Alexa mimicking human voices poses a threat to security, experts warn

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• Amazon wants to make Alexa sound like your dead relatives There’s an obvious concern over the potential for such a technology to be abused (Picture: AP)Amazon is working on making its voice assistant, Alexa, sound just like your grandmother — or anyone else. The tech giant is developing a system to let Alexa mimic any voice after hearing less than a minute of audio, said Rohit Prasad, an Amazon senior vice president, at a conference the company held in Las Vegas Wednesday. Amazon shared its vision for companionship with Alexa…
• Amazon execs are worried they’ll run out of people to employ A worker gathers items for delivery from the warehouse floor at Amazon’s distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona (Credits: Reuters)Amazon may soon run out of workers to operate its gigantic fulfilment centres around the world. Although the US tech giant employs hundreds of thousands of people, it can’t seem to keep hold of them. An internal company research memo, obtained by Vox, states bluntly: ‘If we continue business as usual, Amazon will deplete the available labor supply in the US network…
• Sharks swim closer to crowded beaches than we previously thought, experts warn To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Sharks are popularly imagined as ocean predators that prefer the solitude of the open ocean to bustling coastlines. But that may not be the case. Researchers at the University of Miami carried out a study showing that, contrary to what we thought, sharks aren’t avoiding our rapidly urbanising coastlines. Three species of sharks: bull, nurse and great hammerheads had their movements tracked…
• Human remains found in Amazon confirmed as those of missing British journalist A fisherman has confessed to shooting the two men (Picture: Reuters/Getty/AP)Human remains found deep in the Amazon have been confirmed as belonging to missing British journalist Dom Phillips, police in Brazil have said. The 57-year-old freelance writer disappeared on June 5 alongside indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41, in the remote Javari Valley bordering Peru and Colombia. Earlier this week, police recovered human remains from a grave in the jungle where they were led by a fisherman who confessed to killing…
• Some of Britain’s earliest humans apparently settled in Canterbury The fossil skull of homo heidelbergenis. (Credits: PA)The Canterbury suburbs were home to some of Britain’s earliest humans, new discoveries have revealed. The research confirms that Homo heidelbergensis, an ancestor of Neanderthals, occupied southern Britain between 560,000 and 620,000 years ago, when it was still attached to Europe. This makes it one of the earliest known Palaeolithic sites in northern Europe. Archaeological finds made on the outskirts of the cathedral city in Kent, also hint at some of the earliest…
• ‘Donald Trump hater hearing voices’ crashes car into store selling his merchandise A man with an anti-Donald Trump bumper sticker apparently hearing ‘voices in his head’ rammed his car into a store selling memorabilia for the former president. Sean Flaherty, 46, crashed his Volkswagen Jetta into the New England for Trump souvenir store in Easton, Massachusetts, shortly after 5pm on Thursday, according to police. Surveillance footage of the incident showed pro-Trump shirts, hats and other memorabilia flying. An employee of the store, Karla Kelley, said there was no argument that occurred that…
• Third man arrested after British journalist ‘shot dead with hunting ammunition’ in Amazon Jefferson da Silva Lima (left) turned himself in to a federal police station in the Amazon (Picture: AP/Getty)A third suspect has been arrested following the deaths of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. Brazil’s federal police said Jefferson da Silva Lima turned himself at a station in Atalaia do Norte in the Amazon. Human remains were recovered from a remote area in the jungle earlier this week. It came nearly two weeks after two men went missing in…
• Hot weekend for Europe, officials warn of extreme fire risk People flocked to parks and pools across Western Europe on Saturday for a bit of respite from an early heat wave that saw the mercury rise above 40 C (104 F) in France and Spain, and highs of 38 C (100.4 F) in Germany. Officials warned of wildfires across the western Mediterranean region as high temperatures and a long dry spell made for combustible conditions. The European Commission's Copernicus Emergency Management Service said the fire risk was “extreme” and “very…
• Warning from Jacksonville police: ‘Lower your radio volume’ The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office offered a warning for drivers on its Twitter page Tuesday — specifically, “Lower your radio volume!” The Sheriff’s Office makes reference to a Florida statute that will once again become enforceable starting July 1. “What does this mean? It means that you will have to listen to your radio at a volume that is NOT plainly audible at a distance of 25 feet or more,” the Sheriff’s Office writes. Gov. Ron DeSantis in May signed a…
• Facebook and US sign deal to end discriminatory housing ads Facebook will change its algorithms to prevent discriminatory housing advertising and its parent company will subject itself to court oversight to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday. In a release, U.S. government officials said it had reached agreement with Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook Inc., to settle the lawsuit filed simultaneously in Manhattan federal court. According to the release, it was the Justice Department’s first case challenging algorithmic discrimination under the Fair…