July 19, 2024 This essay falls into three parts. First, I discuss the question of what it is which makes humans unique — that is, irreplaceable. Second, I consider whether machines on balance enhance or diminish humanness. This has become an issue of the moment with the growth of machine intelligence. Finally, I try to answer two questions: how can we secure our survival as human beings? Is it worth trying to do so? A quick preview of my answer to the first question. Some...
Read More »Speech in the House of Lords on Watchdogs 9th of September
“”My Lords, I was not on the committee and therefore would like to allow myself a few mild criticisms of a very thought-provoking report. I will touch on three aspects of its central problem: “Who watches the watchdogs?” First, a bit of history might be helpful. In its present form, this challenge was created by the Thatcher reforms of the 1980s, which produced a new dividing line between the state and the private sector. Previously, the Government owned the public utilities and...
Read More »The gorilla problem — Diane Coyle
Review of Stuart Russell’s Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control. A major problem is programming AI lies in choosing criteria. Should criteria be based on what people do (behavior, homo economicus) or what people should do (rules, homo socialis). The Enlightened EconomistThe gorilla problemDiane Coyle | freelance economist and a former advisor to the UK Treasury. She is a member of the UK Competition Commission and is acting Chairman of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the...
Read More »Asia Times — Alibaba developing advanced chip for AI computing
Alibaba’s R&D arm DAMO Academy said it is developing a neural network chip — Ali-NPU — which will be used in image analysis, machine learning and other AI reasoning calculations, Yicai.com reported.... Asia TimesAlibaba developing advanced chip for AI computing
Read More »Dean Baker — Morning Edition Tells Us That Most Workers Think Like Most Economists and Don’t Worry About Automation
Productivity growth (the rate at which technology is displacing workers) had slowed to roughly 1.0 percent annually in the years since 2005. This compares to a 3.0 percent growth rate in the decade from 1995 to 2005 and the long Golden Age from 1947 to 1973. Most economists expect the rate of productivity growth to remain near 1.0 percent as opposed to returning back to something close to its 3.0 percent rate in more prosperous times.… It is also worth noting that the high productivity...
Read More »China Daily — Xi’s bookshelf illustrates goal of developing AI powerhouse
Two books on President Xi Jinping's shelf drew public attention from both home and abroad immediately after they were seen in the video of Xi's New Year speech. The two books were about artificial intelligence-The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World by Pedro Domingos and Brett King's Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane. The Master Algorithm, published in 2015, describes how machine learning is remaking business, politics, science and war....
Read More »The dragon spreads its wings.
Asia TimesDemand for AI talent in China doubles in 2017 China tops mobile game market worldwide China aims to lead international industry standards
Read More »Kristin Houser — Why robots could replace teachers as soon as 2027
Many professions, including education and health care, will become increasingly automated. This won't eliminate the need for humans, however, since the social element is also a vital factor in many fields, especially education, which involves socialization.The problem inherent in this article is difficulty thinking outside the box, in this case the traditional classroom. That model is obsolescent, and technology will soon make it obsolete. Then we will look back on it and wonder why it...
Read More »Elsa B. Kania — China Is On a Whole-of-Nation Push for AI. The US Must Match It
The prize.Defense OneChina Is On a Whole-of-Nation Push for AI. The US Must Match It Elsa B. Kania | Adjunct Fellow With the Technology and National Security Program at CNAS (Center for a New American Security) See also CNNPutin and Musk are right: Whoever masters AI will run the world Gregory C. Allen | Adjunct Fellow at the Center for a New American Security
Read More »Will Knight — China’s AI Awakening – 中国 人工智能 的崛起
Qing Luan, director of SenseTime’s augmented-reality group, previously developed office apps for Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. She says she returned to China because the opportunities just seemed much bigger. “We were struggling to get a thousand users; then I talked with my friend who was working at a startup in China, and she said, ‘Oh, a million users is nothing—we get that in several days,’” she recalls. This is the key point about everything involving China. It's yuuu...ge!The...
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