ethics

Reflections on “Why AIoT Is Emerging As The Future Of Industry 4.0” [Janakiram MSV]

On 08/15/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, emerging technologies, ethics, platforms, society, tools, by Daniel Christian

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:

The list of ethical guidelines for AI is growing rapidly — from eiuperspectives.economist.com

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.

Israeli tech co. uses virtual & augmented reality tech to help Christians engage with the Bible

On 08/08/2019, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), digital learning, digital storytelling, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, ethics, faith, hearts -- matters of the heart, history, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), learning, learning preferences, multimedia, platforms, publishing, religion, story, storytelling, student-related, technologies for your home, tools, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

Israeli tech co. uses virtual & augmented reality tech to help Christians engage with the Bible — with thanks to Heidi McDow for the resource
Compedia Partners with U.S. Clients to Utilize Company’s Biblical Knowledge and Technological Expertise

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 7, 2019 – Compedia, an Israel-based business-to-business tech company, is using virtual reality technology to service Christian clients with products that help users engage with the Bible in a meaningful way.
…
Compedia partnered with The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., which attracted more than 1 million visitors during its first year of operation, to help bring the museum’s exhibits to life. With the help of Compedia’s innovation, visitors to the museum can immerse themselves in 34 different biblical sites through augmented reality tours, allowing them to soar across the Sea of Galilee, climb the stairs of the Temple Mount, explore the Holy Sepulchre and so much more. In addition to creating on-site attractions for The Museum of the Bible, Compedia also created a Bible curriculum for high-school students that includes interactive maps, 3-D guides, quizzes, trivia and more.
…
“Many people are dubious of augmented and virtual reality, but we see how they can be used for God’s glory,” said Illutowich. “When clients recognize how attentive users are to the Bible message when it’s presented through augmented and virtual reality, they see the power of it, too.”

In addition to their passion for furthering Bible education, Compedia is committed to developing products that help educators engage students of all types. The company is currently in partnership with a number of educational institutions and schools around the U.S. to utilize its interactive technology both in the classroom and in the online learning space. Other client collaborations include Siemens, Sony and Intel, to name a few.

About Compedia
Compedia uses cutting-edge technology to help students succeed by making education more fun, engaging, and meaningful. With over 30 years of experience in developing advanced learning solutions for millions of people in 50 countries and 35 languages, Compedia offers expertise in visual computing, augmented reality, virtual reality and advanced systems, as well as instructional design and UX.

Why cities are banning facial recognition technology [Wired.com]

On 08/08/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, data related items, ethics, human-computer interaction (HCI), intelligent systems, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, pace of change, platforms, society, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, by Daniel Christian

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.

The coming deepfakes threat to businesses [Waddell & Kingson]

On 07/22/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, corporate / business world, digital audio, digital video, emerging technologies, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, United States, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

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:

Meet Hemingway: The Artificial Intelligence Robot That Can Copy Your Handwriting — from forbes.com by Bernard Marr

Did you know that you can opt out of facial recognition scanners at the airports? I didn’t.

On 07/08/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, emerging technologies, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, privacy, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, trends, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

I opted out of facial recognition at the airport — it wasn’t easy — from wired.com by Allie Funk

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

As a privacy-conscious person, I was uncomfortable boarding this way. I also knew I could opt out. Presumably, most of my fellow fliers did not: I didn’t hear a single announcement alerting passengers how to avoid the face scanners.
…
As I watched traveler after traveler stand in front of a facial scanner before boarding our flight, I had an eerie vision of a new privacy-invasive status quo. With our faces becoming yet another form of data to be collected, stored, and used, it seems we’re sleepwalking toward a hyper-surveilled environment, mollified by assurances that the process is undertaken in the name of security and convenience. I began to wonder: Will we only wake up once we no longer have the choice to opt out?

Until we have evidence that facial recognition is accurate and reliable—as opposed to simply convenient—travelers should avoid the technology where they can.

To figure out how to do so, I had to leave the boarding line, speak with a Delta representative at their information desk, get back in line, then request a passport scan when it was my turn to board.

From DSC:
Readers of this blog will know that I am generally a pro-technology person. That said, there are times when I don’t trust humankind to use the power of some of these emerging technologies appropriately and ethically. Along these lines, I don’t like where facial recognition could be heading…and citizens don’t seem to have effective ways to quickly weigh in on this emerging technology. I find this to be a very troubling situation. How about you?

Daniel Christian -- A technology is meant to be a tool, it is not meant to rule.

