Tech Digest daily roundup: Global smartphone sales decline 6%
Global smartphone sales are set to hit their lowest point since 2013 as China’s economic headwinds weakened consumer spending worldwide. Total shipments of smartphones are expected to decline 6pc this year to 1.15bn units, according to figures from Counterpoint Research. Economic pressures in China have hit consumers’ spending on electronics, the consultancy said, triggering a slowdown that impacts the wider Asia-Pacific region. Falling inflation in the US was not enough to offset the decline. Telegraph
Apple will begin paying out claims in the $500m iPhone slowdown lawsuit after users claimed that their phones were deliberately slowed down by the tech giant after installing updates. iPhone users complained for a long time about their phones becoming slower after a software update. Back in 2017, people began to notice that some of their device’s performance issues were related to their batteries. However, after having the battery replaced, they noticed that the issues were resolved, according to data from Geekbench. Unilad
Images for Lenovo’s upcoming handheld gaming device, dubbed the ‘Legion Go’, have leaked online, showcasing exactly what the system will look like when it eventually launches. Spoilers: it kinda looks like a cross between the Switch and the Steam Deck. Boasting angular edges, a bulky frame, and an admittedly lovely-looking screen, the Legion Go appears to be aiming to get the best of both worlds. It’s got removable Joy-Con-inspired controllers as well as its own adjustable kickstand. Nintendo Life
Lenovo’s Steam Deck competitor has leaked. The Legion Go looks like it combines parts of the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch into one. Now we need a Windows handheld mode for these Steam Deck competitors https://t.co/0goMTFaahx pic.twitter.com/4w5oLnYOIs
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) August 17, 2023
ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot, shows a significant and systemic left-wing bias, UK researchers have found. According to the new study by the University of East Anglia, this includes favouring the Labour Party and President Joe Biden‘s Democrats in the US. Concerns about an inbuilt political bias in ChatGPT have been raised before, notably by SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk, but the academics said their work was the first large-scale study to find proof of any favouritism. Sky News
The UK government will host a summit on the safety of artificial intelligence at the start of November, with “like-minded” countries invited to the event in Bletchley Park (pictured above) to address global threats to democracy, including the use of AI in warfare and cyber security. Leading academics and executives from AI companies, including Google’s DeepMind, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic, will be asked to the AI Safety Summit at the Buckinghamshire site where British codebreakers were based during the second world war. FT.com
A firm which was contracted to moderate Facebook posts in East Africa has said with hindsight it should not have taken on the job. Former Kenya-based employees of Sama – an outsourcing company – have said they were traumatised by exposure to graphic posts. Some are now taking legal cases against the firm through the Kenyan courts. Chief executive Wendy Gonzalez said Sama would no longer take work involving moderating harmful content. Some former employees have described being traumatised after viewing videos of beheadings, suicide and other graphic material. BBC
