Google

10 Breakthrough Technologies 2018 [MIT Technology Review]

On 02/22/2018, in 3D, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, biology, career development, emerging technologies, ethics, Google, health, morals/values, society, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, tools, by Daniel Christian

10 Breakthrough Technologies 2018 — from MIT Technology Review

Excerpt:

Dueling neural networks. Artificial embryos. AI in the cloud. Welcome to our annual list of the 10 technology advances we think will shape the way we work and live now and for years to come.

Every year since 2001 we’ve picked what we call the 10 Breakthrough Technologies. People often ask, what exactly do you mean by “breakthrough”? It’s a reasonable question—some of our picks haven’t yet reached widespread use, while others may be on the cusp of becoming commercially available. What we’re really looking for is a technology, or perhaps even a collection of technologies, that will have a profound effect on our lives.

…

3-D Metal Printing
Artificial Embryos
Sensing City
AI for Everybody
Dueling Neural Networks
Babel-Fish Earbuds
In the cult sci-fi classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you slide a yellow Babel fish into your ear to get translations in an instant. In the real world, Google has come up with an interim solution: a $159 pair of earbuds, called Pixel Buds. These work with its Pixel smartphones and Google Translate app to produce practically real-time translation. One person wears the earbuds, while the other holds a phone. The earbud wearer speaks in his or her language—English is the default—and the app translates the talking and plays it aloud on the phone. The person holding the phone responds; this response is translated and played through the earbuds.
Zero-Carbon Natural Gas
Perfect Online Privacy
Genetic Fortune-Telling
Materials’ Quantum Leap

“What is Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Deep Learning?” [Dhande] + 6 other items re: AI, chatbots, NLP, & more

On 02/16/2018, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

What is Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning — from geospatialworld.net by Meenal Dhande

What is the difference between AI, machine learning and deep learning? — from geospatialworld.net by Meenal Dhande

Excerpt:

In the first part of this blog series, we gave you simple and elaborative definitions of what is artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep learning. This is the second part of the series; here we are elucidating our readers with – What is the difference between AI, machine learning, and deep learning.

You can think of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep learning as a set of a matryoshka doll, also known as a Russian nesting doll. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning, which is a subset of AI.

Chatbot for College Students: 4 Chatbots Tips Perfect for College Students — from chatbotsmagazine.com by Zevik Farkash

Excerpts:

1. Feed your chatbot with information your students don’t have.
Your institute’s website can be as elaborate as it gets, but if your students can’t find a piece of information on it, it’s as good as incomplete. Say, for example, you offer certain scholarships that students can voluntarily apply for. But the information on these scholarships are tucked away on a remote page that your students don’t access in their day-to-day usage of your site.

So Amy, a new student, has no idea that there’s a scholarship that can potentially make her course 50% cheaper. She can scour your website for details when she finds the time. Or she can ask your university’s chatbot, “Where can I find information on your scholarships?”

And the chatbot can tell her, “Here’s a link to all our current scholarships.”

The best chatbots for colleges and universities tend to be programmed with even more detail, and can actually strike up a conversation by saying things like:

“Please give me the following details so I can pull out all the scholarships that apply to you.
“Which department are you in? (Please select one.)
“Which course are you enrolled in? (Please select one.)
“Which year of study are you in? (Please select one.)
“Thank you for the details! Here’s a list of all applicable scholarships. Please visit the links for detailed information and let me know if I can be of further assistance.”

2. Let it answer all the “What do I do now?” questions.

3. Turn it into a campus guide.

4. Let it take care of paperwork.

From DSC:
This is the sort of thing that I was trying to get at last year at the NGLS 2017 Conference:

18 Disruptive Technology Trends For 2018 — from disruptionhub.com by Rob Prevett

Excerpts:

1. Mobile-first to AI-first
A major shift in business thinking has placed Artificial Intelligence at the very heart of business strategy. 2017 saw tech giants including Google and Microsoft focus on an“AI first” strategy, leading the way for other major corporates to follow suit. Companies are demonstrating a willingness to use AI and related tools like machine learning to automate processes, reduce administrative tasks, and collect and organise data. Understanding vast amounts of information is vital in the age of mass data, and AI is proving to be a highly effective solution. Whilst AI has been vilified in the media as the enemy of jobs, many businesses have undergone a transformation in mentalities, viewing AI as enhancing rather than threatening the human workforce.

