Artificial Intelligence stays mired in the average person's mind as something of a science fiction-type character, but A.I. is not one and the same as a robot. Simply put, AI is everywhere. It's guiding GPS and Google Maps. It's on Facebook. It's in Google.
Pew Research Center asked 979 technology experts, business and policy leaders, scientists and science-minded activists and the like just how they thought artificial intelligence would impact humans by the year 2030 -- and while 63 percent waxed positive, another 37 percent warned of the negatives. That's a sizable percentage.
The U.S. Secret Service is testing a new facial recognition program at the White House, supposedly simply to identify their own volunteer agents in the public areas in the vicinity of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Well, what comes next? That is indeed the question.
Walmart just announced 360 janitor robots with data-collecting capabilities will make their debuts at select stores before the end of January. Let's hope these 'bots do better than the ones sent to help astronauts at the International Space Station.
Thousands of Swedes have been busily inserting microchips beneath the skin on their hands -- for convenience's sake, for goodness sake. That's fine and dandy. For Sweden. But what's alarming is that the trend has been making a beeline for America's shores, as well.
Google seems to be taking a little skip down Big Brother lane with some George Orwell-like patent applications that give rise to images of the telescreens described in the popular "1984" novel of dystopian society -- you know, the ones where thought police watch all, hear all and take note of all for Big Government.
Google, fresh off the farm of defending last month's leak of 500,000 or so users' sensitive information, has just been hit by another Internet hijacking -- the "worst ever," according to the company that caught the hack. And what's most eye-opening is the hack is the likely work of Russian and Chinese sources.
Cosmologist Stephen Hawking made headlines from beyond the grave this October when, seven months after his death, his presumed last book was published bearing these words: "There is no God." And with that, the already wide gap separating science and religion, physical from spiritual, got a bit wider. What a shame.
China has just employed new "gait recognition" technology that can identify individuals by their manner of walk. This is police surveillance taken to a whole new level of frightening. Whispers are that America's airports might make a decent testing ground to bring the artificial intelligence here.
Oxford University researchers have devised what they say is a new artificial intelligence program that will help predict and possibly prevent religious violence around the world. It's based on psychological programming that starts with the premise that all people are naturally peaceful. And that's where the software goes wrong.
Shopping minus the cashiers -- minus the humans, even. That's where retail is headed, in large part due to the Walmart-owned Sam's Club opening of a new technologically savvy store that offers shoppers the option to check out without having to stand in line, without having to engage in human contact, without even having to remember what they came into the shop to buy.
When it comes to building artificial intelligence with good old-fashioned common sense, elusive is thy name. Many have tried. Many have failed. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, aims to rectify that by bridging technology with -- get this -- psychology.
Stephen Hawking, world-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist, may have died in March but the warnings of his final book, published just this week, shout from beyond the grave as something like this: Watch out, humanity, artificially intelligent beings will soon rule. And 'lest you laugh -- Hawking was regarded by many as the smartest guy in the world.
Technology's only as good as its imperfect human programmers. That's why, in the end, the best A.I. should always be a partner to humankind, not a replacement.
A few months ago, Google's DeepMind department discovered that in a gathering game over Who Can Get the Most Apples, vying artificial intelligence systems wouldn't hesitate to go aggressive and shoot to injure, stop or even kill, if need be. That's a bit of problem, given the push to integrate A.I. into nearly all aspects of humanity.
A brothel of robotic sex dolls set to open shop in Texas this month hit a snag after local authorities, fueled by a field of concerned petitioners, found a building inspection gig and put a temporary stop to KinkySDollS' plans. There's a blessing in disguise. Sometimes regulation really does work for good, yes?
An Amazon virtual digital assistant owner in San Francisco was just creeped out when his Alexa announced, out of the blue, "Every time I close my eyes, all I see is people dying." Say what?
Facebook just found -- or more to truth, just acknowledged -- a glitch in its security system that allowed hackers to take control of up to 50 million accounts. There's a case-in-point of why a technological world is a vulnerable world.
Google's Street View fleet of cars is being outfitted with updated pollution-recording devices to patrol streets in Europe and in the United States, and monitor fluctuating levels of air quality. Make way for the patrolling pollution police -- bringing regulations and new compliance costs to a neighborhood near you.
