AI is in danger of becoming too male — new research — from singularityhub.com by Juan Mateos-Garcia and Joysy John

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

But current AI systems are far from perfect. They tend to reflect the biases of the data used to train them and to break down when they face unexpected situations.

So do we really want to turn these bias-prone, brittle technologies into the foundation stones of tomorrow’s economy?

One way to minimize AI risks is to increase the diversity of the teams involved in their development. As research on collective decision-making and creativity suggests, groups that are more cognitively diverse tend to make better decisions. Unfortunately, this is a far cry from the situation in the community currently developing AI systems. And a lack of gender diversity is one important (although not the only) dimension of this.

A review published by the AI Now Institute earlier this year showed that less than 20 percent of the researchers applying to prestigious AI conferences are women, and that only a quarter of undergraduates studying AI at Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley are female.

 


From DSC:
My niece just left a very lucrative programming job and managerial role at Microsoft after working there for several years. As a single woman, she got tired of fighting the culture there. 

It was again a reminder to me that there are significant ramifications to the cultures of the big tech companies…especially given the power of these emerging technologies and the growing influence they are having on our culture.


Addendum on 8/20/19:

  • Google’s Hate Speech Detection A.I. Has a Racial Bias Problem — from fortunes.com by Jonathan Vanian
    Excerpt:
    A Google-created tool that uses artificial intelligence to police hate speech in online comments on sites like the New York Times has become racially biased, according to a new study. The tool, developed by Google and a subsidiary of its parent company, often classified comments written in the African-American vernacular as toxic, researchers from the University of Washington, Carnegie Mellon, and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence said in a paper presented in early August at the Association for Computational Linguistics conference in Florence, Italy.
    .
  • On the positive side of things:
    Number of Female Students, Students of Color Tackling Computer Science AP on the Rise — from thejournal.com
 

Why AIoT Is Emerging As The Future Of Industry 4.0 — from forbes.com by Janakiram MSV]

Excerpts:

“By combining AI with industrial IoT, we add an important ability 2connected systems – Act.”

AI goes beyond the visualizations by acting on the patterns and correlations from the telemetry data. It plugs the critical gap by taking appropriate actions based on the data. Instead of just presenting the facts to humans to enable them to act, AI closes the loop by automatically taking an action. It essentially becomes the brain of the connected systems.

 

 

The future of industrial automation lies in the convergence of AI and IoT. Artificial Intelligence of Things will impact almost every industry verticle including automotive, aviation, finance, healthcare, manufacturing and supply chain.

 


 

From DSC:
I’ve often wondered which emerging technologies will be combined with each other to produce something powerful. According to the article referenced above, AI + IoT = AIoT is something to put on the radar.  I’m not at all crazy about the word “lethal” being used in this article/context though — I certainly hope that’s not the case.

 


 

Also relevant/see:

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) has, of late, been the subject of so many announcements, proclamations, predictions and premonitions that it could occupy its own 24-hour cable news channel. In technology circles, it has become a kind of holy grail, akin to fire, the wheel or the steam engine in terms of world-changing potential. Whether these forecasts come to pass is still an open question. What is less in doubt are the vast ethical ramifications of AI development and use, and the need to address them before AI becomes a part of everyday life.

 

5 important artificial intelligence predictions (for 2019) everyone should read — from forbes.com by Bernard Marr

Excerpts:

  1. AI increasingly becomes a matter of international politics
  2. A move towards “transparent AI”
  3. AI and automation drilling deeper into every business
  4. More jobs will be created by AI than will be lost to it (for the next year at least)
  5. AI assistants will become truly useful

 

“…these tensions could compromise the spirit of cooperation between academic and industrial organizations across the world.”

 

“AI solutions for managing compliance and legal issues are also likely to be increasingly adopted. As these tools will often be fit-for-purpose across a number of organizations, they will increasingly be offered as-a-service…”

 

 

A handful of US cities have banned government use of facial recognition technology due to concerns over its accuracy and privacy. WIRED’s Tom Simonite talks with computer vision scientist and lawyer Gretchen Greene about the controversy surrounding the use of this technology.