…

7. Voice based virtual assistants become ubiquitous
Google HomeThe wide uptake of home based and virtual assistants like Alexa and Google Home have built confidence in conversational interfaces, familiarising consumers with a seamless way of interacting with tech. Amazon and Google have taken prime position between brand and customer, capitalising on conversational convenience. The further adoption of this technology will enhance personalised advertising and sales, creating a direct link between company and consumer.

5 Innovative Uses for Machine Learning — from entrepreneur.com
They’ll be coming into your life — at least your business life — sooner than you think.

Philosophers are building ethical algorithms to help control self-driving cars – from qz.com by Olivia Goldhill

Tech’s Ethical ‘Dark Side’: Harvard, Stanford and Others Want to Address It — from nytimes.com by Natasha Singerfeb

Excerpt:

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The medical profession has an ethic: First, do no harm.

Silicon Valley has an ethos: Build it first and ask for forgiveness later.

Now, in the wake of fake news and other troubles at tech companies, universities that helped produce some of Silicon Valley’s top technologists are hustling to bring a more medicine-like morality to computer science.

This semester, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are jointly offering a new course on the ethics and regulation of artificial intelligence. The University of Texas at Austin just introduced a course titled “Ethical Foundations of Computer Science” — with the idea of eventually requiring it for all computer science majors.

And at Stanford University, the academic heart of the industry, three professors and a research fellow are developing a computer science ethics course for next year. They hope several hundred students will enroll.

The idea is to train the next generation of technologists and policymakers to consider the ramifications of innovations — like autonomous weapons or self-driving cars — before those products go on sale.

Google launches enterprise-grade G Suite for Education [Hanley Frank]

On 01/24/2018, in cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, education technology, Google, higher education, IT in HE, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Google launches enterprise-grade G Suite for Education — from venturebeat.com by Blair Hanley Frank

Excerpt:

Google announced today that universities and other large educational institutions will have a new version of its G Suite productivity service tailored just for them. Called G Suite Enterprise for Education, the service will first be a roughly straight port of the tech giant’s offering for large businesses, but will later receive features that are tailored specifically for schools.

With the new offering, organizations will get features like the ability to hold video calls in Hangouts Meet with up to 50 participants, a security center for managing potential threats, and advanced mobile device management.

Google’s cloud productivity suite is already popular among schools large and small. This offering will likely make it even more appealing to IT administrators at the largest organizations, who need more advanced features.

18 striking AI Trends to watch in 2018 – Part 1 as well as 18 striking AI Trends to watch in 2018 – Part 2 — from datahub.packtpub.com by Sugandha Lahoti

Excerpt:

Artificial Intelligence is the talk of the town. It has evolved past merely being a buzzword in 2016, to be used in a more practical manner in 2017. As 2018 rolls out, we will gradually notice AI transitioning into a necessity. We have prepared a detailed report, on what we can expect from AI in the upcoming year. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride through the future. (Don’t forget to wear your VR headgear! )

Here are 18 things that will happen in 2018 that are either AI driven or driving AI:

Artificial General Intelligence may gain major traction in research.
We will turn to AI enabled solution to solve mission-critical problems.
Machine Learning adoption in business will see rapid growth.
Safety, ethics, and transparency will become an integral part of AI application design conversations.
Mainstream adoption of AI on mobile devices
Major research on data efficient learning methods
AI personal assistants will continue to get smarter
Race to conquer the AI optimized hardware market will heat up further
We will see closer AI integration into our everyday lives.
The cryptocurrency hype will normalize and pave way for AI-powered Blockchain applications.
Advancements in AI and Quantum Computing will share a symbiotic relationship18 striking AI Trends to watch in 2018 – Part 1
Deep learning will continue to play a significant role in AI development progress.
AI will be on both sides of the cybersecurity challenge.
Augmented reality content will be brought to smartphones.
Reinforcement learning will be applied to a large number of real-world situations.
Robotics development will be powered by Deep Reinforcement learning and Meta-learning
Rise in immersive media experiences enabled by AI.
A large number of organizations will use Digital Twin.

