Daily Archives: June 7, 2017

"Published by The Life Science Institute"

Artificial Intelligence Expert Dennis Lee Foster Reveals the Future of Civilization Entwined with Supercomputers, From Technological Chaos to Uploading a Mind to a Machine

In a revealing new book, Artificial Intelligence expert and best-selling author Dennis Lee Foster chronicles how civilization has entered a period of profound social and technological transition in which developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are completely transforming life and death. In Your Obsolete Brain: Life and Death in the Age of Superintelligent Machines, the author vividly depicts the future of human society as it inevitably becomes entwined withand possibly molded bysuperintelligent computers.

Advanced technologies that might solve the planet's most dire problems have also spawned autonomous killing machines and nanorobots capable of spreading lethal viruses indiscriminately. As superintelligent machines ascend, will they inherit human drives to compete, exploit, and dominate? Will people someday achieve immortality by uploading their minds into computers? Who will be the real masters of future civilizations: humans or machines?

In Your Obsolete Brain, Foster provides the most likely answers, drawn from recent breakthroughs and groundbreaking research, to these and other questions about the most important human quest of modern timespossibly, of all time. While dispelling many of the myths and misconceptions about AI, the book also reveals how civilization will be impacted by autonomous weapons, planned obsolescence, stock market manipulation, the Internet of Things, and current research aimed at uploading a human mind to a computer.

According to Foster, "One event is certain: ultimately, the quality of life and possibly the entire fate of everyone who lives on Earth will be forever impacted by artificial intelligence from birth to death-and possibly beyond. Of all the traits that contributed to the rise and eventual dominance of humans over the planet, ingenuity was perhaps the most profound. Yet, it is our very rise and dominance that produced the coming clash between civilization and technological chaos. In the end, ingenuity may prove to be either our demise or our salvation."

In Your Obsolete Brain, readers will learn how AI can:

Save lives but also kill; empower but also obsolete Solve planetary crises, or hasten the collapse of civilization Bolster or devastate the global economy Enhance or enslave the human brain

Your Obsolete Brain is published by The Life Science Institute, a global think tank devoted to research, education, and information dissemination on scientific, economic, and social issues affecting the perseverance of civilization.

Dennis Lee Foster is a computer scientist, author, educator, and consultant, known as a pioneer in the development of artificial intelligence in educational technology, medical diagnosis, and robotics. Involved in AI research, development, and deployment since 1974, he is the author of more than 60 published books about computers and programming, behavior science, finance, health care, sociology, and communications.

Related:

Artificial Intelligence Expert: It's Too Late to Prevent Thinking Machine Chaos (http://www.usfinancialnewstoday.com/story/58022/artificial-intelligence-expert-its-too-late-to-prevent-thinking-machine-chaos.html)

The AI Insider (http://www.dennisfoster.com/blog)

Author Bibliography (http://www.dennisfoster.com/bibliog.htm)

Book Excerpt (http://dennisfoster.com/nonfiction.htm)

Media Contact Company Name: Life Science Institute Contact Person: Dennis L. Foster Email: lifescience@mail.com Phone: 8088544938 Country: United States Website: http://lifescienceinstitute.com

Originally posted here:

Your Obsolete Brain: Life and Death in the Age of Superintelligent Machines - Digital Journal

Originally from Greece and based in London, Eva Papamargariti reflects and analyzes the rapidly transforming relationships between material and immaterial matter in our new digital world. Papamargaritis work contains complex visual (and often audio) collages in which impossible organic forms constantly evolve, mutate, and entwine.

No matter how utterly alien her work can seem, it retains consistent feelings of a deep human familiaritywhich only adds to its uncanny sensibilities. Lurking behind the works gratifying bright colors and psychedelic surrealism lies an unsettling emotional depth that never really allows the viewer to get a firm handle on what exactly it is they are experiencing. Papamargariti reveals, illustrates, and renders a third plane that now exists somewhere between all of our physical and digital realities.

Papamargaritis solo show Precarious Inhabitants, a series of works addressing issues of symbiosis and transformation between human, AI machines, animals and other organic and synthetic bodies, is currently showing at Transfer Gallery through July 8.

Christian Petersen: How has your relationship with computers changed since you started using them?

Eva Papamargariti: I started using computers at the age of 12 and my main activity was to play games on5-inch floppy disks with my brotherso my relationship with them changed a lot since that era. Back thenI could never imagine that they would become the first object I would touch every morning when I wake up and also I could never even remotely think that I would use them as the main tool to create art.

