Campaigners for internet safety are calling on the UK Communications Regulator to restrict the application of artificial intelligence in essential risk assessments, following reports that Meta, founded by Mark Zuckerberg, intends to automate these checks.
Ofcom stated that it would “consider the concerns” outlined in the letters from campaigners, as highlighted in last month’s report, which indicated that up to 90% of all risk assessments for the owners of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp would be conducted by AI.
Social media platforms are crucial in assessing how harm manifests on their services and how they can alleviate potential dangers, particularly regarding the protection of child users and the prevention of illegal content, in accordance with the UK’s online safety legislation. The risk assessment process is deemed a vital element of this law.
In correspondence addressed to Ofcom’s CEO, Melanie Dawes, organizations like the Molly Rose Foundation, NSPCC, and Internet Watch Foundation criticized the prospect of AI-led risk assessments as “a backward and bewildering move.”
They urged, “We recommend advocating publicly that risk assessments are rarely seen as ‘appropriate and sufficient.’
The letter also called on the watchdog to “confront the belief that the platform can opt to bypass the risk assessment process.”
A spokesperson from Ofcom remarked, “Who has completed, reviewed, or approved the risk assessment? We are taking the concerns raised in this letter into account and will respond in due course.”
Mehta commented that the letter misrepresented the company’s safety strategies, which focus on high standards and adherence to regulations.
A Meta spokesperson stated, “We have not relied on AI for making decisions regarding risk. Our specialists have developed tools that assist teams in determining when legal and policy obligations pertain to a specific product. We have enhanced our capability to manage harmful content with human-supervised technology, leading to significantly better safety outcomes.”
The Molly Rose Foundation initiated the letter after a report by US broadcaster NPR last month indicated that Meta’s algorithms and updated safety features had been predominantly approved by AI systems, bypassing human oversight.
An unnamed former Meta executive told NPR that this shift would enable companies to roll out app updates and features more rapidly on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp; however, it raises concerns regarding the prevention of potential issues prior to the launch of new products, resulting in “increased risks” for users.
NPR also noted that Meta is exploring the possibility of automating reviews in sensitive areas, particularly concerning risks to young users and addressing the spread of misinformation.
EElectronic shelf labels, return machines, robotic bagging machines and even self-service tills are just some of the many technologies UK retailers are adopting to solve the problem of rising labor costs.
Big retailers have been releasing a flurry of festive deals in recent weeks as they face rising labor costs from April following increases in the national minimum wage and employers' National Insurance Contributions (NICs). , investment in automation has always been active.
The investment could boost productivity in an industry that has long relied on cheap labor – a key goal of the government. But they will also replace entry-level jobs and reduce the number of roles in the sector, which is Britain's biggest employer.
When the British Retail Consortium asked finance chiefs at major retailers how they would respond to the impending increase in employer NICs, almost a third said they would make greater use of automation, but this Hours of what's behind the hike, head office job cuts, and reductions in working hours.
So what innovations are they considering and whose jobs might they impact?
electronic shelf price labels
Electronic shelf labels are already common in some other countries, and could be on UK high streets in the blink of an eye by 2025. One retailer's manager told the Guardian that NIC's rising labor costs suddenly made the switch economically viable.
Change prices with the push of a button, saving staff time removing and replacing hundreds of small paper labels. Electronics chain Currys plans to introduce electronic pricing to 100 of its 300 UK stores by the end of this year after trials in stores in Northern Europe, with supermarket groups Sainsbury's and Co-op also experimenting.
self service
Shopper-operated checkouts are widespread in supermarkets, and we expect to see more of them in fashion and home goods retailers this year.
Primark is rolling out the service in 41 stores in the UK and plans to expand to at least five more this spring, while Next is piloting it in one branch.
Inditex, owner of Japanese fashion chains Uniqlo and Zara, has led the way with technology that allows customers to recall entire baskets of goods without having to scan them with wireless tags. Marks & Spencer is experimenting with this approach for customers purchasing non-food items.
Grocery stores are also continuing to innovate. Co-ops are testing hybrid checkouts that can be operated by self-service or staff, and some supermarkets have added larger self-checkouts suitable for handling full carts.