Inside AI — from inside.com
The year 2017 has been full of interesting news about Artificial Intelligence, so to close out the year, we’re doing two special retrospective issues covering the highlights.

Excerpt:

A Reality Check For IBM’s A.I. Ambitions. MIT Tech Review.
This is a must read piece about the failures, and continued promise, of Watson. Some of the press about Watson has made IBM appear behind some of the main tech leaders, but, keep in mind that Google, Amazon, Facebook, and others don’t do the kinds of customer facing projects IBM is doing with Watson. When you look at how the tech giants are positioned, I think IBM has been vastly underestimated, given that they have the one thing few others do – large scale enterprise A.I. projects. Whether it all works today, or not, doesn’t matter. The experience and expertise they are building is a competitive advantage in a market that is very young where no other companies are doing these types of projects that will soon enough be mainstream.

The Business of Artificial Intelligence. Harvard Business Review.
This cover story for the latest edition of HBR explains why artificial intelligence is the most powerful general purpose technology to come around in a long time. It also looks into some of the key ways to think about applying A.I. at work, and how to expect the next phase of this technology to play out.

The Robot Revolution Is Coming. Just Be Patient. Bloomberg.
We keep hearing that robots and A.I. are about to make us super productive. But when? Sooner than we think, according to this.

An excerpt from A2Apple.com:

Alexa Wants You to Talk to Your Ads — from wired.com by Ricki Harris

Excerpt:

There are few electronic devices with which you cannot order a Domino’s pizza. When the craving hits, you can place an order via Twitter, Slack, Facebook Messenger, SMS, your tablet, your smartwatch, your smart TV, and even your app-enabled Ford. This year, the pizza monger added another ordering tool: If your home is one of the 20 million with a voice assistant, you can place a regular order through Alexa or Google Home. Just ask for a large extra-cheese within earshot, and voila—your pizza is in the works.

Amazon’s Alexa offers more than 25,000 skills—the set of actions that serve as applications for voice technology. Yet Domino’s is one of a relatively small number of brands that has seized the opportunity to enter your home by creating a skill of its own. Now that Amazon Echoes and Google Homes are in kitchens and living rooms across the country, they open a window into user behavior that marketers previously only dreamt of. But brands’ efforts to engage consumers directly via voice have been scattershot. The list of those that have tried is sparse: some banks; a couple of fast food chains; a few beauty companies; retailers here and there. Building a marketing plan for Alexa has been a risky venture. That’s because, when it comes to our virtual assistants, no one knows what the *&^& is going on.

But if 2017 was the year that Alexa hit the mainstream, 2018 will be the year that advertisers begin to take her seriously by investing time and money in figuring out how to make use of her.

8 emerging AI jobs for IT pros — from enterprisersproject.com by Kevin Casey
What IT jobs will be hot in the age of AI? Take a sneak peek at roles likely to be in demand

Excerpt:

If you’re watching the impact of artificial intelligence on the IT organization, your interest probably starts with your own job. Can robots do what you do? But more importantly, you want to skate where the puck is headed. What emerging IT roles will AI create? We talked to AI and IT career experts to get a look at some emerging roles that will be valuable in the age of AI.

Getting Intelligent About Artificial Intelligence: 6 Ways Executives Can Start — from forbes.comby Davia Temin

Excerpt:

This past June, Fortune Magazine asked all the CEOs of the Fortune 500 what they believed the biggest challenge facing their companies was. Their biggest concern for 2017: “The rapid pace of technological change” said 73% of those polled, up from 64% in 2016. Cyber security came in only a far second, at 61%, even after all the mega hacks of the past year.

So, what does “technological change” entail? For almost all Fortune 500 CEOs, it means, in part, artificial intelligence. And, as we wrote in our piece yesterday on Forbes.com, “Forget The Hype: What Every Business Leader Needs To Know About Artificial Intelligence Now,” AI is on the lips of almost every global CEO and Board of Directors.

But apart from the Big 8 technology companies – Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba – business leaders, especially of earlier generations, may feel they don’t know enough about AI to make informed decisions.