CP: What were your early online experiences like?

EP: It was an exciting era specially because you would feel the mystery and charm of something that was still unknown to a majority of the users. Now most of our online activities seem predictable, or to say it better, I believe the element of surprise is missing a lot.

CP: You studied architecture at one point. What influence has that discipline had on your art?

EP: I graduatedfrom architecture five years ago. The transition was quite natural cause I was already studying at a school that had a quite wide curriculum mixing new media, art, and architecture. We actually had many tutors that were artists themselves. When I was doing my diploma thesis I started uploading some very simple gif animations on Tumblr just because I was really fed up with architecture, to be honest. During this period and after my graduation, gradually I started uploading more and more stuff while I was taking a break from anything that was architecture-related. That helped me understand that maybe my ideas could be better communicated through art.

I wasnt the kid that always wanted to be an architectI was just searching for something, and I considered architecture to be diverse and more open thematically in terms of what the courses provided compared to other studies, so I went for it. The influence that it had on my practice and art is really important and I think I am lucky to have experienced architecture at this specific school where we were encouraged to get out of the normative and stereotypical way of thinking. A recurring theme in my work is an attempt to dissolve, distort, and understand space through embodied experience through the use of digital mediums. Architecture is still present in what I do.

CP: What was the first artwork you made using a computer that you recognized as digital art

EP: I guess it was my first series of animated gifs that I did while playing basically on 3ds Max. They would always be some fragments of space, objects, and bodies moving in frenetic ways. I think it was around 2012 that Lorna Mills somehow saw my work on Google+ and contacted me to create gifs for the Sheroes series in Canada created by Rea McNamara and co-curated with Lorna. I was super excited with this when it happened!

CP: Its interesting looking at your Tumblr archive and seeing your progression from experimental video and photography, to gifs to glitch art,to 3D digital art. How would you describe that journey?

EP: My work now feels so much different than what I was doing five or six years ago. The answer is simple: I was trying things in order to find what was, at that particular moment, the best way to express my state of mind. As I was creating more I felt the need to change the tools and means that I was using, because each of these has their own materiality and rules. Its totally different to talk about a subject through video versus gifs, for example. But I also like to get involved in things and situations that are new to me.

Lately I try to create more sculptural work and I also film in real locations. I feel that right now I can filter, support, and build my work more effectively through a combination of mediums and dynamics instead of using only 3D design. Video, photography, drawing, 3D design, gifs, etc. are tools that I use according to the outcome and intentionI want to achieve each time. I dont feel that I should be bound to one medium in order to create art. I changed a lot through these years personally and creatively, so my art and how I make it would inevitably change along with me.

CP: Your bio says that you explore the relationship between digital space and (im)material reality. What is that relationshipand how is it changing as the digital space expands?

EP: This relationship is mainly defined by the way our body and mind stands and perceives these in-between conditions whose boundaries are continuously amplified but also blurred as the simultaneity of the two states becomes more and more pronounced through the use of digital devices. Our eyes and hands are getting used to existing in a dual situation as digital space expands to objects, surfaces, and interfaces. These days its not only our body parts that start to experience the difference but also our mind has altered in terms of how we read, absorb, and redistribute information through and to our surroundings. This relationship that I am trying to explore through my work is always n-dimensional and palimpsestic. What interests me more is this process of re-writing on this in-between area of material and immaterial, and the traces that both physical and digital actions leave as we move forward.

CP: Theres always a lot of elements to your work, a hyperactive spirit. Is that a reflection of your personality?

EP: Yes and no. It certainly reflects my personality but my body sometimes reacts and gets slow. When I was in architecture school I had an amazing tutor that was telling me that my personality is somehow multifocal. Back then I couldnt understand what he might have seen to say something like that; it just didnt make sense. As years went by I totally realized how right he was. I am somehow dispersed between states, references, ideas, balancing between thought and action; I always do multiple things simultaneously and I get easily bored by situations. When this restlessness becomes a feature of my work it is detached from the personal level andmainly reflectsa state of non-stop, complex procedures that we are facing in the physical and digital realm.

CP: People that work in 3D reference rendering a lot. How would you describe your relationship with rendering?

EP: Intense! I refer to rendering all the time and my friends that are not involved in digital art and 3D design still wonder how it can be so complicated. Its a process that involves time and that factor is enough to understand how problematic but also charming it can be. As technology advances rendering times and processes are becoming shorter. With game engines and specific renderers, you can render in real time.

