Monthly Archives: April 2016

by

Stuart Russell interviewed about A.I. and human values.

The worst thing is a machine that has the wrong values, but is absolutely convinced it has the right ones, because then there’s nothing you can do to divert it from the path it thinks it’s supposed to be following. But if it’s uncertain about what it’s supposed to be following, a lot of the issues become easier to deal with because then the machine says, OK, I know that I’m supposed to be optimizing human values, but I don’t know what they are. It’s precisely this uncertainty that makes the machine safer, because it’s not single minded in pursuing its objectives. It allows itself to be corrected.

Source: Stuart Russell interviewed about A.I. and human values.

by

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: Artificial intelligence revolution is near

“We’re just at the verge of where the machines may take off and go much further than even we humans could make them go.

It is a new revolution in my mind, the revolution of  artificial intelligence, machines that will learn, that will be able to do things much better than we know how to tell them.”

Source: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: Artificial intelligence revolution is near

by

AI, MD: How artificial intelligence is changing the way illness is diagnosed and treated | ZDNet

Think of a new parent unsure if their baby’s rash is just a skin condition or an early sign of meningitis, or someone with a sports injury not sure if they’ve sprained their ankle or ruptured a ligament.

Using a setup similar to Siri or Cortana, the individual could talk directly to an app, listing their symptoms and concerns, and be advised whether to take a couple of aspirin or get themselves to the emergency room.

Source: AI, MD: How artificial intelligence is changing the way illness is diagnosed and treated | ZDNet

by

‘Miracle’ Computer Chip Gives Big Boost to Artificial Intelligence

Computer chip giant Nvidia has developed a “miracle” chip that is expected to significantly accelerate breakthroughs in artificial intelligence research.

Nvidia’s Tesla P100 chip crams in 15 billion transistors within its 610-square-millimeter frame, around three-times more than most processors or graphics chips on the market.

According to the company’s CEO, this makes the Tesla P100 the largest computer chip ever made.

Source: ‘Miracle’ Computer Chip Gives Big Boost to Artificial Intelligence

by

Binghamton University – Magazine: Your brain is your key

A new technology developed at Binghamton University can identify you simply by measuring your brain’s response to different stimuli. The technology has garnered attention from media outlets around the world, including National Geographic, which spent a day interviewing and filming on campus. It’s called brainprint, and it could revolutionize the security industry.

Source: Binghamton University – Magazine: Your brain is your key

by

MIT’s Teaching AI How to Help Stop Cyberattacks | WIRED

A system called AI2, developed at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, reviews data from tens of millions of log lines each day and pinpoints anything suspicious. A human takes it from there, checking for signs of a breach. The one-two punch identifies 86 percent of attacks while sparing analysts the tedium of chasing bogus leads.

Source: MIT’s Teaching AI How to Help Stop Cyberattacks | WIRED

by

Systems Admins: We Need To Talk. – Offensive Tech

I came across this excellent article while browsing Hacker News.  Putting it here so I can find it later if/when I need it.

Sysadmins, we need to talk. I know the struggle – I’ve been a systems administrator for 15 years. You have too few resources, too small a budget, and no respect. I get it. I do. Your users click links they shouldn’t, download things without forethought, and go to websites that you would firebomb from afar if you had your way. I understand that ransomware is a fast-changing, ever evolving beast that is mitigating your defenses as quickly as you’re mitigating its attacks. Its impossible to stop every attack. I get that. However, I’d like to pose question to you, and I ask this with as little snark as I can muster: Is that really an excuse? Can we really throw up our hands because “its hard,” and not even attempt good, basic security measures?

Admins, lend me your ears. With good, basic, and built-in tools, you can defend against ransomware. With just a few hours of configuration (at most!), you can stop this madness. Let’s talk turkey.

Source: Systems Admins: We Need To Talk. – Offensive Tech

by

IBM’s Watson Cognitive AI Platform Evolves, Senses Feelings And Dances Gangnam Style

Watson is more capable and human-like than ever before, especially when injected into a robot body. We got to see this first-hand at NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC) when Rob High, an IBM fellow, vice president, and chief technology officer for Watson, introduced attendees to a robot powered by Watson. During the demonstration, we saw Watson in robot form respond to queries just like a human would, using not only speech but movement as well. When Watson’s dancing skills were called into question, the robot responded by showing off its Gangnam Style moves.

This is the next level of cognitive computing that’s beginning to take shape now, both in terms of what Watson can do when given the proper form, and what it can sense. Just like a real person, the underlying AI can get a read on people through movement and cognitive analysis of their speech. It can determine mood, tone, inflection, and so forth.

Source: IBM’s Watson Cognitive AI Platform Evolves, Senses Feelings And Dances Gangnam Style

by

IBM Looks to Make Watson More Humanlike

Watson and other systems, as they become more intelligent, “will have to communicate with us on our terms,” he said. “They will have to adapt to our needs, rather than us needing to interpret and adapt to them.”

They will have to not only understand the questions humans ask and the statements they say, but will have to be able to pick up on all the visual and other non-verbal cues—such as facial expressions, the emphasis placed on words in a sentence and the tone of the voice—that people do in the normal course of interactions they have with each other. High wants to “change the role between humans and computers.”

Source: IBM Looks to Make Watson More Humanlike

by

Managed services killed DevOps | TechCrunch

Today, developers are increasingly turning to managed services for toolsets and infrastructure requirements — tasks traditionally managed by DevOps teams. Amazon Web Services and other managed service providers have allowed for a dramatically simplified way of working, reducing complexity on the developer end and, thus, allowing them to focus on software development instead of installing databases and ensuring processes like backup, redundancy and uptime. In other words, managed services removed a lot of headaches with which DevOps teams were forced to deal.

While it might be hard for some people to accept, the only conclusion can be that DevOps teams are creating the same problem they were initially built to solve. DevOps was established to speed things up, but because of the nature of managed services today, you no longer need a whole team to facilitate them — why not simply teach all developers how to utilize the infrastructure tools in the cloud? The truth is, like QA before it, DevOps has itself become an unnecessary step in the continuous deployment process. As such, it is obsolete.

Source: Managed services killed DevOps | TechCrunch