Your smart car knows when you've had sex

Also: AI develops a sense of smell, Facebook embraces sexbots, Newsom grows some

Robots getting cuddly in the backseat of a Sportage. Source: DALL-E.

Modern automobiles are essentially smart phones on wheels. There's more digital technology inside your ride than in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Which means that carmakers collect an insane amount of information every minute you're behind the wheel.

What do they do with that data? The Mozilla Foundation just published a detailed report analyzing the privacy policies of 25 makers of Internet-connected cars, and the results range from shocking/appalling to holy shit!

All 25 companies suck at protecting your privacy, but some suck more than others. For example, Kia not only knows what you did last summer, but who you did it with and whether you smoked a cigarette afterwards. Per the company's US privacy policy, Kia may collect "sensitive personal information," such as:

Social Security number, driver’s license, state identification card, or passport number; account log-in, financial account, debit card, or credit card number in combination with any required security or access code, password, or credentials allowing access to an account; precise geolocation; racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs; union membership; genetic data; unique biometric information; contents of certain mail, emails, and text messages; or health, sex life or sexual orientation information. [Emphasis mine]

Keep that in mind the next time you're inclined to make bouncy bouncy in the back seat of your Kia Sportage. Is that what they mean by "Movement that inspires"?

Let's hope this is just another example of Lawyers Gone Wild, and not data that carmakers actually plan to share or monetize. [**] In the meantime, if you value your privacy, you might want to keep driving that disconnected klunker until the wheels fall off.

Odorama comes to AI

Researchers in Cambridge, Mass, have taught an AI model to recognize scents by analyzing the structure of the chemicals that produce them. A company called Osmo Labs is using AI to build a Principal Odor Map (POM), analogous to the color spectrum or audio frequencies. Osmo trained an AI model to recognize 5,000 common scents, then compared its predictions against a panel of 15 humans, who were asked to assign labels (like 'grassy' or 'buttery') to some 400 unique odors. [1] The AI did better at identifying smells than humans slightly more than half the time.

Osmo's odor map. No, not that Musk. I don't even want to imagine what he smells like. Source: IEEE Spectrum/Osmo.

Ultimately, the POM could be used to develop new fragrances, create non-toxic bug repellents, detect human diseases, and build functional prosthetic noses. It also might — and I'm not kidding here — lead to the ability to digitize smells and share them over the Internet.

Now that AI has smelt it, it has to figure out who dealt it. [2]

Hot bots are awaiting your call!

If you're someone who makes a living by removing your clothing, sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok will wag their puritanical little fingers at you and say, "Not on our wholesome family friendly platform, you wanton strumpet." In fact, they won't even take your money to advertise your Only Fans/Patreon/Live Chat site. But if you're a sexy piece of AI, they'll let you show the world all your naughty bits (and bytes).

A study by NBC News found ads from 35 different companies that make "AI companion" apps advertising on Meta (aka Facebook and Instagram), despite its rules prohibiting "nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative." It found another 14 companies advertising on TikTok, also against the rules.

A sexbot ad on Meta. OK, but... why the asterisk? Source: Meta.

After NBC contacted Meta, some of the ads were taken down, while others remained up.

"We're not quite finished," a spokesperson for Meta told them. "Give us a minute." [3]

Win some, lose some, Newsom

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order governing the use of AI by state agencies. [4] To save you the bother of reading the 7-page EO I've created a word cloud that captures the essential points:

Source: WordClouds.com

Newsom by himself can't force private AI companies to do anything. But by directing state agencies to develop AI guidelines, he's saying "If you want to do business with the State of California (and carve off a piece of its $500+ million annual IT budget) you need to follow these rules, which we haven't quite figured out yet but check back with us in a few months or years." This is a good thing, and in line with the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights the Biden Administration unveiled last year.

The question still lingering in everyone's minds, however: How in god's name he ended up marrying this woman.

Kimberly "The best is yet to come!!!" Guilfoyle, before and after. Source: (not) Twitter

Don't drone home, ET

A company in Hyperabad, India, has developed an automated defense system that it claims can protect an area of 4,000 square kilometers from drone attacks. Using AI, "Indrajaal" can identify the type of drones flying overhead, determine their intent, and then shoot them down if necessary. Per the report:

Kiran Raju, the founder of Grene Robotics, which was established 12 years ago, says that Indrajaal's design uses a LEGO-like combination mechanism that offers 12 unique layers of technology powered by artificial intelligence.

Grene shared an early look at the prototype defense system and it seems quite formidable.

Source: Xbox.

Just don't step on any of them — hurts like hell.

Do you care how much your car knows about you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[**] Update: Nissan’s policy is even worse, collecting sexual orientation and activity, plus health and genetic data, which it may then use to facilitate more targeted marketing. “We understand you just bought a red GT-R sports coupe; may we interest you in some penis enlargement pills?”

[1] Odor samples included green apple Jolly Ranchers and vials of horse sweat. "It has a fantastic smell — really complex and interesting," said one of the researchers, who could really use a chaperone the next time he visits the stables.

[2] I'll show myself out.

[3] Yes, I totally made that up.

[4] A tip of the COMYAI fedora to MorningTeaHouse for alerting me to this.