The double-edged sword
EDITOR SHARES A COUPLE OF HIS FAVOURITE STORIES FROM THE LAST MONTH.
THIS ISSUE, I thought I’d do something a bit di erent with this Ed’s column and share a couple of the most interesting tech stories from the previous month — one that’s generally positive and another that’s a bit of a downer, but which, combined, give some interesting perspectives on current tech trends.
IBM’S WATSON AI DIAGNOSES MEDICAL CONDITION AFTER DOCTORS FAIL
A recent story out of Japan points to a rather positive future for medicine via the use of arti cial intelligence. A er human-prescribed treatments failed to work on a female patient, doctors turned to IBM’s Watson so ware to try to get answers. We’ve discussed Watson in TechLife in past issues — it’s an AI based on machine learning that’s previously been used for hospitality purposes (doing things like coming up with o -the-wall meal recipes) and even competed on American game-show Jeopardy!, but this is the rst time it’s seemingly been used in medicine. What Watson managed to do where doctors failed was to analyse the woman’s genome and discover that she had a rare form of leukemia, and using that diagnosis, doctors were able to successfully treat the disease. We’re obviously some way o this kind of system being widespread, but it shows a lot of promise as an aid to doctors when dealing with complex pathologies.
SCAMMERS ARE PEOPLE, TOO
A young You Tuber from Birmingham in the UK has managed to score a rather interesting interview with an employee at an Indian call centre that specialises in tech support scams — you know, the guys that call you up and try to convince you that your computer is messed up and that you need their help to x it. If you comply, the scammer will then install a backdoor on your system and you can nd yourself locked out and having to pay a ransom.
e scammer doesn’t provide his real name, but divulges some interesting tidbits — he’s interested in technology generally and gets paid on commission, depending on how many people are scammed. e call centre he works in has 50–60 other scammers and they o en work 12-hour days, with an aim to carry o around 10 successful scams in a shi . Generally, he and his coworkers are aiming to target people who don’t know much about computers.
What’s perhaps most surprising is that the scammer doesn’t actually like his job, describing it as “a horrible thing” and saying that he doesn’t like to do it, but that he’s signed a ve-year contract and is e ectively locked in.
It’s an enlightening and slightly humanising look at an industry that’s usually closed to scrutiny. Of course, that doesn’t mean if you receive one of these calls that you shouldn’t (politely) tell them where to go if you get the chance… Check out full the video at youtu.be/ 9Dswy6KEOV8.