Artificial intelligence is helping astronomers discover new planets — from wired.co.uk
AI could help us discover planet nine, dark matter and more gravitational waves

Excerpt:

For the first time, artificial intelligence has been used to discover two new exoplanets. One of the discoveries, made by Nasa’s Kepler mission, brings the Kepler-90 solar system to a total of 8 planets – the first solar system found with the same number as our own.

Some predictions for 2018: Learning-wise & tech-wise

On 12/20/2017, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, accessibility / UDL, Amazon, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assistive technologies, Blockchain, bots, business, career development, change, CMS/LMS, collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, data related items, education technology, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, Google, health, higher education, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, online learning, pace of change, robotics, social media, society, technology (general), trends, United States, universities, vendors, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

eLearning: Predictions for 2018 — from news.elearninginside.com by Cait Etherington

Excerpts:

The educational technology sector grew substantially in 2017 and all signs point to even greater growth in 2018. Over the past year, the sector was buoyed by several key factors, including a growing recognition that as big data restructures work at an unprecedented pace, there is an urgent need to rethink how education is delivered. In fact, there is now growing evidence that colleges and universities, especially if they continue to operate as they have in the past, will simply not be able to produce the workers needed to fill tomorrow’s jobs. Ed tech, with its capacity to make education more affordable, flexible, and relevant, is increasingly being embraced as the answer to the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s growing talent pipeline challenges.

…

K-12 virtual schools will become a preferred choice
Voice-activation will transform the Learning Management System (LMS) sector
Data will drive learning
Higher ed will increase online course and program offerings

12 tech trends that will define 2018 — from businessinsider.com by Chris Weller

Excerpts:

No one can predict how the future will shake out, but we can make some educated guesses.

Global design and strategy firm frog has shared with Business Insider its forecasts for the technologies that will define the upcoming year. Last year, the firm correctly predicted that buildings would harness the power of nature and that businesses would continue using artificially-intelligent bots to run efficiently.

Get ready to step into the future.

Artificial intelligence will inspire how products are designed
Other companies will join Google in the ‘Algorithm Hall of Fame’
Virtual and augmented reality will become communal experiences
Democracy will cozy up to the blockchain
Augmented reality will invite questions about intellectual property
Consumer tech will feel even friendlier
Tech will become inclusive for all
Anonymous data will make life smarter but still private
Ultra-tiny robots will replace medicine for certain patients
The way we get around will fundamentally transform
Businesses will use data and machine learning to cater to customers
Social media will take on more corporate responsibility

How a Flipped Syllabus, Twitter and YouTube Made This Professor Teacher of the Year — from edsurge.com by Bruce Anderson

Excerpt:

A few years after John Boyer began teaching world geography at Virginia Tech, a survey revealed that 58 percent of college-aged Americans could not locate Japan on a map. Sixty-nine percent could not find the United Kingdom.

Boyer raced ahead undaunted. He loved the scope and implications of his subject. “The great thing about geography is . . . everything happens somewhere,” he explains. “Geography is the somewhere.”

Boyer is now a senior instructor and researcher at Virginia Tech. He took over World Regions, an entry-level geography class, while he was working on a master’s degree nearly 20 years ago. The class then had 50 students. Now the course is offered each semester and a whopping 3,000 students take it in any given school year.

What has made it so popular? Innovative pedagogy, for starters. Boyer uses a “flipped syllabus” in which students’ final grades are based on the points they’ve earned—not lost—throughout the semester. His legendary assignments range from reviewing films to tweeting on behalf of world leaders (more on that below). Mostly, Boyer himself has made the class a rite of passage for undergraduates, who typically find him funny, passionate, and consummately engaging. Boyer even created a comic alter ego called the Plaid Avenger, who has narrated textbooks and podcasts but is now largely retired—though Boyer still sports his famous plaid jackets and drives a plaid Scion.

Given the disparity in knowledge levels as well as the disparity in what they like to do in terms of work, whether that be watching international film or writing papers, I wanted to increase the flexibility of what the students could do to achieve a grade in this class.

