Blog – Page 217 – Technology vs Humanity: the coming clash of man and machine

The Internet is not evil (interview with Werner Herzog). New film: Lo and behold

Very much inline with Gerd Leonhard‘s vision in Technology Vs. Humanity: the new film Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World of Werner Herzog (to be released later this week on Amazon Video and iTunes). In this long, feature-length documentary, the 73-year-old director tackles the most expansive project of his career: the Internet. Herzog is considered one of the greatest figures … Continue reading "The Internet is not evil (interview with Werner Herzog). New film: Lo and behold"

Gross Domestic Product vs Gross National Happiness (GDP vs GNH)

Here’s an overview of interesting articles why Gross domestic product (GDP) is an out-dated measure to compare the economic performance of a country or region, and to make international comparisons. Looking at international politics and economies today, it seems urgent to suggest Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a better mechanism to measure the wellbeing of a country’s people. Gerd Leonhard dedicates an … Continue reading "Gross Domestic Product vs Gross National Happiness (GDP vs GNH)"

Who Should Control Artificial Intelligence?

Great interview by Jack Clark on Bloomberg with Google’s AI wonder boy Demis Hassabis, on using artificial intelligence on everything from climate change to aging. Demis was the co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, a neuroscience-inspired AI company, bought by Google in Jan 2014. He is now Vice President of Engineering at Google DeepMind and leads … Continue reading "Who Should Control Artificial Intelligence?"

Social media echo chambers and democracy

In 2009, I spoke at a conference in Madrid with Jim Margolis, who served as a Senior Advisor to Barack Obama in both his 2008 and 2012 campaigns for the White House. In his talk Jim explained how the 2008 campaign was the first presidential campaign where social media was decisive to win the elections. That success was later … Continue reading "Social media echo chambers and democracy"

Nice animation: how long until computers have the same power as the human brain? (via Mother Jones)

Exponential technological change