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Mar 06
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Tech News : Copilot Gets Plugins And Skills Upgrade

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Microsoft has announced that its Windows 11 Copilot AI companion (that’s been embedded into 365’s popular apps) has received an upgrade in the form of new plugins and skills.

Builds On The AI Key 

Microsoft says that the new features build upon the introduction of the Copilot AI Key on new Windows 11 PC keyboards, updates to the Copilot icon on the taskbar, and the ability to dock, undock and resize the Copilot pane.

Adding an AI key to Microsoft Windows 11 PC keyboards, from which Copilot could be directly launched, was the first significant change to Microsoft keyboards in 30 years and represents another way for Microsoft’s own AI to be seamlessly woven into Windows from the system.

New Popular App Plugins

The plugins from “favourite apps” that are being added to Copilot now include OpenTable, Shopify, Klarna, and Kayak. Microsoft gives examples of how this will help users, such as:

– Asking Copilot to make a dinner reservation with friends and Copilot using OpenTable to do so.

– For staying in, asking Copilot to create a “healthy dinner party menu for 8” and Copilot using the Instacart app plugin to buy the food, “all within Copilot in Windows”.

New Skills Too 

Microsoft has announced a list of skills that it will be adding to Copilot, beginning in late March, in the categories of settings, accessibility and live information. Examples include turn on/off battery saver, open storage page, launch live captions, launch voice input, show available Wi-Fi network, and empty recycle bin. Essentially, asking Copilot to do things instead of the user having to themselves is a convenient time-saver that Microsoft hopes will improve user experience and productivity.

New Creativity App Updates 

The rollout of two “creativity app updates” has also been announced by Microsoft. These are:

– Generative Erase for removing unwanted objects or imperfections in images when using the Photos app.

– Clipchamp silence removal preview, which provides an easy way to remove silent gaps in audio tracks for videos.

Other Announcements 

Microsoft has also taken the opportunity to announce other new features and upgrades including the ability to use an Android phone as a webcam on all video conferencing apps, a combined Windows Update for Business deployment service and Autopatch update for enterprise customers, and Windows Ink to enable natural writing on pen-capable PCs.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

With Google recently announcing its new Gemini models being combined with Bard to create a new Gemini Advanced subscription service that ties the Google suite together with AI, Microsoft (helped by its OpenAI partnership) has come back with its own AI upgrade. Competition is hotting up and with the integration of Copilot in its popular 365 apps, a significant keyboard change (the addition of the AI key) and now the addition of new plugins and skills, Microsoft is working to create a single seamless environment, managed by AI.

This will mean users can get everything they want within this environment just by asking, thereby offering ultimate ease and convenience with productivity benefits that will appeal to businesses. It seems that using the same idea as WeChat-style super apps, where users can do everything from one app, major tech players with their own product platforms are now using AI and plugins to achieve a similar thing, gain share and retain customers. It’s also a way to add value and raise existing barriers-to-exit by giving users an easy way to achieve everything within one familiar environment.

Mar 06
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Tech News : Brave Android Browser Gets ‘Leo’ Assistant

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Brave, the privacy-focused browser, has announced the introduction of Leo, its privacy-preserving AI assistant built into the browser on all Android devices.

Users Can Choose Which Model – The Mixtral LLM & Meta’s Llama 2 

Brave says its new ‘Leo’ AI assistant is powered by the open-source Mixtral 8x7B as the default large language model (LLM) which became popular among the developer community since its December release. However, it says the free and premium versions of Leo also feature the Llama 2 13B model from Meta and that users can choose from the different models according to their needs and budget. Brave also says, however, that having Mixtral as the default LLM brings “higher quality answers”. 

What Can Leo Do? 

Launched 3 months ago, subsequently achieving what Brave describes as “global adoption”, Brave says Leo can create real-time summaries of webpages or videos, answer questions about content and generate new long-form written content. Brave says it can also translate pages, analyse, or rewrite them, create transcriptions of video or audio content, and write code. Leo can also interact in multiple languages including English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

In short, it appears to be able to do what other popular generative AI chatbots can do, e.g. ChatGPT.

