Blog – Page 214 – Technology vs Humanity: the coming clash of man and machine

Would a Work-Free World Be So Bad? (via The Atlantic)

Excellent article by Ilana E. Strauss in The Atlantic on the wrong assumptions we often have about people without work. Why should it be that way? It hasn’t always been like that… Work-free societies are more than just a thought experiment – they’ve existed throughout human history. Llana mentions a couple of examples in history where … Continue reading "Would a Work-Free World Be So Bad? (via The Atlantic)"

Interesting Infographic: Digital Assistants are coming!

“According to market research firm Tractica, the use of virtual digital assistants (VDAs) is going to increase sharply over the next few years. As our chart illustrates, the number of people using digital assistants is projected to increase from 504 million this year to 1.8 billion by 2021. While intelligent voice-recognition technology is currently most commonly known from smartphone-based assistants such as Siri and Google Now, Tractica expects similar solutions to be used in many more devices going forward.”

Infographic: Digital Assistants - Always at Your Service
https://www.statista.com/chart/5621/users-of-virtual-digital-assistants/
via Instapaper

Machines of Loving Grace. Interview with John Markoff. Good read !

“John Markoff: Ben Shneiderman, the University of Maryland computer scientist and user interface designer has written eloquently on this point. Indeed he argues against autonomous systems for precisely this reason. His point is that it is essential to keep a human in the loop. If not you run the risk of abdicating ethical responsibility for system design.”

Machines of Loving Grace. Interview with John Markoff. | ODBMS Industry Watch
https://www.odbms.org/blog/2016/08/machines-of-loving-grace-interview-with-john-markoff/
via Instapaper

Insightful Max Planck and Peter Guber quotes

Consciousness is fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness."

Of prediction and policy, via The Economist

“Machine-learning systems excel at prediction. A common approach is to train a system by showing it a vast quantity of data on, say, students and their achievements. The software chews through the examples and learns which characteristics are most helpful in predicting whether a student will drop out. Once trained, it can study a different group and accurately pick those at risk. By helping to allocate scarce public funds more accurately, machine learning could save governments significant sums. According to Stephen Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard and a former mayor of Indianapolis, it could also transform almost every sector of public policy.”

Of prediction and policy
https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21705329-governments-have-much-gain-applying-algorithms-public-policy
via Instapaper