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It may be a tough summer to fly. More passengers than ever will be taking to the skies, according to the Transportation Security Administration. And the weather so far this year hasnt exactly been cooperating.

A blizzard warning in San Diego, sudden turbulence that injured 36 people on a Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Honolulu, a 25-inch deluge of rain that swamped an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: The skies have been confounding forecasters and frustrating travelers.

And it may only get worse as the climate continues to change. Intense events are happening more often and outside their seasonal norms, said Sheri Bachstein, chief executive of the Weather Company, part of IBM, which makes weather-forecasting technology.

So, will flights just get bumpier and delays even more common? Not necessarily. New sensors, satellites and data modeling powered by artificial intelligence are giving travelers a fighting chance against more erratic weather.

The travel industry cares about getting their weather predictions right because weather affects everything, said Amy McGovern, director of the National Science Foundations A.I. Institute for Research on Trustworthy A.I. in Weather, Climate and Coastal Oceanography at the University of Oklahoma.

Those better weather predictions rely on a type of artificial intelligence called machine learning, where in essence, a computer program is able to use data to improve itself. In this case, companies create software that uses historical and current weather data to make predictions. The algorithm then compares its predictions with outcomes and adjusts its calculations from there. By doing this over and over, the software makes more and more accurate forecasts.

The amount of data fed into these types of software is enormous. IBMs modeling system, for example, integrates information from 100 other models. To that, it adds wind, temperature and humidity data from more than 250,000 weather stations on commercial buildings, cellphone towers and private homes around the globe. In addition, it incorporates satellite and radar reports from sources like the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration. Some of the worlds most powerful computers then process all this information.

Heres how all this may improve your future trips:

The skies are getting bumpier. According to a recent report from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, severe turbulence at typical airplane cruising altitudes could become two to three times more common.

Knowing where those disturbances are and how to avoid them is mission-critical for airlines, Ms. Bachstein said.

Pilots have long radioed their encounters with turbulence to air traffic controllers, giving aircraft coming in behind them a chance to illuminate the seatbelt sign in time for the rough air. Now, a new fleet of satellites could help warn them earlier.

Tomorrow.io, a weather intelligence company based in Boston, received a $19 million grant from the U.S. Air Force to launch more than 20 weather satellites, beginning with two by the end of this year and scheduled for completion in 2025. The constellation of satellites will provide meteorological reporting over the whole globe, covering some areas that are not currently monitored. The system will report conditions every hour, a vast improvement over the data that is currently available, according to the company.

The new weather information will be used well beyond the travel industry. For their part, though, pilots will have more complete information in the cockpit, said Dan Slagen, the companys chief marketing officer.

The turbulence that caused dozens of injuries aboard the Hawaiian Airlines flight last December came from an evolving thunderstorm that didnt get reported quickly enough, Dr. McGovern said. Thats the kind of situation that can be seen developing and then avoided when reports come in more frequently, she explained.

The F.A.A. estimates that about three-quarters of all flight delays are weather-related. Heavy precipitation, high winds, low visibility and lightning can all cause a tangle on the tarmac, so airports are finding better ways to track them.

WeatherSTEM, based in Florida, reports weather data and analyzes it using artificial intelligence to make recommendations. It also installs small hyperlocal weather stations, which sell for about $20,000, a fifth of the price of older-generation systems, said Ed Mansouri, the companys chief executive.

While airports have always received detailed weather information, WeatherSTEM is among a small set of companies that use artificial intelligence to take that data and turn it into advice. It analyzes reports, for example, from a global lightning monitoring network that shows moment-by-moment electromagnetic activity to provide guidance on when planes should avoid landing and taking off, and when ground crews should seek shelter. The software can also help reduce unnecessary airport closures because its analysis of the lightnings path is more precise than what airports have had in the past.

The companys weather stations may include mini-Doppler radar systems, which show precipitation and its movement in greater detail than in standard systems; solar-powered devices that monitor factors like wind speed and direction; and digital video cameras. Tampa International, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Orlando International airports, in Florida, are all using the new mini-weather stations.

The lower price will put the equipment within reach of smaller airports and allow them to improve operations during storms, Mr. Mansouri said, and larger airports might install more than one mini-station. Because airports are often spread out over large areas, conditions, especially wind, can vary, he said, making the devices valuable tools.