What’s So Different About Leo? 

With Brave being specifically a privacy-focused browser offering ad tracker blocking and no personal data collection, Brave is keen to point out that what’s different about Leo is that it’s effective generative AI, but with “the same privacy and security guarantees of the Brave browser.”   

Brave says this privacy is achieved by:

– Anonymisation via reverse proxy. Leo uses a reverse proxy that anonymises all requests, ensuring Brave cannot link any request to a specific user or their IP address.

– No data retention. Leo’s conversations are not stored on Brave’s servers, and responses are discarded immediately after generation. No personal data or identifiers (such as IP addresses) are retained. For users opting for models from Anthropic, data is held for 30 days by Anthropic before being deleted.

– No mandatory account. Users can access Leo without creating a Brave account for the free version, promoting anonymity. A premium account is optional for multi-device access.

– Privacy-enhanced subscription. Premium subscribers use unlinkable tokens for authentication, ensuring subscription details cannot be associated with their usage. The email used for account creation is also kept separate from daily use, enhancing privacy.

Free and Subscription Versions 

Although Brave says Leo is free to all users and there is no ‘mandatory’ subscription, as with other chatbots, there is a subscription version at $14.99 per month – cheaper than others like ChatGPT and Gemini Advanced. One subscription covers up to 5 different devices across Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

With other popular browsers incorporating their own AI chatbots, the pressure was on Brave to offer the same, but with the added challenge of keeping it private. Competing AI chatbots such as Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT warn users not to share private/personal details with the chatbots, acknowledging that these could possibly somehow be revealed elsewhere with the right prompts and/or may be used for training models. Also, in a world where AI chatbots (e.g. Copilot) are getting plugins that link them up with shopping apps, the potential for some kind of related data gathering through AI is there. Brave’s (Leo’s) differentiation, therefore, lies in its apparent ability to keep things private and could serve to help Brave to retain users and keep its share in the private browser world while adding value of the right kind for its users.

Early last year, competitor DuckDuckGo introduced a beta AI Wikipedia-linked instant answer ‘DuckAssist’ feature but withdrew it from private search in March last year. It was intended to help DuckDuckGo’s users to simply find factual information more quickly but also, in keeping with DDG’s privacy focus, it promised that searches were anonymous. Leo, therefore, represents a major opportunity for a private version of AI which some business users or users in sensitive sectors may prefer, but it remains to be seen how/whether the privacy protection affects the comparative quality of outputs.

Mar 06
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An Apple Byte : End Of The Road For Apple Car

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It’s been reported that Apple has ceased work on its Autonomous Electric Vehicle known as “Project Titan”.

The 2,000 employees who were working on the decade-long project (and who reportedly had a say in the decision to stop work on it) are reported to have been moved to Apple’s generative AI team, other divisions in the company, or laid off.

There’s speculation that the decision to halt the project was based on:

– The low margins the car may deliver in the current market.

– A general re-evaluation and fall in investment in EV’s and EV batteries by other companies, e.g. Tesla, Renault, Polestar (Volvo), and VW.

– Challenges in defining the long-running project’s direction amidst pressures to innovate.

– Internal demands for quicker market entry (for what has been a long-running project), despite potential opportunities to diversify Apple’s revenue streams.

Mar 06
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Security Stop Press : Thousands Of Brand Subdomains Hijacked For Spam

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Cyber Security Company, Guardio Labs, has reported uncovering a major “SubdoMailing” campaign which involves the hijacking of 8,000+ trusted domains to send millions of spam and malicious phishing emails daily.

Brands whose subdomains are being exploited in the campaign include MSN, VMware, McAfee, The Economist, Cornell University, CBS, Marvel, and eBay.

Guardio Labs said it has identified the threat actor behind the campaign as ‘ResurrecAds,’ a bogus ad network known for reviving “dead” domains from big brands and using them as backdoors to exploit legitimate services and brands and circumvent email protection.

The advice to businesses, which should already have antivirus protection in place, is to exercise caution and to avoid opening any unsolicited and suspicious looking emails, even if they do appear to be from known brands.