There is a magic element to it that attracts me though, since we build something and then, in order to actually see this creation, we need to pass through these layers and make the invisible visible somehow. I have cursed many times because of rendering, but I kind of enjoy it also.

CP: Your work has become more organic over the years. What interests you about trying to create biological forms digitally?

EP: I am very much interested in the way technology looks at nature and biological forms and the tense areas that are being created while this gazing takes place. My work the last two years deals a lot with themes that connect human action, natural surfaces, tech biomimicry, and animal behavior. I am really intrigued by the condition of observing and mapping natural ecosystems in order to collect data, information, and knowledge that then come back to us in different forms and procedures.

There are many interesting paradoxical and contradictory situations embedded in these processes from a scientific point of view, but also through a more vernacular lens. For example, I find night camera trail footage fascinating, especially when it isused to pattern movements of animals. I find the particular momentswhere the animalsaccidentally look at the camera extremely intense, almost revealing a relationship built on the action of watching and being watched.

CP: Your work often uses very bright colors, but I feel a sense of discomfort or even darkness behind that.

EP: I agree. As I mentioned before, I am quite challenged by the idea of containing multiple meanings in my work and observing the same in the work of others. Using a bright color palette doesnt mean that the work itself emits happiness or uncontrolled energy. I am very much tempted by intense contradictions in art, and people even. I prefer it when ideas can make themselves visible through a slight process of digging and color certainly dictates a mood, but I will never consider it to have a protagonistic role in what I do. It is always a factor that works in combination with other things. To say it better, color in my work is usuallyused as a concealment factor rather than a revealing factor.

Facticious Imprints (Extract)

CP: Do you think your work is political?

EP: Yes, although most of the time this happens in a more subtle than loud way. I believe work that is being created these days inevitably is political one way or another. There are so many urgent issues around us happening on multiple levels that is impossible not to get affected. Choosing not to get affected is also a political decision, I guess, although dangerous. But still, it is a decision that reflects a certain conscious stance.

I definitely believe that political involvement is quite crucial nowadays. Important parts of my work deal with how we position ourselves toward others and through the constantly altering surfaces and spaces that surround us socially, technologically, and environmentally. So the political aspect is there intentionally for sure. I would never deal with themes that dont trigger a sense of immediacy inside me, but I would also never create work just for the sake of being political. This would be totally dishonest towards myself and whomever would engage with the work.

CP: New media has become a vital home for the expression of feminist and gender ideas. What about the medium makes it a particularly interesting way to explore those issues?

EP: I think new media can be very dynamic and vibrant and its true what you said: we have seen some great new media works related to feminism and gender. In those cases, I believe the medium totally matches the intention, which is a very important factor while exploring issues that need to be communicated in a quite clear and bold way.

Also, new media is characterized by a certain peculiar kind of flexibility and fluidity. It can take different forms and contain multilayered ideas. Plus it is more easily disseminated and adaptedit seems more open, inclusive, and receptive as a condition, while at the same time it can create more effectively a sense of collective perception and action. At the same time, its less male-dominated in comparison with sculpture or painting, though I have seen some really intriguing sculpture, performative, and even spoken word work lately that deal with the same issues. In the end its a matter of how you attempt to express your ideas and the actual content of them, not only the medium through which you are expressing them.

CP: How would you define the current difference between working as a digital artist and a traditional artist?

EP: I would say the most striking difference is the pace at which the tools of digital artists are shifting. It feels almost like the tools sometimes choose and act before us. I dont like very much to distinguish artists and art in general but I would say that the challenges to this medium have to do with the relation between the initial concept and the final execution. When you dont deal with many tangible forms then there is a slight danger of getting lost in a stream of endless probabilities.

Its important to find the right balance and mechanism to link idea and outcome in order to achieve a result that is not just taking superficial advantage of the digital features, but embeds their characteristics and structure giving actual meaning to the work.

Despite that, this process contains much openness; it is quite liberating not to have rigid limitations from the medium, and that is an important element that differentiates digital art from traditional art in my opinion. On the other hand, the sense of corporeality in traditional mediums is sometimes unbeatable, although I believe VR, for instance,gives us the potential to overcome this. Still, the way the majority of VR work is being made somehow leaves this feature out or deals with it in a rather facile way, and this is certainly something that needs to be reconsidered seriously.