The new kind of warfare being waged amongst humankind. How far have we really come through the centuries? [Christian]

On 06/21/2019, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, computer science, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, future, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, platforms, programming, society, the downsides of how people use tech, trends, United States, by Daniel Christian

Russian hackers behind ‘world’s most murderous malware’ probing U.S. power grid — from digitaltrends.com Georgina Torbet

U.S. Escalates Online Attacks on Russia’s Power Grid — from nytimes.com by David Sanger and Nicole Perlroth

DC: After seeing an article on how hackers/nations R looking 2cripple energy grids of other nations,this article strikes me as another piece of the new kind of warfare being waged amongst humankind.

AI-based malware will soon become a widespread plague.https://t.co/Y7Wu5o1aXx

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) June 15, 2019

DC: I’m struggling to see how far (or not) that humankind has come though the centuries…

Attached are 2 pics from a bookstore I visited in May plus an article I just ran across at https://t.co/aYSnq77tTv pic.twitter.com/zBkAJtRWRZ

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) June 15, 2019

Reflections on “Machine Learning: Living in the Age of AI | A WIRED Film”

On 06/21/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, ethics, morals/values, society, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, tools, trends, United States, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
As many times happens with humans use of technologies, some good and some bad here. Exciting. Troubling. Incredible. Alarming.

Companies, please make sure you’re not giving the keys to a $137,000, powerful Maserati to your “16 year olds.”

Just because we can…

And to you “16 year olds out there”…ask for / seek wisdom. Ask yourself whether you should be developing what you are developing. Is it helpful or hurtful to society? Don’t just collect the paycheck. You have a responsibility to humankind.

To whom much is given…

Facial recognition smart glasses could make public surveillance discreet and ubiquitous — from theverge.com by James Vincent; with thanks to Mr. Paul Czarapata, Ed.D. out on Twitter for this resource
A new product from UAE firm NNTC shows where this tech is headed next. <– From DSC: though hopefully not!!!

Excerpt:

From train stations and concert halls to sport stadiums and airports, facial recognition is slowly becoming the norm in public spaces. But new hardware formats like these facial recognition-enabled smart glasses could make the technology truly ubiquitous, able to be deployed by law enforcement and private security any time and any place.

The glasses themselves are made by American company Vuzix, while Dubai-based firm NNTC is providing the facial recognition algorithms and packaging the final product.

From DSC…I commented out on Twitter:

Thanks Paul for this posting – though I find it very troubling. Emerging technologies race out ahead of society. It would be interested in knowing the age of the people developing these technologies and if they care about asking the tough questions…like “Just because we can, should we be doing this?”

Addendum on 6/12/19:

Vuzix smart glasses get automatic facial recognition designed for law enforcement — from techcrunch.com by Darrell Etherington

‘Robots’ Are Not ‘Coming for Your Job’—Management Is — from gizmodo.com by Brian Merchant; with a special thanks going out to Keesa Johnson for her posting this out on LinkedIn

A robot is not ‘coming for’, or ‘stealing’ or ‘killing’ or ‘threatening’ to take away your job. Management is.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

At first glance, this might like a nitpicky semantic complaint, but I assure you it’s not—this phrasing helps, and has historically helped, mask the agency behind the *decision* to automate jobs. And this decision is not made by ‘robots,’ but management. It is a decision most often made with the intention of saving a company or institution money by reducing human labor costs (though it is also made in the interests of bolstering efficiency and improving operations and safety). It is a human decision that ultimately eliminates the job.

From DSC:
I’ve often said that if all the C-Suite cares about is maximizing profits — instead of thinking about their fellow humankind and society as a whole — we’re in big trouble.

If the thinking goes, “Heh — it’s just business!” <– Again, then we’re in big trouble here.

Just because we can, should we? Many people should be reflecting upon this question…and not just members of the C-Suite.

State Attempts to Nix Public School’s Facial Recognition Plans [Houser]

On 06/01/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, emerging technologies, ethics, face-to-face, K-12 related, law schools, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, society, sociology, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

State Attempts to Nix Public School’s Facial Recognition Plans — from futurism.com by Kristin Houser
But it might not have the authority to actually stop an upcoming trial.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Chaos Reigns
New York’s Lockport City School District (CSD) was all set to become the first public school district in the U.S. to test facial recognition on its students and staff. But just two days after the school district’s superintendent announced the project’s June 3 start date, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) attempted to put a stop to the trial, citing concerns for students’ privacy. Still, it’s not clear whether the department has the authority to actually put the project on hold — *****the latest sign that the U.S. is in desperate need of clear-cut facial recognition legislation.*****

San Francisco becomes first city to bar police from using facial recognition [Hautala]

On 05/16/2019, in 21st century, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, emerging technologies, ethics, future, hearts -- matters of the heart, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, Microsoft, morals/values, platforms, society, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, by Daniel Christian

San Francisco becomes first city to bar police from using facial recognition— from cnet.com by Laura Hautala
It won’t be the last city to consider a similar law.