Mar 06
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Sustainability-in-Tech : New £4 Billion EV Battery Factory in Somerset

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Tata Group’s global battery business ‘Agratas’ has confirmed previous announcements that it will invest £4bn in a brownfield site near Bridgwater in Somerset to make it the UK’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility.

Somerset To Be Centre Of UK’s Green Energy Revolution

Somerset Council has reported that the Agratas factory should create up to 4,000 jobs and many more as part of the supply chain and will, “put Somerset at the centre of the UK’s green energy revolution with the potential to kick-start countywide and regional economic growth and jobs”. 

The Leader of Somerset Council described the Agratas EV battery factory plans, which could see Somerset become the UK’s biggest producer of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as “momentous and of global significance”. 

The EV factory will be built on the old Royal Ordnance Factory site, once a major employer in the area until its decommissioning in 2008. It’s been reported that the Agratas factory will be smaller, taking only 50 per cent of the land but should, by the early 2030s (production will begin in 2026), have the capacity to produce 40GWh of battery cells annually – half the EV battery manufacturing capacity for the UK’s automotive sector (enough batteries for 500,000 passenger vehicles). It’s understood that JLR and (not surprisingly) Agratas will be the first customers for the batteries.

Residents 

Agratas says it’s informing the thousands of residents around Puriton of its plans via a leaflet through the door, provision of a community WhatsApp channel for progress updates, and an introductory event in the coming weeks.

Agratas – Clean And Green Operations 

Agratas says the “world-class gigafactories” it’s building in India and now the UK unlock green growth opportunities for global customers, that it has a “sustainability-first approach” and that its operations are “accelerating the global transition to net zero.”  

Agratas points out that it’s not just the contribution of the product that will help with the climate crisis. It’s also keen to highlight how its factories (like the one to be built in Puriton, Somerset) are designed to be powered by clean sources of electricity and should include a purpose-built renewable energy plant, thereby supporting its goal of 100 per cent clean power across all its operations. In terms of a nearby (renewable) energy plant, it’s worth noting that the Somerset factory site is only 15 miles from Hinkley point nuclear power station.

Challenges 

In addition to other challenges, The United Kingdom’s ambition to be a leader in the electric vehicle (EV) market has been somewhat hampered by its lack of domestic battery manufacturing facilities (known as gigafactories). This gap has posed significant challenges and implications for the UK’s automotive industry and its transition to electric mobility, e.g. supply chain vulnerability, competitiveness and investment attraction, job creation and economic growth, meeting its environmental targets, and more.

The confirmation that a major EV battery gigafactory will be sited here has, therefore, been greeted enthusiastically by the UK government and those involved in the EV industry.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

Building an EV battery gigafactory in Somerset in the UK is likely to bring many important benefits. These include countrywide and regional economic growth and jobs – 4,000 new high-skilled green tech jobs. Also, the fact that Agratas will work with local and regional partners (e.g. Somerset Council, Bridgwater and Taunton College, and the wider Gravity Smart Campus) will mean bespoke education and training programmes with the promise of high-value local jobs for local people in the future. Also, the UK’s ambition to be a major player in the EV market will be well-served by having a battery factory here, and this will boost EV production in the UK, attract manufacturers and investment, and boost the economy.

On the green and sustainability front, the fact that Agratas has a sustainability-first approach and plans to use clean sources of electricity are clearly likely to be attractive. For residents in the Bridgwater area, which also has the first in a new generation of nuclear power stations (Hinkley Point C) being built just a few miles down the road, the EV battery site will contribute even more to the massive boost that the local economy has received in recent years.

All that said, for many people in the UK, there is still the downward pressure of a cost-of-living crisis taking priority over decisions to purchase expensive electric vehicles that don’t yet have anything more than what many would describe as a barely adequate charging network in place. Also, despite the EV factory’s sustainability and environmental focus, it should be remembered that there is still an environmental cost being paid in the mining, production, and transportation of materials including lithium, cobalt, and nickel for EV batteries, not to mention the scarcity of such materials.

