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Archive for the ‘economics’ category: Page 21

May 11, 2023

Could AI Reduce How Much We Trust Other People?

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI

The researchers suggest that a pervasive design perspective is driving the development of AI with increasingly human-like features. While this may be appealing in some contexts, it can also be problematic, particularly when it is unclear who you are communicating with. Ivarsson questions whether AI should have such human-like voices, as they create a sense of intimacy and lead people to form impressions based on the voice alone.

In the case of the would-be fraudster calling the “older man,” the scam is only exposed after a long time, which Lindwall and Ivarsson attribute to the believability of the human voice and the assumption that the confused behavior is due to age. Once an AI has a voice, we infer attributes such as gender, age, and socio-economic background, making it harder to identify that we are interacting with a computer.

The researchers propose creating AI with well-functioning and eloquent voices that are still clearly synthetic, increasing transparency.

May 11, 2023

Interdependent superconducting networks

Posted by in categories: economics, energy, internet, physics

In 2010 Prof. Shlomo Havlin and collaborators published an article in the journal Nature proposing that the abrupt electricity failure causing the famous 2003 Italy blackout was a consequence of the inter-dependency of two networks. According to Havlin’s theory the dependency between the power network and its communication system led to cascading failures and abrupt collapse. Havlin’s seminal work ignited a new field in statistical physics known as “network of networks” or “interdependent networks” and paved the way for understanding and predicting the effects of the interaction between networks.

The main novelty of Havlin’s model is the existence of two types of links that represent two qualitatively different kinds of interactions. Within networks, links between nodes describe connectivity such as or communication connections. Between networks, on the other hand, links describe dependency relationships in which the functionality of a node in one network depends on the functionality of a node in the other. The communication hubs need electricity and the electric power stations depend on communication control. This dependency leads to a cascading effect in which failure of a single node in one of the networks could lead to an abrupt breakdown of both networks.

Over the past decade or so since, Havlin, from the Department of Physics at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and others have applied this concept to a variety of abstract systems, such as the internet, road traffic, the economy, infrastructure, and more. But being a theorist, Havlin was unable to manifest the hypothesis on real experimental physical systems and thus the theory couldn’t be confirmed in controlled experiments, nor could it be implemented for device-type applications.

May 10, 2023

Google needs to stop throwing good money after Bard

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI

At its I/O developer conference, the search giant needs to rethink its AI strategy if it wants to catch Microsoft. The missing element? Experimentation.

Google has had a rough six months. Since ChatGPT launched last November — followed by the new Bing in February and GPT-4 in March — the company has failed to establish its AI credentials. Its own offering, the “experimental” chatbot Bard, compares poorly to rivals, and insider reports have portrayed a company in panic and disarray. Today, at its annual I/O conference, the company needs to convince the public (and shareholders) that it has a meaningful response. But to do that, it needs a new playbook.


AI outputs are increasingly defining the cultural moment — just not Google’s.

Continue reading “Google needs to stop throwing good money after Bard” »

May 10, 2023

Exclusive: Bill Gates on the future of nuclear energy, AI

Posted by in categories: business, climatology, economics, nuclear energy, robotics/AI, sustainability

TerraPower, founded by billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2008, is opening a new nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The plant will be the first of its kind, with the company hoping to revolutionize the nuclear energy industry in the U.S. to help fight climate change and support American energy independence.

“Nuclear energy, if we do it right, will help us solve our climate goals,” Gates told ABC News. “That is, get rid of the greenhouse gas emissions without making the electricity system far more expensive or less reliable.”

Gates met with ABC News’ chief business, economics, and technology correspondent Rebecca Jarvis in Kemmerer to talk about the project.

