Artificial Intelligence research is making big strides. But in practice?

There are several buckets you can use to categorize AI, one of which is the BS bucket. Within, you’ll find simple statistical algorithms people have been using forever. But there’s another bucket of things that actually weren’t possible a decade ago.

“The vast majority of businesses are still in the early phases of collecting and using data. Most companies looking for data scientists are looking for people to collect, manage, and calculate basic statistics over normal business processes.”

Today we launch our Register Debates in which we spar over hot topics and YOU decide which side is right – by reader vote.

YouTube’s “next video” is a profit-maximizing recommendation system, an A.I. selecting increasingly ‘engaging’ videos. And that’s the problem.

“Computer scientists and users began noticing that YouTube’s algorithm seemed to achieve its goal by recommending increasingly extreme and conspiratorial content. One researcher reported that after she viewed footage of Donald Trump campaign rallies, YouTube next offered her videos featuring “white supremacist rants, Holocaust denials and other disturbing content.” The algorithm’s upping-the-ante approach went beyond politics, she said: “Videos about vegetarianism led to videos about veganism. Videos about jogging led to videos about running ultramarathons.” As a result, research suggests, YouTube’s algorithm has been helping to polarize and radicalize people and spread misinformation, just to keep us watching.”

By teaching machines to understand our true desires, one scientist hopes to avoid the potentially disastrous consequences of having them do what we command.

“The Artificial Intelligence Contagion” is book and blog which compares A.I. and Robotics researchers to “the worst criminals the world has ever known”. This is my rebuttal to the author’s promotional material he circulated to 86 law professors and A.I. scientists.

A week ago I received an email from David Barnhizer, the author of a new book entitled “The Artificial intelligence contagion” addressed to 86 law professors, attorneys, and A.I. Researchers. I’ve began reading and found the book’s blog and a book review which says that “Those responsible for [artificial intelligence and robotics] are the worst criminals the world has ever known”. This sentiment is repeated throughout the writings, claiming to reflect growing animosity towards the artificial intelligence community.

For this reason, this piece is NOT a review of the book, which I did not read for reasons made obvious further below, for I do not wish to draw any attention to it. But I take exception to comparing me and my fellow scientists and researchers in artificial intelligence to genocidal dictators and war criminals. And Luddite Activism is a real danger.

I therefore wrote this rebuttal, addressing the book’s author and the remaining academics and scientists Barnhizer’s email was sent to (edited for clarity).

The power shift continues.

Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the world has developed complex supply chains, from designers to manufacturers, from distributors to importers, wholesalers and retailers, it’s what allowed billions of products to be made, shipped, bought and enjoyed in all corners of the world. In recent times the power of the Internet, especially the mobile phone, has unleashed a movement that’s rapidly destroying these layers and moving power to new places.

The Internet is the most powerful mechanism we can imagine to match perfectly individuals that need something, and people with something to offer. The moment started slowly by reducing complexity and removing the middle layer in the late 1990s. From insurance to early PC makers like Dell to travel agents, this time seemed to be an age where “direct” became a desirable moniker. This time seemed to favor scale and efficiency over service or brand, for commodities like insurance cover or processing power, the overheads of sales, marketing and retail footprint were stripped away.

HSBC will upgrade their blockchain technology to control $20 billion in assets by March 2020.

LONDON (Reuters) — HSBC aims to shift $20 billion worth of assets to a new blockchain-based custody platform by March, in one of the biggest deployments yet of the widely-hyped but still unproven technology by a global bank.

A first: paralyzed man uses brain signals to control a robot exoskeleton.

Doctors who conducted the trial said though the device was years away from being publicly available, it had the potential to improve patients’ quality of life and autonomy.

The patient, identified only as Thibault, 28, from Lyon, said the technology had given him a new lease of life. Four years ago his life was permanently changed when he fell 40ft (12 metres) from a balcony, severing his spinal cord and leaving him paralysed from the shoulders down.

“When you are in my position, when you can’t do anything with your body … I wanted to do something with my brain,” Thibault said.

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot showing off its new gymnastic skills.

Hey Google, how many enemy combatants remain standing?

British soldiers could soon be offered a “military Alexa” digital assistant which would provide troops in the field with automated information from combat tactics to repair instructions.

The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £700,000 contract to a British technology company to explore the feasibility of an artificial intelligence “chatbot” which will allow soldiers on deployment to obtain crucial information via computer link.

The specification for the AI system requires that it be accessible via military “tactical radios” and handheld devices, suggesting that it could even be used by troops on the frontline engaged in combat to access intelligence and vital information. Although initially text based, the chatbot could also be further developed to give instructions by voice.

Promise yields hype; hype yields false promises.

Engineer.ai says it uses artificial intelligence to help automate app-development. Current and former staffers say the company inflates its technical prowess to attract customers and investors.

Living healthier and longer can depend on probiotics more than we ever thought.

The bacteria in our gut make thousands of tiny, previously unidentified proteins that could shed light on human health and advance drug development, Stanford researchers have found.