Daily Archives: July 26, 2017

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have dominated both tech and business stories this year. Industry heavyweights such as Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have famously voiced their concern with blindly rushing into AI without thinking about the consequences.

AI has already proven that it has the power to outsmart humans. IBM Watson famously destroyed human opponents at a game ofJeopardy, and a Google computer beat the world champion of the Chinese board game,Go.

Google's AI team are taking no chances after revealing that they are developing a 'big red button' to switch off systems if they pose a threat to humans. In fact scientists at Google DeepMind and Oxford University have revealed their plan to prevent a doomsday scenario in their paper titledSafely Interruptible Agents.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction and tech fans could be forgiven for nearly choking on their cornflakes this morning after hearing about a very public disagreement between the two tech billionaires. The argument is probably a good reflection of how people on both sides of the aisle feel about heading into the foggy world of AI.

In one corner, we have Mark Zuckerberg who believes AI will massively improve the human condition. Some say he is more focused on his global traffic dominance and short-term profits than the fate of humanity. Whatever your opinion, he does represent a sanguine view of futuristic technologies such as AI.

In the other corner, we have Tesla's Elon Musk who seems to be more aware of the impact our actions might have on future generations. Musk appears concerned that once the Pandora's box has been cracked open, we could unwittingly be creating a dystopian future.

Zuckerberg landed the first punch in a Facebook Live broadcast when he said

However, Elon Musk calmly retaliated by landing a virtual uppercut by tweeting "I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited."

Whether you side with Musk and believe that AI will represent humanity's biggest existential threat or think Zuckerberg is closer to the truth when he said, AI is going to make our lives better, your view is entirely subjective at this point.

However, given the range of opinions around this topic, should we be taking the future of AI more seriously than we do today?

I will tell you that big businesses with large volumes of data are falling over themselves trying to install machine learning and AI driven solutions. However, right now, many of these AI driven systems are also the source of our biggest frustrations as consumers.

Are businesses guilty of rushing into AI based solutions without thinking of the bigger picture? There are several examples of things going awry like the Chat bots claiming to be a real person, or the spread of fake news, or being told you are not eligible for a mortgage because a computer says so.

There are also an increasing number of stories about AI not being quite as smart as some would believe it to be, or how often algorithms are getting it wrong or being designed to deceive consumers. For every great tech story, there is a human story about creativity and emotional intelligence that a machine can never match.

Make no mistake the AI revolution is coming our way, and large corporations will harvest the benefits of cultivating their big data initiatives. Anything that will eliminate antiquated processes of the past and enable business efficiency can only be a giant leap forward.

However, the digital transformation of everything we know is not going to happen overnight. That does not mean we shouldn't be vigilant about how our actions today could affect future generations.

Mr. Zuckerberg may be accused by some of acting in the interests of his social media platform, and that is quite understandable. Beneath every noble statement resides a hidden interest it is safe to assume that nowadays, unless one is Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela.

On the other hand, there are also the likes of Musk and Gates that are arguably looking beyond their own business interests.

I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I do ask if we need more of us to question how advancements in technology are providing advantages for the few rather than the many?

Lets build on Elon Musks point of view for a moment. I wonder if we should be concerned that a dystopian future awaits us on the horizon? Will the machines rise and turn on their masters?

AI is no longer merely a concept from a science fiction movie. The future is now. The reality is that businesses need to harness this new technology to secure a preemptive competitive advantage. Time-consuming, laborious and automatable tasks can be performed better and faster by machines that continuously learn, adapt and improve.

The current advances in technology have unexpected parallels with the industrial revolution that helped deliver new manufacturing processes. 200 years ago, the transition from an agricultural society to one based on the manufacture of goods and services dramatically increased the speed of progress.

Steel and iron replaced manual labor with mechanized mass production hundreds of years ago. That is not unlike the circumstances facing businesses today. The reality is that as old skills or roles slowly fade away, there will be a massive shortage of other skills and new roles relevant to the digital age.

Ultimately, we have a desire to use technology to change the world for the better in the same way that the industrial revolution changed the landscape of the world forever. The biggest problems surrounding market demand and real world needs could all be resolved by a new generation of AI hardware, software, and algorithms.

After years of collecting vast quantities of data, we are currently drowning in a sea of information. If self-learning and intelligent machines can turn this into actionable knowledge, then we are on the right path to progress. Upon closer inspection, the opportunities around climate modeling and complex disease analysis also illustrate how we should be excited rather than afraid of the possibilities.

The flip side of this is the understanding that no thing is entirely one thing. The risks versus rewards evaluation and the fact that researchers are talking about worst case scenarios should be a positive thing. I would be more concerned if the likes of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and IBM rushed in blindly without thinking about the consequences of their actions. Erring on the side of caution is a good thing, right?

Demis Hassabis is the man behind the AI research start-up, DeepMind, which he co-founded in 2010 withShane LeggandMustafa Suleyman.DeepMind was bought by Google in 2014. Demis reassuringly told the UK's Guardian newspaper:

It would appear that all bases are being covered and we should refrain from entering panic mode.

