Eton College headmaster leads calls for the government to scrap ‘unfair’ A-level algorithm

School chiefs are ‘greatly relieved’ following the Government A-level U-turn after ministers heeded calls from the headmaster of Eton College to dump the ‘unfair’ algorithm.  Simon Henderson said that several of pupils had seen their teacher-assessed grades downgraded by the standardising process, sometimes by more than one grade, ‘and in a way which on many … Read more

Ofqual board members ‘want to ditch their own A-level algorithm’

Examination body Ofqual has blamed the government for the chaos over A-level results, with a leading member claiming ‘policy changes every 12 hours’ led to the debacle.  Professor Tina Isaacs, who sits on Ofqual’s advisory group, told BBC Breakfast: ‘Ofqual’s role is to carry out Government policy. And when policy shifts every 12 to 24 … Read more

Ofqal board members ‘want to ditch their own A-level algorithm’

Some Ofqual board members want to get rid of their own controversial A-level algorithm after almost 40 per cent of grades were downgraded by the system. Critics have complained the algorithm used by Ofqual penalised pupils in schools in more disadvantaged areas, while benefiting those in private schools. Some Ofqual board members now believe the … Read more

Navigation algorithm lets drones perform challenging acrobatics

Drones all in a spin! AI algorithm enables quadcopters to perform acrobatic manoeuvres like power loops and barrel rolls autonomously Switzerland-based scientists have worked with Intel to teach a drone acrobatics  Drone is powered by an algorithm to perform series of high speed tricks and flips The algorithm trains drone to do stunts that would challenge … Read more

Deepfake contest by Facebook shows top algorithm was only able to spot a fake video with 65% success

Revealed: deepfake contest run by Facebook shows that top algorithm was only able to spot a doctored video 65% of the time A contest found the best algorithm had a 65 percent success rate The contest had 2,000 participants with 35,000 algorithms tested  Facebook will release the winner as an open-source tech for researchers  It will … Read more

New computer algorithm can locate people lost at sea

Researchers develop a new computer algorithm to locate people lost at sea by modeling ‘traps’ in the water that could pull them in different directions Scientists from MIT and elsewhere developed a new search and rescue tool The computer algorithm identifies multiple ‘trap’ regions in the ocean These traps could pull people in several different … Read more

Fitbit could detect early signs of the coronavirus thanks to an algorithm from Stanford

Stanford and Fitbit are joining forces in a bid to develop technology that detects early signs of the coronavirus using wearables. The team is designing an algorithm that measures the wearer’s vitals such as heart rate and skin temperature to determine if the body is fighting an infection. The software will be capable of spotting … Read more