Self-scanning systems, such as Sainsbury's SmartShop and Tesco's Scan as you Shop, where shoppers use a handheld device or smartphone app to recall prices, are also on the rise. Sainsbury's said 30% of the groceries it sold during the peak holiday season were processed through SmartShop, leading to “lower costs and faster checkouts”.
Automated return machines have also been introduced, allowing shoppers to drop off unwanted items by simply swiping a QR code. John Lewis is testing the product at three Waitrose stores.
But the idea of leaving stores completely unmanned has been questioned. Amazon's “Just Walk Out” store, where shoppers sign in through an app and technology automatically monitors and charges their purchases, hasn't been a huge success. The company has 21 stores in the UK, with one store opening in north London in November after several closures in 2023 and 2024. Tesco only has four GetGo self-service stores, the first of which opened in 2021, while Aldi only has one such store in the UK.
Retailers have been gradually increasing automation in their warehouses for years, but rising labor costs are accelerating that trend.
Sales of assembly line robots to food and drink, logistics and consumer goods companies rose 31% in the first nine months of last year, according to industry body Automate UK. This number does not include autonomous mobile robots, which move and complete tasks without a human operator and are becoming increasingly popular.
For example, Amazon and John Lewis use autonomous robots to move goods around their warehouses and bring them to the humans who pack them. Ocado's entire business model is based on the use of warehouses run by robots, but the company has expanded its use to go beyond just picking products out of crates and putting them into shoppers' bags and into vans. It's starting to expand.
One Irish retailer recently introduced a robot that patrols its stores to monitor out-of-stock items and mispricing, according to the Institute of Grocery Distributors (IGD), and a U.S. retailer is also rolling out the same technology. It is said that they have been able to increase their inventory level to 98.5%.
artificial intelligence
IGD also cited AI-powered cameras, which check shelf gaps in real time and monitor how shoppers interact with products, as one of the key technologies to improve store operations this year. There is. Last year, Morrisons added cameras to supermarket shelves that allow customers to reorder stock if needed.
Retailers also want to reduce waste and improve marketing efforts by using AI to analyze vast amounts of data and handle simple, repetitive tasks.
Sainsbury's has introduced an AI-enabled predictive tool to ensure it has the right amount of products on its shelves as part of a £1bn cost-cutting plan. Waitrose uses this technology to schedule the right workers for deliveries from stores and analyze food trends for product development. Meanwhile, M&S uses the technology to create product descriptions online and advise shoppers on clothing choices based on their body type and style preferences.
Tesco uses AI to make purchasing decisions and optimize routes for delivery drivers. The supermarket's CEO Ken Murphy said customer interactions will be “truly enhanced and driven by AI in almost every aspect of our business.”
He uses this to analyze shoppers' loyalty card data and learn how to save money and take care of their health by not buying too much (or perhaps too much) of certain products. suggested it could provide “relevant inspiration and ideas for shoppers and their families.” .
McDonald’s has terminated its trial of an artificial intelligence chatbot in its drive-thrus, sparking concerns about the fast-food industry’s hasty adoption of this technology.
The largest burger chain in the world is removing its AI-based automated ordering system from over 100 restaurants throughout the US.
This system, capable of responding to customer orders using AI voice, was undergoing testing under a contract between McDonald’s and IBM that began in 2021.
McDonald’s has not specified the reasons for ending the trial. As reported by Restaurant Business, the company informed franchisees that the technology would be discontinued on July 26th.
A McDonald’s spokesperson mentioned to the publication that a decision regarding automated ordering plans would be made by year-end, emphasizing that “voice ordering solutions at the drive-thru are part of our restaurants’ future.”
Fast-food chains have displayed considerable interest in incorporating generative AI into their operations in recent years. Apart from McDonald’s, various companies such as Wendy’s, Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., and Del Taco have implemented this technology in their drive-thrus. Yum! Brands, the owner of Taco Bell and KFC, also declared its adoption of AI earlier this year. “AI First Mindset” at a fast food restaurant.
The fast-food industry is increasingly receptive to AI as a substitute for human workers, aiding in reducing escalating labor costs. Following California’s enactment of a new minimum wage regulation for fast-food employees, companies are hastening the integration of AI technology to handle tasks like taking customer orders.
While companies promote AI as the future of the fast-food industry, these technologies have been featured in viral videos and covered in the media when orders go awry. McDonald’s drive-thru AI blunder became viral last year after several TikTok videos showcased the system incorrectly adding items, such as butter packs, or doubling the order quantities.