 

 

Alexa Skill Blueprints Publishing Now Available in Australia and New Zealand – Create and Publish a Skill, No Coding Required— from developer.amazon.com by James Ang

Excerpt:

We are excited to announce that now anyone can create and publish an Alexa skill on the Australian Alexa Skills Store using Alexa Skill Blueprints. Skill Blueprints enable you to create and share customised Alexa skills simply by filling in the blanks to one of the dozens of easy-to-use templates, with no coding required. Now you can publish skills created using Alexa Skill Blueprints to the Alexa Skills Store in Australia for customers to discover and use. We have also built new Skill Blueprints specifically for content creators, bloggers, and organisations so they can reach anyone with an Alexa-enabled device.

Create Fun Learning Tools
Whether you are a parent helping your child study or want to teach something you’re passionate about, Blueprints are easy tools to create new ways to learn. Use the QuizFlashcardsFacts, and Listening Quiz Blueprints to help teach new concepts, retain information, and prepare for the next exam. Add your content into the Skill Blueprint template without the need for any coding and make learning fun for everyone.

 

 

The most effective tech tools for lawyers? New survey says they ain’t what you think — from lawsitesblog.com by Bob Ambrogi

 

Out [on 8/7/19] is the 2019 Aderant Business of Law and Legal Technology Survey, published by Aderant, a global provider of business management software for law firms.

 

 

From DSC:
It will be very interesting to see such a chart in just 2-3 years from now…#AI will be moving up the chart, guaranteed.

 

 

Why more law schools are prioritizing technology integration — from edtechmagazine.com by Eli Zimmerman
Universities are investing in video conferencing, artificial intelligence and more to ensure future lawyers remain competitive and prepared.

Excerpt:

Lawyers are beginning to show interest in incorporating technology into practice — the American Bar Association has even dedicated an entirely new section of their website to available, relevant technologies. As this interest grows, law schools are incorporating innovative solutions into their curriculums to prepare students for legal careers that will involve more technology than ever before.

The push for a more technology-oriented law school experience comes as professionals and educators become more aware of the inevitable merge of traditional practice with the tools of tomorrow.

“If we can help students understand that technology, and specifically AI, can create a much more streamlined, efficacious means of connecting lawyers to consumers of legal services, and reorient or recalibrate what it means to provide legal services by lawyers, then that’s an enormous benefit for us as legal educators in educating our students to the value and capacity of law to provide access to justice,” says Daniel Rodriguez, former dean of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in a Legal AI News article.

 

Also see:

  • Client-Driven Innovation: The Future of Legal Technology — from lawtechnologytoday.org by Vishal Rajpara
    Excerpt:
    After nearly 20 years of steady innovation-focused primarily on e-discovery, legal technology appears to be entering a new phase. While the legal profession as a whole is still somewhat skeptical of technology and wary of change—especially when compared to other industries—most lawyers now accept the premise that automation and process optimization are essential to managing law firms and legal departments more efficiently in a dynamic, hypercompetitive business environment that is increasingly data-driven.

 

Advanced technologies built into the platform.
Artificial intelligence technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, and data analytics must be included in legal technology platforms rather than dangled as extras for an additional cost. The utility and power of these technologies have the potential to transform the industry if organizations can apply them—at a reasonable, predictable, and sustainable cost—to workflows where they make the most sense. These capabilities are game-changers that can be applied to nearly every facet of legal operations and litigation, whether it’s ECA and TAR in discovery or billing and invoicing or long-term multi-matter management. AI and analytics help organizations leverage data to understand the details of their operations, monitor trends, refine processes, and predict budget and resource requirements.

 

 

What will happen when 28 billion devices are connected online? — from fastcompany.com
The Internet of Things is already well on its way. Here’s how it will impact our future.

Excerpt:

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network that connects a staggering array of devices, from household appliances to factory machines. During a panel discussion at Cisco Live 2019 in June, two leading figures in IoT shared their thoughts on this rapidly evolving technology that has already transformed the world.

 

DC: Holy smokes!!! How might this be applied to education/learning/training in the 21st century!?!

 

“What if neither distance nor language mattered? What if technology could help you be anywhere you need to be and speak any language? Using AI technology and holographic experiences this is possible, and it is revolutionary.”

 

 

Also see:

Microsoft has a wild hologram that translates HoloLens keynotes into Japanese — from theverge.com by
Azure and HoloLens combine for a hint at the future

Excerpt:

Microsoft has created a hologram that will transform someone into a digital speaker of another language. The software giant unveiled the technology during a keynote at the Microsoft Inspire partner conference [on 7/17/19] in Las Vegas. Microsoft recently scanned Julia White, a company executive for Azure, at a Mixed Reality capture studio to transform her into an exact hologram replica.

