computer science

In the US, the AI Industry Risks Becoming Winner-Take-Most [Johnson]

On 09/13/2021, in 21st century, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, computer science, dangers of the status quo, data mining, emerging technologies, ethics, morals/values, platforms, programming, society, sociology, the downsides of technology, trends, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

In the US, the AI Industry Risks Becoming Winner-Take-Most — from wired.com by Khari Johnson
A new study illustrates just how geographically concentrated AI activity has become.

Excerpt:

A NEW STUDY warns that the American AI industry is highly concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area and that this could prove to be a weakness in the long run. The Bay leads all other regions of the country in AI research and investment activity, accounting for about one-quarter of AI conference papers, patents, and companies in the US. Bay Area metro areas see levels of AI activity four times higher than other top cities for AI development.

“When you have a high percentage of all AI activity in Bay Area metros, you may be overconcentrating, losing diversity, and getting groupthink in the algorithmic economy. It locks in a winner-take-most dimension to this sector, and that’s where we hope that federal policy will begin to invest in new and different AI clusters in new and different places to provide a balance or counter,” Mark Muro, policy director at the Brookings Institution and the study’s coauthor, told WIRED.

Also relevant/see:

“Algorithms are opinions embedded in code.”

Earning a Living and College Credit at the Same Time [Greenberg]

On 08/27/2021, in Alternatives, collaboration, colleges, computer science, cost of getting a degree, funding / grants, higher education, programming, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Earning a Living and College Credit at the Same Time — from insidehighered.com by Susan H. Greenberg
IBM software engineering apprentices can now translate their training into three semesters of college credit at participating institutions.

Excerpt:

IBM is the latest company to win recognition from the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service as part of its recently launched Apprenticeship Pathways project, which allows apprentices at selected companies to earn digital credentials that they can apply to six participating institutions:

Bismark State College
Excelsior College
Ivy Tech Community College
Rowan University
Tidewater Community College
California State University, San Bernardino

This 12-year-old coder is set to earn over $400,000 after about 2 months selling NFTs — from cnbc.com by Taylor Locke

Excerpt:

But lately, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, and the smart contracts, or collections of code, that power them, have caught Ahmed’s attention.

“I first learned about NFTs earlier this year,” Ahmed, who is based in London, tells CNBC Make It. “I got fascinated with NFTs because you can easily transfer the ownership of an NFT by the blockchain.”

From DSC:
Law professors who teach property and contracts might be interested in this as well. 🙂

And speaking of emerging technologies and the law, also see:

How AI-powered tech landed man in jail with scant evidence — from apnews.com by Garance Burke, Martha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman, & Michael Tarm

Top 10 Free Coding Resources for Students — from gocoderz.com

Excerpt:

With computer science and technology being such a crucial part of student’s future success, it’s important that every student receives equitable access to programs and resources that can help them build their coding and programming knowledge early on. Exposure to coding resources increases student interest in computer science and technology careers and provides them with foundational knowledge that they can improve and refine as their education progresses to be successful in these future professions.

Intel expands AI education program to 18 total community colleges — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz

Excerpt:

The technology giant is supplying curriculum and faculty development for participating schools, and is partnering with Dell to provide technical and infrastructure expertise for the program, which can lead to a certificate or associate degree.

The future of AI: Deeper insights, personalization and problem-solving stand to transform how we use AI across devices and industries — from protocol.com by Alex Katouzian

Excerpt:

What comes to mind when you think of AI? In the past, it might have been the Turing test, a sci-fi character or IBM’s Deep Blue-defeating chess champion Garry Kasparov. Today, instead of copying human intelligence, we’re seeing immense progress made in using AI to unobtrusively simplify and enrich our own intelligence and experiences. Natural language processing, modern encrypted security solutions, advanced perception and imaging capabilities, next-generation data management and logistics, and automotive assistance are some of the many ways AI is quietly yet unmistakably driving some of the latest advancements inside our phones, PCs, cars and other crucial 21st century devices. And the combination of 5G and AI is enabling a world with distributed intelligence where AI processing is happening on devices and in the cloud.

