Posts Tagged: tool

Microsoft’s tool for AI reading lessons is now a standalone app

Microsoft is rolling out Reading Coach as a standalone app, which will expand its tools for educators in Microsoft Teams. The new app will be part of its Reading Progress suite designed to help students improve literacy in the classroom and at home. The tool will use artificial intelligence to provide users with personalized feedback on how to improve reading scores as well as specific suggestions for how to improve things like pronunciation. It will be free to any users that have a Microsoft account.

With prolonged use, the AI tool will flag specific words that a reader frequently mispronounces or misunderstands during reading sessions. To keep students engaged, the program will also ask a reader to choose prompts that can change a storyline as they progress.

Microsoft says teachers can integrate its program in classrooms through learning platforms starting in the Spring. But the tool is available to educators this month in preview. Teachers will be able to track how student’s feel about assignments using the Reflect tool within the program. This kind of feedback might help an educator determine what assignments students feel most excited about and which lessons might not be working. Beyond tracking student performance, the new features for Microsoft’s Teams for Education suite will help teachers generate content for lessons, such as passages and assignments for a student to engage with.

Microsoft also introduced new features for its Teams for Education app, which is designed to help educators tailor content for digital learning platforms. The Classwork tool will use AI to emphasize particular messages in an assignment’s instructions, according to an educator’s particular goals for that lesson. The Assignments tool will use AI to streamline the rubric generating process. Outlines can be tailored by a teacher based on grade level, evaluation scale or other factors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-tool-for-ai-reading-lessons-is-now-a-standalone-app-230520756.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

X’s job search tool is now live on the web

The LinkedIn-like job search tool that X has been experimenting with is now live. A beta version of the feature launched in August to verified users, but the web version of the tool is now open to everyone on X, with iOS and Android availability expected “soon,” according to the company.

The job search feature appears to already be populated with open positions at numerous tech companies, including those run by Elon Musk. There are currently roles listed for SpaceX, Tesla and Neuralink, as well as X and Musk’s newest venture, x.ai.

While Musk previously promised “we will make sure that the X competitor to LinkedIn is cool,” it appears to be very basic for now. Users can browse job listings and descriptions, but are directed to third-party sites to complete an application, even for roles at X. Elsewhere, the company has been testing “job cards” so that individual postings are more easily shareable throughout the platform.

But there have been signs the company has more ambitious plans for career-oriented features on its “everything app.” The company recently updated its privacy policy to note that it may collect data related to users’ employment history for “job applications and recommendations.” This may hint at some kind of recruiting feature for X or other, more advanced job finding features down the line.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xs-job-search-tool-is-now-live-on-the-web-010200007.html?src=rss

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Google’s experimental ChatGPT rivals include a search bot and a tool called ‘Apprentice Bard’

Google employees have been testing several potential ChatGPT competitors as part of the tech giant's bid to launch a response to OpenAI's technology, according to CNBC. A previous New York Times report said that Google CEO Sundar Pichai declared "code red" and accelerated AI development to be able to unveil at least 20 AI-powered products this year. Now, CNBC has detailed several of the products the company is working on, including a chatbot called "Apprentice Bard" that uses Google's LaMDA conversation technology.

Apparently, Google management asked the LaMDA team to prioritize working on a ChatGPT competitor, telling them that it takes precedence over any other project and even warning them not to attend unrelated meetings. Apprentice Bard reportedly looks and functions like ChatGPT in that a user can type a question or a prompt in a text box and then get a written response. 

CNBC says it saw samples proving the bot's answers include information from recent events — something ChatGPT isn't capable of, because it only has limited knowledge about anything that happened after 2021. In one example, Apprentice Bard was able to answer whether there will be another round of layoffs at Google. (Unlikely for this year, it said, seeing as the company is doing well financially.) If you'll recall, Google's LaMDA tech had gotten a former company engineer fired after he claimed that it had gained sentience.

Google is also reportedly testing a new search page that uses a question and answer format. The experimental home page features five potential question prompts replacing "I'm feeling lucky" under the search bar. After a user types in their query, the page generates human-like responses in gray bubbles. Underneath those responses are suggested follow-up questions, followed by the typical search results with links and headlines. In addition, Alphabet is working on a project called "Atlas" under its cloud unit. While CNBC didn't have details on what it is, it's still reportedly part of Google's "code red" efforts.

It's unclear at this point which of Google's projects are going to be released to the public. Google AI chief Jeff Dean told employees during an all-hands meeting to discuss the company's response to ChatGPT that it's moving "more conservatively than a small startup." Providing people wrong information will have a much bigger impact for a known company like Google, after all. Indeed, The Times previously said that the tech giant is prioritizing safety, accuracy and blocking out misinformation when it comes to the development of its search chatbot. If reports that Microsoft is incorporating ChatGPT's technology into Bing as soon as this March are true, however, we'll also likely see Google's search chatbot in the near future. 

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

How to wear the Apple Watch Ultra and not look like a tool

The Apple Watch Ultra is a capable smartwatch for divers and adventurers, but so-called tool watches need justification to wear. Here’s how to pull it off.
Wearables | Digital Trends

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick reportedly saw violence against drivers as a tool for growth

A new trove of leaked documents has shed an unfavorable light on the early days of Uber. Dubbed the Uber Files, the leak consists of approximately 124,000 internal company documents, including more than 83,000 emails and text messages exchanged between former CEO Travis Kalanick and other executives, that date to a period between 2013 and 2017. The latter marks the year Kalanick stepped down as CEO of Uber amid mounting controversy.

Working with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), The Guardian shared the trove with 180 journalists at 40 outlets across 29 countries. The documents show a company willing to do things many of its own executives thought were “fucking illegal.” 

In 2016, for instance, Kalanick reportedly ordered French employees to encourage local Uber drivers to counter-protest the taxi strikes that were underway in Paris at the time. When one executive warned Kalanick that “extreme right thugs” were part of the protest, the former CEO pushed back. “I think it’s worth it,” he said. “Violence guarantee[s] success. And these guys must be resisted, no?”

One former senior executive told The Guardian that Kalanick’s response was consistent with a strategy of “weaponizing” drivers and a playbook the company returned to in other countries.

Another selection of documents details the lengths the company went to escape regulatory scrutiny. In at least 12 instances, Uber ordered staff at local offices in six countries, including France, the Netherlands and India, to employ the “kill switch,” an internal tool the company developed to protect its data.

“Please hit the kill switch ASAP,” Kalanick wrote in one email shared by The Washington Post. "Access must be shut down in AMS,” he added, referring to the company’s Amsterdam office. In two cases involving Uber’s Montreal office, authorities entered the building only to see all the computers and tablets before them resetting at the same time. The company told The Post “such software should never have been used to thwart legitimate regulatory actions,” and that it stopped using the system in 2017.

“We have not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly not in line with our present values,” said Jill Hazelbaker, Uber’s senior vice president of marketing and public affairs, in a statement the company issued after The Guardian published its findings on the Uber Files. “Instead, we ask the public to judge us by what we’ve done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come.”

In a statement published by the ICIJ, Travis Kalanick’s spokesperson said any suggestion the former executive “directed, engaged in, or was involved” in “illegal or improper conduct" is “completely false."

"The reality was that Uber's expansion initiatives were led by over a hundred leaders in dozens of countries around the world and at all times under the direct oversight and with the full approval of Uber's robust legal, policy, and compliance groups," they added.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Tile rolls out anti-stalking tool in wake of AirTags scandal

Tile’s new feature will keep you from being stalked without your knowledge with a little effort.
Mobile | Digital Trends

[Sponsored] OPlayer, the Acclaimed Video Playback Tool, Is MyAppFree’s Latest App of the Week

OPlayer is the latest app to earn a spot as MyAppFree’s App of the Week. You can pick it up free of charge from the 20th to the 22nd of November, saving yourself a cool $ 4.99 in the process.  For the uninitiated, OPlayer is a professional video playbook tool from Olimsoft that’s been eight years […]

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Twitter’s tool for removing unwanted followers arrives for web users

All Twitter users can now remove a follower without having to block them. The company started testing this option last month, and starting today, everyone will have access to it. To quietly stop someone from seeing your tweets in their feed, go to the Followers tab on your profile, click the three-dot menu next to the user in question and select the "Remove this follower" option.

This is part of Twitter's efforts to reduce harassment on the platform. Blocking someone you don't want to follow you could lead to retaliation from that person via their allies or their secondary accounts after they find out. Cutting them in this fashion and muting them will mean they're none the wiser that they're out of the loop.

This method won't prevent someone you boot from your followers list from seeing your public tweets. Only blocking them or making your account private will do that. Elsewhere, Twitter is testing a Safety Mode, which automatically blocks accounts that use “potentially harmful language.” It's also looking into more ways to filter and limit replies, so it seems the company is making its anti-harassment efforts a bigger priority.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Facebook is testing a facial recognition tool to verify your identity

Facebook isn't entirely shying away from facial recognition, it seems. Code explorer Jane Manchun Wong has discovered a reference to a facial recognition system in Facebook's mobile app that would verify your identity. You'd have to take a "video s…
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Ransomware attacks in US cities are using a stolen NSA tool

The ransomware attacks in Baltimore and other US cities appear to have a common thread: they're using NSA tools on the agency's home soil. In-the-know security experts talking to the New York Times said the malware in the cyberattacks is using the NS…
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Instagram’s “Data Download” tool lets you save offline copies of your content

Instagram announced a couple of weeks ago that it would soon introduce a tool so users could download their information, similar to how Facebook users can. True to its word, Instagram has announced the availability of the tool that allows users to download their photos, videos, profile, info, comments, and archived Stories.  The “Data Download” […]

Come comment on this article: Instagram’s “Data Download” tool lets you save offline copies of your content

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Startup Instrumments’ 01 measuring tool measures curved surfaces

The 01, the product of startup Instrumments, is a “dimensioning” tool that measures curved and contoured edges. It doubles as a pen or pencil, too, and pairs with a mobile device via Bluetooth for additional analysis.

The post Startup Instrumments’ 01 measuring tool measures curved surfaces appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile–Digital Trends

Google open-sources Parsey McParseface, its tool for understanding English

Understanding language is a big part of how computers communicate with humans. Google understands this, and has open-sourced SyntaxNet, its sentence parser. The English language module for SyntaxNet? Parsey McParseface.

The post Google open-sources Parsey McParseface, its tool for understanding English appeared first on Digital Trends.

Android Army–Digital Trends