James Farrell

James Farrell is the former editor-in-chief of Chiang Mai CityNews, where he wrote and managed daily news, features, op-eds and blogs on a diverse range of topics. Prior to this, in the same city of Northern Thailand where he lives, he was the longstanding deputy editor of the monthly magazine Citylife. He has written on culture, politics, travel, tech, business, human rights, for local, national, and international news services and magazines. He has a keen interest in the role technology is playing in the transformation of society, culture and politics, especially in developing nations. This is reflected in his not-so-successful first novel.

Latest from James Farrell

Entertainment industry gets behind new bill that will outlaw AI deepfakes

The entertainment industry today came out in support of a new bill designed to prevent people from using artificial intelligence to recreate a person’s voice or likeness without that person’s consent. The bipartisan bill, “Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2024” or the “NO FAKES Act,” was introduced by senators Chris ...

Senate passes controversial bills designed to protect children online

The Senate today unanimousl passed two children’s online safety bills in a rare show of bipartisan support. One of the bills, the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, was introduced in 2022 following mounting criticism against Big Tech for what experts and politicians said was companies focusing much more on the bottom line than the ...

Putting pressure on Google, Apple Maps is now available on the web

Google LLC might be feeling the heat today after Apple Inc. announced that Apple Maps is now available as a public beta on the web. Right now, it’s available only in English, though Apple said it will support other languages soon. The service is compatible with Safari and Chrome on Mac and iPad, and Chrome ...

FTC will launch probe into AI-driven surveillance pricing

The Federal Trade Commission today announced it’s seeking information from eight companies that use artificial intelligence to set prices based on customers’ behavior and characteristics. It’s known as “surveillance pricing,” in which the companies’ third-party AI systems leverage mountains of personal data to effectively ascertain a person’s ability to pay for something. The systems sift ...

White House task force releases first-of-its-kind online safety report aimed at protecting kids

The White House’s Task Force on Kids Online Health and Safety today released a report featuring a number of strategies to protect American children online. The topic of what too much time online is doing to the mental well-being of children in the U.S. has become a big deal over the last few years, leading ...

Co-founders of Andreessen Horowitz give full support to Trump campaign

Billionaires Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, co-founders of Silicon Valley’s largest venture capital firm, have announced their support for Donald Trump’s reelection bid, stating they will make hefty donations to his campaign. “The future of our business, the future of new technology, and the future of America is literally at stake,” Horowitz (pictured) said during ...

Elon Musk is moving X and Space X to Texas, claiming it’s over a new California gender law

Elon Musk today announced that he’s taking the X Corp. and Space X Corp. headquarters out of California following the state governor’s signing of a bill that prohibits school districts from disclosing students’ gender identity. Governor Gavin Newsom (pictured) enacted the SAFETY ACT on Monday, legislation designed to protect LGBTQ+ students in the state. The ...

Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts to get minimum pay, other benefits in $175M settlement

Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. today settled a lawsuit with the attorney general in Massachusetts, which will include the companies agreeing to pay their drivers a minimum wage. The $175 million settlement comes with a slew of benefits for drivers other than the $32.50 per hour minimum during driving time. The drivers will also ...

AI beats students in UK university exams, fooling human educators

Researchers at the University of Reading in the U.K. have aired concerns about the integrity of tests after they surreptitiously submitted unedited artificial intelligence-generated exam answers, fooling exam markers and beating most of the human students. In the study, the researchers created 33 fake student identities and used ChatGPT-4 to answer 63 questions in legitimate ...

Waymo scraps the waitlist and makes robotaxis available to everyone in San Francisco

After some mishaps, it’s now full steam ahead for Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo LLC, which today said its driverless taxi service is available to anyone in San Francisco who has downloaded the app. The company has been operating in the city since 2009. It introduced fully autonomous cars in 2022, but people wanting to experience a ...