Instagram adds event video channels to the ‘Explore’ feed
Instagram wants you to know it’s more than just photos; it’s about videos too. That’s why the app has been investing quite a bit in surfacing them more in its Explore tab. Earlier this year, it added a video channel for easier to find clips and further sorted them into 23 different categories, such as dogs, comedy and travel. Now Instagram has added yet another way to find interesting videos: through events.
Starting today, the Explore tab will have an events video channel that showcases the latest and greatest footage from events around the world. That could include concerts, sporting events, theater performances and more. So you could theoretically look for clips taken during festivals like Lollapalooza, or a concert in another city, and watch them right on Instagram.
The feature will only be available in the US to start. Like the rest of Explore, the videos you see in the tab will be personalized for your particular tastes, so it’ll float what it thinks are clips of of your favorite events to the top.
Facebook opens up Messenger to ad bots
Right now, Facebook lets Messenger bots from brands like Expedia and HP help you make a purchase, but they can’t try to sell you a new product. However, a policy change means those automated assistants will soon be able to send subscription messages, ads and promotions for services like makeup consultations. If you’re worried about spam, Facebook emphasized that the user is in control. “All conversations between businesses and people must be initiated by the person receiving the messages, who can then mute or block the business at any time,” wrote Product Manager Seth Rosenberg.
When you initiate a request via Messenger, the business has 24 hours to respond. However, replying back via an “eligible action” (like typing “learn more” or “make appointment”), resets the clock. Those who subscribe to a company’s Messenger feed, by comparison, will get messages unprompted and more regularly, but no promotional content is allowed. If subscribers reply to a message, however, it will switch into standard messaging mode, meaning ads and promos are fair game.
Existing companies using the service have three months to comply to the new rules for standard messaging, which are now in effect. For firms who want to start, Facebook promises to review new bots within five days.
The new subscription options are starting in beta for companies involved in news, productivity and personal trackers (bots used for fitness, health wellness and finance). Any interested organizations have six months to tell Facebook how, exactly, they plan to use it — presumably, Facebook doesn’t want the experience to be too spammy.
The service is a crafty way for Facebook to monetize its 1 billion monthly Messenger users, since it keeps folks in control of promotions. There are reportedly 18,000 bots on the service, and 23,000 companies using Facebook’s own “Wit.ai” deep learning tech that enables natural language recognition.
Via: Venture Beat
Source: Facebook
Amazon’s pilot episodes are now free on YouTube and Facebook
If you don’t have a Prime subscription but want to check out some of Amazon’s original series, you’re in luck. The company has made ten pilot episodes from some of its best dramas, comedies, and kids’ series free to watch on YouTube and Facebook for the first time ever. The lineup includes Amazon’s most-streamed show, The Man in the High Castle, as well as Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent, both of which have won multiple Golden Globes.
This new promo is an attempt by Amazon to make its video content a bigger incentive for people to sign up for Prime at $99 per year. By putting free episodes on YouTube and Facebook, the company is better able to generate buzz and encourage viewers to comment and share their opinions on its best shows.
Not that people need that much convincing: Prime has seen some strong momentum recently, with membership growing over 50 percent in 2015. Naturally, Amazon wants to keep that growth going. It’s now working on exclusive Jack Ryan and Woody Allen series, and is partnering with former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond for a new car show. Whether or not these new series and free pilots are enough to entice you to pay for Prime, you can’t doubt Amazon’s effort.
Via: Deadline
Source: Amazon Studios (YouTube), Amazon Studios (Facebook)
Instagram Stories’ camera controls catch up to Snapchat
Instagram isn’t shy about wanting to go toe-to-toe with Snapchat through Stories, and that now includes camera features, too. Updates for both the Android and iOS versions of Instagram let you swipe up and down to zoom while you’re recording a video, much as you would in that other social app. The iOS version, at least, also lets you double-tap to switch cameras in mid-clip like its Snapchat counterpart. No, it’s not exactly a subtle tweak — but it makes sense if Instagram is going to poach Snapchatters that may take their camera controls for granted.
