Daily Archives: June 22, 2017

There has been a lot of talk recently about the Singularity: the idea that were rapidly approaching a threshold event in history when artificial intelligence will transcend human intelligence, and the resulting transformation will lead to a new form of existence utterly different from anything that has come before. Discussions of the Singularity, however, sometimes miss the fact that there are very different ways it could happen, with different levels of likelihood.

One version that has received significant press lately is the emergence of a superhuman artificial intelligence (AI). Last year DeepMind, a Google-backed AI system, used deep learning techniques to teach itself Go, a game far more complex than chess, and then trounced world champion Lee Sedol. Prominent scientists, Stephen Hawking included, warn that the rise of self-organized machine intelligence could be the greatest existential threat facing humanity.

At the other end of the optimism spectrum, futurist Raymond Kurzweil dreams of immortality by downloading his mind and re-uploading it to new hardware after his deatha prospect he believes is closer than most people imagine, setting its date at 2045 in his bestseller The Singularity Is Near. Kurzweils ideas are gaining tractionhe is a director of engineering at Google, and his Singularity University boasts a faculty of some of Silicon Valleys leading entrepreneurs. But his vision may contain a fatal flaw: the human brain cannot be split, like a computer, between hardware and software. Rather, neuroscientists point out that a neurons biophysical makeup is intrinsically linked to its computations; the information doesnt exist separately from its material construction.

Will humans get there first?

There is, however, another kind of Singularity that doesnt rely on a leap of faith. Instead, its a predictable outcome of technological enhancements already being designed and implemented. It relies on the very fact that makes Kurzweils version unlikely: that human consciousness is embedded in a physical network of neurons. In this form of Singularity, human nervous systems across the world could connect with each other through the internet, permitting a new type of human superorganism to emerge.

Last month, Facebook and Elon Musk separately announced investments in technologies that could lead humanity to this outcome. Facebook announced plans for a silent speech interface using neural signal receptors that could allow users to type words into their smartphone using only their thoughts.

Billionaire Elon Musk raised the ante even further, announcing a new company, Neuralink Corporation, that aims to merge human brains with computers with the ultimate goal of enabling what Musk calls consensual telepathy. In this scenario, you would be able to share your thoughts and feelings with another person through a neural-computer interface. As in his other ventures, Musk is acting according to what he perceives as a grand vision for humanity. In his view, there is a race to the Singularity between humans and AI, and he wants humans to get there first, thus becoming active participants in the post-Singularity world rather than useless bystanders as AI takes over.

Speculative as these ideas may appear, the first steps down this path have already been taken. Hundreds of thousands of profoundly deaf people now hear through neural implants that use electrodes to transmit sound waves directly to the cochlear nerve. Patients suffering from Parkinsons disease can control their tremors through deep brain stimulation, which sends electrical pulses that modulate the brains neural activity. Brain-controlled prosthetics are being developed to allow paralyzed patients to move artificial fingers, legs, and even cursors on a computer screen.

Currently this requires complicated surgery. However, Miguel Nicolelis, a pioneer in brain-machine interfaces, believes that by around 2030 noninvasive methods could enable people to communicate regularly with their computers using thought. Scientists have already programmed brain scanners to literally see an image someone has in their mind.

Human Superorganism?

The implications of an advanced neural-computer interface are so enormous that they challenge the imagination. People could use the interface to share ideas with each other merely by thinking them and transmitting those thoughts through a network. But the potential extends far beyond mere conceptual sharing. As technology improved, youd be able to share your emotions, feeling tones, and physical sensations with others. Emotional responses to public events could be uploaded and spread over the internet. Intimate relationships would be utterly transformed.

Its easy to see how the boundary lines between an individual, the computer interface, and the rest of humanity might become blurred. Once a critical mass of people is connected, would they eventuallybegin to identify more as a group of interconnected thoughts and sensations than as individuals? Unlike Kurzweils Singularity, this version would not provide immortality to any of us. It might, however, cause the emergence of a new, collective entity, a self-organized human intelligence that incorporates and reflects each of the billions of individuals comprising it, in much the same way that an ant colonysometimes referred to as a superorganismdemonstrates a collective intelligence far beyond the limitations of each individual ant.

Many people might recoil from this vision, fearing the loss of individuality it might entail. However, this wouldnt necessarily be the case. The urge to connect with each other is one of humanitys defining characteristics. Our most crucial inventionlanguageis essentially a vehicle to transcend each persons cognitive isolation. Another uniquely human capabilitymusicpermits us to share emotional experiences in a meaningful and exquisite way. From this perspective, its reasonable to see the emergence of a human superorganism as another evolutionary stage that could profoundly enrich, rather than detract from, the intrinsic experience of being human.

Or a swarm of programmed drones?

However, this vision could be hijacked by the same forces that are already steering the internet into disturbing territory. Data privacy concerns, already paramount, have been exacerbated by the recent decision of the U.S. Congress to permit internet service providers to sell detailed usage data without customers permission. How much greater would this concern be if our very thoughts and feelings could be used as marketing fodder?

Even with the limitations of current technology, social media innovators have found ways to manipulate our hormonal responses. Pioneers in the field of captologyfrom the acronym CAPT, or Computers As Persuasive Technologyhave learned to use what they call hot triggers, such as the thumbs-up icon or Like statistics, to spark micro-doses of endorphinsin our brains, causing subconscious addictive behavioral loops. It is hard to imagine the power these manipulations would hold over us if they had direct access to our brains.

