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Amazon’s Alexa is digitally raising the dead

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3 years ago

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“I am haunted.”

This is one of the several reactions on social media to Amazon.com Inc’s Alexa digital assistant impersonating a grandmother reading an excerpt from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

During a company presentation on Wednesday, Alexa chief scientist Rohit Prasad attempted to demonstrate the digital assistant’s humanlike demeanour, Bloomberg reported.

Prasad stated that he was surprised by the companionable relationship users developed with Alexa and wanted to investigate this further. Human characteristics such as “empathy and affect” are essential for establishing trust with others, he said.

In the ongoing pandemic, when so many of us have lost someone we love, while AI cannot take away the pain of loss, it can certainly make their memories last, he said.

According to the presentation, Amazon is pitching the service as a tool for digitally raising the dead. In a subsequent interview on the sidelines of Amazon’s re: MARS technology conference in Las Vegas, Prasad clarified that the service was not primarily intended to simulate the voice of dead people.

“It’s not about people who are no longer with you,” he explained. “But it’s about your grandmother; if you want your child to hear grandma’s voice, you can do so if she is unavailable. That is something I would like.”

The creep factor dominated the discussion as the presentation spread across the internet. However, more serious concerns emerged. One was the possibility of using the technology to create deepfakes, which would involve using a legitimate recording to mimic people saying something they hadn’t actually said.

Siwei Lyu, a computer science and engineering professor at the University of Buffalo whose research focuses on deepfakes and digital media forensics, expressed concern about the development.

“There are certainly benefits to Amazon’s voice conversion technologies, but we should be aware of potential misuses,” he said. “For example, a predator can pose as a family member or a friend over the phone to entice unsuspecting victims, and a forged audio recording of a high-level executive commenting on her company’s financial situation could send the stock market haywire.”

While Amazon did not specify when the new Alexa feature would be available, similar technology could make such mischief much easier in the future. Amazon had learned to simulate a voice based on less than a minute of that person’s speech, according to Prasad. Previously, doing so required hours in a studio.

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The total amount of Pakistan’s liquid foreign reserves is $15.95 billion.

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As of February 14, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign reserves were $15,947.9 million, with the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) holdings being $11,201.5 million.

Official figures for the week ending February 14, 2025, show that the central bank’s liquid foreign exchange reserves rose by $35 million to $11,201.5 million.

Commercial banks maintained net foreign reserves of $4,746.4 million during the period under review, according to the breakdown of foreign reserves.

The nation’s total liquid foreign reserves as of the week ending February 07, 2025, were $15,862.6 million.

Of these, the central bank held $11,166.6 million in foreign reserves, while commercial banks kept $4,696 million in net reserves.

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In January 2025, RDA inflows reach 9.564 billion USD.

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Remittances under the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) increased from US $9.342 billion at the end of 2024 to US $9.564 billion by the end of January 2025.

The most recent data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed that remittance inflows in January totaled US$222 million, compared to US$203 million in December and US$186 million in November 2024.

Millions of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), including those who own a Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Card (POC), desire to engage in banking, payment, and investing activities in Pakistan using these accounts, which offer cutting-edge banking options.

Nearly 778,697 accounts were registered under the scheme by the end of January 2025, according to the data.

By the end of January, foreign-born Pakistanis had contributed US $59 million to Roshan Equity Investment, US $479 million to Naya Pakistan Certificates, and US $799 to Naya Pakistan Islamic Certificates.

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FBR lowers Karachi’s built-up structure property valuation rates

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A year-by-year breakdown of the depreciation value of residential and commercial built-up properties is included in the updated property valuation rates for Karachi that the FBR has announced.

The notification said that built-up structural values on residential property will be gradually reduced.

A residential home’s built-up structure, which is five to ten years old, will lose five percent of its worth.

In a similar vein, constructions between the ages of 10 and 15 will lose 7.5% of their value, while those between the ages of 15 and 25 would lose 10%. Built-up structures that are more than 25 years old will be valued similarly to an open plot.

Furthermore, age will also be used to lower the valuation of built-up properties, such as apartments and flats.

Structures that are five to ten years old will depreciate by ten percent, while those that are ten to twenty years old will depreciate by twenty percent. A 30% depreciation will be applied to properties that are 20 to 30 years old, while a 50% reduction will be applied to those that are above 30 years old.

In terms of commercial built-up properties, buildings that are 10 to 15 years old will lose 5% of their value, while those that are 15 to 25 years old will lose 8%. The value of properties that are more than 25 years old will drop by 10%.

In contrast, there would be a 15% boost in the value of commercial properties in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) that face any Khayaban.

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