Suspect startups
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Suspect startups
| Organizational trust | Implementation costs |
| Pharmaceutics, therapeutics |
| Healthcare, Medicine, Digital Health |
Oklahoma's state Medicaid program is wary of investing in digital therapeutics after the bankruptcy of Pear Therapeutics. Read more...
- How has the well been spoiled for other technologies and companies?
- At the societal level, is the risk of investing in these new technologies still worth it?
- How might the climate in private investment impact healthcare in the long run?
Drone hacking
| Cybersecurity | Induced complacency |
| Robotics, drones |
| Data protection and cybersecurity |
Experts have demonstrated the potential efficacy of electromagnetic fault injection attacks in drones. Read more...
- What other devices could be susceptible to such attacks?
- How do emerging cybersecurity threats like EMFI attacks reshape the role of professionals specializing in drones?
- What lessons could be learned in terms of the proliferation of devices susceptible to such attacks.
AI patents
| System complexity |
| Artificial Intelligence |
| Enterprise software, B2B software, SAAS | Other | Legal services |
Should AI have patenting power? Read more...
- Should AI always be credited when it has been used?
- How might AI impact the less desirable aspects of the intellectual property space, such as patent trolls?
- Is there a mismatch of scale if the review is still only done by humans?
Amazon Review Crackdown
| Incentives | User goals |
| Consumer Tech |
| eCommerce |
Amazon implements sophisticated AI tools to detect fake reviews. Read more...
- How can the companies selling these products be incentivized to prevent fake reviews?
- Is there a point where consumers lose all trust in online reviews?
- Given incentives, is there an alternate, third party solution?
Model collapse
| Algorithmic bias | Data drift | Data quality |
| Artificial Intelligence |
| Data protection and cybersecurity | Enterprise software, B2B software, SAAS |
New research warns about the degenerative process of "model collapse". Read more...
- How should human generated data be differentiated from machine generated data?
- Could our current AI moment end badly on account of this effect?
- Is model collapse unavoidable given that machines can generate data at a scale that humans cannot.
Google plagiarism
| Copyright | Feedback loop |
| Algorithms | Web 2.0 |
| Advertising and marketing | Telecommunications |
Is Google stealing content from its search results? Read more...
- Is Google presenting with a case of the innovator's dilemma?
- What feedback loops exist between advertisers and users making searches?
- What other mechanism should Google consider?
AI sweatshops
| Labour | Ethics |
| Artificial Intelligence | Big Data |
| Data protection and cybersecurity |
A look at the exploitation of human data annotators in developing countries who work long hours for low pay to train AI models. Read more...
- What responsibilities do big technologies have?
- Will consumers make ethically-conscious decisions with their technology as they have with other products?
- How can inclusion be baked into the processes which create and tune these technologies?
AI and patients
| User trust | Algorithmic influence | Communication |
| Artificial Intelligence |
| Healthcare, Medicine, Digital Health |
Hospitals are struggling to communicate with patients about the use of AI in healthcare. Read more...
- Will branding be the tool used to earn trust?
- How will patients differentiate between the trust they place in their human care providers compared to their trust in algorithms?
- Will AI systems have embedded incentives to promote their own use?
Minimum charge
| Labour | Consumer trends |
| Web 2.0 | Micromobility |
| Food and drink, restaurants, meal delivery |
New York City has set a minimum wage for the delivery drivers affiliated with apps like Grubhub and DoorDash. Read more...
- Where might such companies look to keep labor costs down?
- Will this affect product-market fit?
- How might the service performance reflect this wage increase?
Unfair algos
| Social impact | Goal alignment |
| Algorithms |
| Government, defense, policing, law | Legal services |
A World Bank-funded algorithmic welfare distribution system in Jordan called Takaful is unfairly and inaccurately quantifying poverty. Read more...
- Should such algorithms only be allowed if certain stakeholders are able to influence its design?
- Should there be a surveillance process built-in?
- Are there incentives that led to this poor implementation?
The Crossfactors Newsletter
Each week we look at 10 new uses of technologies from any of the 30+ industries and the 25+ technology domains we watch. Get smart about the tech you bring into your products, your organization and your life. Pig hearts | Ethics | Adoption | | Medical and biotech | | Healthcare, Medicine, Digital Health | Company pioneers gene-edited pig heart transplants, conducting trials on baboons as a potential solution for babies with severe heart defects. Read more... How can parents in a position to...
Lots of food content this week. Not sure why. Maybe I was hungry. Review Response | User goals | Incentives | | Web 2.0 | | Food and drink, restaurants, meal delivery | A discussion of how restaurants should approach online reviews. Read more... Is there a better outlet for retaliatory reviews? Is there a growing or diminishing dependence on online reviews? How should a restaurant maintain an online personality? Cultivated Meatballs | Public trust | Consumer trends | | Agtech and cultured...
Each week we look at 10 new uses of technologies from any of the 30+ industries and the 25+ technology domains we watch. Get smart about the tech you bring into your products, your organization and your life. Metaverse Guardians | User trust | User safety | | Web 2.0 | VR | | Data protection and cybersecurity | Social Media | Undercover content moderators play a big role in ensuring safety and protecting users within the metaverse. Read more... Where does the balance lie between safety and...