Bytes: What’s new in tech

Apple’s blood glucose test

Apple has been quietly trialing a no-prick glucose test, said Mark Gurman in Bloomberg, part of a secret “moon shot” project that “dates back to the Steve Jobs era.” Millions of diabetics worldwide must currently poke their fingers to monitor their blood sugar, and many companies have worked on a noninvasive test; Google abandoned its own effort in 2018. Apple’s test uses a measurement process called optical absorption spectroscopy, scanning the interstitial fluid under the skin with a laser and assessing the light reflected back to determine the glucose level. Engineers are currently working to shrink the prototype down to the size of an iPhone, with the ultimate goal of incorporating glucose monitoring into the Apple Watch. While Apple’s technology is still years away from market, if it works it “could upend a multibillion-dollar industry.”

Arlo pilloried for sunsetting devices

“Back when we had CD players and VCRs, we could use them until they broke down,” said Nicole Nguyen in The Wall Street Journal, but that’s not true of smart devices that depend on software updates to function. In January, customers were outraged when security camera maker Arlo notified them it was pulling support for some models and would end the free video storage that had been “a well-advertised selling point.” One user called it “false advertising.” Arlo reversed course, but the kerfuffle “highlights the trade-off that connected devices pose.” Even though a smart gadget might be working just fine, “its maker can decide to pull the plug” and make you buy a new one. The more advanced the device, “the more dependent its life span is on the companies behind it.”

When AI writes your condolences

Vanderbilt University cheated in writing its statement of concern for the recent Michigan State shooting—by using ChatGPT, said Jordan Mendoza in USA Today. After a gunman killed three people and injured five, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for Vanderbilt’s education school called on students to “come together” to “create a safe and inclusive environment.” The statement was signed “Paraphrase from OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI language model,” and the backlash was swift. “There is a sick and twisted irony to making a computer write your message about community and togetherness because you can’t be bothered to reflect on it yourself,” said VU senior Laith Kayat. Vanderbilt apologized.