Then there are concerns about what kind of forces an internet of emotions might unleash. Many observers have voiced apprehension about our post-factual world roiled by fake news stories that spread like wildfire across the internet. If raw emotions could be transmitted across humanity like a tidal wave without requiring even false facts to back them up, what would this do to the political makeup of a future neurally connected society?

The issues that are hotly debated today have implications not just for how the internet will develop in the near future, but quite possibly for how humanity will evolve. Might we one day share the unimaginable experience of being part of a human superorganism while retaining individual autonomy? Or will we simply become programmed drones thinking were making our own choices that ultimately are driven by the objectives of corporate shareholders and unscrupulous politicians?

One thing is clear: discussions about the Singularity cannot be left to a few pioneering think tanks and billionaire entrepreneurs. The implications of these new developments are enormous. The future direction of humanity may well be at stake.

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A Meeting of Minds and Computers: What Are the Costs of Using Technology to Merge Humans with Machines? - Religion Dispatches

They'll be available starting Wednesday. Courtesy of Facebook

Facebook on Wednesday is unveiling new features that it hopes will make women in India feel safer on its platform.

The social network is introducing two tools that will give users in the country more control over who can download and share their profile photosimages that Facebook users can often see even if they're not friends with the person pictured.

Facebook's research in the Indian market revealed that some users, especially women, are uncomfortable uploading a profile picture of themselves for fear it might be distributed more widely than they wish or otherwise misused online, according to Facebook product manager Aarati Soman. Instead, they use photos of something elsesay a dog or other animalwhich can make it hard for friends to find them on the site.

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The first feature is a photo guard that users can trigger. It will keep others from being able to download, share, or send the photo in a Facebook message. The latest version of the Facebook app on Android devices will also prohibit users from screen-shotting a guarded photo. Profile pictures with the added security will be displayed with a blue border and shield, which Soman calls "a visual cue so people understand you would like your picture to be protected."

The second feature is a design overlay that users can put on their profile pictures. There are several different pattern options that Soman says mimic "traditional art designs from around India." Facebook's decision to add the feature stems from a research finding that an extra design layer on a profile picture made other users 75% less likely to copy it.

Both tools will be promoted in Indian users' news feeds, and they'll be available in over 30 local Indian languages. Their gradual rollout starts Wednesday; they'll be available throughout India by June 27.

India is one of Facebook's fastest growing markets in terms of users , but low internet speeds, weak infrastructure, and a lack of consumer trust remain challenges there, according to Quartz . In May, Facebook launched its Express Wi-Fi Internet service in India with 700 hotspots. The company partnered with 500 local entrepreneurs to sell the service through vouchers that are priced by the day or the month. It's Facebook's second attempt to promote universal connectively in India. Its first, called Free Basics, was blocked by India's telecom regulator last year for not supporting net neutrality since the service favored some sites over others.

In explaining the rationale behind the two new tools being introduced Wednesday, Soman pointed to CEO Mark Zuckerberg's February manifesto , which called for the creation of a worldwide community. In it, he also mentioned the "real opportunity to build global safety infrastructure." Soman says that in India in particular, the risk of photo misuse "is a top-of-mind concern for women."

"A lot of what affects women offline affects women online," she says.

Anshul Tewari of New Delhi is founder and editor in chief of Youth Ki Awaaz, a content publishing site aimed at India's youth. His organization helped Facebook in the development of the new tools, and he told Fortune about the online risks that many Indian women face.

"Gender-based violence and sexual harassment is a big problem in India," he said, due in large part to "an extremely patriarchal way of thinking." Those attitudes are also present online.

Many men feel they command power over women, even in a virtual setting, Tewari explains. One rampant problem is the unsolicited online messages that women receive on social media from men who try to befriend or control them. Pushback against such advances has, in some instances, prompted men to download women's photos, create fake profiles based on the woman's identity and post unflattering, even pornographic, content, Tewari says.

" There's not clear information on how much it happens," he says, but "a lot of people are struggling [with it]." A legal system in India that's ill-equipped to combat this kind of cybercrime only exacerbates that problem, according to Tewari.

"One thing that a platform like Facebook can do," he says, "is identify ways to protect aspects of your profile that can lead to such violence happening online."

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Facebook Is Introducing New Tools to Protect Women in India - Fortune

Daughter receives hilarious text from mum at her college.

STARTING at a new school, university or workplace can be quite daunting, especially if youre doing it all alone.

But for one student in the US the experience was completely different.

Avery Leilani attended the Texas State freshman orientation day with her mum you know those uncomfortable events where a really passionate student takes you on a tour and you try and make new friends? Well, yes those.

But as Avery went off to do her own thing she received a strange text from her mum.

The text said, I made some friends. Dont wait up.

And then the photos came.

The young students mum was pictured among some very toned members of the college football team.

My mum dropped me off today for College freshman orientation and she sends me this ... Avery posted the string of messages to Twitter and it quickly went viral.

Since uploading it online the post has been retweeted more than 97,000 times with nearly half a million likes.

One Twitter user responded our mums should be friends, and shared a photo of her mum doing the exact same thing. Youre not alone, Avery.

We dont know why, but this scene from Mean Girls comes to mind ...

The best scene in Mean Girls.Source:YouTube

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Mum drops off daughter at college then sends her hilarious texts with football team - NEWS.com.au