The only question the paper does not answer is what would happen if the robots were to discover that we are trying to disable their access or shut them down? Maybe the self-aware machine could change the programming of the infamous Red Button. But that kind of crazy talk is confined to Hollywood movies, isnt it? Lets hope so for the sake of the human race.

Those of us that have been exasperated by Facebook's algorithm repeatedly showing posts from three days ago on their timelines will tell you that much of this technology is still in its infancy.

Although we are a long way to go before AI can live up to the hype, we should nevertheless be mindful of what could happen in a couple decades.

Despite the internet mle over the impact of AI between the two most powerful tech CEOs of our generation, I suspect like anything in life, the sweet spot is probably somewhere in the middle of these two contrasting opinions.

Are you nervous or optimistic about heading into a self-learning AI-centric world?

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Musk vs. Zuck - The Fracas Over Artificial Intelligence. Where Do You Stand? - HuffPost

High above the Balfour interchange on State Route 4 in Brentwood, a drone buzzes, its sensors keeping a close watch on the volumes of earth being moved to make way for a new highway bypass. In Pittsburg, a camera perched on the dash of car driving through city streets periodically snaps pictures of potholes and cracks in the pavement. And, at the corner of Harbor and School streets in the same city, another camera monitors pedestrians, cyclists and cars, where 13-year-oldJordyn Molton lost her life late last year after a truck struck her.

Although the types of technology and their goals differ, all three first-of-their-kind projects in Contra Costa County aim to offer improvements to the road construction and maintenance industry, which has lagged significantly behind other sectors when it comes to adopting new technology. Lack of investment stifled innovation, said John Bly, the vice president of the Northern California Engineering Contractors Association.

But, with the recent passage of SB1, a gas tax and transportation infrastructure funding bill, thats all set to change, he said.

You may see some of these high-tech firms find new market niches because now you have billions of dollars going into transportation infrastructure and upgrades, he said. Thats coming real quick.

Its still so new that Bly was hard-pressed to think of other areas where drone and artificial intelligence software is being integrated into road construction work in the state. The pilot programs in the East Bay are cutting edge, he said.

At the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, Executive Director Randy Iwasaki has been pushing to experiment with emerging technology in the road construction and maintenance industry for several years. So, when the authoritys construction manager, Ivan Ramirez, came to him with an idea to use drones in its $74 million interchange project, Iwasaki was eager to try it.

We often complain we dont have enough money for transportation, Iwasaki said, adding that the use of drones at the interchange project in Brentwood would enable the authoritys contractors to save paper, save time and save money.

Thats because, traditionally, survey crews standing on the edge of the freeway would take measurements of the dirt each time its moved. The process is time consuming and hazardous, Ramirez said. But its only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to potential applications for the drones technology, which could also be used to perform inspections on poles or bridges and perform tasks people havent yet thought of.

As you begin to talk to people, then other ideas begin to emerge about where we might be going, and its propelling more ideas for the future, Ramirez said. By not having surveyors on the road, or not having to send an inspector up in a manlift way up high or into a confined space, not only is it more efficient, but it will provide safety improvements, as well.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburg, the city is working with RoadBotics on a pilot program to better manage its local roads. The company uses car-mounted cellphone cameras to snap photos of street conditions before running that data through artificial intelligence software to create color-coded maps showing which roads are in good shape, which need monitoring and which are in need of immediate repairs.

The companys goal is to make it easier for city officials to monitor and manage their roads, so small repairs dont turn into complete overhauls, said Mark DeSantis, the companys CEO. Representatives from Pittsburg did not respond to requests for comment.

The challenge of managing roads is not so much filling the little cracks, thats not much of a burden, DeSantissaid. The real challenge is when you have to repave the road completely. So, the idea is to see the features on the road and see which ones are predictive of roads that are about to fail.

At the same time, Charles Chung of Brisk Synergies is hoping to use cameras and artificial intelligence software in a different way seeing how the design of the road influences how drivers behave. At the corner of Harbor and School streets, the company installed a camera to watch how cars, cyclists and pedestrians move through the intersection and to identify why drivers might be speeding. In particular, the company is also trying to determine how effective crossing guards are at slowing down cars, he said.

It is still in the process of gathering data on that intersection and writing its report, but Chung said it was able to use the software in Toronto to document a 30 percent reduction in vehicle crashes after the city made changes to an intersection there. Before, documenting the need for changes would require special crews to either monitor the roads directly or watch footage from a video feed, both of which take time and personnel.

While only emerging in a handful of projects locally, these types of technology will become far more prevalent soon, said Bart Ney of Alta Vista Solutions, the construction-management firm using drones on the SR 4 project.

Were at the beginning of the wave, he said. Like any disruptive technology, there is a period when you have to embrace it and take it into the field and test it so it can achieve what its capable of. Were on the brink of that happening.

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Roadwork gets techie: Drones, artificial intelligence creep into the road construction industry - The Mercury News