Always a body, always a thing - Trailer

CP: Tell us about your new show at Transfer Gallery.

EP:I am very happy to have a solo show at Transfer Gallery. Kelani Nichole is doing great work there all these years. I am showing a three-channel adapted version of my last video work Always a body, always a thing, and a sculptural video piece combining four screens on the floor of the gallery. The space has been transformed to an immersive dark projection cave. The title of the show is Precarious Inhabitants and it deals with a series of interconnected issues surrounding amorphy, liquidity, invasive species, plasticization, biomimetic behavior, body malformations on amphibians based on real cases, and the ontology ofrecording and tracking devices.

The three-channel projections construct a system of three parallel narrations. One is a narration of amorphous amphibians that are trying to define and sense their bodies and limbs; the second is a dialogue between humans and invasive species; and the third is a monologue from the side of the human solely. I have used a mix of techniques and materials for the videos which include 3D-rendered environments, game engine simulations, footage I shot in different natural locations, found archival material, and micro-camera, endoscopic recordings from critters, synthetic, and organic surfaces. I would say it is one of the most complete, if not the most complete, and diverse work I have done so far.

CP: What else do you have coming up?

EP: I have another show running in London, at Assembly Point gallery, Obscene Creatures, Resilient Terrains, a collaboration between me andTheo Triantafyllidis. I am participating in a group show in Milan that starts June 8 called Non Standard, curated by Mattia Giussani,and features new and recent mixed media works by myself, Lea Collet & Marios Stamatis, Anne De Boer, Joey Holder andAnna Mikkola. I am also participating inTRANSFER Download atHeK,taking place during Art Basel, and then I am working on three projects I will announce soon; I am trying things for them I have never done before so they feel very interesting and challenging!

Christian Petersen

We run an online magazine, so of course, we're interested in what's happening with art on the web. We invited online gallerist, founder, and curator ofDigital Sweat Gallery, Christian Petersen, to write a bi-monthly column for us. Every other Wednesday he selects a Web Artist of the Week.

(All images: Courtesy of the artist)

See original here:

Wednesday Web Artist of the Week: Eva Papamargariti - ArtSlant

DASH cams are the fastest growing car accessory with new models released every month fitted with more and more features offering you peace of mind in an accident.

The market is now so big, theres a choice of dash cam to suit every budget from entry level models that do basic recording through to wifi-enabled top-of-the-range cameras.

Crash for cash incidents are big business and fraudulent claims cost insurers millions each year. Having a dash cam can help insurers identify what happened and determine who was at fault.

Thats why some policies will offer discounts if you have a dash cam fitted. So you can pay up front for a cam and reap the yearly rewards.

And some police forces are now even using footage from owners dash cams to cut down on reckless drivers.

Dash cams attach to your windscreen and film whats going on ahead.

Whats clever is that instead of needing huge memory cards to store videos, itll automatically delete the oldest footage on a rolling cycle.

If youve had an accident, though, the dash cam sensors will recognise it and automatically lock the clip and save it so it can be viewed later.

Most cameras will have an on-bard memory card that you can plug into your computer to download footage while newer models will offer wireless uploading.

No. While many newer, more expensive models have a decent-sized screen for playback this must be switched off while youre driving many will turn off automatically.

The law states motorists must not be able to view video-playing devices while driving.

Theres an exception for parking cameras but this doesnt apply to dash cams.

Most dash cams run off the 12V socket so youll need to wire it around the headlining to avoid draping wires.

If youve got a sat nav or regularly charge a mobile phone through the 12V socket then pick up a multi-socket adaptor.

Alternatively you can get a hard-wiring kit to run off a cars battery. Some retailers, like Halfords, will also install the dash cam for you.

The camera needs to be forward facing with a good view of the whole road ahead.

It should intrude no more than 40mm into the swept area of your windscreen wipers and cant be mounted above the steering wheel.

Wed recommend slotting it next to the rear-view mirror.

There are several key players in the dash cam market including Nextbase and Garmin and each manufacturer offers something for all budgets.

Pricier models have higher quality video and more advanced functions like wifi and cloud storage.

Sun Motors has rounded up the latest models on sale from leading manufacturers to help you buy the right one for you.

Latest prices

At the top of the range is the Nextbase 512GW which records in 1440p HD across 140-degrees and with built-in wifi you can upload footage straight to your smartphone or tablet.

At the other end of the spectrum is the 112. The viewing angle is just 120-degrees and recording is done in 720p. But for around 100 less, its a great entry-level value product.

