Monthly Archives: April 2018

Podcast #22: Social Robotics and Symbiotic Autonomous Systems with Roberto Saracco

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 “We’re going to become caretakers for the robots. That’s what the next generation of work is going to be.”–Gray Scott

 

I’m not worried about depressed robots.  But I am worried about masses of people being depressed about robots.  Or any other form of autonomous system, for that matter.  How we use them, how we communicate and interact–and ultimately control them–is critical.  IEEE, ever in the forefront of maintaining standard practices and ethical approaches to technology, is directly in the fray on this one, with its Initiative on Symbiotic Autonomous Systems.  Roberto Saracco, a noted computer scientist and educator from Turin, Italy, is co-director of the initiative;  he joins me for this episode of Seeking Delphi.™

 

All Seeking Delphi™  podcasts are available on iTunes, PlayerFM, and  YouTube.  You can also follow us on Facebook and on twitter @MarkSackler

 

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Episode #22:  Social Robotics and Symbiotic Autonomous Systems with Roberto Saracco

 

YouTube slide show of Seeking Delphi™ podcast episode #22

Related podcast: SXSW 2018 minicast #4, Extreme Bionics and the Future of Human Ability

 

The Uncanny Valley?

 

A reminder that this and all Seeking Delphi ™podcasts are available on iTunes, PlayerFM, and  YouTube.  You can also follow us on Facebook and on twitter @MarkSackler

News of The Future This Week: April 19, 2018

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“Space in general gave us GPS – that’s not specifically NASA, but its investments in space.”–
Neil DeGrasse Tyson

No more Lost In Space? image credit: http://www.andertoons.com

Maybe NDT is right–NASA didn’t directly give us GPS as in Global Positioning System.  But they are going to directly give us–or at least their astronauts–GPS as in Galactic Positioning System.  What that portends for the ratings for Lost in Space  is beyond the foresight of this blog.  But hey, the plausibility of that series was already next to zero.

While you’re reading about all this week’s future-related  news, don’t forget that you can subscribe to Seeking Delphi™ podcasts on iTunes, PlayerFM, or YouTube (audio with slide show) and you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook 

Danger Will Robinson, ratings in jeopardy.

NASA/Space–Lost In Space  may now be an obsolete concept.  NASA has unveiled plans for a galactic positioning system that uses x-rays emitted from pulsars.

–The exo-planet exploration baton has been passed from Kepler to TESS.  The newest planet-finding telescope was successfully launched on the back of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

–As a reminder that technologies, as well as people, are increasingly interconnected, NASA will employ 3D printing to produce over 100 parts of its next generation Orion Space Capsule.  The first manned launch of the vehicle is slated for sometime in the early 2020’s.

Automotive Future–The Verge reports that self-driving vehicles are poised to creat an $800 billion market by 2030 and a staggering $7 trillion by 2050.  Handling the data is key, and Telsa and Waymo are leading the pack.

–Almost on cue with the above, Toyota announced plans to deploy chips, by 2021, that will enable cars to communicate with each other.  The technology has implications for safety in conventional vehicles, and is a flat out necessity for massive autonomous vehicle rollout.

–Even as Uber is still reeling from its first self-driving car fatality in Arizona, competition is heating up on the other side of the globe.  Ola, a major Uber rival in Asia, announced plans to deploy 10,000 electric vehicles within the next year.-

CRISPR/genetic editing–To date, 86 human patients in China have been treated with CRISPR/Cas9 edited cells to help fight cancer and HIV.

–Even as lower regulatory hurdles have been a boon to rapid deployment of human tests in China, Europe has approved its first CRISPR trial for patients with a devastating blood disorder.

Here’s a very brief video with a very basic explanation of what CRISPR does.

Coming Attractions:  The next Seeking Delphi podcast features Roberto Saracco on Social Robotics and the IEEE Initiative On Symbiotic Autonomous Systems.

You can subscribe to Seeking Delphi™ podcasts on iTunes, PlayerFM, or YouTube (audio with slide show) and you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook 

News of the Future This Week, April 13, 2018

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“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of congress; but I repeat myself.”–Mark Twain

Happy Friday the 13th.  With that cheerful note, we go straight to the foibles of the U.S. Congress.  Did you really think that Senators that look and sound more like stuffed dinosaurs than live human beings could really extract anything meaningful from hearings with Mark Zuckerberg?  Really?  I didn’t think so.  My audience is more with it than that.

While you’re reading the future news of the week, don’t forget that  the Seeking Delphi™ podcast is available on iTunes, PlayerFM, blubrry , and has a channel on YouTube.  You can also follow us onTwitter and Facebook.

Social Media/Future of Privacy–In a scathing opinion piece on Futurism.com,  Victor Tangermann said that congress is ill-equiped to regulate Facebook.  He says they simply don’t  understand it.

