Apple-New iPads; Google Drops New Android Features; Researchers-Less Educated Areas Adopting AI Faster; TSMC to Put $100 Billion into US Chip Production

Apple had teased some new product, and now we have some. Today, they dropped a freshened iPad Air powered by an M3 chip. Appleinsider.com reports that the form factor has stayed the same on the iPad Air, but the new chip gives it a 35% improved clock speed over the M1 chip version, and it also has a better Neural Engine. The new iPad is available in 11 and 13-inch versions, which are both the same size as the last models. Both continue to use Touch ID as opposed to Face ID…accessed via the top button. The 11 inch model starts at $599 and the 13 inch size is $799, and both are pre-order able now, and will be out March 12th. We still may see upgraded MacBook Airs yet this week.

Google has bowed new features for Android devices. According to Androidauthority.com, one is Scam Detection on the Google Messages App. A 2nd feature allows you to share your location with family or friends using Find My Device. They have also rolled out some new shopping features on Chrome for Android. Scam Detection for Messages uses AI to identify patterns commonly associated with scams to warn you in real time if it suspects a scam is happening. You can then either choose to ignore the warning or block and report the conversation. Scam Detection for calls remains in beta, but the beta has been expanded and it now covers all English-speaking Pixel 9 series owners in the US. As for the location sharing, you can let friends or family see where you are on a map now…that will be handy for, say, picking someone up at the airport. You have control over who can see your location and for how long. The shopping with Android for Chrome now lets you stay up to date on a product’s price history, track price drops, and compare prices. 

Here’s an interesting AI wrinkle: researchers have found that people in less-educated areas are adopting AI writing tools more quickly than those in more highly educated areas. Arstechnica.com says Stanford researchers analyzed some 305 million texts, to get this surprising result. They analyzed texts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the study. By using a statistical detection system that tracked word usage patterns, the researchers found that roughly 18 percent of financial consumer complaints (including 30 percent of all complaints from Arkansas), 24 percent of corporate press releases, up to 15 percent of job postings, and 14 percent of UN press releases showed signs of AI assistance during that period of time. regions with lower educational attainment used AI writing tools more frequently (19.9 percent compared to 17.4 percent in higher-education areas). The researchers note that this contradicts typical technology adoption patterns where more educated populations adopt new tools fastest. The scientists note that the AI help seemed to ‘equalize’ things in written communications…bringing up the level of the communications from less-educated areas closer to parity with more highly educated places. 

Although Taiwan Semiconductor has been furiously building chip-making plants in the US…notably Arizona…and has put billions into the project, it is apparently not enough for the Trump administration. Now, under threats of more tariffs from the US, TSMC will pump another $100 billion into its US chipmaking. How fast this happens or how much really happens is anyone’s guess. Both Apple and OpenAI have pledged to invest some $500 billion each into nebulous plans…apparently in an effort to avoid pissing off Donald Trump….who has threatened to not only put on stiff tariffs, but to trash the CHIPS Act, which has helped get chipmaking back to the US. Of course, since that is a Joe Biden deal, Mr Trump doesn’t like it. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.