tools

Now we need to add handwriting to the list of things that can be mimicked. #Fakes

On 07/01/2019, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, political science, robotics, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
A couple of somewhat scary excerpts from Meet Hemingway: The Artificial Intelligence Robot That Can Copy Your Handwriting (from forbes.com by Bernard Marr):

The Handwriting Company now has a robot that can create beautifully handwritten communication that mimics the style of an individual’s handwriting while a robot from Brown University can replicate handwriting from a variety of languages even though it was just trained on Japanese characters.
…
Hemingway is The Handwriting Company’s robot that can mimic anyone’s style of handwriting. All that Hemingway’s algorithm needs to mimic an individual’s handwriting is a sample of handwriting from that person.

From DSC:
So now there are folks out there that can generate realistic “fakes” using videos, handwriting, audio and more. Super. Without technologies to determine such fakes, things could get ugly…especially as we approach a presidential election next year. I’m trying not to be negative, but it’s hard when the existence of fakes is a serious topic and problem these days.

Addendum on 7/5/19:
AI poised to ruin Internet using “massive tsunami” of fake news — from futurism.com

“Because [AI systems] enable content creation at essentially unlimited scale, and content that humans and search engines alike will have difficulty discerning… we feel it is an incredibly important topic with far too little discussion currently,” Tynski told The Verge.

Cisco & American Well are teaming up to let you talk to your doctor from your TV [Farr]

On 06/30/2019, in health, ideas, innovation, internet, nursing, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, tools, TVs, United States, vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Cisco and American Well are teaming up to let you talk to your doctor from your TV — from cnbc.com by Christina Farr

Key points:

Cisco and American Well are working on bringing virtual medical visits to homes across the country.
Traditionally, virtual medical visits are conducted via laptops and smartphones.
But the television set might be more accessible, especially for older Americans.

Some of the interesting trends occurring w/ mobile learning [Tatiparthi]

On 06/30/2019, in Augmented Reality (AR), digital learning, elearning, emerging technologies, India, learning, learning ecosystem, microlearning, mobile learning, mobile technologies, social learning / networks, streams of content, tools, trends, vendors, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

“Interesting new trends such as #AR , location-based technology, and micro-assessments have invaded the mobile learning space too. Here’s an infographic that gives you information on the latest trends in mobile learning.”https://t.co/M9FEM4PCkh

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) June 30, 2019

“The world’s first full in VR semester course” — from VR First & Axon Park

On 06/28/2019, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, collaboration, computer science, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, global / globalization, graphics, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, multimedia, online learning, platforms, programming, society, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

The World’s First Full in VR Semester Course Taught by Survios CTO — from medium.com by Rahel Demant

Excerpt:

VR First is excited to announce its strategic partnership with Axon Park?—?the world’s first educational campus in VR. To kick things off, they are running a full semester course taught in VR. Launching this fall, the course will teach expert-level Unreal Engine VR development, taught remotely by Survios CTO and Co-Founder Alex Silkin with support from the Unreal Engine team.

To enable Axon Park’s commitment to diversity and inclusion through immersive education, VR First has signed a strategic partnership with Axon Park, an organization which maintains the largest network of VR lab enabled universities and science parks internationally. Together, Axon Park and VR First are announcing a needs-based scholarship program that will provide students with low cost or free access to VR hardware and resources through their partner network of 850 universities. With their expertise in VR/AR workforce education and regional tech cluster facilities, VR First is the international distribution partner for Axon Park training solutions to universities, businesses and governments.

Also see:

Microsoft’s new AI wants to help you crush your next presentation [Leary]

On 06/27/2019, in A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assistive technologies, communications, digital audio, education technology, Microsoft, Natural Language Processing (NLP), personalized/customized learning, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, tools, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

Microsoft’s new AI wants to help you crush your next presentation — from pcmag.com by Jake Leary
PowerPoint is receiving a slew of updates, including one that aims to help you improve your public speaking.

Excerpt:

Microsoft [on 6/18/19] announced several PowerPoint upgrades, the most notable of which is an artificial intelligence tool that aims to help you overcome pre-presentation jitters.

The Presenter Coach AI listens to you practice and offers real-time feedback on your pace, word choice, and more. It will, for instance, warn you if you’re using filler words like “umm” and “ahh,” profanities, non-inclusive language, or reading directly from your slides. At the end of your rehearsal, it provides a report with tips for future attempts. Presenter Coach arrives later this summer.

DC: Are you kidding me!?! Amazon patents ‘surveillance as a service’ tech for its delivery drones [Porter]

On 06/26/2019, in Amazon, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Are you kidding me!? Geo-fencing technology or not, I don’t trust this for one second.

Amazon patents ‘surveillance as a service’ tech for its delivery drones — from theverge.com by Jon Porter
Including technology that cuts out footage of your neighbor’s house

Excerpt:

The patent gives a few hints how the surveillance service could work. It says customers would be allowed to pay for visits on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis, and that drones could be equipped with night vision cameras and microphones to expand their sensing capabilities.

