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AI facial recognition led to a grandma being wrongly jailed

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Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old grandma from Tennessee, spent more than five months in jail after the AI facial recognition platform Clearview AI falsely matched the grandmother with a suspect of bank fraud more than 1,000 miles away in North Dakota.

Fargo police chief Dave Zibolski admitted to CNN that there were a "couple of errors" in the investigation that led to Lipps' arrest.

A "partner agency’s facial recognition technology” and “additional investigative steps independent of AI to assist in identification” led to a warrant being issued for Lipps, Zibolski said.

The grandma was arrested on July 14 while looking after four children. Authorities in Tennessee held Lipps in county jail for 108 days before she was extradited to Fargo. Lipps says she had never even been to the state of North Dakota before her arrest.

According to her GoFundMe page, Lipps found out that a woman in North Dakota stole tens of thousands of dollars from banks in Fargo using a fake military ID. Clearview AI matched the fake ID image with Lipps in Tennessee.

The case against Lipps fell apart in December when the lawyer she was given in Fargo was able to produce bank records showing Lipps was at a gas station and ordering pizza in Tennessee at the time that authorities claimed she was in North Dakota.

Lipps was released on Christmas Eve, after nearly 5 months in prison. Lipps says she lost her home, income, car, and health insurance as a result of her imprisonment.

What is Clearview AI?

Clearview AI is a tech company that has plenty of charges from critics on its rap sheet already. it has created massive facial-scan databases by scraping photos from social media platforms and other places on the internet, then training its machine learning algorithms on them.

In 2020, Facebook sent Clearview AI a cease and desist over the mass photo scraping. Other tech companies like YouTube, Twitter, and Venmo also requested that Clearview AI stop scraping its platforms. Clearview AI claimed it had a "First Amendment right" to the data.

In 2022, a legal settlement with the ACLU resulted in Clearview AI agreeing to stop selling access to its tool to private businesses. However, it did not bar Clearview AI from working with law enforcement.

While Fargo police have admitted to making mistakes in the investigation, authorities have not yet apologized to Lipps for her ordeal. Lipps' attorneys are currently looking at filing a civil rights claim.

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Google just dropped an AI dictation app for iPhone: How to try AI Edge Eloquent

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Google AI logo on smartphone

It seems like software developers are launching new AI-powered dictation apps every other day now. However, this latest one is a bit different. Why? Because unlike the other ones created by startups or solo indie hackers, this one is brought you by a Big Tech behemoth.

On Monday, Google quietly launched its own AI dictation app for iOS devices. The app is called Google AI Edge Eloquent, and it's currently available to download for free on Apple's App Store.

Google's AI dictation app can work completely offline, as the app downloads Google's local Gemma-based speech recognition models directly to the user's iPhone. As everything is local, Google AI Edge Eloquent provides unlimited, and most notably, completely subscription-free use.

Users also have the option to turn cloud mode on if they are interested in using Gemini's AI capabilities. Cloud-based model usage is free, at least for now, as well.

Once Google AI Edge Eloquent is downloaded, users simply need to open the app, hit record, and start talking. Google AI Edge Eloquent will provide the speech-to-text transcription. Thanks to its AI capabilities, the app is able to clean up the text output and remove filler words like "ums" and "uhs" and any corrections made during the voice recording.

When the transcription is complete, users can ask for AI-powered summaries or rewrites by choosing the Polish, Key points, Formal, and Short options provided under the transcription.

The app has a history tab that saves all previous transcriptions. Users can search within all of their transcriptions and also view stats for each session, such as words-per-minute or number of words spoken.

Users can also create their own personal dictionary, familiarizing the app with unique words and names so it can accurately transcribe them.

According to Google's description for the app, an integrated iOS keyboard is coming soon.

The official site for Google AI Edge Eloquent is hosted on Google's google.dev domain name, suggesting that this app is very much a work-in-progress.

It's also interesting that there doesn't currently appear to be an Android version of the app, although Google says on its website that it's "evaluating other platforms," including a desktop version.

Google releasing an AI dictation app at all is fairly notable as it's a fairly simple AI use case when compared to what else Google is doing in the space. However, perhaps the growing trend and market for AI dictation apps was just too much for Google to pass on.

That, or the app could prove to be a valuable source of training data in the future.

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Set off on an adventure with the Ninja FrostVault Go backpack cooler while its $50 off

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a person sits next to the Ninja FrostVault Go Can Soft Cooler outside while food stored in the cooler is on display.

SAVE $50: The Ninja FrostVault Go Can Soft Cooler Backpack (24 can size) is on sale at Amazon for $149.99 in select colorways, down from the list price of $199.99. That's a 25% discount.



Ninja FrostVault Go Can Soft Cooler Backpack (24 can size)

Credit: Ninja

What's a spring or summer adventure without snacks? If your journeys tend to be more mobile than is suitable for a wheeled cooler, you might want to consider a backpack cooler. These can carry your snacks, drinks, and even ice for days while still being ultra portable. If that sounds like something your adventures could use, check out this deal.

As of April 7, the Ninja FrostVault Go Can Soft Cooler Backpack (24 can size) is on sale at Amazon for $149.99 in select colorways, marked down from the normal price of $199.99. That's a 25% discount that shaves $50 off the price.

With room for 24 cans, built-in side cup holder, and storage drawer, the Ninja FrostVault Go backpack would like an invite on your next outing. It's a great backpack cooler option for picnics at the park, the beach, or for taking along on a day hike. The storage drawer is ideal for keeping foods dry from ice and safe from getting squished, while still keeping chilled. Ninja also added a built-in bottle opener, so you'll never need to wonder if you packed one.

The ergonomic straps prove comfortable enough to get the cooler to your destination while fully loaded and the top features a leakproof zipper. That'll come in handy if you'll be adding ice to the cooler. You can also take advantage of the two included Ninja ice packs.

Before your weekend plans get packed with activities, make sure you're ready for snack transportation with the Ninja FrostVault Go backpack. It's on sale at Amazon for under $150 for a limited time only.

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Save up to 20% vs. the other big guys when you switch to T-Mobile

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TL;DR: Save up to 20% when you switch to T-Mobile, compared to Verizon and AT&T.



t-mobile logo against a white background

Credit: T-Mobile

Save up to 20%

Spring is here, and if you’ve been thinking about spring cleaning your phone plan, it’s worth checking out T-Mobile. Switching from Verizon or AT&T can save you up to 20%.

T-Mobile has a few plans to choose from, each absolutely stacked with benefits. You can get free or discounted streaming services, such as Netflix, Apple TV, and Hulu. Depending on the plan you choose, you'll save up to $117 per month compared to Verizon and AT&T.

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No matter how many lines you add to your plan, T-Mobile always works out to be cheaper than the competition. If you’re curious about the cost breakdown, T-Mobile’s site features a helpful chart that shows you the cost across each company as you add more lines.

If you’ve been searching for a new phone plan, T-Mobile is surely worth a look.

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