[NFBV-Announce] news you can use, technology addition June 5th

[jackibruce6 at gmail.com]

Hey NFB Family and Friends,

 

There has been so much going on in the technology world the last few weeks,
this News you can use is only about technology! Another email will be send
with all of the normal updates, career opportunities, things to do etc.
Enjoy!

 

Tek Talk welcomes Michael Janssen, founder and CEO of AYES Inc., to discuss
OKO, the revolutionary new pedestrian crossing app.

AYES Inc. is developing an AI service to assist the blind and visually
impaired to explore cities effortlessly. They have developed a mobile
application, called OKO, that assists blind and visually impaired people to
receive the status of the pedestrian traffic light and helps you with not
veering off when crossing the street. OKO doesn't require any additional
infrastructure to be installed so every traffic light becomes accessible.
OKO helps you cross the street with more ease and confidence.


Presenter Contact Info


Michael Janssen: founder and CEO of AYES Inc.

Website: https://www.ayes.ai/oko 

 

About 10 minutes before each program dial the Zoom numbers or work with your
computer link found on your Zoom invitation.


Zoom invitation


The Zoom meeting invitation for this Training Class is the following:

 

Hi there,

 

Larry Gassman and Alan Lemly are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Tek Talk welcomes Michael Janssen, founder and CEO of AYES Inc., to discuss
OKO, the revolutionary new pedestrian crossing app.

 

Time: Meets Monday, June 5, 2023, from 8-9 p.m. Eastern. 

 

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:
<https://us02web.zoom.us/j/839935813?pwd=eXFMRHpxNnhFZlRiMHAzRWNWYXM3Zz09>
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/839935813?pwd=eXFMRHpxNnhFZlRiMHAzRWNWYXM3Zz09 

 

Or iPhone one-tap:

+19292056099,,839935813# US (New York)

+13126266799,,839935813# US (Chicago) 

Or Telephone:

Dial by your location

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Meeting ID: 839 935 813

Passcode: awz

International numbers available:  <https://zoom.us/u/cnnUjZ1oh>
https://zoom.us/u/cnnUjZ1oh 

 

Visually impaired Accessible technology - BingNews - Wednesday, May 31, 2023
at 11:19 PM


25 Smartphone Accessibility Settings You Need to Know About


These accessibility settings will change the way you use your phone, whether
you have a disability or simply want to make your life easier.


We rely on our smartphones for just about everything, but most of us know
only a fraction of what they can do
<https://www.rd.com/list/cell-phone-hacks/> . Thanks to accessibility
settings on iPhones and Androids-such as screen readers, voice-to-text
dictation, and more-our phones can make daily tasks more convenient,
especially for people with disabilities. "Using the accessibility features
built into most smartphones improves the lives of people with disabilities
in exactly the same ways smartphones have improved the everyday lives of
everyone," says Matt Hackert, a nonvisual access technology specialist at
the National Federation of the Blind.

These settings aren't only for people with disabilities, though. Features
like captions and sound amplification can help all of us more easily
navigate our phones and the world around us. "Anyone can play with these on
their iPhone to check out the possibilities," says Ashley Shew, PhD, a
disability tech expert and assistant professor at Virginia Tech.

Whether you live with a disability or just want to use your smartphone more
effectively, you'll want to find out what these accessibility settings do
and how to use them on iPhones and Androids. Once you're a pro, learn other
hidden smartphone features you never knew about, such as how to hide text
messages on an iPhone
<https://www.rd.com/article/how-to-hide-text-messages-on-an-iphone/> , how
to turn off Google Assistant on your Android phone
<https://www.rd.com/article/android-phone-google-assist-voice-recording/> ,
and how to view (and delete) your iPhone
<https://www.rd.com/article/iphone-call-history/> 's call history.


iPhone accessibility settings


Apple launched the first iPhone accessibility features in 2009, and the
brand has continued to expand its offerings ever since. Today, "Apple builds
accessibility into the design process for everything we make so that people
can access technology on their terms," says Sarah Herrlinger, senior
director of Apple's Global Accessibility Policy & Initiatives. Experts
recommend checking out the following accessibility settings on iPhones, all
of which can be found under Settings > Accessibility. Make sure you're
looped in on these secrets Apple insiders know about iPhones
<https://www.rd.com/list/what-apple-insiders-know-about-iphones/> , too.


