Author Archives

by

Stupid Shit No One Needs & Terrible Ideas Hackathon

I’ve always found the idea behind corporate hackathons to be questionable, but this is a hackathon I can get behind.

Some of my favorites:

“Unfriend the Poors by JB Rubinovitz is a free service that helps you ferret out and then unfriend your poor friends on Facebook.”

3D Cheese Printer. “Hightech 3D cheese prints, by Tyler Erdman, Morgan Steward, David Leach, Brian Wu, Andy Doro and Dano Wall.”

“Mansplain It To Me recreates the experience of asking a question and getting the response from a man who talks to you as though you are a less capable human being. By Cassie Tarakajian and Seth Kranzler.”

“iPad On A Face by Cheryl Wu is a telepresence robot, except it’s a human with an iPad on his or her face.”

Source: Stupid Shit No One Needs & Terrible Ideas Hackathon

by

Robots: Destroying jobs, our economy, and possibly the world | Ars Technica

Vardi raised the concerning possibility that an over-reliance on automation and AI could have the same effect on our economy as the Roman dependence on slaves. “Can our economic system deal with labor participation rates below 25 percent? Below 50 percent?” he asked. The solution in ancient Rome, he pointed out, was bread and circuses or life as a legionary.

Source: Robots: Destroying jobs, our economy, and possibly the world | Ars Technica

by

Your Brain Is Hardwired to Snap

A large part of the human brain, just like the brain of other animals, is devoted to threat detection. These circuits are constantly evaluating our internal and external state for threats. This cannot be conscious, because that’s too slow. It’s deep in the brain below the cerebral cortex, where consciousness arises, in a region called the hypothalamic attack region.

The hypothalamus is where a lot of our urges and automatic functions are carried out, like sexual behavior. The hypothalamic attack region controls defensive-aggressive behavior. If scientists stimulate these neurons with an electrode, an animal will instantly become aggressive and attack a test animal in the cage.

Source: Your Brain Is Hardwired to Snap

by

Why sarcasm baffles AIs

A new paper from researchers in India and Australia highlights one of the strangest and ironically most humorous facets of the problems in machine learning – humour.

Automatic Sarcasm Detection: A Survey [PDF] outlines ten years of research efforts from groups interested in detecting sarcasm in online sources. The problem is not an abstract one, nor does it centre around the need for computers to entertain or amuse humans, but rather the need to recognise that sarcasm in online comments, tweets and other internet material should not be interpreted as sincere opinion.

The need applies both in order for AIs to accurately assess archive material or interpret existing datasets, and in the field of sentiment analysis, where a neural network or other model of AI seeks to interpret data based on publicly posted web material.

Source: Why sarcasm baffles AIs

by

Errata Security: Hackers aren’t smart — people are stupid

The top three hacking problems for the last 10 years are “phishing”, “password reuse”, and “SQL injection”. These problems are extremely simple, as measured by the fact that teenagers are able to exploit them. Yet they persist because, unless someone is interested in hacking, they are unable to learn them. They ignore important details. They fail at grasping the core concept.

Source: Errata Security: Hackers aren’t smart — people are stupid

by

The chips are down for Moore’s law : Nature News & Comment

I think it’s important to remember Ray Kurzweil’s observation that Moore’s Law is simply the most recent in a string of such “laws,” all of which can be summed up as the Law of Accelerating Returns.

The semiconductor industry will soon abandon its pursuit of Moore’s law. Now things could get a lot more interesting.

Source: The chips are down for Moore’s law : Nature News & Comment

by

Penn professor’s computer algorithm could fight terrorism while protecting privacy

Professor Michael Kearns, national center chair in the Department of Computer and Information Science, just published a paper on a computer algorithm that can use the structure of social networks to target certain individuals or groups — without compromising the privacy of people who are not involved. The algorithm would come with many applications, but Kearns is currently most interested in potential for counterterrorism.

“It’s an algorithm to use the social network to guide the search for some targeted subpopulation, which in the case of the NSA you can think of as some group of terrorists or other bad actors,” Kearns said.

If created, this algorithm could have major implications for the political scene, particularly after former CIA member Edward Snowden’s revelations of the information that the government has kept secret from the public. The algorithm is possibly the only solution developed so far to find a middle ground between national security and personal security.

Source: The Daily Pennsylvanian – | Penn professor’s computer algorithm could fight terrorism while protecting privacy

by

Robots in Health Care Could Lead to a Doctorless Hospital – Singularity HUB

Hospitals will be very different places in 20 years. Beds will be able to move autonomously transporting patients from the emergency room to the operating theatre, via X-ray if needed.

Triage will be done with the assistance of an AI device. Many decisions on treatment will be made with the assistance of, or by, intelligent machines.

Your medical information, including medications, will be read from a chip under your skin or in your phone. No more waiting for medical records or chasing information when an unconscious patient presents to the emergency room.

Robots will be able to dispense medication safely and rehabilitation will be robotically assisted. Only our imaginations can limit how health care will be delivered.

Source: Robots in Health Care Could Lead to a Doctorless Hospital – Singularity HUB