In one video, two women were captured laughing and requesting the system to cease adding items to their order, as it appeared to tally hundreds of dollars’ worth of McNuggets to their bill.
Automated systems have faced criticism for misinterpreting customer orders, as well as for depending on outsourced human labor for their operation. Presto Automation, which supplies AI services to fast-food chains, disclosed in an SEC filing last year that it employs customer-facing staff in countries like the Philippines, who spend around 70% of their time there.
In addition to drive-thru ordering, companies are exploring leveraging generative AI for creating digital chatbots on their apps or utilizing image recognition for estimating wait times.
In December, McDonald’s partnered with Google to develop a chatbot named “Ask Pickles” for guiding employees on tasks like cleaning restaurant equipment. The collaboration also encompasses exploring other potential applications of generative AI. As per Bloomberg’s report.
AI technology is According to , it helps startups become leaner and more cost efficient. Latest report from Battery Ventures. Conversely, Battery expects low-burn startups to become even more valuable if growth rates remain attractive.
Exchange explores startups, markets, and money.
Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday.
That’s an interesting paper. When we think of AI from a startup perspective, we tend to think about what AI-powered software startups themselves build. If we turn the question of what AI software does, for Battery sees a future where startups are worth many times their revenue. This could allow more emerging technology companies to receive venture-backed or full-stop support, and increase the chances that existing startups can grow to their previous valuations.
The issue is the amount of software revenue. The story of a rebound in tech stock prices from 2021’s market gluts is a familiar one by now, and startups can’t get any hotter than they once were when money was cheap and plentiful. The same view applies.
But what’s the point of a profitable startup if it can’t grow quickly? Seems unlikely. So what venture investors want above all, and founders do too, is a world where every dollar of revenue a startup generates is worth more. This situation will help the venture math pencil to draw more neatly.
It’s much easier to invest in a cash-burning startup when the revenue you’re building is worth, say, $9 instead of $6. Or $4.
side has secured $8 million in Series A capital to build an API for automated wealth management services and democratize access to wealth management across Europe.
Earlybird Venture Capital led the round, with participation from existing investors JME Ventures and 4Founders Capital. Scalapay co-founder Raffaele Terrone and Upvest co-founder and CEO Martin Kassing supported the round as angel investors.
The Barcelona-based company was founded in 2019 by software engineers Joaquín de la Cruz and Sergi Rao, and private banking executive Alvaro Morales. Their vision is to digitize global asset data across custodians and bring it under one API so that customers can get a complete picture of their investment portfolios in real time and make more intelligent investment decisions. was to be collected.
Franks, whose clients range from major financial institutions to family offices and independent financial advisors, is taking advantage of ongoing regulatory changes in Europe, especially around open banking. Additionally, recently proposed legislation includes Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID III) focuses on open finance, establishing rights and obligations governing access to financial data beyond payment accounts.
Dela Cruz explained that with open banking, there was previously no way to share financial data with third parties or for financial advisors to understand their clients’ global asset allocation. That’s why the company created its “Open Wealth” software.
“Open wealth refers to a movement in the industry that allows customers to share their data with third parties,” Delacruz told TechCrunch. “Financial advisors can connect their clients’ information with just two clicks on the platform, allowing them to get all their client’s financial information (360-degree view) in a single source of truth. It will be.”
Flanks operates in Spain, France and eight other countries. We connect with over 300 banks around the world and aggregate over 500,000 investment portfolios every month. Over the past year he has doubled the number of clients to 100, focusing on large clients that could potentially bring his Flanks to millions of end users.
Meanwhile, the company has grown its revenue more than 4x over the past 12 months.
The Series A funding will help the team continue to expand its footprint internationally and strengthen its product pipeline. Last year, Flanks created a product based on data. For example, a no-code process that allows financial advisors to use and analyze data. Another is that if a customer moves to a new bank, her financial advisor can change banks with her two clicks.
“This is the best opportunity for data in years because data can be combined with AI to create many vertical products,” Dela Cruz said. “We now want to continue building end-to-end use cases, using OpenAI to connect data so that financial advisors can actually manipulate the data and help their clients grow their portfolios. We are currently developing a use case for this.”
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