VoiceOver


VoiceOver uses artificial intelligence to provide audible descriptions of
items on your screen, from images to battery level to who is calling you.
According to Herrlinger, VoiceOver is the world's most popular mobile screen
reader, with 70 percent of blind people using it every day. To turn
VoiceOver on or off, go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver and toggle
the switch. You can also say, "Hey Siri, turn on VoiceOver" or "Turn off
VoiceOver."


Zoom


Want to learn how to zoom in and out on any iPhone screen to see text or
images better? Get familiar with Apple's Zoom feature. "Zoom magnifies the
content on the screen and has many options to configure contrast, invert
colors, and highlight focus," says Hackert. Go to Settings > Accessibility >
Zoom, then turn on Zoom. From there, you can activate the feature any time
you need it by double-tapping the screen with three fingers. If you want to
see more of the screen, move the Zoom lens by dragging the screen with three
fingers. You can turn off Zoom by double-tapping the screen with three
fingers again.


Magnifier


No need to carry around a pair of reading glasses-you can use your iPhone's
camera instead. "[As] a glasses wearer myself, [Magnifier] enables me to use
my iPhone like a magnifying glass to read small print on things like
medicine bottles and printed materials," Herrlinger says. To try this
feature, go to Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier and toggle the switch to
the "on" position. Then open the app on the home screen and point your
iPhone's camera at the text or object you want to magnify. You can zoom in
or out with the zoom control slider, or adjust the image's appearance using
the Brightness, Contrast, Color filters, and Flashlight buttons below.

rd.com, Getty Images 


Text Size


Customizing the text settings on iPhones can make the screen easier to see,
especially for people with vision challenges. For how to make text bigger on
iPhones, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size. There, you
can turn on the Larger Accessibility Sizes setting and adjust the size of
the text using the Font Size slider. Once you do that, apps like Settings,
Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, and Notes will use your preferred text
size rather than the default size. Turns out there are many more hidden
iPhone hacks <https://www.rd.com/list/iphone-hacks/>  most of us don't know
about.


Text Color and Readability


iPhone also offers other text customization settings under its Display &
Text Size feature, including inverting the display colors, increasing the
contrast between the text and background, reducing the intensity of bright
colors, and applying color filters. If you have color blindness, you can
turn on the Button Shapes setting to underline hyperlinked text or the
On/Off Labels setting to show numbers on sliders instead of colors. Like the
text size feature, these settings are compatible with all of Apple's apps,
including Settings, Mail, and Messages.


Subtitles and Captions


When watching videos on your iPhone, you can turn on subtitles and closed
captions through iPhone's accessibility settings. Go to Settings >
Accessibility > Subtitles & Captioning and turn on Closed Captions + SDH for
those who are the deaf or hard of hearing. You can even customize the
subtitles display by tapping Style, then choosing an existing caption style
or creating a new style with your preferred font, size, and color; opacity;
and more. Make sure you also know these helpful iPhone and iPad keyboard
shortcuts <https://www.rd.com/article/iphone-keyboard-shortcuts/> .


Headphone Accommodations


Want to know how to turn up the volume on your iPhone beyond the usual audio
settings? Certain Apple and Beats headphones can help you amplify and adjust
the sounds in the music, movies, phone calls, and podcasts you listen to on
your device. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Headphone
Accommodations, then turn on Headphone Accommodations. Tap Custom Audio
Setup, then follow the instructions to customize the audio settings on your
phone. Once you're finished, you can test it out by tapping Play Sample.


Switch Control


Switch Control helps iPhone users with limited mobility perform actions like
texting and opening apps by clicking a switch instead of tapping. A switch
can be a keyboard key, mouse button, trackpad button, joystick, or adaptive
device. For users who are nonverbal or nonspeaking, Apple recently launched
Sound Actions for Switch Control, which "replaces physical buttons and
switches with mouth sounds, like a click, pop, or 'ee' sound," Herrlinger
says. Add a new switch under Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control >
Switches, then tap Add New Switch and choose a source. Then you can turn on
Switch Control by going to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control and
turning the setting on or off.