Man or machine?

–Zuckerberg wasn’t exactly stellar in his performance, either.  CNBC’s Jim Cramer speculated that he might not be able to pass a Turing Test.

–Is privacy dead?  Speaking on the Seeking Delphi™ podcast, noted futurist Gray Scott says it has simply become irrelevant. (Scroll all the way down for the YouTube link).

Artificial Intelligence–The military is pursuing AI that mimics the human brain.  But one DARPA scientist thinks that’s the wrong approach.

Biotechnology–It isn’t just for–well, you know–any more.  Viagra might be effective against some cancers.    That’s what I call a pick me up.

NASA/Space–NASA has begun construction and testing on the next Mars rover, due for launch in 2020.

image credit: BMW

Autonomous Driving-Whatever the problems and perceptions, self-driving cars are not going away.  BMW became the latest major player, launching an autonomous vehicle research center.

Automation/Future of Work–What’s billed as the world’s first “unmanned” bank has opened in Shanghai.  It’s complete with a robot bank manager.

 

A reminder that the Seeking Delphi™ podcast is available on iTunes, PlayerFM, blubrry , and has a channel on YouTube.  You can also follow us onTwitter and Facebook.

Podcast #21: The Future of Privacy In The Digital Age, with Gray Scott

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 “We are losing privacy at an alarming rate–we have none left.”–John McAfee

“Privacy is becoming irrelevant.”–Gray Scott

 

Is privacy dead?  The answer may be more indifferent than you suspect.  Gray Scott says it’s becoming irrelevant.  People and politicians may squawk, but if you look at their behavior, it looks as if they just don’t really care.  It seems we’d rather have free content–even at the cost of privacy–than pay even nominal amounts to access online materials.  In this wide ranging interview, conducted just hours before Mark Zuckerberg’s senate testimony in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach, Gray provides us with his nuanced view of the state of privacy, both present and future.

A reminder that this and all Seeking Delphi™  podcasts are available on iTunes, PlayerFM, and  YouTube.  You can also follow us on Facebook and on twitter @MarkSackler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Podcast episode #21: The Future of Privacy In The Digital Age, with Gray Scott

YouTube slide show of Podcast #21: The Future of Privacy with Gray Scott

A reminder that this and all Seeking Delphi ™podcasts are available on iTunes, PlayerFM, and  YouTube.  You can also follow us on Facebook and on twitter @MarkSackler

News of The Future This Week: April 6, 2018

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“The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.”–Neil DeGrasse Tyson

“This is the way the world ends.  With a whimper, not a bang.”–TS Eliot

 

NDT is absolutley correct, but TS Eliot?  Maybe not so much. The latest theory of how the universe will end is most decidedly with a bang: a second big bang, to be precise.  But it’s probably a few trillion years in the future–assuming the math is correct.

While you’re reading about all this week’s future-related  news, don’t forget that you can subscribe to Seeking Delphi™ podcasts on iTunes, PlayerFM, or YouTube (audio with slide show) and you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook 

Cosmology–According to a new Harvard study,  the universe might end with a second big bang, caused by changes to the Higgs Boson.  While the process may have already begun in some distant galaxy, it’s  most likely to occur trillions of years in the future.    So return those overdue library books now.

–While the universe is still here, a team based at Plymouth University in the UK has published a study suggesting artificial intelligence can be use to predict the likelihood of life on other planets. 

Credit: USC

Transhumanism–A DARPA-funded prosthetic memory system has shown significant efficacy.  Researchers at Wake Forrest and USC report a  35%+ imrovement in memory by writing codes directly into the hippocampus of subjects.

Future of Work–A new OECD report projects that job losses from automation and robotics in coming years may not be a severe as some are projecting.  Just 14% of jobs are at high risk of automation in OECD countries, they say, versus the 47% risk cited in an Oxford University study.

Quantum Computing–IBM announced a new initiative to work with several startup companies to further develop applications for quantum computing.  One of the companies is Strangeworks, started by whurley, and briefly discussed in the Seeking Delphi™ podcast, with You Tube link below.

whurley on Quantum Computing and Strangeworks

Aerospace–NASA awarded a contract to Lockheed-Martin to build its first  supersonic X-plane slated for test flights by 2021.  The craft is designed to break the sound barrier over land, without blasting the ground with sonic booms.

3D printed bridge or robot pasta?

3D Printing–Dutch company MX3D is creating a fully funcional 3D printed stainless steel bridge to cross one of Amsterdam’s canals.  It looks eerie, to say the least.

You can subscribe to Seeking Delphi™ podcasts on iTunes, PlayerFM, or YouTube (audio with slide show) and you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook