AI-powered assistants like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and Google Assistant are pervasive. But for these assistants to engage users and help them to achieve their goals, they need to exhibit appropriate social behavior and provide informative replies. Studies show that users respond better to social language in the sense that they’re more responsive and likelier to […]
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Uber drivers union asks EU court to overrule ‘robo-firing’ by algorithm
A union representing Uber drivers in the U.K. has filed a second legal challenge against the ride-hailing giant in Europe. This time, the union is arguing that Uber’s alleged “robo-firing” practices contravene Article 22 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which seeks to protect individuals from automated decision-making. The action has been filed […]
Uber safety driver charged over fatal autonomous car crash
(Reuters) — The back-up safety driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber test vehicle that struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018 was charged with negligent homicide, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Rafael Vasquez, age 46, who is also known as Rafaela, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after being charged in the […]
Uber launches its Pass subscription across the U.S., minus California
Uber is launching its monthly Uber Pass subscription service across the U.S., following an extended test period in a handful of cities. The ride-hailing giant first debuted a service called Ride Pass back in 2018, allowing riders to pay $15 per month to lock in a set price for any ride they take. This was […]
OpenAI and Uber create Virtual Petri Dish to find the best AI model for a task
Researchers affiliated with Uber AI and OpenAI proposed a new approach to neural architecture search (NAS), a technique that involves evaluating hundreds or thousands of AI models to identify the top performers. In a preprint paper, they claim their technique, called Synthetic Petri Dish, accelerates the most computationally intensive NAS steps while predicting model performance […]
Uber open-sources automated design framework for experiments
Uber today released a framework for designing experiments within Pyro, its open source tool for deep probabilistic modeling. The framework leverages machine learning to enable optimal experimental design (OED), a principle based on information theory that enables the automatic selection of designs for complex experiments. With the framework, experimenters can apply OED to a large […]
Uber embraces ‘dumb’ phones in search for revenue
Uber is opening its food delivery service to telephone orders in the U.S., as the technology giant looks to expand its potential customer base to all mobile phone users. The announcement comes two months after Uber launched its 1-833-USE-UBER phone-booking service for ride-hailing in the U.S., allowing anyone to call and speak to a human […]