Excerpt:

The city of San Francisco approved an ordinance on Tuesday [5/14/19] barring the police department and other city agencies from using facial recognition technology on residents. It’s the first such ban of the technology in the country.

The ordinance, which passed by a vote of 8 to 1, also creates a process for the police department to disclose what surveillance technology they use, such as license plate readers and cell-site simulators that can track residents’ movements over time. But it singles out facial recognition as too harmful to residents’ civil liberties to even consider using.

“Facial surveillance technology is a huge legal and civil liberties risk now due to its significant error rate, and it will be worse when it becomes perfectly accurate mass surveillance tracking us as we move about our daily lives,” said Brian Hofer, the executive director of privacy advocacy group Secure Justice.

For example, Microsoft asked the federal government in July to regulate facial recognition technology before it gets more widespread, and said it declined to sell the technology to law enforcement. As it is, the technology is on track to become pervasive in airports and shopping centers and other tech companies like Amazon are selling the technology to police departments.

Also see:

San Francisco is first US city to ban facial recognition— from bbc.com by Dave Lee
Saving face: San Francisco’s ban on recognition technology — from economist.com

People, Power and Technology: The Tech Workers’ View [doteveryone.org.uk]

On 05/14/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, innovation, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, society, tools, UK, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

People, Power and Technology: The Tech Workers’ View — from doteveryone.org.uk

Excerpt:

People, Power and Technology: The Tech Workers’ View is the first in-depth research into the attitudes of the people who design and build digital technologies in the UK. It shows that workers are calling for an end to the era of moving fast and breaking things.

Significant numbers of highly skilled people are voting with their feet and leaving jobs they feel could have negative consequences for people and society. This is heightening the UK’s tech talent crisis and running up employers’ recruitment and retention bills. Organisations and teams that can understand and meet their teams’ demands to work responsibly will have a new competitive advantage.

While Silicon Valley CEOs have tried to reverse the “techlash” by showing their responsible credentials in the media, this research shows that workers:

- need guidance and skills to help navigate new dilemmas
- have an appetite for more responsible leadership
- want clear government regulation so they can innovate with awareness

Also see:

U.K. Tech Staff Quit Over Work On ‘Harmful’ AI Projects — from forbes.com by Sam Shead
Excerpt:
An alarming number of technology workers operating in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence say they are concerned about the products they’re building. Some 59% of U.K. tech workers focusing on AI have experience of working on products that they felt might be harmful for society, according to a report published on Monday by Doteveryone, the think tank set up by lastminute.com cofounder and Twitter board member Martha Lane Fox.

Watch Salvador Dalí Return to Life Through AI — from interestingengineering.com by
The Dalí Museum has created a deepfake of surrealist artist Salvador Dalí that brings him back to life.

Excerpt:

The Dalí Museum has created a deepfake of surrealist artist Salvador Dalí that brings him back to life. This life-size deepfake is set up to have interactive discussions with visitors.

The deepfake can produce 45 minutes of content and 190,512 possible combinations of phrases and decisions taken by the fake but realistic Dalí. The exhibition was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners using 6,000 frames of Dalí taken from historic footage and 1,000 hours of machine learning.

From DSC:
While on one hand, incredible work! Fantastic job! On the other hand, if this type of deepfake can be done, how can any video be trusted from here on out? What technology/app will be able to confirm that a video is actually that person, actually saying those words?

Will we get to a point that says, this is so and so, and I approved this video. Or will we have an electronic signature? Will a blockchain-based tech be used? I don’t know…there always seems to be pros and cons to any given technology. It’s how we use it. It can be a dream, or it can be a nightmare.

I hope this tech doesn’t make it…

On 04/29/2019, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Daniel S. Christian, digital video, ethics, Europe, ideas, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, by Daniel Christian

DARPA is reportedly eyeing a high-tech contact lens straight out of ‘Mission: Impossible’ — from taskandpurpose.com by Jared Keller

Excerpt:

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is reportedly interested in a new wirelessly-connected contact lens recently unveiled in France, the latest in the agency’s ongoing search for small-scale technology to augment U.S. service members’ visual capabilities in the field.

From DSC:
We may not be there yet (and in my mind, that’s a good thing). But when this tech gets further developed and gets its foot in the door — military style — it may then expand its reach and scope. Then it gets integrated into other areas of society. If many people were very uncomfortable having someone walk in a public place wearing/using a pair of Google Glasses, how will they/we feel about this one? Speaking for myself, I don’t like it.

Learning Ecosystems

I hope this tech doesn’t make it…

Categories

Tags