Somewhere in the middle is the 312GW combining price and features.

Latest prices

Better known for sat navs, Garmin has entered the dash cam market and to good success.

One option is the35 which offers HD recording and a three-inch display. Its a driver aid, too, offering forward collision warning alerts and red light/speed camera detection. If thats too pricey, consider the 30 with its 1.4-inch display that does away with driver alerts.

At the higher end of the marketare the 55 and 65W the latter with a 180-degree viewing angleand a Go driver alert.

Latest prices

Mios range of MiVue dash cams have been around for several years with latest models featuring an innovative touchscreen.

The range-topping MiVue 658 WIFI has ultra-HD recording, integrated wifi, a 140-degree viewing angle and a parking mode to collect footage when you leave your vehicle.

If you want an eye-witness at the back of your car and have the cash to spend, then the MiVue 698 makes sense, recording in full HD both front and rear.

Theres safety camera warnings, too, and a parking mode but youll have to plug into your PC to review footage.

The cheaper 618 is a very impressive entry level option although its still pricier than some rivals.

Latest prices

Headlight specialist Philips has two dash cam options available. Both the ADR610 and ADR810 offer full HD recording, automatic collision detection and a fatigue index.

Theres an instant replay function to clarify responsibility on the spot of an accident with proof-stamped evidence to support insurance claims.

The pricier ADR810 adds night view and a wider viewing angle.

Latest prices

Transcend was one of the first companies to market with dash cams and excels in compact designs.

Its DrivePro series features just one the 520 that comes with a screen and front and rear facing cameras. Its got wifi, 1080p recording and a night mode making it a good if pricey all-rounder.

Its most basic model is the DrivePro 50 that does away with all extras except 1080p recording at a 130-degree angle with app streaming.

The middle of the range the DrivePro 220 is probably the best combination of gadgets plus price.

Latest prices

Another headlight specialist delving into the dash cam market, Ring operates at the cheaper end of the market.

Even its range-topping RBGDC200 which offers a full HD 140-degree angle is sub-100. However it does away with a lot of the clever tech like parking modes and driver alerts found on pricier rival models.

Rings range goes right the way down to the mini 1.5-inch RBGDC15 which is a real budget-buster.

Latest prices

Breakdown provider RAC also dabbles in dash cams with two models in its range the 210 and 205.

The pricier 210 has 1080p recording quality, speed camera alert notification and built in wifi to connect directly to a smartphone app.

The cheaper 205 does without alerts and wifi but still offers full-HD recording and a 140-degree viewing angle.

For in-depth product reviews visit our sister site Driving.co.uk.

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What are the best dash cams in 2017? Buying guide, reviews and all you need to know - The Sun

Vestas wind turbines in Australia

Our diginomica inboxes are awash with machine learning PR pitches. But when I got the chance to talk to Vestas Wind Systems A/S about their lessons with machine learning in action via an outsourcing partner that got flagged, in a good way.

Henrik Stefansen, Senior Director, Global IT Sourcing at Vestas Wind Systems A/S, gave me the inside view. Founded in 1945, this Danish manufacturer and servicer of wind turbines has become a global player in wind energy. Now with turbines in more than 70 countries, Vestas bills itself as the only global energy company dedicated exclusively to wind energy.

Five years ago, Vestas Wind Systems was dealing with the complications of declining government subsidies. The global economy was working its way out of a recession. Higher operational costs combined with sluggish energy demand compelled Vestas to push hard for new efficiencies. Stefansen has been an IT leader at Vestas for sixteen years. In the last four years, hes led a drastic change:

Weve gone from being a fully insourced company on the IT side about four years ago, to today being more or less fully outsourced. So thats been quite a journey.

Managing outsourced processes has brought a learning curve:

Ive come to realize that a lot of the other stuff that we need to be able to handle and the processes you need to have in place to manage an outsourced setup is quite different from when you run everything yourself.

That opens up a chance to improve processes:

Thats where really we got into looking at, How can we optimize and automate some of these processes instead of doing everything manually?

Stefansen handles these operations with an internal team of twenty, and about a dozen externals. 27,000 employees count on his teams IT services. If you cant handle the breeze, dont be in the renewable energy business:

We went through a bit of a dip through the financial crisis around 2011, where we cut the company in half. We had to reduce that much. But we recovered from that, and had a record year last year.

How has the wind energy business from Stefansens early days at Vestas?