People Detection


With People Detection, your iPhone scans the area around you, recognizes
when other people are close by, and shares this information with vibrations
or sounds. "This feature gives members of the blind and low vision community
another tool to make the world more accessible," Herrlinger says. It's also
a helpful reminder for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Turn it on by opening the Magnifier app, tapping the Settings icon, tapping
the "+" icon beside People Detection, and then choosing People Detection.
>From there, you can customize the measurement units, distance increments,
and notification type. Don't miss these other iPhone tricks
<https://www.rd.com/article/iphone-tricks/>  that can make things so much
easier.


Live Listen


If you use hearing devices, your iPhone's Live Listen setting can help you
hear conversations in loud places. Just connect your hearing devices to your
iPhone and place your device close to the people who are speaking to boost
the volume of their voices. To turn this feature on, go to Settings >
Accessibility, then select Hearing Devices. Tap the name of your hearing
device under MFi Hearing Devices, then tap Start Live Listen and place the
phone in front of the person you want to hear. Turn it off again by going
back to the Hearing Devices menu, tapping the name of your hearing device
under MFi Hearing Devices, and then tapping End Live Listen.


Dictation


Dictation is a voice-to-text feature built into all iPhones. By allowing
users to write and punctuate text with just their voices, it provides a
hands-free (and efficient!) way to send text messages, emails, and other
notes. "Many people, regardless of whether they are blind or not, find use
for dictation," Hackert says. To use Dictation, just open the keyboard in
the app you want to use and tap the microphone button. Begin speaking to
make the text appear on the screen. You can also insert periods or
exclamation points by saying the punctuation you want to add. When you are
finished with your message, tap the keyboard icon at the bottom of the
screen.


Sound Detection


Turning on the Sound Detection feature will allow your iPhone to listen for
certain sounds like a doorbell or siren. If it detects those sounds, it will
alert you by flashing and vibrating. To set up Sound Recognition, go to
Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition, then turn on Sound Recognition
<https://www.rd.com/article/apple-sound-recognition/> . Tap Sounds and
choose the sounds you want your iPhone to recognize.

rd.com, Getty Images 


Android accessibility settings


Accessibility settings on Android phones have boomed in recent years,
according to Angana Ghosh, an Android group project manager. "Google's
mission is to make the world's information accessible to everyone," she
says. "Over the years, we have launched new features, and we continue to
improve those features by listening to user feedback and working directly
with communities." Hackert agrees: "Google lagged significantly behind Apple
in the quality and usefulness of its accessibility technology [early on],
but in more recent years, Google has really made strong advances, to the
point where they are easily on par with Apple," he says. Here are a few
accessibility settings that Android users can try, along with these Android
hacks <https://www.rd.com/list/android-hacks/>  you need to know.


What is Android Accessibility Suite?


The Android Accessibility Suite offers a wide range of accessibility
settings to help the visually impaired navigate their devices.
"Accessibility is core to the Android user experience, and we're passionate
about making smartphones useful for everyone, including people with
disabilities," Ghosh says. Found on nearly every version of Android, the
Accessibility Suite can be activated through the Settings menu, where you
can turn on features like a gesture-based screen reader and switch access.
Bet you never knew about these hidden Android features
<https://www.rd.com/list/hidden-android-features/>  either.


TalkBack


Like iPhone's VoiceControl feature, the TalkBack screen reader on Androids
will give audible descriptions of the text and images on your screen. You
can activate it by going to Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack. Toggle the
Use TalkBack feature on or off, then tap OK. Bonus: Users with blindness or
low vision can also use Android's TalkBack Braille Keyboard to add 6-dot
braille to their keyboards-no extra hardware required. To turn on the
keyboard's braille mode, go to Accessibility > TalkBack > Settings > Braille
Keyboard > Layout. This feature was designed by a low-vision Googler in
Australia, according to Ghosh.


Action Blocks


Action Blocks was one of Android's first accessibility settings. It offers
customizable buttons on the Android home screen for routine actions like
placing calls or controlling the lights, and it was "designed to make it
easier for caregivers and people with cognitive disabilities and age-related
cognitive conditions to fully access and perform tasks on their phone,"
according to Ghosh. Create your own Action Blocks by downloading the Action
Blocks app from the Google Play Store, then opening the app and tapping on
Create Action Block. From there, you can choose one of the common actions
from the list, such as Make Phone Call, and label it with an image, name, or
both. Once you're done, select Save Action Block.


