AI ‘must be fair’
More than two thirds of consumers are worried about artificial intelligence (AI) discriminating against them, and more than three quarters say that companies must take action to avoid bias, according to a study by digital transformation firm Genpact. The study – AI 360: Hold, fold, or double down? – is based on data from research in the US, UK, Japan and Australia. It found that companies that do take steps to address potential bias in their AI systems will be rewarded by consumers. More than a quarter (28%) of senior executives canvassed said their organisations were implementing AI extensively to re-imagine their business, while 37% reported that their organisation had invested more than $10m in AI.
Takeaways hurt house prices
Having takeaway restaurants on your doorstep may seem a good idea – but it’s likely to damage the price of your home, according to estate agency comparison site GetAgent. The firm carried out research looking at the total number of takeaways in local authorities across England and the density based on the number of takeaways per 100,000 of the population. In areas with more than 100 takeaways per 100,000 population, the average property price was £216,606; in areas with the lowest density – 40 or fewer takeaways per 100,000 – it rose to £378,855. On the positive side, said GetAgent founder Colby Short: “You can get on the ladder for a lot less money in areas where you’re surrounded by your favourite takeaways.”
Hedgies turn over new leaf
Hedge fund managers are increasingly using ‘alternative’ data to gain a competitive edge, according to a report by the global Alternative Investment Management Association. The report, Casting the Net, says more than one in two managers (53%) are now using such information – non-market data that doesn’t fall within the realms of traditional financial and economic data – to inform their investment decisions and improve risk management. Some of the main types of data used are consumer spending and lifestyle data such as retail footfall; web-crawled data, extracting information stored within web pages; bespoke data sourced from expert networks; and climate-related data. The report also highlights the regulatory and compliance challenges fund managers face.
Keeping Rover safe
People drive more carefully when they have their dog in the car, according to research by car maker Seat UK. The Spanish car firm’s survey found that more than half of all dog-owning drivers surveyed (54%) said they take more care when travelling with their pet in the car, rising to 69% among 18- to 24-year-olds. Having a dog in the car can also reduce driver stress levels, with 35% of those surveyed saying they feel calmer when their dog is in the car. But a fifth of drivers admitted they don’t restrain their dog while it is a passenger – and 90% were unaware that there’s a maximum nine-point penalty and £5,000 fine for driving without due care and attention when driving with a dog.
Snap shot
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have developed a camera that can record 70 trillion frames per second, fast enough to capture the movement of lightwaves, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. The technology behind the world’s fastest camera – compressed ultrafast spectral photography (CUSP) – uses extremely short pulses of laser light, each one quadrillionth of a second, which are then split into even shorter flashes. Lead author Lihong Wang said: “We envision applications in a rich variety of extremely fast phenomena, such as ultrashort light propagation, wave propagation, nuclear fusion, photon transport in clouds and biological tissues, and fluorescent decay of biomolecules.”