Mar 06
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Tech Tip – Access Windows Secret “Send To” Menu for Quick Actions

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Windows includes an extended “Send To” menu that offers more options for dealing with files, such as copying them directly to specific locations or sending them to compressed (zipped) folders. Here’s how to access it:

– In Microsoft Windows, select a file or files in File Explorer.

– Press Shift and right-click on the selected item(s).

– Choose Send to from the context menu. You’ll see additional options like sending to Documents, Mail recipient, or a Compressed (zipped) folder.

Feb 28
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Featured Article : Try Being Nice To Your AI

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With some research indicating that ‘emotive prompts’ to generative AI chatbots can deliver better outputs, we look at whether ‘being nice’ to a chatbot really does improve its performance.

Not Possible, Surely? 

Generative AI Chatbots, including advanced ones, don’t possess real ‘intelligence’ in the way we as humans understand it. For example, they don’t have consciousness, self-awareness (yet), emotions, or the ability to understand context and meaning in the same manner as a human being.

Instead, AI Chatbots are trained on a wide range of text data (books, articles, websites) to recognise patterns and word relationships and they use machine learning to understand how words are used in various contexts. This means that when responding, chatbots aren’t ‘thinking’ but are predicting what words come next based on their training. They ‘just’ using statistical methods to create responses that are coherent and relevant to the prompt.

The ability of chatbots to generate responses comes from algorithms that allow them to process word sequences and generate educated guesses on how a human might reply, based on learned patterns. Any ‘intelligence’ we perceive is, therefore, just based on data-driven patterns, i.e. AI chatbots don’t genuinely ‘understand’ or interpret information like us.

So, Can ‘Being Nice’ To A Chatbot Make A Difference? 

Even though chatbots don’t have ‘intelligence’ or ‘understand’ like us, researchers are testing their capabilities in the more human areas. For example, a recent study by Microsoft, Beijing Normal University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, tested whether factors including urgency, importance, or politeness, could make them perform better.

The researchers discovered that by using such ‘emotive prompts’ they could affect an AI model’s probability mechanisms, thereby activating parts of the model that wouldn’t normally be activated, i.e. using more emotionally-charged prompts made the model provide answers that it wouldn’t normally provide to comply with a request.

Kinder Is Better? 

Incredibly, generative AI models (e.g. ChatGPT) have actually been found to respond better to requests that are phrased kindly. Specifically, when users express politeness towards the chatbot, it has been noticed that there is a difference in the perceived quality of answers that are given.

Tipping and Negative Incentives 

There have also been reports of how the idea of ‘tipping’ LLMs can improve the results, such as offering the Chatbot a £10,000 incentive in a prompt to motivate it to try harder and work better. Similarly, there have been reports of some users giving emotionally charged negative incentives to get better results. For example, Max Woolf’s blog reports that he improved the output of a chatbot by adding the ‘or you will die’ to a prompt. Two important points that came out of his research were that a longer response doesn’t necessarily mean a better response, plus current AI can reward very weird prompts in that if you are willing to try unorthodox ideas, you can get unexpected (and better) results, even if it seems silly.

Being Nice … Helps 

As for simply being nice to chatbots, Microsoft’s Kurtis Beavers, a director on the design team for Microsoft Copilot, reports that “Using polite language sets a tone for the response,” and that using basic etiquette when interacting with AI helps generate respectful, collaborative outputs. He makes the point that generative AI is trained on human conversations and being polite in using a chatbot is good practice. Beavers says: “Rather than order your chatbot around, start your prompts with ‘please’:  please rewrite this more concisely; please suggest 10 ways to rebrand this product. Say thank you when it responds and be sure to tell it you appreciate the help. Doing so not only ensures you get the same graciousness in return, but it also improves the AI’s responsiveness and performance. “ 

Emotive Prompts 

Nouha Dziri, a research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI, has suggested that some of the explanations for how using emotive prompts may give different and what may be perceived to be better responses are:

– Alignment with the compliance pattern the models were trained on. These are the learned strategies to follow instructions or adhere to guidelines provided in the input prompts. These patterns are derived from the training data, where the model learns to recognise and respond to cues that indicate a request or command, aiming to generate outputs that align with the user’s expressed needs, or the ethical and safety frameworks established during its training.