Display and Font Size


If a visual impairment makes it hard to see your device's screen, you can
adjust the size and display to see items on your screen more clearly. To
change the font size of text on your screen, go to Settings > Accessibility
> Font Size and move the slider up or down. Make the images on your screen
bigger by going to Settings > Accessibility > Display Size and adjusting the
slider. Under Settings > Accessibility, you can also choose to turn on High
Contrast Text, Dark Theme, Color Inversion, or Color Correction to make
everything on the screen more visible.


Magnification


Still struggling to make out items on your Android phone's screen? You can
temporarily zoom or magnify your screen using Android's Magnification tool.
To turn on this feature, open the Settings app and tap Accessibility >
Magnification > Magnification Shortcut. Now, when you need to magnify your
screen, just tap the Accessibility button and tap anywhere on the screen.
Drag two fingers to move around the screen, or pinch with two fingers to
adjust the zoom. When you're done, tap the Accessibility button again.


Lookout


Using an Android device's camera and sensors, Lookout can help people with
blindness or low vision learn more about their surroundings. The feature
relies on computer vision to recognize an object or text, then describes it
to the user. Just install the Lookout app on Google Play, then open it by
saying, "OK, Google, start Lookout," or by selecting Lookout in the Apps
section. After giving the app permission to access your camera, hold your
device with your camera facing outward. Your device will now be able to read
text, documents, and food labels, describe your surroundings, and even
recognize currency.


Voice Access


With Voice Access, users can provide spoken commands to do everything from
opening apps to typing messages to placing a call. "This feature can be
particularly helpful to people with dexterity impairments, which may make it
difficult to touch a phone screen," Ghosh says. After installing the app
from Google's app store, you can turn on this setting by going to Settings >
Accessibility > Voice Access and tapping Use Voice Access. From there, start
Voice Access by opening the Voice Access app or saying, "Hey, Google, Voice
Access." In case you were wondering, here's how Alexa can help in
emergencies <https://www.rd.com/article/can-alexa-call-911/> .


Time to Take Action


If you have ADHD, "chemobrain," or other cognitive disabilities, the Time to
Take Action feature on Androids can be a helpful reminder tool. This setting
keeps temporary alerts like calendar notifications, text messages, and more
on your screen for a longer duration. After receiving intense chemotherapy
eight years ago, Shew still struggles with memory loss and relies on her
phone to remember the things that she can't. "I have my alarms ring to
remind me of a lot of things, like picking kids up from school," she says.
"Some people [with cognitive disabilities] use phone reminders and
notifications from calendars, too." You can adjust how long these temporary
alerts and notifications stay on your screen by going to Settings >
Accessibility > Time to Take Action (Accessibility Timeout) and choosing
your preferred timeout length.


Voice Input


Voice Input is a voice-to-text feature on Android that allows users with
physical or visual impairments to type text messages, emails, and other
notes by saying the words out loud. Just launch any app that uses text, like
Email or Messages, and tap in the text field to make the on-screen keyboard
appear. Then tap the microphone icon and begin saying your message. When
you're finished, tap the microphone icon again, and then hit Send or Save.
These smartphone keyboard shortcuts
<https://www.rd.com/list/phone-keyboard-shortcuts/>  will make texting
faster, too.


Sound Amplifier


Launched in 2019, the Sound Amplifier app connects with your headphones or
hearing aids to boost and filter the sounds nearby or on your Android phone.
"[The app] aims to help the deaf and hard of hearing community by providing
an additional option for absorbing sound in the world around you, whether
that's turning up the sound of the television or setting your phone closer
to a professor in class so you can hear the lecture with more clarity,"
Ghosh says. Using Sound Amplifier is simple: Just download the app from the
Google Play Store, then connect your headphones to your Android device, open
the Sound Amplifier app, and follow the on-screen instructions.


Live Transcribe


Android's Live Transcribe app provides real-time speech-to-text captions in
more than 80 languages, along with more than 30 common sounds like applause
or laughter, for people who are deaf <https://www.rd.com/list/deaf-culture/>
or hard of hearing. Android also offers a Live Caption feature that
automatically captions the videos, podcasts, phone and video calls, and
audio messages played on your device. To use Live Transcribe, download the
app on Google Play, then open the app and hold your device near the person
or sound to begin transcribing. Live Caption can be found under Settings >
Sound > Live Caption. Toggle the switch to the "on" position to enable the
feature. You can also adjust the settings to hide profanity and sound
labels.


