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Sep 5, 2016
A Look at IBM’s Watson 5 Years After Its Breathtaking Jeopardy Debut
Posted by Elmar Arunov in categories: biotech/medical, computing, robotics/AI
The year was 2012, and IBM’s AI software Watson was in the midst of its heyday.
Watson beat two of Jeopardy’s all-time champions a year earlier in 2011, and the world was stunned. It was the first widespread and successful demonstration of a natural language processing computer of its class. Combined with the popularity of Jeopardy, Watson became an immediate mainstream icon.
Later in 2012, IBM announced one of the first major practical partnerships for Watson—a Cleveland Clinic collaboration to bring the system into medical training.
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Sep 5, 2016
Singularity: Is It Possible? Has It Already Begun?
Posted by Elmar Arunov in categories: employment, robotics/AI, singularity
Singularity: The technological singularity (also, simply, the singularity) is the hypothesis that the invention of artificial superintelligence will abruptly trigger runaway technological growth, resulting in unfathomable changes to human civilization.
Have you ever taken a look at the constantly accelerating world of technology and thought “what happens if these machines become more intelligent than us? Will they develop conscious thoughts and decide that we are inferior and wipe us out? Will they become our bff’s for being their creators? How come our jobs are rapidly being replaced by machines? What will be the role of humans if we are no longer the most intelligent beings? Is this at all even possible?”
I find these ideas interesting to think about and I think the notion of singularity is a possibility that should at least be considered. In this article I’m going to outline a few of the issues surrounding intelligent machines and advanced AI. As well as give some of my personal opinions about the topic.
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Sep 5, 2016
This is All you Should Know About “The String Theory”
Posted by Elmar Arunov in categories: cosmology, quantum physics
String theory arrived in the public field in 1988 when a BBC radio series Desperately Seeking Superstrings was aired. Thanks to good marketing and its naturally curious name and characteristics, it is now part of popular discourse, mentioned in TV’s Big Bang Theory, Woody Allen stories, and countless science documentaries.
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Sep 5, 2016
Artificial intelligence wants to be your bro, not your foe
Posted by Elmar Arunov in categories: computing, economics, education, employment, policy, robotics/AI, surveillance, transportation
The odds that artificial intelligence will enslave or eliminate humankind within the next decade or so are thankfully slim. So concludes a major report from Stanford University on the social and economic implications of artificial intelligence.
At the same time, however, the report concludes that AI looks certain to upend huge aspects of everyday life, from employment and education to transportation and entertainment. More than 20 leaders in the fields of AI, computer science, and robotics coauthored the report. The analysis is significant because the public alarm over the impact of AI threatens to shape public policy and corporate decisions.
It predicts that automated trucks, flying vehicles, and personal robots will be commonplace by 2030, but cautions that remaining technical obstacles will limit such technologies to certain niches. It also warns that the social and ethical implications of advances in AI, such as the potential for unemployment in certain areas and likely erosions of privacy driven by new forms of surveillance and data mining, will need to be open to discussion and debate.
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Sep 5, 2016
How Elon Musk Plays With His Kid
Posted by Bryan Gatton in categories: Elon Musk, humor, space travel
Sep 4, 2016
Stay tuned for new robot, says Sony CEO
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI
Sony is hiding their home helper robot, which is concerning. I have seen pictures of Elon Musk’s home helper bot and it looked really bad. At least there seems to be a race to get these things to market now.
Sony’s much anticipated new robot is under development and customers should hang on a little longer to see it, CEO Kaz Hirai said on Thursday.
Sony began working on a home robot in April this year and first disclosed existence of the project in June this year. Since then, it’s been quiet on what exactly is under development.
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Sep 4, 2016
This robotic kitchen has dinner covered
Posted by Bryan Gatton in categories: food, robotics/AI
Sep 4, 2016
‘Abolish artificial scarcity’: @KevinCarson1
Posted by Harry J. Bentham in categories: disruptive technology, economics, futurism, government, hacking, hardware, policy, transhumanism
Predicting an economic “singularity” approaching, Kevin Carson from the Center for a Stateless Society writes in The Homebrew Industrial Revolution (2010) we can look forward to a vibrant “alternative economy” driven less and less by corporate and state leviathans.
According to Carson, “the more technical advances lower the capital outlays and overhead for production in the informal economy, the more the economic calculus is shifted” (p. 357). While this sums up the message of the book and its relevance to advocates of open existing and emerging technologies, the analysis Carson offers to reach his conclusions is extensive and sophisticated.
With the technology of individual creativity expanding constantly, the analysis goes, “increasing competition, easy diffusion of new technology and technique, and increasing transparency of cost structure will – between them – arbitrage the rate of profit to virtually zero and squeeze artificial scarcity rents” (p. 346).
An unrivalled champion of arguments against “intellectual property”, the author believes IP to be nothing more than a last-ditch attempt by talentless corporations to continue making profit at the expensive of true creators and scientists (p. 114–129). The view has significant merit.
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