Followers of Christ, with growing frequency -- with alarming frequency, perhaps -- are jumping aboard an artificial intelligence bandwagon and trying to merge today's technology with yesterday's godly creations and in the end, come up with a race of people who are, in the words of the Christian Transhumanist Association, "more human." Eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil much?
The headline from RiskandInsurance.com says it all: "Machine Learning Could Make Hackers Practically Unstoppable: Are You Ready?" Good question. Serious question. And one which, no doubt, has registered as barely a blip on the collective minds of busy, technologically driven Americans.
Watch out America -- that patient-doctor relationship is about to be blown apart by Big Technology, Big Government and Big Business. It's also being pushed down the very same road walked by the former USSR.
Employees with the technology firm Three Square Market have been quietly, steadily inserting microchips into their own hands as a means of making it easier to pay for the likes of snacks from company vending machines or drinks from the cafeteria. Subtitle this: When Convenience Becomes Downright Creepy.
There aren't many in America who would begrudge police the tools to protect themselves -- to avail themselves of whatever technological devices are at their disposal to rid the streets of criminals, keep citizens safe and at the end of the shift, head home healthy and unhurt to their families and loved ones. But not at the expense of the Constitution.
Researchers have discovered a way to stare artificial intelligence deep into the windows of humans' souls and emerge with a score card on personality as it pertains to four traits: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Eye-gazing -- technology's next venture toward omniscience.
More than 160 companies with divisions dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence just signed on to a pledge to "neither participate in nor support the development, manufacture, trade, or use of lethal autonomous weapons," or LAWS, the text states. That's nice; very peace-keeping-ish. But that's also a bit naive.
To test Biometric Mirror's biases, and to see how artificial intelligence might rate my personality based on a snapshot fed into facial recognition software, I submitted a photo to Wouters for analysis. The findings were inaccurate, to say the least.
Dozens of members of Congress joined forces to request Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explain the recent "Rekognition" facial recognition flap that misidentified 28 members of Congress as suspected criminals. Seems valid. Bezos does have some questions to answer.
Congress needs to step up its regulatory game and enact some standards of use for facial recognition technology, at least on law enforcement. That Amazon's "Rekognition" system just falsely identified 28 faces who serve in Congress as criminals only underscores the dire need for some sort of speedy clampdown.
Imagine a day when applying for a job doesn't just include a personality test, but also a facial recognition scan that seeks to determine a new-hire's workplace suitability by analyzing features for trustworthiness, likability and emotional stability. Could you pass the test? More to point: Would you even want to take such an intrusive test?
Google has put in place some ethical rules to guide its company's artificial intelligence pursuits. And the principles do show promise. But let's be clear: The devil remains in the details. It's one thing to lay out a path to walk, a wish-list to fulfill. It's another thing entirely to have the technological know-how to fulfill these goals.
China, according to a recent report by LinkedIn, is rising in the rankings of numbers of workers in the artificial intelligence industry. This is not, nor should it be, a shoulder-shrug moment.
Explainable artificial intelligence, XAI, is where we want to head -- this is where technology development ought to focus. XAI is the common-sense older brother in a digitized world filled with flashy, privacy-invading, data-gobbling gadgets and machine-controlling bullies.
Here's a comforting thought: Google's Medical Brain can predict with up to 95 percent accuracy the day you will die. Cue mad scientist laugh.
Uber has just applied for a patent for machine learning that will tell if the caller for a ride is drunk. Why? Isn't that why people use Uber in the first place -- because they're drunk? Uber ought to know that by now.
With self-driving vehicle technology, big bucks are on the line. And in the words of at least one mechanical engineering expert, the rush to produce -- the rush to profit -- is both real and dangerous. Truly, the real winner of this autonomous car race will be the one who forgoes the short-term IPOs for the longer-term of consumer confidence.
A team of researchers from Maryland say they've invented a general artificial intelligence way for machines to identify and process 3-D images that doesn't require humans to go through the tedium of inputting specific information that accounts for each and every instance, scenario, difference, change and category that could crop up. The "Holy Grail" of machine learning, in other words -- in their words, in fact.
A husband in Oregon recently received a strange telephone call from his boss that went like this: Unplug your Alexa. You're being hacked. Except he wasn't being hacked. His Amazon Echo device had actually recorded conversations between the man and his wife, and then sent them along to the man's boss as audio file attachments.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has filed for a patent via its Verily division that will tell parents, by way of technology, when their diapered babies have gone to the bathroom. This is a solid example of When Technology Goes Overboard.