Tell us about the Twitter World Leaders.
You can choose to be a true, real world leader. Of course, they’re fake accounts and we make sure everyone knows you’re the fake Donald Trump or the fake Angela Merkel of Germany. Once you take on that role, you will tweet as the world leader for the entire semester, and you have to tweet two to three times a day. And it’s not silly stuff. What is the chancellor of Germany working on right now? What other world leaders is Angela Merkel meeting with? What’s going on in Germany or the EEU?

Alexa, how can you improve teaching and learning? — from edscoop.com by Kate Roddy with thanks to eduwire for their post on this
Special report:? Voice command platforms from Amazon, Google and Microsoft are creating new models for learning in K-12 and higher education — and renewed privacy concerns.

Excerpt:

We’ve all seen the commercials: “Alexa, is it going to rain today?” “Hey, Google, turn up the volume.” Consumers across the globe are finding increased utility in voice command technology in their homes. But dimming lights and reciting weather forecasts aren’t the only ways these devices are being put to work.

Educators from higher ed powerhouses like Arizona State University to small charter schools like New Mexico’s Taos Academy are experimenting with Amazon Echo, Google Home or Microsoft Invoke and discovering new ways this technology can create a more efficient and creative learning environment.

The devices are being used to help students with and without disabilities gain a new sense for digital fluency, find library materials more quickly and even promote events on college campuses to foster greater social connection.

Like many technologies, the emerging presence of voice command devices in classrooms and at universities is also raising concerns about student privacy and unnatural dependence on digital tools. Yet, many educators interviewed for this report said the rise of voice command technology in education is inevitable — and welcome.

…

“One example,” he said, “is how voice dictation helped a student with dysgraphia. Putting the pencil and paper in front of him, even typing on a keyboard, created difficulties for him. So, when he’s able to speak to the device and see his words on the screen, the connection becomes that much more real to him.”

The use of voice dictation has also been beneficial for students without disabilities, Miller added. Through voice recognition technology, students at Taos Academy Charter School are able to perceive communication from a completely new medium.

Amazon & Google have started their own consulting operations, lending out some of their prized AI talent to customers.

On 12/01/2017, in Amazon, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, business, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, corporate / business world, data related items, emerging technologies, Google, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Google, Amazon Find Not Everyone Is Ready for AI — from wired.com by Tom Simonite

Excerpt:

Yet as Amazon and Google seek greater riches by infusing the world with artificial intelligence, they’ve started their own consulting operations, lending out some of their prized AI talent to customers. The reason: Those other businesses lack the expertise to take advantage of techniques such as machine learning.

…

The expertise shortage upsets the usual dynamic of the cloud market, where Amazon, Google, and others mostly compete on price and technical features. “If you’re a random manufacturing company in the midwest you may have money, but it’s hard to attract a $250,000-a-year Stanford PhD to work for you,” says Diego Oppenheimer, whose Google-backed startup provides tools that help companies deploy machine-learning software. Companies in that situation may be more swayed by an offer of help building AI, than pricing and performance, he says.

Now with over 24,000 skills, where might Amazon’s Alexa end up in our future learning ecosystems?

On 11/29/2017, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, Google, ideas, innovation, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Natural Language Processing (NLP), voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

The Impact of Alexa and Google Home on Consumer Behavior — from chatbotsmagazine.com by Arte Merritt

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

2017 has turned out to be the year of voice. Amazon Alexa passed over 10 million unit sales earlier in the year and there are over 24,000 Skills in the store. With the addition of new devices like the Echo Show, Echo Plus, improved Echo Dot, and a new form factor for the Echo, there’s an option for everyone’s budget. Google is right there as well with the addition of the Google Mini to go along with the original Google Home. Apple’s efforts with Siri and HomePod, Samsung’s Bixby, and Microsoft’s Cortana round out the major tech firms efforts in this space.

