The rapid evolutions of Artificial intelligence have reared a load of discussions; where some of its proponents are finding it immensely powerful to solve major social and health issues, there are other tech leaders and renowned scientists notifying its terrible warnings. The critics warned about the alarming situations, and have gone so far as to declare it “dangerous than nuke”, “biggest existential threat”, “a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.” and “it can end mankind”. Pondering upon the criticality of these cautions, it’s time to put aside bitmojis and focus on the depth of the matter. Read More
Monthly Archives: October 2020
Is AI an Existential Threat?
When discussing Artificial Intelligence (AI), a common debate is whether AI is an existential threat. The answer requires understanding the technology behind Machine Learning (ML), and recognizing that humans have the tendency to anthropomorphize. We will explore two different types of AI, Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) which is available now and is cause for concern, and the threat which is most commonly associated with apocalyptic renditions of AI which is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
… With its focus on whatever operation it is responsible for, ANI systems are unable to use generalized learning in order to take over the world. That is the good news; the bad news is that with its reliance on a human operator the AI system is susceptible to biased data, human error, or even worse, a rogue human operator. Read More
Toonify Yourself!
Upload a photo and see what you’d look like in an animated movie!
Techie Software Soldier Spy
Palantir, Big Data’s scariest, most secretive unicorn, is going public. But is its crystal ball just smoke and mirrors?
… Palantir is seeking to cash in on its ability to “do it all.” Over the years, the company has worked with some of the government’s most secretive agencies, including the CIA, the NSA, and the Pentagon’s Special Operations Command.
… Palantir’s public offering is founded on the company’s sales pitch that its software represents the ultimate tool of surveillance. Named after the “Seeing Stones” in The Lord of the Rings, Palantir is designed to ingest the mountains of data collected by soldiers and spies and police — fingerprints, signals intelligence, bank records, tips from confidential informants — and enable users to spot hidden relationships, uncover criminal and terrorist networks, and even anticipate future attacks. Read More
Andrew Ng: Bridging AI’s Proof-of-Concept to Production Gap
The Best Machine Learning Books to Read in 2020
It doesn’t require a genius to know that Machine Learning (ML) and Data Science are increasingly hot topics. Deep Learning is even touted as one of the most critical skills of today.
That being said, deep learning isn’t something that can be acquired easily. Machine Learning consists of working with a large volume of data. Data- that needs to be organized, analyzed, and stored. Later, algorithms are formed so that the machine can recognize the pattern and predict future behavior without human intervention.
Knowing the complexity of this field, it is no surprise that there is any number of books written on Machine Learning. These are targeted towards not only newbies but also professionals at intermediate or expert level. Read More
The Grey Hoodie Project: Big Tobacco, Big Tech, and the threat on academic integrity
As governmental bodies rely on academics’ expert advice to shape policy regarding Artificial Intelligence, it is important that these academics not have conflicts of interests that may cloud or bias their judgement. Our work explores how Big Tech is actively distorting the academic landscape to suit its needs. By comparing the well-studied actions of another industry, that of Big Tobacco, to the current actions of Big Tech we see similar strategies employed by both industries to sway and influence academic and public discourse. We examine the funding of academic research as a tool used by Big Tech to put forward a socially responsible public image, influence events hosted by and decisions made by funded universities, influence the research questions and plans of individual scientists,< and discover receptive academics who can be leveraged. We demonstrate, in a rigorous manner, how Big Tech can affect academia from the institutional level down to individual researchers. Thus, we believe that it is vital, particularly for universities and other institutions of higher learning, to discuss the appropriateness and the tradeoffs of accepting funding from Big Tech, and what limitations or conditions should be put in place. Read More
#big7The AI Economist: Improving Equality and Productivity with AI-Driven Tax Policies
The AI Economist learns dynamic tax policies that optimize equality along with productivity in simulated economies, outperforming alternative tax systems. Read More
We Remade TRON in One Day
An AI can simulate an economy millions of times to create fairer tax policy
Deep reinforcement learning has trained AIs to beat humans at complex games like Go and StarCraft. Could it also do a better job at running the economy?
Income inequality is one of the overarching problems of economics. One of the most effective tools policymakers have to address it is taxation: governments collect money from people according to what they earn and redistribute it either directly, via welfare schemes, or indirectly, by using it to pay for public projects. But though more taxation can lead to greater equality, taxing people too much can discourage them from working or motivate them to find ways to avoid paying—which reduces the overall pot.
Getting the balance right is not easy. Read More
Rick's Cafe AI 