According to a 2019 report from NPR and Edison Research, about 53 million Americans own a smart speaker assistant. The consulting firm Ovum predicts that by 2021, there will be more than 7.5 billion of these digital assistants used throughout the world, which is nearly the same number of people living today.

If you don’t own one of these AI empowered smart speakers, I bet that your neighbor or co-worker does. But some people are starting to question what these smart devices are doing to us.

Judith Shulevitz wrote in an article for The Atlantic in the fall of 2018 that she has started to develop an actual relationship with her smart speaker. She explains, “Gifted with the once uniquely human power of speech, Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri have already become greater than the sum of their parts. They’re software, but they’re more than that, just as human consciousness is an effect of neurons and synapses but is more than that. Their speech makes us treat them as if they had a mind.” And if they have minds, then we might be able to develop relationships with them even though we know they aren’t able to know us.

The Rundown

The real reason Facebook bought Giphy for $400 million – Fast Company

When Facebook confirmed that it had acquired Giphy last week for a cool $400 million, the reasons weren’t immediately apparent. Giphy has only the seeds of an advertising business, and GIFs aren’t a revolutionary advertising product.

How a Chinese AI Giant Made Chatting—and Surveillance—Easy – Wired

Alexa can tell you the weather. Siri knows a few jokes. In China, voice-computing company iFlytek built similar smart assistants beloved by users. But its tech is also helping the government listen in.

How Do Just War Principles Apply to Drone Warfare? – Bruce Ashford

Rapidly developing technologies have not been accompanied by ethical reflection on the proper use of those technologies. One such technology is unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) which, in this article, will be referred to as drones.

Marco Rubio tapped to serve as Senate Intelligence Committee chairman – Politico

Sen. Marco Rubio will temporarily serve as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Monday.

Big Tech’s aid to small business comes with a catch – Axios

Big tech companies, including Facebook and Google, have made much of their efforts to help small businesses hurting from the pandemic. But the same programs that make life easier for those businesses today could end up separating them from their customers.