All posts tagged: intelligence

U.S. accuses Russian intelligence agents of plotting attacks : NPR

U.S. accuses Russian intelligence agents of plotting attacks : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche delivers remarks during a press briefing in the Rose Garden of the White House on Tuesday. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The Justice Department has brought charges against five suspected Russian intelligence operatives for allegedly plotting attacks against the Kremlin’s perceived enemies around the world, including the murder-for-hire of at least one prominent dissident in the U.S. The indictment, which was unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, says the defendants belong to a network that “is one arm of the Russian Federation’s apparatus used to carry out external attacks, including murder, around the world.” The network also allegedly conducted operations against civilian and military targets in European allies of Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the two countries have been locked in a bloody war since then. Several European allies of Ukraine, including Poland, Germany and Czechia, have accused Russia of conducting sabotage attacks on their soil in recent years. Now, the U.S. is making similar allegations in a criminal …

Artificial General Intelligence? No, We’re Not There Yet

Artificial General Intelligence? No, We’re Not There Yet

Published by Jenni Sidey

For 80 years, humans have hoped or feared that computers would achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI)—the ability to perform any intellectual task as well as or better than humans can. It began with the coining of the label “artificial intelligence” in 1956 at a Dartmouth summer workshop “on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it.” Computers were improving rapidly and, in 1965, Herbert A. Simon, a Nobel laureate in economics and a winner of the Turing Award (“the Nobel Prize of computing”), predicted that “machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.” In 1970, Marvin Minsky, another Turing winner and co-founder of MIT’s AI laboratory, predicted that in three to eight years we will have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being….In a few months it will be at genius level and a few months after that its powers will be …

11 Phrases People With Incredibly Strong Common Sense & Intuition Say In Casual Conversation

11 Phrases People With Incredibly Strong Common Sense & Intuition Say In Casual Conversation

Published by Jenni Sidey

You can always tell when someone uses common sense in most situations they encounter. It’s rarely about how intelligent they are and how many books they read; it’s about their ability to make sound, intuitive decisions. As such, there are certain phrases intuitive people often use that help them stay calm in most situations and solve problems without getting caught up in unnecessary feelings or drama. People with incredibly strong common sense and intuition usually say these things casually: 1. ‘Let me think about it’ CarlosBarquero / Shutterstock People with common sense often exercise a certain amount of patience before tackling any problem or conflict that comes their way. They’ll use the phrase “let me think about it” to give themselves more time to arrive at a smart, practical solution. They would rather not rush into anything because if they do, they might come up with an answer that doesn’t solve the issue at hand. Certified life coach and cognitive-behavioral therapy coach Lisa Hawkins explained that “when making decisions, rushing can feel gruesome. It gets better …

Don’t Sleep on Apple’s Audio Intelligence. It Reveals a Lot About Where We’re Headed 

Don’t Sleep on Apple’s Audio Intelligence. It Reveals a Lot About Where We’re Headed 

Published by skeptic

The first five minutes of John Ternus’ first keynote as Apple CEO weren’t a product unveiling or a recap of Apple’s history. Instead, they were a redefinition of the iPhone as an “intelligent personal hub.” Of all the devices Apple makes, the iPhone doesn’t need to be described or explained to anyone. But this new framing of it as a hub not only set up the debut of the foldable, category-straddling iPhone Duo, an iPhone/iPad hybrid of sorts — it also suggested an AI-infused wearable device future that Apple’s already dipping its toes into. Of all the things Apple announced during its “Surprise and shine” event this week, the one that hit hardest for me wasn’t the Duo. It was the reveal of Audio Intelligence, a new AI-powered assistive toolset that will live on the latest Apple Watches and even a range of recent iPhone models. Siri will store Recaps of conversations had previously, provided the always-listening feature is turned on.Apple/Screenshot by CNET Audio Intelligence: A memory-keeping tool, or a listening device? Audio Intelligence listens. …

Man and woman arrested by UK police over ‘assisting Iranian intelligence service’ | UK | News

Man and woman arrested by UK police over ‘assisting Iranian intelligence service’ | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

A 42-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man have been arrested at addresses in London on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service, the Metropolitan Police said. Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London arrested the pair on Wednesday, September 9, as part of an investigation into suspected offences under the National Security Act. The woman was arrested at an address in north London, while the man was detained at an address in north-west London. Both were arrested on suspicion of an offence under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023 – assisting a foreign intelligence service. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the country to which the investigation is linked is Iran. The arrests followed two searches previously carried out at residential addresses in North and North West London on June 24. Police said enquiries continued following those searches and subsequently led to the arrests this week. A third residential property in North West London was also searched on September 9 following the arrests. Both suspects were taken to a London police station before being released on bail …

Two arrested in London on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service | UK News

Two arrested in London on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service, the Metropolitan Police said. A 42-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man were detained at addresses in London by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London, as part of an investigation into suspected National Security Act (NSA) offences. It follows searches of addresses in north-west London on 24 June, with a third property in the area also searched on 9 September. Both were held on suspicion of an offence under section 3 of the NSA, 2023 – assisting a foreign intelligence service. The suspects were taken to a London police station, and were subsequently released on bail with strict conditions until a date in late October. Read more:At least 20 people killed after fire on cargo shipRemembering 9/11: A son’s final call Police said the investigation was not connected to any of the incidents or attacks earlier this year that have been targeted at various venues and buildings linked to Jewish and Iranian communities across London. Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London …

The next frontier is not artificial intelligence, it’s artificial societies

The next frontier is not artificial intelligence, it’s artificial societies

Published by skeptic

There is a temptation to divide the future of AI into two possibilities: utopia or catastrophe. Neither extreme is particularly helpful. The more interesting possibility is messier – and requires a step-shift in our thinking, from artificial intelligence to AI societies. When most people hear “AI”, they typically think of ChatGPT, Copilot or another conversational system. You ask a question, that system generates an answer. But AI is rapidly moving beyond this. Systems can now monitor the world, make decisions, negotiate transactions and carry out tasks over extended periods of time. AI is no longer just generating an answer – it is doing something about it. That points to something much bigger than a better chatbot: a world in which AI agents act on our behalf and, increasingly, interact with other AI agents. An agent perceives what is happening, decides what to do, then takes actions to achieve this goal. It might book a journey, monitor a supply chain, coordinate a team, or manage a household’s finances. Now imagine not one agent, but millions of …

Citing the ‘Deep State,’ Trump overhauls the intelligence community : NPR

Citing the ‘Deep State,’ Trump overhauls the intelligence community : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

President Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (left) and CIA Director John Ratcliffe (center) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 3. U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro and brought him to New York where he faces criminal charges. Molly Riley/AP via The White House hide caption toggle caption Molly Riley/AP via The White House John Sipher spent nearly three decades at the CIA focused on the Russians, a core part of the agency’s mission. That changed dramatically after the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. “Frankly, tracking and hunting terrorists, finding people, finding a needle in a haystack was not something that we trained for,” said Sipher, who served in Moscow and later ran the agency’s Russia operations at CIA headquarters. The CIA and the larger intelligence community had to adapt quickly. “We did that by by learning, and actually even developing new technologies, computer power, data collection, drones, communications, means to defeat networks, terrorist networks,” he said. There were real successes, such as locating Osama …

9 Things People With High-IQ, Non-Linear Brains Say In Casual Conversation

9 Things People With High-IQ, Non-Linear Brains Say In Casual Conversation

Published by Jenni Sidey

Highly intelligent people are often painted as logical thinkers, but for someone who thinks in a multi-dimensional way, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather than going from point A to point B, people with high-IQ, non-linear brains think in more ambiguous ways. Even in casual conversations, the things they say remind people that they’re thoughtful, not just interested in proving facts and using rigid intelligence. Things people with high-IQ, non-linear brains say casually 1. ‘Hear me out on this’ Mizuno K | Pexels When a person with a non-linear, creative mind says “hear me out,” they’re not trying to dominate a conversation or take center stage. They’re asking people to trust that they’ll get to a topic that feels important, because the connections and random topics that come to mind don’t always seem unrelated to an untrained mind. They’re used to going down abstract rabbit holes and using all sorts of creative connections to solve a problem or work through a complicated situation. It’s just everyone else who can get a little bit …

Inside the Dodo’s skull, scientists found a bird unlike any living pigeon

Inside the Dodo’s skull, scientists found a bird unlike any living pigeon

Published by Jenni Sidey

CT scans and digital endocasts of rare dodo skulls suggest the extinct bird had a brain broadly comparable in relative size to living pigeons, challenging its centuries-old reputation as unusually simple. The dodo combined relatively large eye sockets with unusually small optic lobes, while evidence from its olfactory, beak-sensory and auditory anatomy suggests it may have relied on several senses rather than detailed vision alone. Researchers caution that skull anatomy cannot reconstruct behavior with certainty, but comparisons with 36 living pigeon and dove species provide new clues to how the dodo experienced its Mauritian environment. A bird that vanished more than 300 years ago is offering new clues about how it once lived. Researchers have taken a rare look inside one of the only complete dodo skulls in the world, revealing details about how this famous species may have sensed and moved through its island home. Looking Inside A Lost Species Only two complete dodo skulls are known to exist. One has been preserved in Copenhagen for centuries. Researchers recently examined it using high-resolution CT …