Sound Notifications


With a single tap, your phone could save a life. Android phones now offer
Sound Notifications, a relatively new feature that alerts users when it
hears sounds like fire alarms, doorbells, crying babies, and more. "This
technology builds off of our sound detection work in Live Transcribe to
provide a better picture of overall sound awareness," Ghosh says. To
activate Sound Notifications, download the Live Transcribe & Sound
Notifications app, then go to Settings > Accessibility > Sound Notifications
> Open Sound Notifications and tap OK.


Switch Access


Switch Access on Android devices works similarly to the same tool on
iPhones. If users have limited mobility or sensory issues, Switch Access
allows them to navigate their phones with a designated "switch" like a
keyboard key or mouse button instead of tapping. The phone will continuously
scan the items on the screen, highlighting each item until the user selects
one using the switch. After connecting an external switch device or keyboard
to your Android device via USB or Bluetooth, you can enable this tool by
going to Settings > Language & Input > Select Keyboard. Then tap Show
Virtual Keyboard (Android 7.0 or later) or Hardware (Android 6.0 or
earlier).


Morse Code Keyboard


In 2018, Google partnered with developer Tania Finlayson, an expert in Morse
code assistive technology, to add Morse code to Gboard keyboards on Android
phones. Finlayson was born with cerebral palsy and uses Morse code to
communicate in her daily life. "Developing communication tools like this is
important, because for many people, it simply makes life livable," she said
in a press release. Android users can set up the Morse code keyboard on
their phones by installing Gboard, then going to Settings > System >
Languages & Input > Virtual Keyboard > Keyboard. Tap Languages > English,
and then swipe right through the options until reaching Morse code. Select
Morse code, then tap Done. Next, check out the cell phone accessories
<https://www.rd.com/list/best-cell-phone-accessories/>  you'll end up using
every day.

 


     New and improved Windows 11 features in May 2023


Photos app

Microsoft published a Photos app update in May 2023. The update added a new
Slideshow feature, which allows users to sit back and relax while different
photos are displayed on the screen.

Another new feature adds a timeline to the scrollbar which may help going
through a large folder of photos. The Spot Fix tool, finally, allows users
to remove unwanted portions on an image.

You can check out Ashwin's review of the new Photos app
<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/05/04/photos-app-for-windows-11-insiders-adds-s
lideshow-timeline-scrollbar-and-spot-fix/>  or head over to Microsoft's blog
post instead
<https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2023/05/03/photos-app-for-windows
-11-update-brings-improvements-for-windows-insiders/> .

Start Menu notification  ads

Microsoft has accelerated the rollout of what it calls notification badges
for Microsoft accounts
<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/03/29/windows-11-microsoft-rolls-out-start-menu
-promotions/>  on the Start Menu. These promote the company's OneDrive
service for now, but may display different types of information in the
future.

Microsoft notes that this can be adjusted via Settings > Personalization >
Start..

Start Menu website recommendations re-introduced

Microsoft removed linking to websites in the recommended section of the
Start Menu after a public outcry. The company has now re-introduced the
feature in development builds and promised, that it has adjusted the
feature.

One of the main changes is that Microsoft is now pulling recommendations
from a user's browsing history instead of a general pool of popular sites.

It is unclear if links will be displayed if users do not use Microsoft Edge,
or Google Chrome, if continuous import has been enabled. Microsoft notes
that this can be adjusted via Settings > Personalization > Start.

The question why anyone would want to see website recommendations based on
the personal browsing history in Start remains unanswered for now.

Microsoft is also trying out a new ranking for Recommended items that
"considers when the file was last used, the file extension, and more".

Dev Drive

Dev Drive is a new storage volume designed specifically for development
related tasks. It uses the Resilient File System (ReFS) and includes " file
system optimizations and features that enable developers to better manage
their performance and security profile" according to Microsoft.

Dev Drives can be set up under System > Storage > Advanced Storage Settings
> Disks & Volumes. Requirements include a size of at least 50 gigabytes and
systems with 8 gigabytes of RAM or higher.