Latest Trends in Artificial Intelligence –from newark.com

Excerpt:

Over the past decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has meshed into various industries. The era witnessed a dramatic increase in tools, applications, and platforms based on AI and Machine Learning (ML). These technologies have impacted healthcare, manufacturing, law, finance, retail, real estate, accountancy, digital marketing, and several other areas.

Companies are investing in AI research to find out how they can bring AI closer to humans. By 2025 AI software revenues alone will reach above $100 billion globally (Figure 1). This means that we will continue seeing the advancement of AI and Machine Learning (ML)-related technology in foreseeable future. AI changes notably fast, so you’ll need to go out of your way to keep up with the latest trends if you want to stay as informed as possible. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about the latest AI trends.

Amazon Web Services, Arizona State to offer for-credit cloud education to 10K high schoolers [Schwartz]

On 07/30/2021, in Alternatives, Amazon, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, computer science, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, platforms, programming, United States, universities, vendors, youth, by Daniel Christian

Amazon Web Services, Arizona State to offer for-credit cloud education to 10K high schoolers — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz

Excerpt:

Amazon Web Services is working with the nonprofit National Education Equity Lab to offer cloud computing classes to high school students in low-income districts, the company announced Wednesday.

From Skill to Instinct: How Higher Education can Bridge the Gap Between Classroom and Career — from edtechreview.in by Stephen Soulunii

Excerpts:

Higher education has conventionally focused on providing quality education for its students. However, modern students are increasingly attending higher education, not for scholarly pursuits, but to increase their value in an intensely competitive job market.

From DSC:
Funny how that happens when the price of getting a degree has skyrocketed through the years — and then one sees one’s family members struggling with getting out from crushing loads of debt (a process that often can take decades to do).

There is a lot that could be said here, but looking at this article makes me see how misaligned things are these days. The learning objectives that would be put forth from the corporate world don’t match up with the learning objectives as put forth by professors.

No wonder there’s a major disconnect.

One last quote drives the point home — which swims against the current that many faculty members swim in:

65% of HR professionals believe teamwork and collaboration are the most foundational people skills – and 40% believe these skills are the most lacking in new hires.

Also relevant here, this is an excerpt of a piece sent to me by Christina Ioannou:

Skills Union offers accredited cohort-based, active learning courses in partnership with leading universities and employers. Their career-focused content ranges from software engineering and UX/UI design to growth marketing and digital entrepreneurship.

The company announced a US$1.5 million seed investment round, supporting its mission to bridge the global tech skills gap, through university accredited courses that meet the needs of the rapidly growing tech sector. The investment round was led by Online Education Services (OES), part of the Seek group of companies, with notable investors including KDV, Hustle Fund, Koh Boon Hwee, Siu Rui Quek, Ishreth Hassen, Sumardy Ma, Simin Zhou and Anvesh Ramineni.

Need to Fit Billions of Transistors on a Chip? Let AI Do It [Knight]

On 07/14/2021, in 21st century, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, computer science, emerging technologies, engineering, programming, tools, by Daniel Christian

Need to Fit Billions of Transistors on a Chip? Let AI Do It — from wired.com by Will Knight

Excerpt:

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS now helping to design computer chips—including the very ones needed to run the most powerful AI code.

Sketching out a computer chip is both complex and intricate, requiring designers to arrange billions of components on a surface smaller than a fingernail. Decisions at each step can affect a chip’s eventual performance and reliability, so the best chip designers rely on years of experience and hard-won know-how to lay out circuits that squeeze the best performance and power efficiency from nanoscopic devices. Previous efforts to automate chip design over several decades have come to little.

But recent advances in AI have made it possible for algorithms to learn some of the dark arts involved in chip design. This should help companies draw up more powerful and efficient blueprints in much less time. Importantly, the approach may also help engineers co-design AI software, experimenting with different tweaks to the code along with different circuit layouts to find the optimal configuration of both.

