Algorithms · May 2020Gaffe level: Blunder
Faulty automated background checks froze renters out of housing over strangers' crimes
Tenant-screening companies sell landlords cheap automated reports built on wildcard name searches and partial birthdays, with no human review. A renter named Samantha Johnson was flagged with the records of five other women, including an 'active inmate' in Kentucky. Close enough counted as a criminal record.
Source: The Markup
A Thought-Controlled Bionic Arm Moved Into Its First Home Trial
Avi Davidson, who lost his left arm 17 years ago, is the first person to take the University of Utah's thought-controlled LUKE Arm home for a full year. The direct nerve interface lets him move the arm with his thoughts and feel pressure and texture through it, so within days he was making a sandwich and holding his wife's hand.
Source: University of Utah