Automated resume scanning softwares are filtering out good candidates, patents created by an AI gets rejected by the patent office, and Germany wants tougher laws surrounding smartphone support.
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It’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday, September 7, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
A new report by the Harvard Business Review says that automated resume scanning software is breaking the hiring process in the U.S. Instead of using humans to review resumes, many companies use software to scan them for the desired traits. According to the report, this softwares uses simplistic criteria to filter out resumes. They unduly penalize candidates based on employment gaps or overly rigid skill matching, to name a few faults. The study also says that companies are well aware of the problem and are looking for solutions, but given that the remedy requires an overhaul in the entire hiring process, the pace of change is slow.
Can AIs create patents? One U.S. judge says no. The original issue stemmed from a company called Imagination Engines based in Missouri. Imagination Engines had filed two patents in 2019 under DABUS, the company’s neural network engine. The patents were rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office as according to the organization, only “natural persons” can be named as patent creators. Stephen Thaler, the founder of Imagination Engines, then sued the director of the patent office at the time in federal court. The case ultimately ended with the judge siding with the patent office, but Thaler plans on continuing to advocate for AIs’ rights as patent creators.
The German government has proposed to the European Commission to extend the smartphone service period. Under the new proposal, smartphone producers would be required to provide security patches and hardware support for at least seven years. Germany also wants the spare parts to be offered at a reasonable price by manufacturers to vendors. In addition to extending the electronics’ lifespan for consumers, reducing e-waste also lightens their impact on the environment.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Friday at 3 pm. If you have a suggestion or tip, please drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thanks for listening, I’m Tom Li.