(s) and place them in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven.
- Add the vegetables, wine and corks.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes to one hour.
The hapless octopus awaits its fate. The goal is to serve up tasty individual dishes and follow up with a refreshing takoyaki. Thanks, MidJourney. Looks tasty.
I want to point out that the creature dies in this process. Now to the write up:
“Google Split Still on the Table, New EU Antitrust Chief Says” reports:
A potential split of Google’s business is still under consideration, according to Teresa Ribera, the European Union’s new competition chief, who also pledged to build bridges with incoming US President Donald Trump.
That’s the intent to grill the delectable sea monster, according to some children’s books.
The person setting the menu and supervising the chefs who will chop off the tentacles, remove its beak (ouch!), tenderize the helpless creature, and plop it on the barbie is Teresa Ribera.
For those who don’t follow Spain’s emergent leaders, Ms. Ribera is a socialist who will find some philosophical points of difference between her new kitchen team and the Wild West chuckwagon approach taken toward Google in the US of A.
The cited news story says the new EU Antitrust chef (sorry, I meant chief) allegedly said:
“It’s [chopping up Google] something that is of course on the table, and we try to work together with other relevant competition authorities worldwide, including the US competition authorities,” she said. ‘It is important to take into consideration this potential division, divestment of some of these businesses. We will be assessing case-by-case.”
The question is, “When will the main course be served?” Restaurant kitchens — like Brussels, the French and German governments — can be chaotic places.
Stephen E Arnold, December 10, 2024
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