Source: App Store, Google Play
Exploring the past, present and future of AI with Engadget
Few things stir up as much excitement, fear and confusion as artificial intelligence. So we’re dedicating this entire week to examining it from as many angles as possible. We’ll look at how current nascent AIs reflect some of society’s less admirable qualities, how it could be used to improve our criminal justice system and we’ll even explore the meaning of the “I” in “AI” — intelligence. Jess Conditt will challenge the notion that experts truly understand what it means to build an intelligent machine. And Nicole Lee will explore whether or not a minimum income is a viable solution to a workforce that demands less humans, and more computers and robots.
At this point practically every major tech company is making sizable investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon are all betting big on its potential. Google has built a special processor just for powering AI software. IBM is trying to shoehorn Watson into every industry from retail to medicine — it even had the damn thing write a cook book. Smaller players are looking for a foothold in the emerging market too, such as Fujitsu and startups like Viv.
Even though it seems like the tech industry is all-in on this whole AI thing, it’s not really that cut and dry. Google is pumping tons of money into research and services, while working on a kill switch to keep the machines from rising up and investigating the more mundane dangers of AI. Then there are titans of the industry like Elon Musk, who has invested in the technology while simultaneously warning us that we’re “summoning the demon.”
Musk is hardly alone. Plenty of major players and thinkers in the world of technology have warned of the dangers of AI, including Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking. But not every vision of the future is so apocalyptic. Theorists like Ray Kurzweil envision a world where machines don’t wipe humans out, but become part of us in the singularity. And for every Terminator film, there is a movie like Her, where AIs aren’t destructive forces, but three-dimensional characters and even romantic interests.
Whether you’re in camp armageddon (like Elon Musk) or eagerly awaiting the melding of human and machine (like Ray Kurzweil), one thing we can all agree on is that artificial intelligence is a rare truly transformative technology. Like the internal combustion engine, the assembly line, the transistor and the internet, AI has the potential to make the world of tomorrow almost unrecognizable.
But, before we spend the next week trying to untangle this mess, let’s take a look at the debate as it stands now. Below we’ve collected five quotes about the potential benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence from some of the biggest names in the field. And we’ve had each one loving illustrated by the fine folks at eBoy.
I absolutely don’t think a sentient artificial intelligence is going to wage war against the human species.
Daniel H. Wilson
Source: The Globe and Mail
With artificial intelligence, we’re summoning the demon.
Elon Musk
Source: MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium
Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.
Ray Kurzweil
Source: PBS News Hour
The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
Stephen Hawking
Source: BBC
By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Source: Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk (PDF)
Instagram’s new tools help you reach out to stores
Plenty of businesses operate on Instagram, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could reach out to them on Instagram beyond posting a comment and hoping they’ll notice? You’ll get to do that soon. Instagram has reportedly started rolling out promised business tools that will help you get in touch. Shops that set up a business profile will have a “contact” button that helps you call, email or text a business without having to find the details on the company’s website (or hope that the company includes some in its bio). If you see a tantalizing dessert photo and want to know whether or not the restaurant’s still open, it’ll be trivially easy to get an answer.
The feature appears to be deploying in Europe at first, with Australia, New Zealand and the US due in the “coming months.” Everyone else will see them by the end of the year. We’ve asked Instagram for details and will let you know if it can say more.
Whenever the toolset is available in your corner of the world, it’ll also carry some features you might not appreciate. Analytics (to help companies see which posts are working) are good, but the features also let companies promote posts as ads. Like it or not, you may see more local stores hawking their wares in between friends’ food photos and the usual celebrity endorsements.
Source: Wired
London police to create a troll-hunting social media unit
In a bid to tackle rising levels of abuse on social media, London’s Metropolitan Police is to set up a five-person team of specialist officers tasked with targeting online trolls. Scotland Yard will spend £1.7 million on the unit, called the Online Hate Crime Hub, which will provide “targeted and effective services for victims”, offer advanced intelligence on offenders and strengthen links between police, communities and social media companies like Facebook and Twitter.
Although UK authorities have taken steps to outlaw online abuse, victims have complained that police forces have been slow to act or been left feeling like their voices haven’t been heard. The Online Hate Crime Hub aims to better support those targeted by trolls, unmasking perpetrators who have operated under “veil of anonymity” provided by social media services.