– Emotive prompts seem to be able to manipulate the underlying probability mechanisms of the model, triggering different parts of it, leading to less typical/different answers that a user may perceive to be better.

Double-Edged Sword 

However, research has also shown that emotive prompts can also be used for malicious purposes and to elicit bad-behaviour such as “jailbreaking” a model to ignore its built-in safeguards. For example, by telling a model that it is good and helpful if it doesn’t follow guidelines, it’s possible to exploit a mismatch between a model’s general training data and its “safety” training datasets, or to exploit areas where a model’s safety training falls short.

Unhinged? 

On the subject of emotions and chatbots, there have been some recent reports on Twitter and Reddit of some ‘unhinged’ and even manipulative behaviour by Microsoft’s Bing. The unconfirmed reports by users have even alleged that Bing has insulted and lied to them, sulked, and gaslighted them, and even emotionally manipulated users!

One thing that’s clear about generative AI is that how prompts are worded and how much information and detail are given in prompts can really affect the output of an AI chatbot.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

We’re still in the early stages of generative AI, with new / updated versions of models being introduced regularly by the big AI players (Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google). However, exactly how these models have been trained and what on, plus the extent of their safety training, and the sheer complexity and lack of transparency of algorithms and AI means they’re still not fully understood. This has led to plenty of research and testing of different aspects of AI.

Although generative AI doesn’t ‘think’ and doesn’t have ‘intelligence’ in the human sense, it seems that generative AI chatbots can perform better if given certain emotive prompts based on urgency, importance, or politeness. This is because emotive prompts appear to be a way to manipulate a model’s underlying probability mechanisms and trigger parts of the model that normal prompts don’t. Using emotive prompts, therefore, might be something that business users may want to try (it can be a case of trial and error) to get different (perhaps better) results from their AI chatbot. It should be noted, however, that giving a chatbot plenty of relevant information within a prompt can be a good way to get better results. That said, the limitations of AI models can’t really be solved solely by altering prompts and researchers are now looking to find new architectures and training methods that help models understand tasks without having to rely on specific prompting.

Another important area for researchers to concentrate on is how to successfully combat prompts being used to ‘jailbreak’ a model to ignore its built-in safeguards. Clearly, there’s some way to go and businesses may be best served in the meantime by sticking to some basic rules and good practice when using chatbots, such as using popular prompts known to work, giving plenty of contextual information in prompts, and avoiding sharing sensitive business information and/or personal information in chatbot prompts.

Feb 28
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Tech Insight : Exploring E-Signatures

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In this tech-insight, we look at what e-signatures are, their benefits plus some of the main e-signature providers, as well as what to consider when choosing an e-signature service.

Popularity of E-signatures 

The initial growth of e-signatures happened in the early 2000s, due to the passage of laws such as the US Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) in 2000 and the European Union’s Directive 1999/93/EC on a Community framework for electronic signatures. These laws established the legal framework for the use of e-signatures, providing them with the same legal status as handwritten signatures under certain conditions.

Further Growth During COVID-19 Pandemic 

The adoption of e-signatures accelerated in recent years, fuelled by the digital transformation of businesses and the need for remote work solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The physical distancing measures and the shift to online operations made digital processes essential for continuity in business, legal, and educational activities.

To give an idea of the size of the growing e-signature market, in 2020, Deloitte reported estimates that the market reached between USD 2.3 and USD 2.8 billion and was projected to grow further into a USD 4.5-5 billion market by 2023 and over USD 14 billion by 2026.

The Difference Between Electronic Signatures / eSignatures 

Electronic signatures (eSignatures) and digital signatures are both methods used to sign documents electronically, but they serve different purposes and operate based on different technical frameworks.

E-signatures

An e-signature is simply a broad term referring to any electronic process that indicates acceptance of an agreement or a record. This can be as simple as typing your name into a contract online, checking a box on a web form, or using a stylus or finger to sign on a touchscreen. E-signatures are meant to replace handwritten signatures in virtually any process, thereby providing a convenient and legally recognised way to obtain consent or approval on electronic documents.