Also see:

Spotting the 2017 trends that fuel edtech innovation and investments [Gong & Carolan]

On 11/28/2017, in 21st century, Apple, digital learning, education, education technology, Google, innovation, Microsoft, mobile learning, mobile technologies, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, trends, by Daniel Christian

Spotting the 2017 trends that fuel edtech innovation and investments — from edsurge.com by Chian Gong and Jennifer Carolan

Excerpts:

We’re pleased to share this year’s Edtech Outlook, a data-rich dive into the state of education technology with case studies into emerging-frontier innovations.
…
Education technology spans a broad category of classroom tools, spanning corporate learning, language learning, digital learning content and more. We focus here on Reach Capital’s sweet spot: school-based education technology.
…

1:1 (one device per student) is at 60% and growing rapidly.
Driven by online testing mandates, along with federal and state policies, we are moving quickly toward one device per child in our K-12 schools. Last year alone 20 million Chromebooks were used by teachers and students weekly. (There are 50 million students in US public schools).

From DSC:
Looking at the graphic from the New York Times below, and with an eye on the exponential pace of change that we are now on, note how quickly Google captured major market share in the edtech market.

BBC Radio’s newest program, The Inspection Chamber, uses smart home devices to allow listeners to interact with and control the plot.

On 11/17/2017, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, emerging technologies, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, internet, smart/connected TV, storytelling, technologies for your home, tools, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

Creative voice tech — from jwtintelligence.com by Ella Britton
New programs from Google and the BBC use voice to steer storytelling with digital assistants.

Exceprt:

BBC Radio’s newest program, The Inspection Chamber, uses smart home devices to allow listeners to interact with and control the plot. Amid a rise in choose-your-own-adventure style programming, The Inspection Chamber opens up creative new possibilities for brands hoping to make use of voice assistants.

The Inspection Chamber tells the story of an alien stranded on earth, who is being interrogated by scientists and an AI robot called Dave. In this interactive drama, Amazon Echo and Google Home users play the part of the alien, answering questions and interacting with other characters to determine the story’s course. The experience takes around 20 minutes, with questions like “Cruel or Kind?” and “Do you like puzzles?” that help the scientists categorize a user.

…

“Voice is going to be a key way we interact with media, search for content, and find what we want,” said BBC director general Tony Hall. As describedin the Innovation Group’s Speak Easy report, the opportunities for brands to connect with consumers via smart speakers are substantial, particularly when it comes to education and entertainment. Brands can also harness these opportunities by creating entertaining and engaging content that consumers can interact with, creating what feels like a two-way dialogue.

From DSC:
More and more, our voices will drive the way we interact with computing devices/applications. This item was an especially interesting item to me, as it involves the use of our voice — at home — to steer the storytelling that’s taking place. Talk about a new form of interactivity!

WE ARE NOT READY FOR THIS! Per Forrester Research: In US, a net loss of 7% of jobs to automation — in 2018!

On 11/13/2017, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, adult learning, Amazon, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, Australia, bots, business, Canada, career development, change, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, credentialing, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, Europe, Facebook / Meta Platforms, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, Google, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, legislatures / government / legal, lifelong learning, microlearning, Microsoft, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, organizational change, pace of change, platforms, professional development, reinvent, research, robotics, second screen apps, society, staying relevant, strategy, streams of content, surviving, technologies for your home, the downsides of how people use tech, training / L&D, trends, UK, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Forrester predicts that AI-enabled automation will eliminate 9% of US jobs in 2018 — from forbes.com by Gil Press

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

A new Forrester Research report, Predictions 2018: Automation Alters The Global Workforce, outlines 10 predictions about the impact of AI and automation on jobs, work processes and tasks, business success and failure, and software development, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance.

We will see a surge in white-collar automation, half a million new digital workers (bots) in the US, and a shift from manual to automated IT and data management. “Companies that master automation will dominate their industries,” Forrester says. Here’s my summary of what Forrester predicts will be the impact of automation in 2018:

Automation will eliminate 9% of US jobs but will create 2% more.
In 2018, 9% of US jobs will be lost to automation, partly offset by a 2% growth in jobs supporting the “automation economy.” Specifically impacted will be back-office and administrative, sales, and call center employees. A wide range of technologies, from robotic process automation and AI to customer self-service and physical robots will impact hiring and staffing strategies as well as create a need for new skills.

Your next entry-level compliance staffer will be a robot.

From DSC:

**Are we ready for a net loss of 7% of jobs in our workforce due to automation — next year? Last I checked, it was November 2017, and 2018 will be here before we know it.**

Are we ready for this?!