“Those targeted can become isolated, living in fear of the online behaviour materialising in the real world,” the London Mayor’s office said. “The police response to online hate crime is inconsistent, primarily because police officers are not equipped to tackle it.”
The team — comprising of one detective inspector, one detective sergeant and three detective constables — will also help police officers and community groups identify, report and tackle abuse, ensuring victims receive the proper level of support.
Via: BBC News
Source: London Mayor’s Office
Sky will stream tomorrow’s Soccer Saturday on Facebook and YouTube
When broadcasters put down billions of pounds to secure rights to the world’s biggest sporting competitions, consumers who aren’t able to afford or don’t want pay-TV subscriptions often miss out. In the past, companies like Sky and BT have laid on a free day or weekend of access to show people what they’re missing, but more recently, online video services have proved to be popular alternatives. With the Premier League season kicking off tomorrow, Sky has confirmed it will stream its Soccer Saturday show completely free of charge on Facebook and YouTube.
Sky says that in addition to its normal broadcast on Sky Sports New HQ and Sky Sports 1, Soccer Saturday will be available live on Sky 1, SkySports.com and on the channel’s official Facebook and YouTube pages. It’ll build on Sky’s commitment to share goals and other important match events directly on Twitter and in its official apps.
Although Sky has a record number of live matches this season — including the first Friday night games — the company is keen to show that its programming isn’t all just cameras at the ground. Soccer Saturday already has solid support, but opening it up to a wider online audience may tempt indecisive viewers to pay up for a proper Sky Sports subscription.
Source: Sky
Adblock Plus bypasses Facebook’s attempt to restrict ad blockers
The war between Facebook and ad blockers is heating up. Just two days after the social network announced plans to restrict software that removes its advertising, the popular utility Adblock Plus has already unveiled a workaround. All you need to do is update your Adblock Plus filters to banish those ads once again. Facebook previously said that it didn’t pay to be whitelisted by any ad blocking company, instead it changed how its ads are recognized, and also gave users more control over what sorts of ads they see.
“This sort of back-and-forth battle between the open source ad-blocking community and circumventers has been going on since ad blocking was invented; so it’s very possible that Facebook will write some code that will render the filter useless — at any time,” Adblock Plus’ Ben Williams wrote in a blog post. “If that happens, the ad-blocking community will likely find another workaround, then Facebook might circumvent again, etc.”
Williams also notes that the filter hasn’t been heavily tested — Adblock Plus will adjust it based on feedback from its users. Facebook, naturally, isn’t so keen on the update and points out that it may be blocking regular posts. “We’re disappointed that ad blocking companies are punishing people on Facebook as these new attempts don’t just block ads but also posts from friends and Pages,” a spokesperson for Facebook told The Verge. “This isn’t a good experience for people and we plan to address the issue.”
It makes sense for Facebook to take a stronger stance against ad blockers, since its business is mostly dependent on ad revenue. But the swift response from the ad blocking community makes it clear this isn’t a battle Facebook is going to win anytime soon.
Via: The Verge
Source: Adblock Plus
Facebook wants your News Feed to be more informative
Facebook is on a constant quest to refine and tweak its News Feed algorithm so that you’ll see stories that are relevant and of interest to you. Now it aims to improve it even further with a new “ranking signal” that’s based on whether the piece of news is actually informative. From now on, stories that are more informative will float to the top, while the ones that are not so interesting will sink to the bottom.
The way the company figures out if something is useful is via a Feed Quality Program, a crowd-sourced survey where people rank a link on a scale from one to five, with five being “really informative.” According to Facebook, a link is deemed informative if it’s related to interests, if it prompts greater discussion or if it reveals a lot about current events like, say, the presidential race.
This so-called “ranking signal” is then combined with several other Facebook metrics — such as your relationship to the person or publisher who posted the piece and if you tend to comment or share similar links — so you’ll hopefully get informative and interesting stories that are tailored to you. This NewsFeed update is rolling out today, and will change over time as your interests and tastes evolve.
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