More precise data and more advanced analysis are helping airlines fly better in cold weather, too. De-icing a plane is expensive, polluting and time-consuming, so when sudden weather changes mean it has to be done twice, that has an impact on the bottom line, the environment and on-time departures.

Working with airlines like JetBlue, Tomorrow.io analyzes weather data to help ground crews use the most efficient chemical de-icing sprays. The system can, for example, recommend how much to dilute the chemicals with water based on how quickly the temperature is changing. The system can also help crews decide if a thicker chemical treatment called anti-icing is needed and to determine the best time to apply the sprays to limit pollution and cost.

At the University of Oklahoma, Dr. McGoverns team is working on using machine learning to develop software that would provide hailstorm warnings 30 or more minutes in advance, rather than the current 10 to 12 minutes. That could give crews more time to protect planes especially important in places like Oklahoma, where she works. We get golf balls falling out of the sky, and they can do real damage, Dr. McGovern said.

More on-time departures and smoother flights are most likely only the beginning. Advances in weather technology, Dr. McGovern said, are snowballing.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2023.

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AI Is Helping Airlines Prevent Delays and Turbulence - The New York Times

Screenshots of the since-deleted Amnesty International campaign, which employed AI-generated images (screenshots Maya Pontone/Hyperallergic)

This week, international human rights watchdog Amnesty International faced backlash from photojournalists and other online critics for using AI-generated images depicting photorealistic scenes of Colombias 2021 protests. Although there is no shortage of photographs from the demonstrations, the advocacy group told the Guardian that it opted to use artificially edited imagery to protect the identities of protesters who may be vulnerable to state retribution.

The 2021 strike which was incited by an unpopular tax raise and then fueled by police brutality and other forms of state violence left at least 40 people dead and many more missing, according to official figures.

Amnesty International shared the AI images as part of a since-deleted social media campaign marking the two years since the Colombian protests, paired with disclaimers that acknowledged the use of AI. Commentators online were quick to notice errors in the fake images. For instance, one of them showed a woman wearing the tri-colored Colombian flag and being dragged off by police, a familiar still from the 2021 protests. But on social media, people pointed out that the colors in the national flag were in the wrong order, and the faces of the protesters and police officers were eerily smoothed over. Additionally, the uniforms of the officers were out-of-date.

In response to the public outcry, Amnesty International has since deleted the images from its social media channels.

The organization has not yet responded to Hyperallergics request for comment. In an interview with the Guardian, Director for Americas Erika Guevara Rosas said Amnesty International did not want the AI controversy to distract from the core message in support of the victims and their calls for justice in Colombia.

But we do take the criticism seriously and want to continue the engagement to ensure we understand better the implications and our role to address the ethical dilemmas posed by the use of such technology, Rosas added.

Amnesty also directly responded to the backlash online, apologizing for the misrepresentative photos and reiterating their initial intentions.

Our main goal was to highlight the grotesque violence by the police against people in Colombia. It is important to state that the purpose was to protect people who could be exposed. But we could choose drawings or other things, Amnesty International tweeted.

Some members of the photojournalism and larger arts community have also shared their frustration with the mock photos since the popularization of AI over the past year has raised questions about plagiarism and job displacement.

Molly Crabapple, a New York-based writer and artist who recently authored an open letter against the use of AI-generated art, condemned Amnesty Internationals use of the tool in its campaign.

By using AI-generated photos of police brutality in Colombia, Amnesty International is practically begging atrocity-deniers to call them liars, Crabapple tweeted. Either use the work of brave photojournalists, or use actual illustrations. AI-generated photos just undermine trust in your findings.

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Amnesty International Slammed Over AI Protest Images - Hyperallergic

As we see unicorns slash staffand the prevalence of down rounds spike, it may seem that the startup ecosystem is chock-full of bad news and little else. Thats not precisely the case.

While AI, and in particular the generative AI subcategory, are as hot as the sun, not all venture attention is going to the handful of names that you already know. Sure, OpenAI is able to land nine and 10-figure rounds from a murderers row of tech investors and mega-cap corporations. And rising companies like Hugging Face and Anthropic cannot stay out of the news, proving that smaller AI-focused startups are doing more than well.

In fact, new data from Carta, which provides cap table management and other services, indicates that AI-focused startups are outperforming their larger peer group at both the seed and Series A stage.