AS OF TODAY, can we reinvent ourselves fast enough given our current educational systems, offerings, infrastructures, and methods of learning?

My answer: No, we can’t. But we need to be able to — and very soon!

There are all kinds of major issues and ramifications when people lose their jobs — especially this many people and jobs! The ripple effects will be enormous and very negative unless we introduce new ways for how people can learn new things — and quickly!

That’s why I’m big on trying to establish a next generation learning platform, such as the one that I’ve been tracking and proposing out at Learning from the Living [Class] Room. It’s meant to provide societies around the globe with a powerful, next generation learning platform — one that can help people reinvent themselves quickly, cost-effectively, conveniently, & consistently! It involves providing, relevant, up-to-date streams of content that people can subscribe to — and drop at any time. It involves working in conjunction with subject matter experts who work with teams of specialists, backed up by suites of powerful technologies. It involves learning with others, at any time, from any place, at any pace. It involves more choice, more control. It involves blockchain-based technologies to feed cloud-based learner profiles and more.

But likely, bringing such a vision to fruition will require a significant amount of collaboration. In my mind, some of the organizations that should be at the table here include:

Some of the largest players in the tech world, such as Amazon, Google, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and/or Facebook
Some of the vendors that already operate within the higher ed space — such as Salesforce.com, Ellucian, and/or Blackboard
Some of the most innovative institutions of higher education — including their faculty members, instructional technologists, instructional designers, members of administration, librarians, A/V specialists, and more
The U.S. Federal Government — for additional funding and the development of policies to make this vision a reality

“The 2017 Readers’ Choice Awards” in K-12 — from thejournal.com by David Nagel

“Google was the absolute winner overall.”

Excerpt:

In an open-ended question asking for educators’ favorite technologies currently in use at their schools, respondents overwhelmingly chose Google’s G Suite for Education as their top overall pick.
…
The top overall categories were:

Mobile devices
Interactive whiteboards/displays/projectors
eLearning/learning management systems and reading software — Lexia Learning’s Core5 scored big in the reading software area, while Google Classroom, Schoology, Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard Learn were often mentioned in the LMS area

Also, there was an article in there on learning spaces. Some ideas mentioned include:

Diminished reality will have as much power as AR for retailers [Besecker]

On 10/30/2017, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, Augmented Reality (AR), business, corporate / business world, Google, platforms, user experience (UX), workplace, by Daniel Christian

Diminished reality will have as much power as AR for retailers — from by Beck Besecker

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

It’s an exciting time for augmented reality. With new AR platforms launching from the biggest names in tech over the last few months, including Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore, retailers like Ikea, Wayfair, and Anthropologie have already released ARKit-powered apps, opening the door to consumer acceptance of AR as viable retail technology.

But across the board, early AR shopping apps still leave much to be desired. Sure, it’s useful to use AR to virtually place a new chair, side table, work of art or sectional into a room. But unless you’re starting with an empty room, physical objects can get in the way of a true sense of presence and satisfying experience.

Enter diminished reality — a different “reality” — that promises to change that. With DR, users will be able to digitally remove unwanted, inanimate objects from their physical surroundings, to get an even more realistic view of how potential purchases will fit within the context of their lives.

So, what exactly is DR, and what does it mean for the future of retail and beyond?

Also, a somewhat relevant/interesting HCI-related item, see:

HR in VR: How Human Resources Professionals Use VR for Hiring, Training, and More — from instavr.co

Artificial Intelligence in Education: Where It’s At, Where It’s Headed — from gettingsmart.com by Cameron Paterson

Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence is predicted to fundamentally alter the nature of society by 2040. Investment in AI start-ups was estimated at $6-$9 billion in 2016, up from US$415 million four years earlier. While futurist Ray Kurzweil argues that AI will help us to address the grand challenges facing humanity, Elon Musk warns us that artificial intelligence will be our “biggest existential threat.” Others argue that artificial intelligence is the future of growth. Everything depends on how we manage the transition to this AI-era.

In 2016 the Obama administration released a national strategic plan for artificial intelligence and, while we do not all suddenly now need a plan for artificial intelligence, we do need to stay up to date on how AI is being implemented. Much of AI’s potential is yet to be realized, but AI is already running our lives, from Siri to Netflix recommendations to automated air traffic control. We all need to become more aware of how we are algorithmically shaped by our tools.

