Curating the Internet: Business, leadership, and management micro-summaries for September 13, 2019

An argument that deepfake videos threaten the fabric of democracy; An optimistic look at productivity in the US economy; An op-ed argues that increasing retirement savings isn't always the best choice; A crypto-brokerage that makes it easier to short-sell Bitcoin and Ethereum; And a Steem post inviting tourism to Romania

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Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.

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How deepfakes undermine truth and threaten democracy - In this TED talk, law professor Danielle Citron discusses the problem of deep fakes - realistic seeming videos that are fabricated by artificial intelligence. She begins with the example of a human rights journalist in India who became the subject of a fake and viral sex video, and then moves on to discuss the ease with which deepfake videos are produced, noting that it can be done by anyone in a desktop application, and soon on a cell phone. Pointing out that online hoaxes spread 10 times faster than real news, and that people are naturally trusting of video evidence, she expresses concerns that deepfakes could be used to launch disinformation campaigns that would flip elections, and erode confidence in politicians - especially in a future when it may become impossible to distinguish between high quality fakes and actual videos. Acknowledging that it's difficult because it requires human judgment, she advises social media companies to ban deepfake videos that cause harm. She also adds that present-day laws are unfit for dealing with the harms of deepfake videos, and says she is working with policy makers to get harmful deepfakes banned in some jurisdictions, and pursuing a coordinated international response along with training for law enforcement and journalists. And she also suggests that social media users need to become better at discriminating between reality and fakery.

Rising economic productivity – blip or boom? - According to a graph of productivity data from the Bureau of Labor Services (BLS), Bret Swanson shows that productivity in the American labor force has reached a high in the last two years. He suggests it's because tax and regulatory changes are having a positive effect, and also that businesses are finally learning to capitalize on tools and business models that have created such a high degree of innovation in the digital sector. He goes on to express optimism that a number of US industries may be on the cusp of a "productivity boom".

Opinion: Stop pushing poor people to save more for retirement - In this article, Andrew G. Biggs argues that retirement savings isn't always the best course of action for people with limited assets. Biggs agrees that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in a retirement savings program, but notes that retirement savings is not about being rich in retirement. Instead, it's about maintaining our pre-retirement standard of living. With that in mind, he suggests that sacrificing the current standard of living to save for retirement may be counterproductive. The article moves on to provide a series of statistical demonstrations that lower income people are generally able to maintain their current standards of living into retirement, suggesting that there is no need for low income people to start saving more for retirement, especially if saving more means borrowing money to meet current expenses.

Crypto Brokerage Tagomi Makes Shorting Bitcoin and Ether Easier - The Tagomi trading firm, based in New York allows its users to lend or borrow Bitcoin and Ether (BTC and ETH), which serves to facilitate short-trading. According to Bloomberg Quint this makes shorting easier than elsewhere in the market place because it provides access to multiple counterparties in a single platform. Elsewhere in the space, traders need to call a number of different brokers and trading desks in order to facilitate a short sale. The article quotes Pantera Capital's Dennis Chou as saying, "The crypto space is volatile, so if you can’t short, you’re missing part of the puzzle.".

STEEM ALL the reasons why you should travel to Romania - In this post, @holm begins with a brief history of Romania, pointing out that because the land was part of the Ottoman Empire for longer than it was independent, it draws a large influence from Turkish culture and customs. Additionally, the effect lingers from 50 years of suppression under the communist Soviet Union, but the citizens are now fighting through and emerging from the corruption and hobbles of the past. It goes on to suggest the things that a tourist would enjoy about a visit to Romania. First among these is the Romanian people, who @holm says are warm and inviting to foreigners. Points of interest include the Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania, the city of Brasov, and the mouth of the Danube River, where it opens into the Black Sea. The article also suggests enjoying the traditional food, such as Maramures. (A 10% beneficiary setting has been applied to this post for @holm.)

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