February 27, 2018 - ISSUE # 20

Sebastian Thrum: ““Nobody phrases it this way, but I think that artificial intelligence is almost a humanities discipline. It’s really an attempt to understand human intelligence and human cognition.”

China’s long march to AI lost on Trump. In July, China unveiled a plan to become the world leader in artificial intelligence and create an industry worth $150 billion to its economy by 2030.

Tech Envisions the Ultimate Start-Up: An Entire City. Silicon Valley wants to save cities. What could go wrong?

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Pre-sale for the petro, a cryptocurrency issued by the Venezuelan government starts on Tuesday. The cryptocurrency, first mooted in December, will be backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves. It is effectively being launched to help Venezuela circumvent financial sanctions enforced by the USA and EU.This is a text block. You can use it to add text to your template.

Facebook plans to unite AR, VR and News Feed with 3D posts. “We’re trying to make 3D a native part of the Facebook ecosystem. Stage 3 is getting these 3D objects into AR,” says Facebook’s creative director for social VR, Ocean Quigley.Interesting article from Forbes on why Millennials will be demanding better tools in the workplace, especially VR. Millennials globally are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with old school technology in the workplace – technology that is far behind what they have in their homes. They expect Better training opportunities; Improved collaboration and virtual sharing; Developing and testing new ideas; Organizational improvement; Improved focus and privacy; and some Recess time at work. While AR/VR has been slow to move into the workplace, they are the future of businesses that intend to attract millennial talent. Millennials “get it.” They see the value of VR at work and understand how it can increase their productivity.

The Rise of Virtual Citizenship – In Cyprus, Estonia, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere, passports can now be bought and sold. Virtual citizenship is a commodity that can be acquired through the purchase of real estate or financial investments, subscribed to via an online service, or assembled by peer-to-peer digital networks.
Can You Trust your Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVA)? Data processed through virtual assistants may open you to security and privacy risks, namely: wiretapping; compromised end devices (IoT); malicious voice commands; and unexpected voice recording. Wired has a good short video on How to Control What Alexa and Google Assistant Do With Your Voice Data

Amazing short video: Open Bionics is a UK-based start-up tech company. Its mission is to create affordable 3D printed prostheses. They are about 30 times cheaper than other prostheses on the market. They operate using sensors attached to the skin to detect muscle movements. The muscle movements control the hand and open and close fingers.

These days, education reformers, evangelists and foundations pay a lot of lip service to the notion of lifelong learning, but we do little to invest in the systems, architecture, and infrastructure needed to facilitate seamless movements in and out of learning and work.

From Campbell’s to Commodore: How the Warhol Museum uses tech to illuminate the iconic artist. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh has opened a collection of pieces and installations showcasing his extensive engagement with new technologies. And they’ve dedicated to ma

king a space that is inviting to all people, as they say, Warhol would have done. (This week’s Billboard lists 10 times Warhol left his mark on music).

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Technology isn’t just changing society — it’s changing what it means to be human. Michael Bess is a historian of science at Vanderbilt University and the author of Our Grandchildren Redesigned: Life in a Bioengineered Society. His book offers a sweeping look at our genetically modified future, a future as terrifying as it is promising. It assesses the impact that biotechnologies will have on our lives, as they come to be applied with increasing pervasiveness to the modification of human bodies and minds. If you’re interested in CRISPER, here’s a great intelligible article covering the basic technology and all the main issues with great infographics from the always-good CB Insights.

Gaza, Yemen and a lesson for Big Tech – ‘The internet is creating opportunities for some of the world’s least-connected people to improve their lives’.

Tell Employees What You Want Them to Strive for (in as Few Words as Possible). Microsoft has gone from listing over 100 competencies to three big ideas: Create clarity, generate energy, deliver success.

Thanks, Robots! Now these Four Non-Tech Job Skills Are In Demand. The more we rely on AI and machine learning, the more work we need social scientists and humanities experts to do. Mark Cuban thinks studying philosophy may soon be worth more than computer science. He views previously lucrative jobs in industries like accounting and computer programming as subject to the powers of automation. To remain competitive, Cuban advises ditching degrees that teach specific skills or professions and opting for degrees that teach you to think in a big picture way, like philosophy. Meanwhile, Why human educators must assert control as bots enter the classroom.

These days, education reformers, evangelists and foundations pay a lot of lip service to the notion of lifelong learning, but do little to invest in the systems, architecture and infrastructure needed to facilitate seamless movements in and out of learning and work.

Club Culture, And The Design It Inspired, Finally Gets A Visual History. A new book celebrates the influential graphic design that emerged in the U.K.’s club scene. It’s long overdue.

At first glance, this set of works appears to be photographic. On second viewing, however, the indication of a slight brushstroke tells us in fact that they are hyperrealistic paintings.Their creator Gerard Boersma says: “I paint people on the streets, in stores, public transport and museums. They show the way people see themselves, interact or are influenced by modern developments in various ways. I freeze time and our fast and busy lives are forever captured in a moment. Finally ready to be observed quietly.”