Robotics/AI – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Mar 29
2017

Robot Nannies Are Here, But Won’t Replace Your Babysitter — Yet

Robot nannies in Forbes today. Interesting story! https://www.forbes.com/sites/centurylink/2017/03/29/robot-na…e6632c56b7 #transhumanism

Would you let a robot care for your child?

As our population ages, these caregiver robots will also be useful for the old as well as the young.

This is not a rhetorical question. So-called robot nannies are already a hit in Japan and China, and are now beginning to appear stateside.

The numbers show why this is an attractive proposition. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 4 million babies are born annually in the United States. That’s almost 11,000 daily births.

Mar 29
2017

Quantum computer startup Rigetti Computing Raised $64 Million

Rigetti Computing, a leading quantum computing start-up, announced it has raised $64 million in Series A and B funding.

Rigetti Computing is building a cloud quantum computing platform for artificial intelligence and computational chemistry. Rigetti recently opened up private beta testing of Forest, its API for quantum computing in the cloud. Forest emphasizes a quantum-classical hybrid computing model, integrating directly with existing cloud infrastructure and treating the quantum computer as an accelerator.

Mar 28
2017

NATO to spend 3 billion euros on satellite, cyber defenses

BRUSSELS NATO plans to spend 3 billion euros ($3.24 billion) to upgrade its satellite and computer technology over the next three years as the Western military alliance adapts to new threats, a senior official said.

Seeking to deter hackers, and other threats including Iranian missiles, the investments underscore NATO’s recognition that conflicts are increasingly fought on computer networks as well as in the air, on land and at sea.

A senior official at the NATO Communications and Information Agency said the plans include a 1.7-billion-euro investment in satellite communications to better support troops and ships deployed across the alliance, as well as aiding the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones.

Mar 28
2017

Robots do destroy jobs and lower wages, says new study

The fear that automation in the form of robots or artificial intelligence is going to destroy jobs is widespread. But it can be difficult to gauge just how serious to take the threat. Different reports offer different estimations of how many jobs will be lost, while politicians and economists argue that technology creates as many jobs as it destroys, maintaining an equilibrium in employment over the long run.

But is this really true? A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research aims to add some solid numbers to the debate, looking at the historical effects of robots on employment in the US. Economists Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo studied the US labor market between 1990 and 2007, looking at employment rates in different areas and industries while controlling for the influence of factors like increased imports from China and the offshoring of jobs.