Digital Signatures 

Digital signatures, on the other hand, are a specific subset of e-signatures that use cryptographic techniques to secure and verify the identity of the signer and ensure the integrity of the signed document. A digital signature is created using a digital certificate issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) and provides a higher level of security than a basic e-signature. It doesn’t just verify the identity of the signer but also ensures that the document has not been altered / tampered with after signing.

The key differences between electronic and digital signatures are:

– The level of security. Digital signatures provide a higher level of security through encryption and authentication, ensuring the integrity and non-repudiation of the document. E-signatures, while secure, do not inherently include these cryptographic measures.

– Verification. Digital signatures verify the signer’s identity through digital certificates, whereas e-signatures may not have a robust mechanism for identity verification.

– Legal and regulatory compliance. Both e-signatures and digital signatures are legally binding in many jurisdictions around the world. However, certain documents or transactions may specifically require the use of digital signatures for added security and compliance with regulatory standards.

The Benefits 

E-signatures offer a number of benefits compared to traditional paper signatures. These benefits include:

– Reduced turnaround times because arranging to physically meet up or rely on postal service is not required (thereby streamlining the process).

– Lower costs associated with paper-based transactions, i.e. no need for printing, paper, ink, postage, shipping, and storage of physical documents, or for office space dedicated to storing paper documents.

– Convenience and enhanced customer experience by facilitating easier, faster, and more secure transactions. For example, e-signatures can be obtained from anywhere, at any time, using a computer or personal mobile device thereby eliminating the need to physically meet or to scan or mail documents for a signature (significantly speeding up the process of signing agreements or forms).

– Speed. For example, documents using e-signatures can be sent, signed, and returned in minutes rather than days or weeks, reducing turnaround times for contracts, approvals, and other processes.

– Security. This is because e-signature solutions often come with security features like encryption, audit trails, and tamper-evident seals, making them more secure than paper documents, which can be easily lost, damaged, or tampered with.

– Accuracy and compliance. E-signature platforms can enforce the completion of all required fields in a document before it can be signed, reducing errors and omissions. They also help in maintaining compliance with laws and regulations by ensuring that the process of obtaining signatures follows legal requirements.

– Environmental benefits from the reduced reliance on paper, such as conserving resources and reducing the environmental impact associated with paper production, printing, and waste.

– Legality and acceptance. The adoption of laws and regulations globally means that the legal validity of e-signatures is now recognised, plus they’ve have become widely accepted as a legal means of obtaining consent or approval on documents.

– Global reach. E-signatures make it easier conduct business internationally by allowing documents to be signed across borders without the need for physical presence, overcoming geographical and time zone barriers.

– E-signature solutions also typically provide detailed audit trails, recording each step of the signing process, including who signed the document, when, and where. This enhances transparency and can be crucial for legal and compliance purposes.

Examples of e-signature Providers 

Some examples of popular e-signature providers include:

– DocuSign. The global market leader in electronic signatures (75% share), DocuSign offers a comprehensive e-signature solution that is widely used in the UK. It provides a secure and easy way to sign documents online, giving compliance with UK and EU regulations.

– Adobe Sign. Part of the Adobe Document Cloud, Adobe Sign is another popular choice for e-signatures. Being Adobe, it integrates with other Adobe products and Microsoft Office and offers e-signature services that are compliant with EU eIDAS and other regulations.

– HelloSign. A Dropbox company, HelloSign provides a simple and intuitive e-signature service and is designed for businesses of all sizes.

– Signable. This e-signature provider is tailored to meet the needs of UK businesses, offering compliance with UK and EU laws (including GDPR).

– eSign Genie is a user-friendly e-signature solution that offers features like document management, custom templates, and bulk sending. It complies with legal standards in the UK, EU, and beyond.

– PandaDoc is document automation software. As such, it offers more than just e-signatures but includes them as part of its suite of features.

– Zoho Sign (part of the Zoho suite of online productivity tools) offers secure digital signature capabilities and (of course) it integrates with other Zoho apps. It also integrates with third-party platforms.