Microsoft Defender Antivirus' performance mode was designed specifically for
Dev Drive to "minimize impact on developer workloads".

Smaller noteworthy Windows changes

*	Third-party widget for Facebook
<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/05/05/windows-11-facebook-widget/>  is now
available for testing. It displays notifications from the social networking
site in the widget's interface. Widgets are also getting a new widget picker
experience, that displays an image as a visual preview.
*	Microsoft is rolling out animated icons for Widgets on the taskbar.
*	The new volume mixer experience, which displays volume mixers for
each individual app, is now available for testing in the Canary channel.
*	File Explorer's Details pane, which Windows 11 users may activate
with the shortcut Alt-Shift-P or via menus, has been "modernized". It
displays additional information, including recent activity, related files
and related conversations.
*	Microsoft is testing two different Windows Spotlight
implementations, and has added support for 4K portrait images and "the
ability to learn more about each desktop image".
*	The Narrator tool "provides a more succinct and efficient reading
experience while working in Microsoft Excel". Microsoft has detailed the
changes here <https://sway.office.com/A24LjOo2uV8kUo3a?ref=Link&loc=play> .
*	Live Captions support has been added for Danish, English (Ireland),
French (Canada), Korean and Portuguese (Portugal).
*	Windows Subsystem for Android on Windows 111 was updated. New
features include package verification for apps on WSA, a preference to set
assigned memory to Android, and Linux kernel was updated to 5.15.94.
*	Support for vTPM in Hyper-V on Windows on Arm (Arm64) builds.
*	Support for Microsoft Endpoint DLP on Windows on Arm (Arm64) builds
*	Support for bridging adapters using netsh
<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/technologies/ne
tsh/netsh>  was added.
*	Passpoint Wi-Fi networks will now support enhanced connection
performance.
*	Bluetooth Personal Area networks can now be joined under Settings >
Bluetooth & devices > Devices.
*	WPA3 support to Phone Link's instant hotspot feature was added.
*	The Advanced network settings page of the Settings app now links to
the adapter options directly.
*	New way to view saved Wi-fi passwords
<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/05/30/windows-11-view-saved-wi-fi-passwords/>
under Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi and "Manage known networks".
*	Backup and restore now supports syncing and restoring installed
Microsoft Store applications. Check out Ashwin's review of the updated
Windows 11 backup tool
<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/05/25/heres-a-look-at-microsofts-new-windows-ba
ckup-app/> .
*	Text authoring experience in voice access. 

*	You can say "correct [text]" or "correct that" to correct a specific
piece of text or last dictated text. The correction window appears with a
list of options labelled with numbers.
*	You can say "click [number]" to select any option from the list. If
you choose an alternate word from the window , the selected text will be
replaced by the word. You can also say "spell that" to dictate the correct
spelling of the text.
*	Users can directly use the "spell that" or "spell out" command to
dictate the right spelling of non-standard words such as usernames, topics,
etc.

*	Narrator natural voices in Chinese.
*	New option to turn off toast notifications for certain apps.


Sorting through all the AI lingo? Here's a glossary to help


Hey, did you hear about LIMA? It's built on the LLM LLaMA, not to be
confused with LaMDA.

The language of AI is riddled with acronyms, platform names, tech slang and
theories. If you've ever overheard a conversation about AI and thought,
"What the heck is Stable Diffusion, and how is it different from ChatGPT?"
but were too afraid to ask, we've put together an AI glossary to help
navigate some of the lingo and identify the tech companies behind which
tech.

AI has been moving so quickly in 2023 that this list could be obsolete
before long. There will most definitely be new terms emerging over the
summer, and who knows where AI will be by the fall? But for now, we hope
this helps:


AI Glossary


Act as if: A prompt starter for AI chatbots that has it respond as if it is
something specific (e.g: job interviewer, therapist, fictional character)

Algorithm: Instructions that a computer program follows to operate on its
own

Artificial general AI (AGI): An artificial intelligence system that can
learn and adapt, as opposed to its capabilities being limited to what is
programmed

Alignment: A field of research that aims to make sure AI aligns with human
value codes; for example, AI models may be trained to refuse to tell a user
how to build a bomb or steal data

Ameca: A humanoid robot designed by UK-based Engineering Arts as a platform
for developing interactive AI

Artstation: The largest online digital artist community on the internet;
"Trending on Artstation" is a common prompt for creating AI art

Autonomous: A robot, vehicle or device that operates without human control

Bard: Google's AI chatbot, powered by PaLM 2. Bard is not an acronym; the
chatbot is named after William Shakespeare, the "Bard of Avalon"

Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT): A Google
machine learning framework for natural language processing used since 2018
for tasks such as predicting text in search

Bias: When an AI algorithm produces systemically prejudiced results due to
biases in the training data.