The digital version appeared onstage to translate the keynote into Japanese. Microsoft has used its Azure AI technologies and neural text-to-speech to make this possible. It works by taking recordings of White’s voice, in order to create a personalized voice signature, to make it sound like she’s speaking Japanese.

 

 

 

Governments take first, tentative steps at regulating AI — from heraldnet.com by James McCusker
Can we control artificial intelligence’s potential for disrupting markets? Time will tell.

Excerpt:

State legislatures in New York and New Jersey have proposed legislation that represents the first, tentative steps at regulation. While the two proposed laws are different, they both have elements of information gathering about the risks to such things as privacy, security and economic fairness.

 

 

You’re already being watched by facial recognition tech. This map shows where — from fastcompany.com by Katharine Schwab
Digital rights nonprofit Fight for the Future has mapped out the physical footprint of the controversial technology, which is in use in cities across the country.

 

 

The coming deepfakes threat to businesses — from axios.com by Kaveh Waddell and Jennifer Kingson

Excerpt:

In the first signs of a mounting threat, criminals are starting to use deepfakes — starting with AI-generated audio — to impersonate CEOs and steal millions from companies, which are largely unprepared to combat them.

Why it matters: Nightmare scenarios abound. As deepfakes grow more sophisticated, a convincing forgery could send a company’s stock plummeting (or soaring), to extract money or to ruin its reputation in a viral instant.

  • Imagine a convincing fake video or audio clip of Elon Musk, say, disclosing a massive defect the day before a big Tesla launch — the company’s share price would crumple.

What’s happening: For all the talk about fake videos, it’s deepfake audio that has emerged as the first real threat to the private sector.

 

From DSC…along these same lines see:

 

45% of ORs will be integrated with artificial intelligence by 2022 – from healthitanalytics.com by Jessica Kent
Operating rooms will become infused with artificial intelligence in the coming years, with interoperability and partnerships fueling growth.

Excerpt:

Thirty-five percent to 45 percent of operating rooms (ORs) in the US and beyond will become integrated with artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies by 2022, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan analysis.

AI, virtual reality, and other advanced tools will enable ORs to use intelligent and efficient delivery options to improve care precision. Robotic-assisted surgery devices (RASDs) will play a key role in driving the $4.5 billion US and European hospital and OR products and solutions market to $7.04 billion by 2022, the analysis said.

 

Pearson moves away from print textbooks — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

Excerpt:

All of Pearson’s 1,500 higher education textbooks in the U.S. will now be “digital first.” The company announced its big shift away from print today, calling the new approach a “product as a service model and a generational business shift to be much more like apps, professional software or the gaming industry.”

The digital format will allow Pearson to update textbooks on an ongoing basis, taking into account new developments in the field of study, new technologies, data analytics and efficacy research, the company said in a news announcement. The switch to digital will also lower the cost for students: The average e-book price will be $40, or $79 for a “full suite of digital learning tools.”

 

Why law faculty need to learn about legal tech and what they need to know — from aals.org by Catherine Sanders Reach and Michael Robak — with special thanks to Kim O’Leary, Tenured Professor at WMU-Cooley Law School for this resource

Excerpts:

Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in the profession of law and the delivery of legal services. Legal educators must give real consideration to the role of technology in the legal profession if legal educators are going to sufficiently prepare law students to practice law in the 21st century. In this webinar, the presenters will explain why law faculty need to learn about legal tech and what they need to know.

Click here to watch this webinar on-demand. You will be asked for your contact information before viewing.

Presentation Slides

 

Also see:

Tech Competence That Solo and Small Firm Lawyers Really Need: Resources Here

Excerpt:

DIGITAL ASSETS AND ESTATE PLANNING
Many estate planning lawyers are hopelessly behind on assisting clients in making provisions for digital assets. In so doing, they expose themselves to malpractice. Without proper provision for digital assets, beneficiaries can lose out on substantial sums of money that they cannot locate or access. Many lawyers I’ve spoken with have dismissed digital assets figuring that most older clients aren’t using the Internet. But that’s not necessarily the case. To the contrary, older clients may indeed be using the Internet but not be aware of the need to make provisions for disposing of assets. At some point, lawyers will be sued for failing to advise on digital assets- and deservedly so.


Also see:

 

 
© 2025 | Daniel Christian