Don't Be Fooled By Ghost Job Postings

IN THE NEWS

What’s been going on recently?

Nvidia stock is up¹ 164% over the last year. With shares this week surpassing² $1000 each for the first time, the Q1 report “blew the doors off³ expectations across just about every possible metric⁴”.

Some governments are trying to crack down⁵ on ghost jobs. Are you wondering why you haven’t heard back⁶ from that job you applied for? It might have been a ghost job - a posting for a job that doesn’t even exist.

Apple is offering rare discounts. If you’re in the market⁷ for a new iPhone, China is the place to go. Apple is slashing⁸ prices for the second time this year, offering discounts of up to $318 in response to sluggish⁹ sales.

1  ‘up’, in the context of stocks, means the price has increased - in the opposite way, you can say a stock is down.

2  surpassing (formal) = exceeding, gone above

3  blew the doors off (informal) = was better than

4  put simply, almost every metric in the Q1 report was better than expected

5  crack down = take strong action to stop something

6  hear back (informal) = receive a reponse

7  in the market = wanting to buy

8  slash = reduce greatly

9  sluggish = slow (a slug is like a snail: 🐌 without a shell)

QUIZ

(Answers at the bottom of the page)

Imagine you have a meeting with a colleague scheduled for 10am.

You get this message from them:

“Sorry for the short notice but can we push back our meeting by one hour?”

Question: What time do they want to change the meeting to?

A: 9am

B: 11am

Bonus Question! What phrasal verb is the opposite of push back, in this context?

IN SIMPLE ENGLISH

Deepfake

What is a deepfake?

A fake video or image created using AI technology. Popular examples usually include Presidents or other important people saying/doing silly things.

Why is it called this?

Firstly, let’s clarify the meaning of the adjective ‘deep’. We use this when describing physical depth, for example, the water level in a swimming pool. It can also be used to describe how complex something is, for example, a deep conversation about life.

It’s called Deepfake because it uses a deep learning algorithm. Here, “deep” refers to the many layers of a neural network (which tries to copy the way a human brain learns information).

When did they come about?

Deepfake technology first appeared in 2017 when an anonymous user (with the username deepfake) posted an algorithm on Reddit that used existing AI to create realistic fake videos.

How are they made?

The process involves two algorithms.

One algorithm is trained to produce the most realistic fake versions of actual, real images.

The other algorithm is trained to detect when an image is fake and when it’s not.

The two models iterate back and forth, each getting better at their respective task, until it’s basically impossible to determine which is real and which has been generated.

Who is making them?

Anyone, from academic researchers to amateurs at home and even governments. The problem is when they are made by groups or organisations with bad intentions.

What about shallowfakes?

Shallow (the opposite of deep) fakes are actually a thing. They’re fake images or videos made using basic editing tools rather than AI algorithms.

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ENGLISH FOR PROGRAMMERS

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