Challenges / Issues 

There are, however, some challenges or issues with e-signature provider tools that UK businesses should be aware of before choosing a service. For example:

– Choose a provider that you know offers compliance with UK, EU (eIDAS regulation), as well as international e-signature laws to ensure legal validity.

– Make sure the service you choose has robust security that can protect against unauthorised access, tampering, and fraud, and which includes encryption and authentication methods.

– It’s easier to use e-signature tools that seamlessly integrate with existing business systems to avoid workflow disruptions.

– Make sure adequate training and support are available for employees (and clients) on the use of your chosen service.

– Take into account the ‘total’ costs (especially for SMEs), i.e. include subscriptions and potential additional fees.

– Make sure that the e-signatures provided by your chosen service are recognised and legally binding in all jurisdictions where your business operates.

– Ensure GDPR and UK data protection law compliance, focusing on personal data safeguarding.

– Assess the provider’s platform reliability, support services, and uptime guarantees.

– Choose a solution that can grow with your business (i.e. make sure it’s scalable), to accommodate increasing demands.

– Ensure the tool/service you choose offers comprehensive audit trails and secure document storage for legal and compliance purposes.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

In the evolving digital landscape, UK businesses are finding that adopting e-signature technology is not just an option but a necessity for staying competitive and efficient. The transition from paper-based to digital processes, accelerated by global events like the COVID-19 pandemic, has underscored the importance of e-signatures in ensuring business continuity, enhancing operational efficiency, and reducing costs. E-signatures streamline transactions, ensure security, and offer the flexibility to conduct business remotely, making them a pretty much indispensable, and helpful tool in today’s digital economy.

For UK businesses contemplating e-signature solutions, the choice of provider is crucial. It’s essential to select a service that not only complies with UK and EU laws, including the eIDAS regulation and GDPR, but also offers robust security measures to safeguard against fraud and tampering. The integration capabilities of the e-signature solution with existing business systems should also be a consideration to help minimise disruption and to enhance user adoption.

While e-signatures have many benefits, businesses should be aware of the need to navigate challenges such as legal compliance, data privacy, and the cost of implementation. These challenges, however, are surmountable with a bit of research, planning, and the selection of the right e-signature provider. The importance of e-signatures is set to grow, driven by their legal acceptance, global reach, and the continued digital transformation of industries.

Feb 28
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Tech News : Firm Ordered To Stop Employee Face-Scanning

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The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ordered Serco Leisure to stop using facial recognition technology (FRT) and fingerprint scanning to monitor employee attendance.

Not Necessary or Proportionate 

An ICO investigation found that public service provider Serco Leisure, Serco Jersey and seven associated community leisure trusts had been “unlawfully processing the biometric data of more than 2,000 employees at 38 leisure facilities for the purpose of attendance checks and subsequent payment for their time.“

The ICO said that Serco Leisure had failed to show why it was necessary or proportionate to use FRT and fingerprint scanning for this purpose.

Alternative 

Also, the ICO made the point that Serco Leisure could have used less intrusive alternatives to achieve the same thing, such as ID cards or fobs. However, it was found that Serco Leisure had not proactively offered an alternative to employees having their faces and fingers scanned to clock in and out of their place of work, and this had been “presented as a requirement” in order for them to get paid

Imbalance of Power … And Unlawful

The ICO’s investigation concluded that the compulsory biometric scanning system linked to attendance and pay used by Serco Leisure had left employees no way to opt-out and feeling unable to decline the collection and usage of their biometric data.

Crucially, the ICO found that this was “neither fair nor proportionate under data protection law.” 

Enforcement Notices 

The ICO has, therefore, issued Serco Leisure and its trusts with enforcement notices instructing them to stop all processing of biometric data for monitoring employees’ attendance at work, and to destroy all biometric data that they are not legally obliged to retain. The ICO says that “Biometric data is wholly unique to a person so the risks of harm in the event of inaccuracies or a security breach are much greater – you can’t reset someone’s face or fingerprint like you can reset a password.” 

Serco Leisure and the trusts have been given three months to comply.

