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Category: finance – Page 165

Apple hires virtual and augmented reality tech expert: Report

Virginia Tech’s Professor Doug Bowman comes to Apple to make VR. This should be very interesting since he won the research grant to work on the “Hololens” — could be interesting.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Apple has hired one of the leading experts on virtual and augmented reality — Virginia Tech computer science professor Doug Bowman. He was recently listed among grant winners for HoloLens research projects and is skilled in creating 3D user interfaces, reports Endgadget. He has also co-authored a book called 3D User Interfaces Theory and Practice.

He’s been working on technologies such as wearable displays and full surround display prototypes at Virginia Tech.

Apple has been building up on its VR arsenal in the recent past with a string of acquisitions in the domain, along with reports of patents and other significant hires. While much has been happening behind closed doors, analysts predict that in 2016, that is going to change. Apple will become “very aggressive on the virtual/augmented reality front through organic as well as acquisitive means in 2016 as this represents a natural next generation consumer technology that plays well into its unrivaled iPhone ecosystem,” FBR & Co analyst Daniel Ives said in an earlier report.

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Why you should be scared of robots

Another article highlighting the fears around Singularity. There are so many great things that will come from Singularity such as Cancer is wiped out, improved healthcare across the board and cheaper, etc. And, there are also downsides as Gates, Musk, etc. have warned folks especially around AI.

So, what are our options and obligations around Singularity? In reality, you will not be able to stop this evolution from happening. However, each person has a right to decide how much singularity is right for their own private use. As a business or a company, there are many things to consider such as Total Cost of Ownership v. ROI, tax codes or how government will view “humanoids” v. non-humanoids as it relates to CapEx and Taxes, etc. And, the company or business needs to ensure that there are appropriate safegaurds in place in order to protect their data, etc… Also, government has an obligation to the people in general in safegaurding our rights, security, and safety.

Another, question that will continue to be raised and will increase overtime is government and business obligations to the financial welfare of the people. And, this one will become more and more complex and interesting overtime. If AI was to truly displace millions of workers; how will the countries help feed, clothe, and house millions displaced people beyond what they have done in their own country’s past? Will the countries government place a special tax structure on companies and businesses to help fund the displaced workers and their families? Or, will it be a joint partnership with business and government? It does make one wonder.

Many experts believe the single greatest threat to our existence is the so-called “singularity” when computers are as smart as we are.

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Lagarde: The end of cash could happen within a decade

Ok, my one world currency comsipracy friends; here is a story for you.

Cash could become history within a decade, thanks to new financial instruments, including virtual currencies, some of the world’s leading bankers said during the World Economic Forum on Wednesday (20 January).

The impact of technology, the overarching theme of this year’s meeting, will be very significant.

The evolution would be so significant that John Cryan, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank AG, predicted that, in ten years’ time, “probably” we would not see cash anymore. It is “terribly inefficient”, he added.

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Bionic advances to defeat death

Life extension story in Financial Times:

People have long dreamt of extending the human lifespan from the biblical “three score years and 10” (70) to reach Methuselah’s 969 and beyond.

Demographic statistics show remarkable progress in fending off death, at least in the developed world. In reality, average life expectancy in biblical times was not 70 but about 35 years. In Britain this rose to about 50 in 1900, 76 in 1990 and 82 today.

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How quantum computation will be a goldmine for the financial world

This article just posted today. Great news; the author did reference the risks that we face with our information, etc. as it relates with countries like Russia and China who are investing in Quantum.

The impact of quantum computation on the financial markets will be direct and swift, and introduces new highs and new lows, opening a playing field of near limitless potential.

Posted by Ben Rossi.

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Quantum Computing – things that need to be considered for our future Quantum Computing World

Sharing my recent posting that I did on Linkedin Pulse. I will admit that I purposely delayed this article in concerns of creating a panic; however, with the progress that has been occuring across the globe and in some cases accelerated the maturity of this technology; I believe it is time for governments, industries, etc. to start thinking about their own broader strategic plans around Quantum as well as how they will address any impacts.

Quantum Computing is making great progress in so many areas such as chips, network/ Internet, etc. each month. And, many industries such as financials, telecom, tech, and public sector namely defense and space, etc. have made big investments in this technology as well as have developed some interesting partnerships such as Wall Street. Everything looks so promising and exciting for our future when we look at the various ways how Quantum Computing can change our lives around AI, improving the medical technologies, how we interact with devices (wearables, VR, etc.), and even how we travel will advance through this technology. The future looks extremely rosy and bright; right?.

I believe it can be with Quantum; however, in every major shift/ disruption in technology, there is always a transformation progression that has to naturally occur thru stages. And, Quantum is no different; however, the disruption that Quantum will bring is going to be on a much more massive scale than what we have seen in the past. The reason why is Quantum is truly going to impact and improve every area of technology not just in devices, or a platform, AI, VR, etc.; I mean everything in technology will be changed and improved by Quantum over time.

Granted this will not be like a major change overnight like we saw with the iPhone, etc. This initial change will occur over a series of years possibly over the next 7 to 10 years. As each country continues to accelerate in their own efforts to be a fully Quantumized; we need to understand where the potential risks exist and have a good plan for how we plan to address our own risks and challenges during and after this transformation.

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Inside OpenAI: Will Transparency Protect Us From Artificial Intelligence Run Amok?

Last Friday at the Neural Information and Processing Systems conference in Montreal, Canada, a team of artificial intelligence luminaries announced OpenAI, a non-profit company set to change the world of machine learning.

Backed by Tesla and Space X’s Elon Musk and Y Combinator’s Sam Altman, OpenAI has a hefty budget and even heftier goals. With a billion dollars in initial funding, OpenAI eschews the need for financial gains, allowing it to place itself on sky-high moral grounds.

artificial-general-intelligenceBy not having to answer to industry or academia, OpenAI hopes to focus not just on developing digital intelligence, but also guide research along an ethical route that, according to their inaugural blog post, “benefits humanity as a whole.”

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Report: artificial intelligence will cause “structural collapse” of law firms


Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) will dominate legal practice within 15 years, perhaps leading to the “structural collapse” of law firms, a report predicting the shape of the legal market has envisaged.

Civilisation 2030: The near future for law firms, by Jomati Consultants, foresees a world in which population growth is actually slowing, with “peak humanity” occurring as early as 2055, and ageing populations bringing a growth in demand for legal work on issues affecting older people.

This could mean more advice needed by healthcare and specialist construction companies on the building and financing of hospitals, and on pension investment businesses, as well as financial and regulatory work around the demographic changes to come; more age-related litigation, IP battles between pharmaceutical companies, and around so-called “geriatric-tech” related IP.

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