Nvidia’s AI LaunchPad: A comprehensive AI platform in the cloud

On 06/23/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, business, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, corporate / business world, emerging technologies, innovation, IT in HE, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Nvidia builds AI LaunchPad in the cloud with Equinix — from fierceelectronics.com by Dan O’Shea

Excerpt:

If we fail to evolve to a point where almost everyone in the world relies on AI in some fashion, it won’t be for Nvidia’s lack of commitment to that vision. The company continues to hammer away at the notion of democratizing AI so that a broader array of businesses can leverage the technology.

Its newest offering, announced today, is a comprehensive AI platform made available for easy consumption through hybrid cloud providers. This platform, AI LaunchPad, initially will be available through Nvidia cloud partner Equinix. Nvidia explained that as AI proliferates through enterprises and their applications, companies will need to access application resources that might be distributed across public and private clouds. AI LaunchPad via Platform Equinix will allow them to access those resources in minutes for an hourly fee and deploy them to distributed locations…

60 Cool Home Offices and Workstations

On 06/19/2021, in computer science, creativity, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, engineering, programming, technologies for your home, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

60 Cool Home Offices and Workstations Setup, Vol. 4 — fromhongkiat.com

DC: I’m not too crazy about this drone swarm…

On 06/16/2021, in 21st century, computer science, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, engineering, Europe, future, global / globalization, platforms, policy, political science, programming, robotics, society, the downsides of technology, by Daniel Christian

Watch a Drone Swarm Fly Through a Fake Forest Without Crashing — from wired.com by Max Levy
Each copter doesn’t just track where the others are. It constantly predicts where they’ll go.

From DSC:
I’m not too crazy about this drone swarm…in fact, the more I thought about it, I find it quite alarming and nerve-racking. It doesn’t take much imagination to think what the militaries of the world are already doing with this kind of thing. And our son is now in the Marines. So forgive me if I’m a bit biased here…but I can’t help but wondering what the role/impact of foot soldiers will be in the next war? I hope we don’t have one.

Anway, just because we can…

Morpheus is a microprocessor that randomly changes its architecture to foil attackers: This is a fascinating idea. [oreilly.com]

On 06/07/2021, in computer science, platforms, programming, trends, by Daniel Christian

Radar trends to watch: June 2021 — from oreilly.com
Trends in AI, Security, Programming, and More

Excerpt:

Security
Morpheus is a microprocessor that randomly changes its architecture to foil attackers: This is a fascinating idea. In a 3-month long trial, 525 attackers were unable to crack it.

Nalukai Academy: Harvesting Hawai’i’s Next Generation of Leaders — from gettingsmart.com by Ashley Ranan

Excerpt:

Nalukai’s program curriculum includes 5 areas of interest:

Digital storytelling – branding & marketing, content creation, web design
Leadership – project management, collaboration, team dynamics
Entrepreneurship – networking, investor pitches, business plan development
Design thinking – prototyping, mind-mapping, iteration
Technology – coding, web development, digital business tools

Also see:

Learning Ecosystems

In the US, the AI Industry Risks Becoming Winner-Take-Most [Johnson]

Earning a Living and College Credit at the Same Time [Greenberg]

Three items re: AI — trends, insights, collaborations, & more

From Skill to Instinct: How Higher Education can Bridge the Gap Between Classroom & Career [Soulunii]

Top 10 Post-Covid Tech Trends [Press]

Need to Fit Billions of Transistors on a Chip? Let AI Do It [Knight]

Nvidia’s AI LaunchPad: A comprehensive AI platform in the cloud

60 Cool Home Offices and Workstations

DC: I’m not too crazy about this drone swarm…

Morpheus is a microprocessor that randomly changes its architecture to foil attackers: This is a fascinating idea. [oreilly.com]

Categories

Tags