When I joined the company, we were still sort of an entrepreneurial startup. Over the last five, seven years its been much more industrialized. Now wind is a competitor, and its a subsidy to all of the known coal and gas sources as well.

Today, I would say, wind is more or less on par with coal and gas, also from a cost perspective. And thats of course what weve been working towards the last many years If you want to sustain a business like this, it has to be comparable on a cost level to the other energy sources out there thats roughly where we are now.

Success brings its complications:

Looking at it from a country or global perspective, theres no doubt that renewable energy is high on the agenda in most countries these days. That makes it a nice place to be in a company like this. But its also a highly regulated environment Theres a lot of restrictions from local governments that we need to also work with to promote this kind of energy.

Stefansens approach to outsourcing has changed also. At first, outsourcing was a tactical decision in response to the economic downturn: We had to reduce head count, we had to reduce cost, and we had to do it fast. As Vestas bounced back, Stefansen decided that outsourcing was their future course but now they approach it more strategically.

Outsourcing makes sense for Vestas on several fronts. It solves the challenge of needing to staff up internal IT in Denmark. Stefansen also likes the flexibility on cost and exposure to new technologies:

We also saw the possibilities of joining forces with some of the big outsourcing vendors out there that have thousands of people. They can bring us those new technologies much faster and better than we could develop it ourselves.

And thats where SirionLabs comes in. Stefansen found the downside of outsourcing was managing the services. Ideally, he could automate a big chunk of contract management, and have it delivered as a service. During his research, Stefansen found SirionLabs. He evaluated a range of providers:

I looked a few of the big ones, including IBM and SAP. They had good capabilities in some of the areas that I needed. but none of them really had the view and connectivity between the different parts of the process that I saw with Sirion.

Stefansen also liked SirionLabs cloud emphasis:

Their software as a service comes pre-configured out of the box, so you dont have to do the on-site installations and set up. Basically, I just ship my contracts to Sirion, They upload them in India, and we are live.

Vestas started working with SironLabs in 2015. They spent the first few months uploading contracts, but that wasnt the biggest change:

Once you start working with a tool like this, there is a set of processes that enables you to get the benefit out of the tool. That was the main part of the implementation to get those implementations within our own organization.

The big surprise wasnt process change; it was the people side.

Thats probably one element that surprised me a little bit how much energy I had to put into my own organization to get my own colleagues to work in these new processes.

What changes did Stefansen see after going live with SirionLabs? One big change: tracking of deliveries and obligations. Sirion pulls all of the outsourcing vendors obligations from their contracts, and puts it into a calendar view for tracking:

All of that is alert-based. Alerts tell us that, This is supposed to be delivered now. Did you receive it, or is it still pending? In the past, we would have missed that, because it would have taken a lot of manual effort to track all of this.

On the IT side, SirionLabs is now handling Vestas four main outsourcing partners, comprising 70-80 percent of all outsourced services. Its really a shift to pro-active way to manage outsourcers, Stefansen has already seen cost reductions:

[Another part] of our cost savings is the invoice reconciliation. Basically, matching invoices to what weve agreed in the contract, and making sure that we are paying them correctly. Thats where we see a lot of the direct cost savings.

The savings arent small: Stefansens first year calculations on the SirionLabs investment: a 300 percent ROI.We talked about the machine learning aspect. Stefansen doesnt need to know the inner workings of Sirions machine learning capabilities to see the value on his side.

SirionLabs applies machine learning to areas Vestas would have struggled to monitor on their own, from incorrect invoicing to avoiding SLA penalties that are invoked when a usage threshold is reached. As the SirionLabs PR team put it to me, SirionLabs uses machine learning to cull through the mind-numbing tedium of contracts to ensure everyone is doing their job.

Looking ahead, Stefansen wants to get his outsourcing partners to use SirionLabs to collaborate and address contractual issues. So far, weve seen good benefits from that, where weve managed to convince our outsourcing partners that this is a good idea.

Today, SirionLabs manages contracts valuing $160 million for Vestas. For Stefansen, better control over back office IT means his team can be more strategic, and less caught up in administrivia:

If I hadnt implemented this I would probably of had to hire say four people to manage these things manually. So it gives me a lot of flexibility from an organizational point of view.

Image credit - Image of Vestas wind turbine in Macarthur, Australia from the Vestas.com web site, model number V112-3.0 MW.

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How Vestas Wind Systems used outsourced machine learning to transform contract management - Diginomica