Lifeboat Foundation

Dr. Ben Goertzel, a self-described Cosmist and Singularitarian, is one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial general intelligence (AGI), natural language processing, cognitive science, data mining, machine learning, computational finance, bioinformatics, and virtual worlds and gaming He has published a dozen scientific books, 100+ technical papers, and numerous journalistic articles.

Since the infancy of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 1990, people have been fascinated by the potential for brain scans to unlock the mysteries of the human mind, our behaviors and beliefs. Many breathtaking applications for brain scans have been devised, but hype often exceeds what empirical science can deliver. It’s time to ask: What’s the big picture of neuroscience and what are the limitations of brain scans?

The specific aims of any research endeavor depend on who you ask and what funding agency is involved, says Michael Spezio, associate professor of psychology, data science and neuroscience at Scripps College. Some people believe neuroscience has the potential to explain human cognition and behavior as a fully mechanistic process, ultimately debunking an “illusion of free will.” Not all neuroscientists agree that free will is a myth, but it’s a strong current these days. Neuroscience also has applications in finance, artificial intelligence, weapons research and national security.

For other researchers and funders, the specific aim of neuroscience involves focusing on medical imaging, genetics, the study of proteins (proteomics) and the study of neural connections (connectomics). As caring persons who are biological, neurological, physical, social and spiritual, we can use neuroscience to think carefully and understand our humanity and possible ways to escape some of the traps we’ve built for ourselves, says Spezio. Also, brain scans can enhance research into spirituality, mindfulness and theory of mind – the awareness of emotions, values, empathy, beliefs, intentions and mental states to explain or predict others’ behavior.

Digitalization generated 4 percent of the total greenhouse emissions in 2020.

More than half of the digital data firms generate is collected, processed, and stored for single-use purposes. Often, it is never re-used. This could be your multiple near-identical images held on Google Photos or iCloud, a business’s outdated spreadsheets that will never be used again, or data from internet of things sensors that have no purpose.

This “dark data” is anchored to the real world by the energy it requires. Even data that is stored and never used again takes up space on servers — typically huge banks of computers in warehouses. Those computers and those warehouses all use lots of electricity.

Continue reading “What is ‘dark data’? How digital information is quietly sapping energy” »

A new longevity focused venture capital fund is preparing to announce its first investments, as it seeks to accelerate commercialisation in the field. Joining the likes of Maximon, Apollo and Korify, New York’s Life Extension Ventures (LifeX) has put together a $100 million fund specifically for companies developing solutions to extend the longevity of both humans and our planet. In a slight twist, the fund is predominantly looking to invest in companies that are leveraging software and data at the heart of their efforts to hasten the adoption of scientific breakthroughs in longevity.

Longevity. Technology: The longevity field is alive with innovation, and developments in AI and Big Data are just some of the software-led technologies driving progress throughout the sector. Co-founded by scientists-turned-entrepreneurs, Amol Sarva and Inaki Berenguer, LifeX Ventures’ investment philosophy draws on their combined experiences building software-led companies across a wide range of sectors. We caught up with Sarva to learn more.

Between them Sarva, a cognitive scientist by training, and Berenguer have led and/or founded several startups, such as CoverWallet, Virgin Mobile USA and Halo Neuroscience. The two have also invested personally in more than 150 startups before their interest turned more recently to longevity.

Were you unable to attend Transform 2022? Check out all of the summit sessions in our on-demand library now! Watch here.

Marketers are standing at a precipice when it comes to strategy and automation. Advanced systems are seen as the next step in marketing, but for many businesses, the concept is still uncharted territory. However, those who don’t adopt the rapidly advancing technology into their marketing plans will quickly be at a huge disadvantage.

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the U.S. market for AI-powered software, hardware and services is expected to break $120 billion by 2025. The marketing intelligence firm also found that banks and retailers were the biggest spenders on AI, with retail having already invested upwards of $5.9 billion in these systems for marketing alone in 2019. And spending on these advanced systems for this specific purpose has only increased since then. It is evident that algorithmic systems are the future of marketing, and those who don’t invest in them will be left behind.

I am registering Posthuman as a religion in UK, and MVT (although evidence based) as a “religious belief” — which seems consistent with.gov requirements, since the Posthuman Movement started 1988 in UK. Why shouldn’t rational folk benefit from the same financial benefits awarded to promoters of Supernaturalism and religious daftness? Perhaps Transhumans should also consider this, or jointly with https://Posthuman.org? Any USA citizens interested in this approach? https://www.gov.uk/…/charitable…/charitable-purposes…

Posthuman Psychology, MVT research, World Philosophy, Software development.

Corporate Venturing For Integrated Digital Healthcare Solutions — Bill Taranto, President, Global Health Innovation Fund, Merck

Bill Taranto is President of the Global Health Innovation Fund at Merck (https://www.merckghifund.com/taranto.html) and founding partner since inception in 2010.

Continue reading “Bill Taranto — President, GHI Fund, Merck — Corporate Venturing For Integrated Healthcare Solutions” »

Conversational AI is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that allows consumers to interact with computer applications as if they were interacting with another human. According to Deloitte, the global conversational AI market is set to grow by 22% between 2022 and 2025 and is estimated to reach $14 billion by 2025.

Providing enhanced language customizations to cater to a highly diverse and vast group of hyper-local audiences, many practical applications of this include financial services, hospital wards and conferences, and can take the form of a translation app or a chatbot. According to Gartner, 70% of white-collar workers purportedly regularly interact with conversational platforms, but this is just a drop in the ocean of what can unfold this decade.

Despite the exciting potential within the AI space, there is one significant hurdle; the data used to train conversational AI models does not adequately account for the subtleties of dialect, language, speech patterns and inflection.

Revolut founder Nik Storonsky appears to have named the CEO of his AI-powered venture capital firm Quantum Light Capital.

Ilya Kondrashov, most recently the founder and advisor to Dubai-based family office Five8 Foundation, joined Quantum Light Capital as its chief executive this month, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Before Five8, Kondrashov held executive positions and founded small business credit startup MarketFinance, which was backed by banking giant Barclays and venture capital firm Northzone. On his Twitter page, he describes himself as an “entrepreneur and investor”, with interests in fintech, SaaS and Web3.