News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Volkswagen Refused to Help IL Police Locate Kidnapped Boy
Because Car GPS Subscription Was Expired

Volkswagen’s Car-Net service, which enables car owners to track and manage their vehicles remotely, has come under fire after the company declined to assist in locating a stolen vehicle that contained a 2-year-old boy. The kidnapping incident happened in Illinois when a woman drove her 2021 Volkswagen Atlas back to her Libertyville home. A man in a mask got out of a white BMW and tried to steal her car as she went inside to get her other child.
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Sheriff’s detectives called Volkswagen Car-Net to track the car while looking for the stolen car and the child in danger. In a statement posted on Facebook about the incident on February 23, the Lake County Sherrif’s department wrote: “While searching for the stolen vehicle and endangered child, sheriff’s detectives immediately called Volkswagen Car-Net, in an attempt to track the vehicle. Unfortunately, there was a delay, as Volkswagen Car-Net would not track the vehicle with the abducted child until they received payment to reactivate the tracking device in the stolen Volkswagen.”

It turns out the owner’s Car-Net service agreement had expired. A Car-Net representative demanded $150 to restart the service and find the SUV. According to Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli, the detective begged the representative, explaining the “extremely exigent circumstance.” However, the representative refused, citing company policy. “The detective had to work out getting a credit card number and then call the representative back to pay the $150 and at that time the representative provided the GPS location of the vehicle,” Covelli said. Covelli described the ordeal “16 minutes of hell” in one interview.

Volkswagen claimed there was a “serious breach” of its procedure for collaborating with law enforcement. The business claimed that the incident was a violation of the procedure it had in place because it uses a third-party vendor to provide the Car-Net service. Volkswagen stated that it was resolving the issue with the parties concerned.

 Seriously!? VW cares more about $150 bucks than a KIDNAPPED  baby's life?
 And the CS rep dared to blame the  police for walking the extra mile to save the victim!

Microsoft’s Solution for Unhinged AI: Let Users Select How Crazy It Gets

Microsoft’s Bing chatbot has been returning some unhinged and threatening responses to users. The company has now updated the bot with three new modes that aim to fix the issue by allowing users to select how crazy the AI gets.

The Verge reports that the Bing chatbot from Microsoft has been updated with new modes that let users select various tones for responses. The three new modes — creative, balanced, and precise — are intended to deliver more appropriate and accurate answers while still allowing for creative and original responses.

The default setting, balanced mode, seeks to strike a balance between accuracy and originality. The precise mode favors accuracy and relevancy for more factual and concise answers. In contrast, the creative mode includes responses that are unique and imaginative.
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All Bing AI users are currently receiving these new chat modes, and about 90 percent of users should already be using them. Microsoft is hoping that these new modes will help temper the irrational outbursts that the Bing AI chatbot was known for.

This pretty much sounds like:

1. Creative Bing comes up with the overall picture to take over the world.
   
2. Balanced Bing tries to point out what's feasible and what's not.
   
3. Precise Bing finally enters the stage with a detailed outline of how they should perform their evil task.  
   

Apple Blocks Update of ChatGPT-Powered App over Concerns About Child Safety

Apple has not approved an app update for BlueMail, an app with AI-powered tools, due to concerns that it could generate inappropriate content for children, according to BlueMail co-founder Ben Volach, who shared documents with the Wall Street Journal.

“Your app includes AI-generated content but does not appear to include content filtering at this time,” Apple’s app-review team told BlueMail last week. The iPhone maker is asking the app to set an age restriction to 17 and older.
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BlueMail’s new AI update reportedly uses the latest version of ChatGPT to help automate writing emails by using content of previous emails and calendar events.
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The app’s age restriction is currently set for users four years old and older.

Volach told the Wall Street Journal that Apple’s decision is “making it really hard for us to bring innovation to our users.”
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“We want fairness,” Volach said. “If we’re required to be 17-plus, then others should also have to.”

Come on people! Why would a 4 year old kid desperately need it? Can he even grasp the concept of reading and writing emails?