May 9, 2023

NVIDIA Canvas App: AI-Powered Painting

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI

With all the controversy surrounding AI art, I’m surprised that NVIDIA is so rarely discussed. Unlike other AI art technologies, NVIDIA facilitates drawing landscapes in an interactive fashion. You sketch out rough blobs and then the AI converts your shapes into rocks, grasses, dirt, trees, and other selectable material types. I think that this kind of tool deserves much more attention since it empowers human artists to create with AI as a partner and gives us more creative control over the final result. Sure, NVIDIA itself is somewhat limited, but the principle of it is very compelling and I can easily envision people developing lots of improved versions that can draw more than just landscapes. I think it is surprising that this kind of approach has not caught on, but perhaps there are economic reasons that I’m not aware of which explain the relative lack of interactive AI art tools.


Use AI to Create Backgrounds Quickly, or Speed up your Concept Exploration.

May 9, 2023

What is Web3 and how could it change the internet?

Posted by in categories: blockchains, economics, internet

Web3 is a “decentralized web ecosystem” in which users retain their data. Blockchain-based, it would usher in the era of the “token economy”, say experts.

May 6, 2023

Dr. Kathryn Huff, Ph.D. — Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

Posted by in categories: economics, engineering, government, nuclear energy, physics, policy, security, supercomputing

Advancing Nuclear Energy Science And Technology For U.S. Energy, Environmental And Economic Needs — Dr. Katy Huff, Ph.D. — Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.


Dr. Kathryn Huff, Ph.D. (https://www.energy.gov/ne/person/dr-kathryn-huff) is Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, where she leads their strategic mission to advance nuclear energy science and technology to meet U.S. energy, environmental, and economic needs, both realizing the potential of advanced technology, and leveraging the unique role of the government in spurring innovation.

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May 6, 2023

Dr Erwin Gianchandani — Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, U.S. NSF

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics, employment, government, health, robotics/AI

Accelerating Breakthroughs in Critical and Emerging Technologies — Dr. Erwin Gianchandani, Ph.D. — Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)


Dr. Erwin Gianchandani, Ph.D. is Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, U.S. National Science Foundation, leading the newly established TIP Directorate (https://new.nsf.gov/tip/leadership).

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May 5, 2023

Rocket Report: China selling reusable engines; can SpaceX still raise money?

Posted by in categories: economics, military, space travel

Welcome to Edition 5.36 of the Rocket Report! A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the space media were given a May 4 launch date for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Alas, May the 4th, in 2023, wasn’t meant to be. In this week’s report, I explain why.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Electron to serve as a hypersonics test bed. Rocket Lab’s small booster will use essentially the same first and second stages for hypersonic test flights, but it will have a modified kick stage that will allow Electron to deploy payloads with a mass of up to 600 kg into trajectories five times greater than the speed of sound, Ars reports. The Army, Navy, and Air Force are all developing hypersonic missiles to provide a fast-moving, maneuverable capability for striking targets quickly from thousands of kilometers away. Among the research problems the military likely wants to test is managing the extreme heat that hypersonic missiles are exposed to by traveling at high speeds in the atmosphere for most of their flight.

May 2, 2023

How To Use FinOps As A Tool In The Fight Against Rising Cloud Costs

Posted by in categories: economics, security

Scott Sellers is the co-founder and CEO of Azul, with 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur and executive in the technology industry.

For the first time in a decade, controlling cloud costs has surpassed security as the top cloud management challenge facing IT professionals, according to a survey by Flexera. An Andreessen Horowitz study also said that up to $1 trillion in market capitalization is weighed down by overspending in the cloud. Today, challenging economic conditions, rising costs, increasingly stringent performance SLAs and the need for more resources are squeezing organizations that want to remain in the cloud without overspending.

Many organizations still struggle to connect the dots between the value they deliver via the cloud and the costs required to deliver that value. Without a clear understanding of that basic relationship, it is difficult for teams to hold productive conversations about costs. Engineering departments don’t know what to prioritize; cloud architects lack a direction on designing, developing and managing solutions; product managers face difficulties pricing their solutions; and executives wonder where all the money is going.

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