Inside Tencent’s weirdly secretive customer service center

When AI hears a problem

Sponsored by Rocket Software Subscribe The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology By Rhiannon Williams • 05.17.23 Hello! Today: what it's like inside Tencent's secretive customer service center in China, where desperate people go every day to plead for their accounts to be unlocked. Plus: listen to the latest episode of our award-winning podcast—this one's all about how AI systems trained to analyze our voices are being used in healthcare. Inside Tencent's weirdly secretive customer service center —Zeyi Yang When I recently visited China, for the first time since the pandemic, I traveled to Shenzhen in a bid to unlock my 15-year old Tencent social media account. I have tons of personal stuff—diary entries, chat logs, emails—locked away in Tencent's instant messaging platform QQ. My account was suddenly suspended in November 2021, months after I used it to report on a story about QQ's censorship of LGBTQ content, and to connect with sources for other stories. But it wasn't clear whether that activity resulted in the suspension.  I'd basically given up on ever accessing it again, until I learned about Tencent's weirdly secretive customer service center in Shenzhen. It's a last resort for desperate users willing to make the journey to meet with a representative to make their case. Read the full story to find out what it's like inside.   Zeyi's story is from China Report, his weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things happening in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Podcast: When AI hears a problem Hidden away in our voices are signals that may hold clues to how we're doing, what we're feeling and even what's going on with our physical health. So what does it mean now the AI systems tasked with analyzing these signals are moving into healthcare? Find out by listening to the latest episode of In Machines We Trust, our award-winning podcast, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you usually listen. ADVERTISEMENT Sponsored by Rocket Software Modernization. Without disruption. We know the pressure to modernize your IT systems seems to increase by the day. Rocket Software empowers IT leaders like you to uncover insights, streamline infrastructure, and boost performance — all without starting over. Customized, easy-to-implement solutions ensure your business runs more efficiently without costly setbacks. Plus, we'll help you reduce liabilities and errors, so you can take two steps forward and no steps back. That's the power of modernization without disruption.  That's the power of Rocket Software. Learn more about our modernization solutions →   The must-reads I've combed the internet to find you today's most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman is urging the US to regulate AI Over to you, politicians. (NYT $) + Altman is particularly worried by the potential for AI to disrupt the 2024 US election. (FT $) + Why AI is better suited to tasks than actual jobs. (Bloomberg $) + Some experts are increasingly gloomy about where this is all heading. (New Yorker $) + ChatGPT is everywhere. Here's where it came from. (MIT Technology Review) 2 South Korea's had enough of tech leaks Chinese companies have been charming Korea's engineers into spilling trade secrets. (FT $) + A former Apple engineer has been charged with stealing its self-driving car tech. (WSJ $)    3 Regulation is coming for crypto Slowly but surely: but some experts worry it's too little, too late. (Economist $) + Investing in crypto is tantamount to gambling, according to the UK. (Reuters) + What's next for crypto. (MIT Technology Review) 4 A Russian man has been charged over his links to a huge cyber attack   Authorities are offering up to $10 million in exchange for help arresting him. (WP $) 5 Two poultry workers have tested positive for bird flu in the UK It's unclear how they contracted it, and neither experienced symptoms. (BBC) + We don't need to panic about a bird flu pandemic—yet. (MIT Technology Review)   6 Dating sites are riddled with catfish Contractors across the world are being paid to manipulate unwitting daters. (Wired $)   7 Gig economy workers are begging for tips online  DoorDash workers say they are almost entirely reliant on tips for their income. (Motherboard) 8 The world desperately needs more copper  It's an essential component for batteries—but it's becoming more difficult to mine. (Bloomberg $) + How old batteries will help power tomorrow's EVs. (MIT Technology Review)   9 TikTok is reimagining history without Western imperial power Thanks to a bit of help from ChatGPT and Midjourney. (Rest of World) 10 Say 'I do' with these AI-generated wedding vows 💐 Exactly what you want on your big day, I'm sure. (WSJ $) Quote of the day "The ultimate guide to life, love, and eternal salvation!" —ChatGPT takes a stab at writing an upbeat book blurb for the Bible, according to the Guardian. The big story The Soviets turned the Volga River into a machine. Then the machine broke. December 2021 About 2,300 miles long, the Volga—sometimes referred to as "Mother Volga"—is the longest river in Europe. The history of the Big Volga project is, in a sense, the history of Soviet industrialization. It is also a history of rivalry with the US, which for decades raced the Soviets to build bigger, more impressive dams. But the project tried to do too much. The river has become polluted, silted up, and overwhelmed by invasive species. Water flows at a tenth of the speed it did before the dams were constructed. And now that the Volga basin has been identified as one of the regions most at risk of climate change-induced drought, it's not an exaggeration to say that Russia's mother river is broken. Read the full story. —Olga Dobrovidova We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.) + Researchers have built a meticulous digital twin of the Titanic to work out exactly what went wrong on that fateful day in 1912. + Here's what an astrophysicist has to say on the 'is the Sun white or yellow?' debate. + Seriously, why doesn't anyone in Succession eat anything!? 🥐 + The physics of soap bubbles are pretty complicated. Maybe 18th century French painters can give us some much-needed insight? + Ahh, millennial parties  were quite something. Subscribe now for unlimited access to the Education issue and get an inside look at how AI & ChatGPT will transform the future of learning. SUBSCRIBE NOW Event EmTech Next Transform with Technology June 13 - 15, 2023 Learn more » Top image credit: STEPHANIE ARNETT/MITTR | GETTY Please send untouched croissants to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @RhiannonJudithW. Thanks for reading! —Rhiannon Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today → View in browser | This email was sent to alexvarboffin.abbb@blogger.com. Manage your preferences | Unsubscribe | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy MIT Technology Review · 196 Broadway, 3rd fl, · Cambridge, MA 02139 · USA Copyright © 2023 MIT Technology Review, All rights reserved. Opt out of all promotional emails and newsletters from MIT Technology Review