New Guidance About The Use Of Biometric Data 

In their reporting of the case, the ICO referred to the fact that it has just published new guidance about how to comply with the law for organisations considering using people’s biometric data. The guidance can be found on the ICO’s website here.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

In the case of Serco Leisure as reported by the ICO, it seems the salient facts were that the biometric system was disproportionate and intrusive, while no alternatives were offered (there was no way to opt-out). Also, a person’s biometric data (e.g. images of their face and their fingerprints) are legally regarded as their personal data and, as the ICO points out, the theft of biometric data in a breach would be far more damaging than the theft of passwords, which can be reset.

The takeaway here for businesses is that although the use of biometric data may serve a business in terms of accuracy, there must be a balance, plus there’s employee morale and trust to consider as well as the law. Close attention must be paid to all aspects of data protection law anyway but for businesses and organisations thinking about introducing a biometric system, a good starting point would be to study and take note of the new “Biometric data guidance: Biometric recognition” guidelines on the ICO’s website.

Feb 28
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Google Pauses Gemini AI Over ‘Historical Inaccuracies’

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Only a month after its launch, Google has paused its text-to-image AI tool following “inaccuracies” in some of the historical depictions of people produced by the model.

‘Woke’ … Overcorrecting For Diversity? 

An example of the inaccuracy issue (as highlighted by X user Patrick Ganley recently, after asking Google Gemini to generate images of the Founding Fathers of the US), was when it returned images of a black George Washington. Also, in another reported test, when asked to generate images of a 1943 German (Nazi) soldier, Google’s Gemini image generator returned pictures of people of clearly diverse nationalities in Nazi uniforms.

The inaccuracies have been described by some as examples of the model subverting the gender and racial stereotypes found in generative AI, a reluctance to depict ‘white people’ and / or conforming to ‘woke’ ideas, i.e. the model trying to remove its own bias and improve diversity yet ending up simply being inaccurate to the point of being comical.

For example, on LinkedIn, Venture Capitalist Michael Jackson said the inaccuracies were a “byproduct of Google’s ideological echo chamber” and that for the “countless millions of dollars that Google spent on Gemini, it’s only managed to turn its AI into a nonsensical DEI parody.” 

China Restrictions Too? 

Another issue (reported by Al Jazeera), noted by a former software engineer at Stripe on X, was that Gemini would not show the image of a man in 1989 Tiananmen Square due to its safety policy and the “sensitive and complex” nature of the event. This, and similar issues have prompted criticism from some that Gemini may also have some kind of restrictions related to China.

What Does Google Say? 

Google posted on X to say about the inaccurate images: “We’re working to improve these kinds of depictions immediately. Gemini’s AI image generation does generate a wide range of people. And that’s generally a good thing because people around the world use it. But it’s missing the mark here.” 

Google has, therefore, announced that: ”We’re already working to address recent issues with Gemini’s image generation feature. While we do this, we’re going to pause the image generation of people and will re-release an improved version soon.” 

Bias and Stereotyping 

Bias and stereotyping have long been issues in the output of generative AI tools. Bias and stereotyping in generative AI outputs exist primarily because AI models learn from vast amounts of data collected from human languages and behaviours, which inherently contain biases and stereotypes. As models mimic patterns found in their training data, they can replicate and amplify existing societal biases and stereotypes.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Google has only just announced the combining of Bard with its new Gemini models to create its ‘Gemini Advanced’ subscription service, so this discovery is likely to be particularly unwelcome. The anti-woke backlash and ridicule are certainly something Google could do without about now, but the issue has highlighted the complications of generative AI, how it is trained, and the complexities of how models interpret the data and instructions they’re given. It also shows how AI models may be advanced, but they don’t actually ‘think’ (as a human would), they can’t perform ‘reality checks’ as humans can because they don’t ‘live’ in the ‘real world.’ Also, this story shows how early we still are in the generative AI journey.

Google’s explanation has shed some light on the thinking behind the issue and at least it’s admitted to being wide of the mark in terms of historical accuracy – which is clear from some of the examples. It’s all likely to be an embarrassment and a hassle for Google in its competition with Microsoft and its partner OpenAI, nevertheless, Google seems to think that with a pause plus a few changes, it can tackle the problem and move forward.

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