Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker ASI cannot be a god without be omniscient.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker these will be disallowed in schools.
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@zackwhittaker I was just about to toot about the weirdness of this feature. It has a summary "that let's you go back in time for 15 seconds", but also, somehow, "Privacy is protected at every step. These audio intelligence features do not create or store audio recordings."
These back to back statements are at odds with each other unless there's some slimey technicality legalese that allow them to be true like 'we write a transcript which technically isn't an audio recording'
@sylvie @zackwhittaker LG is also protecting my privacy at every step by recording everything in my entire house, even if in standby with a disconnected network. I feel safer already with these disclosures.
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@zackwhittaker I was just about to toot about the weirdness of this feature. It has a summary "that let's you go back in time for 15 seconds", but also, somehow, "Privacy is protected at every step. These audio intelligence features do not create or store audio recordings."
These back to back statements are at odds with each other unless there's some slimey technicality legalese that allow them to be true like 'we write a transcript which technically isn't an audio recording'
@sylvie @zackwhittaker the feature is always recording, but it is likely implemented as a ringbuffer, so it can not buffer more than 30 seconds of audio.
for spying, it would have to either compress and send off the audio in packets (you see traffic and shrinking hard drive space) OR build the much smaller transcript and send that one along with regular traffic (tpu use, wastes significant battery when there is a lot of talking)
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker it definitely feels unnecessary but tbh if anyone wanted to spy on people it’s not that hard to do it and have the audio. I guess the downside is it possibly captures more but burns more battery / disk space.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker Apple is surely gonna port this to Macs too.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker
Oh yees, it's very good and encrypted and privacious for you... until I enter the room, in which case things get a little more complicated. -
Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker
Growing up with Romanian family, I remember constantly hearing stories about everyone living in fear during communism knowing the walls were always bugged and every word was being taped by the secret police.Was nobody else paying attention to the creepy things that intelligence agencies (and now private companies) have been doing for the past 80 years? How does anyone hear this and think "yes, I'd love to have everything I do recorded KGB style, that's totally normal"
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@sylvie @zackwhittaker the feature is always recording, but it is likely implemented as a ringbuffer, so it can not buffer more than 30 seconds of audio.
for spying, it would have to either compress and send off the audio in packets (you see traffic and shrinking hard drive space) OR build the much smaller transcript and send that one along with regular traffic (tpu use, wastes significant battery when there is a lot of talking)
@lritter @sylvie @zackwhittaker How is that different from listening for a "hey siri" wake word?
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@zackwhittaker it’s also disappointing because it plays into existing conspiracy theories about “your phone is listening to you all the time”.
works for the surveillance state *shrug*
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@lritter @sylvie @zackwhittaker How is that different from listening for a "hey siri" wake word?
@prism @lritter @sylvie @zackwhittaker I was kind of wondering this... presumably that's handled locally whereas the "AI" stuff would go to the cloud. In any case I guess we can add Apple's BlueTooth manu ID to those FOSS apps designed to detect surveillance devices nearby.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker
Especially given Apple's plans to go all-in on advertising. -
@lritter @sylvie @zackwhittaker How is that different from listening for a "hey siri" wake word?
@prism @sylvie @zackwhittaker waking up on "hey siri" costs a lot less in effort (though still not free) than running a full TTS system all the time (which they're not doing or else it wouldn't be limited to 15 seconds)
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@orange @zackwhittaker Think of it… a watch that records all sounds, glasses that record all you see, both concealed, working in tandem.
I can see some accessibility merit for it, but bottom-line: this stuff is dangerous and we shouldn't want it.
@mahryekuh @orange @zackwhittaker
Particularly worrisome given Apple's ties to Israel and obsequiousness to the Trump admin. -
Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker on a date: soooo, good to meet you, do we now have to frisk each other
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@zackwhittaker Here’s the support page with additional details.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/148354@j_f @zackwhittaker this was an extremely useful link with details that address almost every concern or question I've seen raised so far; thanks for sharing
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@prism @sylvie @zackwhittaker waking up on "hey siri" costs a lot less in effort (though still not free) than running a full TTS system all the time (which they're not doing or else it wouldn't be limited to 15 seconds)
@lritter @prism @sylvie @zackwhittaker
It was my understanding from the presentation that they do keep a recording of the last 15 seconds (in RAM, possibly a dedicated "secure exclave") and pipe that to an STT if triggered, with a pinky-promise to not store it persistently. -
Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker The encryption framing does a lot of heavy lifting. End-to-end encrypted always-listening is still always-listening. The question isn't whether Apple can see your conversations, it's whether having a microphone-active device in every room becomes the baseline expectation for a functioning phone. Once that's normal, every other manufacturer gets permission to follow.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker they are losing the plot here. If you don’t understand something someone said, you politely ask them to repeat not check the notes on your watch. Their restaurant example was so contrived and bizarre.
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@lritter @prism @sylvie @zackwhittaker
It was my understanding from the presentation that they do keep a recording of the last 15 seconds (in RAM, possibly a dedicated "secure exclave") and pipe that to an STT if triggered, with a pinky-promise to not store it persistently.@nblr @prism @sylvie @zackwhittaker probably going to turn it on selectively when the NSA requests it
