I joined Narrative Science almost 10 years ago, while I was in the midst of finishing my Ph.D. in artificial intelligence from Northwestern. At the time, I was dead set on becoming a professor and had verbally accepted a tenure-track position. But then my advisor approached me about a really interesting problem he was solving—automatically writing stories from data. He was starting a company and wanted me to come help out for a few months. What started as a consulting engagement has resulted in a decade-long career that has been one of the best moves of my life.
So why did I do it? There are a few obvious things—the people, the culture, the perks. But my real answer? Data storytelling—writing stories and having conversations with your data—is an incredibly complex, difficult, and exciting problem to solve. Maybe more importantly, I felt deeply that it’s a problem worth solving, and one I was eager to spend a good chunk of my career pushing forward. Read More
Daily Archives: July 9, 2019
A Turbulent Year: The 2019 Data & AI Landscape
It has been another intense year in the world of data, full of excitement but also complexity.
As more of the world gets online, the “datafication” of everythingcontinues to accelerate. This mega-trend keeps gathering steam, powered by the intersection of separate advances in infrastructure, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, open source and the overall digitalization of our economies and lives. Read More
Container technologies promise more agility for big data apps
First developed to make applications easier to deploy, manage and scale, container technologies nonetheless have seen limited use in big data systems due to earlier struggles managing application state and data. But all that is beginning to change, promising more agility and flexibility for these systems.
Containers can be viewed as part of a continuum of infrastructure simplification situated between traditional monolithic infrastructure and serverless functions, said John Gray, CTO at Infiniti Consulting, an InterVision company. Compared to monolithic infrastructure deployments, serverless infrastructure could provide more agility and reduce costs in the short run, while greatly easing management tasks in the long run. Read More
Hate spoilers? This AI tool spots them for you
Did social media spoil the Avengers’ Endgame movie for you? Or maybe one of the Game of Thrones books? A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego is working to make sure that doesn’t happen again. They have developed an AI-based system that can flag spoilers in online reviews of books and TV shows.
Spoilers are everywhere on the internet, and are very common on social media. As internet users, we understand the pain of spoilers, and how they can ruin one’s experience,” said Ndapa Nakashole, a professor of computer science at UC San Diego and one of the paper’s senior authors. Read More
What to know about Instagram's new anti-bullying feature with AI technology
Two major changes are coming to Instagram meant to address bullying.
The social platform is rolling out two new features, including one powered by artificial intelligence that notifies people when their comment may be considered offensive before it’s even posted. Read More
Fully automatic landing with optically supported navigation for small aircrafts
10 skills you'll need to survive the rise of automation
Automation is coming to the workplace.
Millions of jobs will be destroyed, but many jobs will also be simultaneously created in the process as well.
For those in the workforce – or for those just joining it for the first time – the big question is: what skills are needed to navigate this monumental shift in the economy? How will humans create value in an increasingly automated world? Read More
MIT's new interactive machine learning prediction tool could give everyone AI superpowers
Soon, you might not need anything more specialized than a readily accessible touchscreen device and any existing data sets you have access to in order to build powerful prediction tools. A new experiment from MIT and Brown University researchers have added a capability to their ‘Northstar’ interactive data system that can “instantly generate machine-learning models” to use with their exiting data sets in order to generate useful predictions.
One example the researchers provide is that doctors could make use of the system to make predictions about the likelihood their patients have of contracting specific diseases based on their medial history. Or, they suggest, a business owner could use their historical sales data to develop more accurate forecasts, quickly and without a ton of manual analytics work. Read More
Futurist Thomas Frey’s predictions featured at the World Economic Forum
The Digital Culture Challenge: Closing the Employee-Leadership Gap
Culture—a roadblock or a catalyst for digital transformation
Ian Rogers, Chief Digital Officer at LVMH – “The big moment for an organization is when they have embraced the fact that digital transformation isn’t a technical issue, but a cultural change.”
The Chief Digital Officer of a global consumer products company says: “Culture change is a prerequisite of digital transformation. “
Unfortunately, it’s a pre-requisite that is beyond the grasp of many companies as they look to drive innovation and change through smart technologies and data. For most, cultural issues continue to block digital transformation and it’s a problem that’s worsening. In 2011, a majority of respondents (55%) said that culture was the number one hurdle to digital transformation1 but in our latest research, this figure has actually risen to 62% . Read More
Rick's Cafe AI 