Lessons Learned in How Not to Build an AI
Microsoft recently built a proto-AI “teen girl” bot, TayandYou, who became a horrific racist monster in hours, as you may know. The astounding thing is this multi-zillion-dollar company let it […]
What’s Being Born
The world is on tumble-dry. Upheaval is everywhere. But put that aside for a moment. Let’s focus instead on what is being born – both good and bad, and sometimes both. What are the novel developments in social response to ever-accelerating change? What do these signposts tell us about the world we are entering?
The Center for Science and the Imagination
Gentle Readers, For the past year, Arizona State University and best-selling science-fiction author Neal Stephenson have been working together on a plan to use science-fiction to reignite America’s ability to […]
Drone Swarm
They’re everywhere! Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have done some amazing work with formation flying drones (make sure to check out the obstacle avoidance at the end). Smarter flying […]
Mayor Bloomberg Will Learn How To Write Code In 2012
We all make New Year’s Resolutions, but Mayor Bloomberg is going beyond the standard promise to eat better and exercise more. As reported by TPM. New York City Mayor Michael […]
A Year In Prevail
What a year it’s been! Starting with the little things, the Prevail Project itself has been active for about a year, running in stealth mode for most of that time. […]
The Robot Census
Robert Carr at the New Geography has a fascinating article on the growth of industrial robots, and the people keeping an eye over the phenomenon. In brief, in some industries […]
On the occasion of the end of the war in Iraq
By Dr. Richard O’Meara On December 15, 2011, the last US flag was cased and the War in Iraq was declared over. It is well to remember that since the […]
Technologies of Unrest
Anybody who’s paying attention will note that these are unsettled times, from the Arab spring, to youth demonstrations in Spain, Israel, and now Occupy Wallstreet. Via Kevin Kelly who cites […]
Why Cities Keep Growing, Corporations Die, and Life Gets Faster
There’s an old adage that if you can describe a problem mathematically, it’s 80% solved, and if you can’t describe it mathematically, you’re never going to get it right. The […]
We’re all inattentive superheroes.
I spend a fair amount of time thinking about how we can make humans better, and what the consequences of making people better might be, so reading about how amazing […]