The dataset, which notes that AI-centered startups are raising more and at higher valuations than other startups, indicates that perhaps the best way to avoid a down round today is to build in the artificial intelligence space.

Per Carta data relating to the first quarter of the year, seed funding to non-AI startups in the U.S. market that use its services dipped from $1.64 billion to $1.08 billion, or a decline of around 34%. That result is directionally aligned with other data that weve seen regarding Q1 2023 venture capital totals; the data points down.

See the rest here:

The best way to avoid a down round is to found an AI startup - TechCrunch

Microsoft logo seen at its building in Redmond, Washington.

Toby Scott | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

People should worry more about "AI being used by bad actors" than they should about AI productivity outpacing human productivity, Microsoft chief economist Michael Schwarz said at a World Economic Forum event Wednesday.

"Before AI could take all your jobs, it could certainly do a lot of damage in the hands of spammers, people who want to manipulate elections," Schwarz added while speaking on a panel on harnessing generative AI.

Microsoft first invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019, years before the two companies would integrate OpenAI's GPT large language model into Microsoft's Bing search product. In January, Microsoft announced a new multiyear multibillion-dollar investment in the company. OpenAI relies on Microsoft to provide the computing heft that powers OpenAI's products, a relationship that Wells Fargo recently said could result in up to $30 billion in new annual revenue for Microsoft.

Schwarz tempered his caution about AI by noting that all new technologies, even cars, carried a degree of risk when they first came to market. "When AI makes us more productive, we as mankind ought to be better off," he noted, "because we are able to produce more stuff."

OpenAI's ChatGPT sparked a flood of investment in the AI sector. Google moved to launch a rival chatbot, Bard, sparking a wave of internal concern about a botched rollout. Politicians and regulators have expressed growing concern about the potential effect of AI technology as well.

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Thursday with top executives from Anthropic, another AI firm, and Google, Microsoft and OpenAI to discuss responsible AI development, the White House told CNBC on Tuesday. Meanwhile, FTC Chair Lina Khan penned an op-ed in The New York Times on Wednesday warning "enforcers and regulators must be vigilant."

"Please remember, breaking is much easier than building," Schwarz said.

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Microsoft economist warns of A.I. election interference from 'bad actors' - CNBC

The artist known as Grimes (real name Clare Boucher) has said that youre totally free to use an AI-generated version of her voice to make new music, just as long as you give her a healthy 50 percent of the royalties that the track generates.

This week, Grimes launched a new AI voice software, dubbed Elf.Tech, designed to help people duplicate her voice to create music. The platform, which Grimes unveiled in a Twitter thread Sunday, allows users to upload recordings of their own voice, which can then be Grimes-ified via the wonders of automated technology. The vocals can then be mixed with other electronically generated sounds and beats to spawn new tracks that sound quite a bit like the real thing.

we ask for 50% splits on master recording royalties in exchange for a grimes feat and distribution, the singer tweeted Sunday. Theres a *small* chance we can organize getting you publishing $ as well but we cant guarantee this yet. But I hope we can!! Would be cool.

Bouchers high-pitched ethereal voice and rave vibed tracks already sorta sound computer generated, so I guess it only makes sense that shes now giving a thumbs up to an idea like this. According to Boucher, this is the future of music: if youre an artist, you let an algorithm replicate your voice, then you cash in for a percentage of the profits.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bouchers manager, Daouda Leonard, rationalized the weird decision this way:

She often says that creativity is a conversation with those who came before us and those who are going to come after us...And so the idea is that instead of her attempting to control what is a gift from the universe, shes like, Well, let me opensource that. Let me allow people to access what the universe gave me as a gift. And if I do that, what are the new experiences that can be created out of that?

Of course, Grimes is also the ex-partner and baby momma of tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been pouring money into AI startups like theres no tomorrow. Musk co-founded OpenAI, the company that launched ChatGPTone of the most popular new AI-powered chatbots. I guess while the former couple are no longer together theyre on the same page about how totally awesome AI is for the future of humanity.

Anyway, now that Grimes has opened Pandoras Box, the internet is being flooded with new songs created using her voice. Scroll through to check out some of the AI creations that feature Grimes.

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Grimes Launched a Platform to Help You Make AI Songs with Her ... - Gizmodo