There could very well come a time when journalists -- who've never made it to the top of favorability polls with the people, anyway -- may be phased out, replaced by robotic reporters. Not today. But someday. One day. It's already in the works. And it's a mixed-bag blessing, at best.
For less than $2,000, men the world over can order and have shipped their very own handmade woman -- their very own artificially intelligence-responding, machine-programmed moving, software-generated moaning portable flesh-like robotic sex doll. Yep. They have to leave their dignity at the door, of course.
Fake news, meet artificial intelligence. A video created by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele and released by BuzzFeed appears to show Barack Obama referencing the movie "Black Panther," remarking on HUD Secretary Ben Carson and calling President Donald Trump a "total and complete dips--." But it was all fake. And get ready for the floodgates to open on more AI-assisted fake videos and audio.
Lest you think the idea of killer robots scouring the planet in search of targets to terminate is simply the stuff of science fiction, think again.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told members of Congress -- as well as a rapt TV audience -- that "hate speech" is tough to define, but within a few years, he expects artificial intelligence to assume a greater role in sifting the nuances of social media content on the company's pages and begin red-flagging and booting posts deemed hateful and hate-filled. This is hardly comforting.
The fast-moving field of artificial intelligence development is a lucrative one -- a head-spinning one -- an oft-surprising and exciting one. But peer past the frenzy of media headlines announcing the latest discoveries and newest breakthroughs and it's sad but true, the world of science, including technology, is a field dominated by godless leftists, too.
A new survey says dental patients, by and large, don't want to see a white-coated robot wielding a drill any time soon -- but they will take a 'bot before human for certain procedures, particularly if it saves them money. A robot as dentist? Hmm. Not a bad idea -- unless, of course, you're one of the bazillions of the world who absolutely fears the dentist chair.
Title this, Real Estate Agent: What Job Not to Seek as a Career. That's because artificial intelligence is steadily creeping into the sector, replacing humans with machines that allow buyers a faster, cheaper and -- some would argue -- stress-free way of finding that perfect home.
Uber, on the heels of learning one of its cars that was operating in driverless mode had mowed down a pedestrian and killed her, sent out a tweet that in essence said: Hey, we're thinking of ya. Sorry for the killing -- almost, anyway. But don't worry. We've got researchers on the scene.
Artificial intelligence may provide a world of convenience when it comes to suggesting which purchases an Amazon user might want to next make, or what song titles a Pandora listener might also enjoy clicking. But when it comes to AI in the health field, America should tread carefully. The pitfalls, particularly in the area of personal privacies, could very well outweigh the benefits.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken quite a beating from his critics in the press for his oft-perceived hyperbolic warnings against artificial intelligence. But the guy's got a point. Just look to China for the dark side of what could come, one day, to America.
Rep. John Delaney, founder of the A.I. Caucus, wrote that Congress needs ensure this fast-moving industry of artificial intelligence is "good for working people, good for businesses and good for our economy," he said. He might have added that A.I. is good for lawmakers looking for the next lucrative investment, too.
In "Black Mirror," a Netflix series about a futuristic world moved by high-tech, scientists have found a way to peer inside human minds -- to surveil their thoughts to separate truth from lies. Well move over, TV watchers. This scenario is now a case of fiction finding reality.
Nearly half of Americans support universal basic income to offset jobs lost to robots and artificial intelligence, according to a new Gallup poll. That means nearly half of Americans support using tax dollars to pay people for being alive.
Self-driving cars have become the dream of the science world. But why? If citizen safety is the justification for the development, which is it, there are so many other options that haven't been pursued that don't call for the booting of humans from behind the wheel.
One of the problems in demystifying artificial intelligence is that as soon as an AI-based product reaches the public, "we stop calling it AI," said Tara Chklovski, the CEO and founder of Iridescent, a nonprofit that aims to educate and empower children and their parents on engineering and technology matters.
An economic boom just dropped on the world -- and most, no doubt, aren't even aware. What happened? China's retail and technology conglomerate, Alibaba, developed an artificial intelligence model that beat the humans it competed against in a Stanford University reading and comprehension test. This is historic.
A funny thing happened at a press conference with a group of internationally renowned scientists who were asked about the potential for artificial intelligence to become their world's equivalent of playing God. They couldn't define "conscious."
