Philosopher Daniel Dennett believes AI should never become conscious — and no, it’s not because of the robopocalypse.
Read more
Is It Moral to Enslave AI?
Posted in ethics, robotics/AI
Sometimes people bring up overpopulation scenarios where the population can fit inside Texas. But they ask, what about all the stuff that supports that population? Here is one answer.
Located in an abandoned 70,000-square-foot factory in Newark, New Jersey, the world’s largest vertical farm aims to produce 2,000,000 pounds of food per year. This AeroFarms operation is also set up to use 95% less water than open fields, with yields 75 times higher per square foot. Their stacked, high-efficiency aeroponics system needs no sunlight, soil or pesticides. The farm’s proximity to New York City means lower transportation costs and fresher goods to a local market. It also means new jobs for a former industrial district.
Around the world, urban farms are sprouting up at the intersection of new growing technologies and localvore movements. They vary in scale and focus, but their goals are generally similar: produce fruits and vegetables in more efficient, cheaper and greener ways. Growing in controlled environments also reduces environmental variables, like pests, weather and even seasons (allowing for more predictable year-round yields). Factory farm tenants can also take over and adaptively reuse structures in depressed areas with disused industrial building stock, creating employment opportunities in the process.
Depression, anxiety, grief, despair, stress—even suicide: The damage of unfolding climate change isn’t only counted in water shortages and wildfires, it’s likely eroding mental health on a mass scale, too, reports the American Psychological Association, the preeminent organization of American mental health professionals.
Direct, acute experience with a changing climate—the trauma of losing a home or a loved one to a flood or hurricane, for example—can bring mental health consequences that are sudden and severe. After Hurricane Katrina, for example, suicide and suicidal ideation among residents of areas affected by the disaster more than doubled according to a paper led by Harvard Medical School, while one in six met the criteria for PTSD, according to a Columbia University-led paper. Elevated PTSD levels have also been found among people who live through wildfires and extreme storms, sometimes lasting several years.
But slower disasters like the “unrelenting day-by-day despair” of a prolonged drought, or more insidious changes like food shortages, rising sea levels, and the gradual loss of natural environments, will “cause some of the most resounding chronic psychological consequences,” the APA writes in its 69-page review of existing scientific literature, co-authored by Climate for Health and EcoAmerica, both environmental organizations. “Gradual, long-term changes in climate can also surface a number of different emotions, including fear, anger, feelings of powerlessness, or exhaustion.”
Read more
Analemma Tower — Clouds AO
Posted in space
Inverts the traditional diagram of an earth-based foundation, instead depending on a space-based supporting foundation from which the tower is suspended. This system is referred to as the Universal Orbital Support System (UOSS). By placing a large asteroid into orbit over earth, a high strength cable can be lowered towards the surface of earth from which a super tall tower can be suspended.
Analemma is a proposal for the world’s tallest building ever. Harnessing the power of planetary design thinking, it taps into the desire for extreme height, seclusion and constant mobility. If the recent boom in residential towers proves that sales price per square foot rises with floor elevation, then Analemma Tower will command record prices, justifying its high cost of construction.
Full project description: cloudsao.com/ANALEMMA-TOWER
Read more
A rebuttal of the ‘only for the rich’ objection often raised against the development of rejuvenation biotechnologies.
Some people are worried that rejuvenation might be a privilege accorded only to the rich. It’s okay to be concerned that this might happen, because if enough people are concerned about it, it’s more likely that we will actually do what it takes prevent this from happening. However, some people aren’t just concerned about it; they are argue that, to forestall the risk that rejuvenation may be something only few can afford, it should be never developed in the first place. This is an extremely flawed line of reasoning, for several reasons.
Read more
Artificial intelligence is not a vague concept we picked up from a science fiction novel. It is the single biggest technology trend since the Internet, and the money-making potential is huge.
Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are all ready to soar on the winds of change. Most people expect it to be a zero-sum game, but their varying strengths will allow them all to succeed.
Microsoft is likely going to own the enterprise segment. Amazon will probably win the consumer device fight, and Google could become a healthcare giant.
Read more
Who owns the work?
Man or his machine?
Google Deep Dream learned to make its own art using a machine learning algorithm. A question that must be considered in the future is: who owns art and other creations that AI makes?