This Australian discussion paper on the implications of AI, automation and 21st-century skills, shows how AI will not just affect blue-collar truck drivers and cleaners, it will also affect white-collar lawyers and doctors. Automated pharmacy systems with robots dispensing medication exist, Domino’s pizza delivery by drone has already occurred, and a fully automated farm is opening in Japan.

Education reformers need to plan for our AI-driven future and its implications for education, both in schools and beyond. The never-ending debate about the sorts of skills needed in the future and the role of schools in teaching and assessing them is becoming a whole lot more urgent and intense.

AI Experts Want to End ‘Black Box’ Algorithms in Government — from wired.com by Tom Simonite

Excerpt:

The right to due process was inscribed into the US constitution with a pen. A new report from leading researchers in artificial intelligence cautions it is now being undermined by computer code.

Public agencies responsible for areas such as criminal justice, health, and welfare increasingly use scoring systems and software to steer or make decisions on life-changing events like granting bail, sentencing, enforcement, and prioritizing services. The report from AI Now, a research institute at NYU that studies the social implications of artificial intelligence, says too many of those systems are opaque to the citizens they hold power over.

The AI Now report calls for agencies to refrain from what it calls “black box” systems opaque to outside scrutiny. Kate Crawford, a researcher at Microsoft and cofounder of AI Now, says citizens should be able to know how systems making decisions about them operate and have been tested or validated. Such systems are expected to get more complex as technologies such as machine learning used by tech companies become more widely available.

“We should have equivalent due-process protections for algorithmic decisions as for human decisions,” Crawford says. She says it can be possible to disclose information about systems and their performance without disclosing their code, which is sometimes protected intellectual property.

UAE appoints first-ever Minister for Artificial Intelligence — from tribune.com.pk

“We announce the appointment of a minister for artificial intelligence. The next global wave is artificial intelligence and we want the UAE to be more prepared for it.”

Tech Giants Are Paying Huge Salaries for Scarce A.I. Talent — from nytimes.com by Cade Metz
Nearly all big tech companies have an artificial intelligence project, and they are willing to pay experts millions of dollars to help get it done.

Excerpt:

Tech’s biggest companies are placing huge bets on artificial intelligence, banking on things ranging from face-scanning smartphones and conversational coffee-table gadgets to computerized health care and autonomous vehicles. As they chase this future, they are doling out salaries that are startling even in an industry that has never been shy about lavishing a fortune on its top talent.

Typical A.I. specialists, including both Ph.D.s fresh out of school and people with less education and just a few years of experience, can be paid from $300,000 to $500,000 a year or more in salary and company stock, according to nine people who work for major tech companies or have entertained job offers from them. All of them requested anonymity because they did not want to damage their professional prospects.

With so few A.I. specialists available, big tech companies are also hiring the best and brightest of academia. In the process, they are limiting the number of professors who can teach the technology.

Where will AI play? By Mike Quindazzi.

Where will #AI play? #ArtificialIntelligence aims to drive #innovation and #disruption across every industry. #MachineLearning #Robotics pic.twitter.com/SdcxQwDifK

— Mike Quindazzi ? (@MikeQuindazzi) October 23, 2017

Learning Ecosystems

Google launches enterprise-grade G Suite for Education [Hanley Frank]

BBC Radio’s newest program, The Inspection Chamber, uses smart home devices to allow listeners to interact with and control the plot.

Diminished reality will have as much power as AR for retailers [Besecker]

Categories

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Are we ready for a net loss of 7% of jobs in our workforce due to automation — *next year*? Last I checked, it was November 2017, and 2018 will be here before we know it.

***Are we ready for this?! ***

AS OF TODAY, can we reinvent ourselves fast enough given our current educational systems, offerings, infrastructures, and methods of learning?

My answer: No, we can’t. But we need to be able to — and very soon!

Categories

Tags

**Are we ready for a net loss of 7% of jobs in our workforce due to automation — next year? Last I checked, it was November 2017, and 2018 will be here before we know it.**

Are we ready for this?!