BingGPT: Bing's ChatGPT-based chatbot

Black Box AI: A machine learning concept where developers do not control or
understand how the AI model processes information. The opposite of
"Explainable AI"

Blinding: A method where certain information is intentionally withheld from
an AI to make it more challenging to exploit

Boxing: A method where an AI is isolated, for example, by not connecting it
to the internet, to prevent it from potentially causing harm outside of its
developers' control

ChatGPT: An open-source deep learning chatbot by OpenAI, first released to
the public in November 2022
<https://technical.ly/software-development/chatgpt-openai-ethics-artificial-
intelligence/> . The current version is ChatGPT4

Chatbot: A computer program that uses AI and natural language processing to
respond to human questions in real time

Clone: An AI clone uses voice and video data of a person to create an
interactive digital version of that person

Convolutional neural network: An artificial neural network that can be
trained to recognize objects or patterns, but is not predictive

Confabulate: When an AI model randomly answers with false information
presented as fact, often a result of insufficient data or bias.
Interchangeable with "hallucinate."

Confinement: Also known as AI capability control, AI confinement is a field
related to alignment that aims to keep human control over AI systems.

Corpus: A large set of texts used to train an AI that uses natural language
processing; these could be anything from social media posts to news articles
to movies

Dall-E: OpenAI's deep learning model for creating images

Data Dignity: A movement that advocates for the AI economy giving people
control over their data and compensating them when data about or created by
them is used

Data poisoning: A type of cyber attack where inaccurate or otherwise bad
data is incorporated into an AI model's training data set, causing it to
give inaccurate or harmful results

Data mining: The process of analyzing datasets to discover new patterns that
might improve the model

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): The military research and
development agency of the United States Department of Defense, a major AI
and XAI <https://www.darpa.mil/program/explainable-artificial-intelligence>
researcher

Deep learning: An AI function of neural networks where a model learns how to
respond based on data it's given rather than simply performing what is
programmed

Deepfake: Using AI to create video, images or voices that appear to be real
but are not

Diffusion model: A generative AI model that can create high-resolution
images by creating new data samples on top of the one they were trained on,
leading to higher-quality images

Dream Studio: The web app of Stable Diffusion, a major deep learning
text-to-image AI engine.

Explainable AI (XAI): A type of machine learning that designers can explain
or interpret. The opposite of "Black Box AI"

Gemini: A Google language model powered by PaLM 2; unlike Bard, it has
multimodal capability (text, image, sound and video)

Generative AI: AI that creates output, including text, images, music and
video

Golden prompts: Prompts that have been engineered to give the user desirable
results and can be used as a template for other prompts

Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT): OpenAI's large language model on
which the ChatGPT chatbot is built

Hallucinate: When an AI model randomly answers with false information
presented as fact, often a result of insufficient data or bias.
Interchangeable with "confabulate"

Humanoid AI: A physical robot designed to look like a human with AI neural
networks allowing it to interact with humans. Sophia and Ameca are examples
of humanoids in development.

Hypothetical intelligence agent: Potential artificial general AI that
rewrites its own code to become independent of human programming

Imagen: A text-to-image diffusion AI Image creator that outputs
photo-realistic images

Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA): A Google language model
designed to engage in conversations that naturally evolve from one subject
to another

LAION: A German non-profit that makes open-source deep learning models,
including the models Stable Diffusion and Imagen are built on; has met
controversy
<https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/lensa-ai-artist-controversy-ethics-pr
ivacy-rcna60242>  for scraping images from art sites like ArtStation and
Deviant Art.

Large Language Model Meta A (LLaMA): Meta's large language model, released
in February 2023

Large Language Model (LLM): A deep-learning transformer model that is
trained to understand natural language and respond in a human-like way

Lensa: A Stable Diffusion-based photo and video filter program by Prisma
Labs that uses AI to transform images/selfies; many AI filters are built
into TikTok, where they are popular and free

Less is More for Alignment (LIMA): Meta's newest language model, considered
competitive with Bard and ChatGPT, built on its LLaMA LLM.

Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM): First developed in 1997, a variety of
recurrent neural networks (RNNs) that are capable of learning long-term
dependencies, especially in sequence prediction problems

Low-rank adaptation (LoRA): A Microsoft training method that freezes part of
an LLM to make fine-tuning it more efficient and cost-effective

Machine learning: The process or field of developing artificial intelligence
by feeding a computer data and using the results to improve and evolve the
technology.

Massively Multilingual Speech (MMA): A text-to-speech/speech-to-text AI
model that can process over 1,100 languages

Meta Megabyte: AI architecture by Meta AI that can process large volumes of
data without breaking down the input into smaller units (tokenization)

Midjourney: A generative AI text-to-image platform by San Francisco research
lab Midjourney, Inc. Users create AI images through its Discord.

Moat: Not exclusively an AI term, a moat is a competitive advantage an AI
company has over its competitors when its proprietary technology creates a
barrier for other companies from entering the market

Multimodal: An AI model that combines multiple types of data, including
video, text, audio and images

Narrow AI: AI that is designed to perform a single or narrow range of tasks,
such as search engines, virtual assistants and facial recognition software

Natural Language Processing (NLP): A type of linguistic computer science
that programs computers to analyze and process natural language data, so,
for example, Alexa can "listen" and respond to a human voice

Neural Network: A method in AI where computers are trained to process data
like a human brain rather than a programmed machine. Deep learning models
are made up of neural networks

Oracle: A hypothetical controlled AI platform that can only answer simple
questions and can not grow its knowledge beyond its immediate environment

Output: What the AI creates when prompted; it could be text, image, music or
video

PaLM 2: Google's AI model, used for Bard, Gemini and other Google AI uses

Playground AI: A free (up to 1,000 images a day) AI art generator using
Stable Diffusion

Prompt crafting: Creating text prompts to interact with AI in a way that
produces the desired results; interchangeable with "prompt engineering,"
sometimes preferred by people who use AI for creative uses

Prompt engineering: Creating text prompts to interact with AI in a way that
produces the desired results; interchangeable with "prompt crafting,"
sometimes preferred by people who use AI for technical uses

Prompt framework: An outline of a prompt that includes all of the steps and
information to create a specific output

Reactive AI: AI that provides output based on the input it receives, but
does not learn or evolve. Examples include spam filters and recommendations
based on your activity

Recurrent neural network (RNN): An artificial neural network that recognizes
recurring patterns and uses the data to predict what comes next, often used
in speech recognition and natural language processing

Seed AI: A type of hypothetical intelligence agent that eventually does not
need human intervention to learn new things

Self-awareness: A level of AI, currently only existing in science fiction,
in which AI has a level of consciousness similar to human beings, with
emotions and needs

Sophia: An advanced, socially intelligent humanoid robot created by Hong
Kong-based Hanson Robotics 2016

Stable Diffusion: An open-source, deep learning, text-to-image model
released in 2022 by Stability AI. In April 2023, a new version called SDXL
was released in beta; its official web app is DreamStudio

Theory of mind (ToM): In AI, ToM, or "emotional intelligence," is when a
machine can recognize human emotions and adjust its behavior in response.
Early ToM models include humanoid robots Ameca and Sophia

Tokenization: Splitting large volume input or output into smaller units in
order to make them manageable by large language models

Transformer: A neural network invented and open source by Google Research in
2017. Chatbots including GPT-3, LaMDA and BERT were built on Transformer

Vicuna: An open-source chatbot by Meta Research that runs on Meta's
LLaMA-13B, considered a competitor of BARD and ChatGPT

 

 

 

 

 

Peace,

 

Jacki Bruce

 

Corresponding Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

RISE/Silver Bells Outreach Coordinator

 <mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com> mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com
 <tel:(757)291-1789> tel:(757)291-1789
 <http://www.nfb.org/> www.nfb.org
 <http://www.nfbv.org/> www.nfbv.org

Follow us on Twitter @NFBVirginia
Find us on Facebook @NationalFederationoftheBlindofVirginia

Live the life you want.

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want

 

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