The family of a US man who was killed after driving off a crumbled bridge claims he died because Google’s maps were outdated.

Philip Paxson’s family is suing Google for his death, claiming that Google was irresponsible in failing to reveal that the bridge had collapsed nine years before.

Mr. Paxson died in September 2022 while attempting to drive across a broken Hickory, North Carolina bridge.

Google’s spokesman stated that the corporation was looking into the allegations.

On Tuesday, the case was filed in Wake County civil court.

According to the family’s lawsuit, Mr Paxson, a father of two, was driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday celebration at a friend’s house and was in an unfamiliar neighborhood at the time of his death.

His wife had already driven his two girls home, and he had stuck behind to help clean up.

“Unaware of local roads, he relied on Google Maps, expecting it to safely direct him home to his wife and daughters,” the family’s lawyers said in a statement announcing the complaint.

“Tragically, as he drove cautiously in the rain, he unwittingly followed Google’s out-of-date directions to what his family later learned was known for nearly a decade as the ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ crashing into Snow Creek, where he drowned.”

The family of a US man who was killed after driving off a crumbled bridge claims he died because Google’s maps were outdated.

According to the lawsuit, when the bridge fell in 2013, local people frequently contacted Google to request that their online maps be changed.

According to the Charlotte Observer, vandals removed the barriers regularly put over the bridge entrance.

The complaint also accuses three local businesses of failing to maintain the bridge.

“Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words that they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with such little regard for human life,” his wife, Alicia Paxson, said in a statement.

“We have deepest sympathies for the Paxson family,” a Google spokesman told AP News.

“Our goal in Maps is to provide accurate routing information, and we are reviewing this lawsuit.”

SOURCE – (BBC)

TORONTO, Ontario — Peter C. Newman, a veteran Canadian journalist and novelist who held up a mirror to Canada, has died. He was 94.

Newman died Thursday morning in Belleville, Ontario, following complications due to a stroke he suffered last year, which caused him to acquire Parkinson’s disease, according to his wife, Alvy Newman.

Newman spent decades as the Toronto Star and Maclean’s magazine’s editor-in-chief, covering Canadian politics and business.

“What a tragedy. If you lose someone with that knowledge, it’s like a library being burned down,” Alvy Newman said. “He revolutionised journalism, business, politics, and history.”

Newman, known for his signature sailor’s cap, penned two dozen books and acquired the unofficial title of Canada’s “most cussed and discussed commentator,” according to HarperCollins, one of his publishers, in an author’s note.

Political commentator Paul Wells, a senior writer at Maclean’s for many years, said Newman transformed the publication into what it was at its peak: “an urgent, weekly news magazine with a global scope.”

But, according to Wells, Newman also established a model for Canadian political writers.

Peter C. Newman, a veteran Canadian journalist and novelist who held up a mirror to Canada, has died. He was 94.

“The Canadian Establishment’s books persuaded everyone — his colleagues, the book-buying public — that Canadian stories could be as important, interesting, and riveting as stories from anywhere else,” he explained. “And he sold truckloads of them.” My God.”

That trilogy of three books, the first released in 1975 and the last in 1998, traced Canada’s recent past through the eyes of its unelected power brokers.

Newman also shared his tale in his 2004 book, “Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion, and Power.”

He was born in Vienna in 1929 and immigrated to Canada as a Jewish refugee in 1940. Peter remembers being shot at by Nazis while waiting on the beach at Biarritz, France, for the ship that would transport him to freedom in his book.

Peter C. Newman, a veteran Canadian journalist and novelist who held up a mirror to Canada, has died. He was 94.

“Nothing compares to being a refugee; you are robbed of context and flail around, trying to define yourself,” he wrote. “When I finally arrived in Canada, I only wanted to find my voice.” Being heard. That longing has remained with me.”

That is why, he claims, he became a writer.

According to the Writers’ Trust of Canada, Peter’s 1963 book “Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years” about former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker “revolutionised Canadian political reporting with its controversial’insiders-tell-all’ approach.”

Peter was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1990 after being named a “chronicler of our past and interpreter of our present.”

According to his HarperCollins page, Peter has received some of Canada’s most prestigious literary honors and seven honorary doctorates.

SOURCE – (AP)

Google will soon require political advertisements on its platforms to disclose when pictures and audio were made using artificial intelligence (AI).

The regulations were developed in response to the “growing prevalence of tools that generate synthetic content,” according to a Google spokeswoman.

The move is set to take effect in November, roughly a year before the next US presidential election.

There are concerns that AI will amp up disinformation surrounding the campaigns.

Google’s current ad standards prohibit exploiting digital media to confuse or mislead consumers about politics, social issues, or public concerns.

However, this change will compel election-related advertisements to “prominently disclose” if they incorporate “synthetic content” depicting real or realistic-looking people or events.

Labels such as “this image does not depict real events” or “this video content was synthetically generated” are proposed by Google as flags.

Google will soon require political advertisements on its platforms to disclose when pictures and audio were made using artificial intelligence (AI).

According to Google’s ad policy, demonstrably misleading assertions that could damage trust in the election process are likewise prohibited.

Google compels political advertisements to reveal who paid for them and keeps information about the messages in an online ads library.

Disclosures of digitally manipulated content in election advertisements must be “clear and conspicuous” and placed where they are likely to be observed.

Synthetic visuals or audio depicting a person saying or doing something they did not say or do or depicting an event that did not occur are examples of what would justify a label.

In March, a bogus photo of former US President Donald Trump was circulated on social media, purporting to show him being jailed. AI tools were used to make the image.

Google will soon require political advertisements on its platforms to disclose when pictures and audio were made using artificial intelligence (AI).

In March, a deepfake video showing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussing surrendering to Russia spread.

In June, a Ron DeSantis campaign film criticizing former President Trump included photos with AI-created markings.

The video, shared in a tweet, appears to have been edited to depict Mr Trump kissing on the cheek Anthony Fauci, a major member of the US coronavirus task group.

According to AI experts, while falsified imagery is nothing new, the speed of growth in the generative AI sector and the potential for misuse are cause for alarm.

Google stated that it will continue investing in technology to detect and delete such content.

SOURCE – (BBC)