Wi-Fi at 20: The internet’s most important tech is about to grow up [Zeman]

On 06/26/2019, in internet, mobile technologies, telecommunications, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Wi-Fi at 20: The internet’s most important tech is about to grow up — from androidauthority.com by Eric Zeman

Excerpt:

The organization is anticipating the launch of Wi-Fi 6 later this year. The next-gen version, technically called 802.11ax, promises a 30 percent jump in speeds, better security, and better performance when lots of devices are connecting to the same network.

Amazon launches Personalize, a fully managed AI-powered recommendation service [Wiggers]

On 06/26/2019, in 24x7x365 access, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, corporate / business world, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, tools, trends, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Amazon launches Personalize, a fully managed AI-powered recommendation service — from venturebeat.com Kyle Wiggers

Excerpt:

Amazon [on 6/10/19] announced the general availability of Amazon Personalize, an AWS service that facilitates the development of websites, mobile apps, and content management and email marketing systems that suggest products, provide tailored search results, and customize funnels on the fly.

#AWS announced newly available, #AI-powered #recommendation service called #Amazon #Personalize. The #disruption is that now anyone anywhere can rapidly spin up powerful #MachineLearning models that exponentially enhance business and #CustomerExperience: https://t.co/zO3AnieT9l pic.twitter.com/V2oBTj1Uif

— Oleg Shvaikovsky (@shvaikovsky) June 24, 2019

What new trends & technologies can we use to design & deliver modern training experiences? [Hart]

On 06/26/2019, in corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, technology (general), tools, training / L&D, trends, UK, workplace, by Daniel Christian

What new trends and technologies can we use to design and deliver modern training experiences? — from modernworkplacelearning.com by Jane Hart
Here are 3 meta-trends that I’m seeing which show how new thinking, trends and technologies can be used to offer modern training experiences.

But more significantly, what this means is that these platforms are becoming a hub for work and learning. It’s no longer just about taking an online courses or classroom training – disconnected from the real world of work. Learning is now being seen in a very different light – as a work activity – and one that is highly performance-focused.

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…

Reflections on “How surveillance cameras could be weaponized with A.I.” [Chokshi]

On 06/19/2019, in Amazon, Daniel S. Christian, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, society, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

How surveillance cameras could be weaponized with A.I. — from nytimes.com by Niraj Chokshi
Advances in artificial intelligence could supercharge surveillance cameras, allowing footage to be constantly monitored and instantly analyzed, the A.C.L.U. warned in a new report.

Excerpt:

In the report, the organization imagined a handful of dystopian uses for the technology. In one, a politician requests footage of his enemies kissing in public, along with the identities of all involved. In another, a life insurance company offers rates based on how fast people run while exercising. And in another, a sheriff receives a daily list of people who appeared to be intoxicated in public, based on changes to their gait, speech or other patterns.

Analysts have valued the market for video analytics at as much as $3 billion, with the expectation that it will grow exponentially in the years to come. The important players include smaller businesses as well as household names such as Amazon, Cisco, Honeywell, IBM and Microsoft.

From DSC:
We can no longer let a handful of companies tell the rest of us how our society will be formed/shaped/act.

For example, Amazon should NOT be able to just send its robots/drones to deliver packages — that type of decision is NOT up to them. I have a suspicion that Amazon cares more about earning larger profits and pleasing Wall Street rather than being concerned with our society at large. If Amazon is able to introduce their robots all over the place, what’s to keep any and every company from introducing their own army of robots or drones? If we allow this to occur, it won’t be long before our streets, sidewalks, and air spaces are filled with noise and clutter.

So…a question for representatives, senators, legislators, mayors, judges, lawyers, etc.:

What should we be building in order to better allow citizens to weigh in on emerging technologies and whether any given emerging technology — or a specific product/service — should be rolled out…or not?

“Tech giants believe that voice is as big as touchscreen…” [Wynter Elwood]

On 06/19/2019, in 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, IT in HE, learning, learning ecosystem, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, Microsoft, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Do you have a virtual personal assistant? With #VoiceAssistants we might get time back to do what we want to do. Tech giants believe that voice is as big as touchscreen and will invest a lot in the further development. #Microsoft #Google https://t.co/uPqkKyiPT3 pic.twitter.com/IjeVn5Af4p

— Wynter (@WynterElwood) June 17, 2019

Also see:

Microsoft is building a virtual assistant for work. Google is building one for everything else — from qz.com by Dave Gershgorn

Excerpts:

In the early days of virtual personal assistants, the goal was to create a multipurpose digital buddy—always there, ready to take on any task. Now, tech companies are realizing that doing it all is too much, and instead doubling down on what they know best.
…
Since the company has a deep understanding of how organizations work, Microsoft is focusing on managing your workday with voice, rearranging meetings and turning the dials on the behemoth of bureaucracy in concert with your phone.

Voice is the next major platform, and being first to it is an opportunity to make the category as popular as Apple made touchscreens. To dominate even one aspect of voice technology is to tap into the next iteration of how humans use computers.

From DSC:
What affordances might these developments provide for our future learning spaces?

Will faculty members’ voices be recognized to:

Sign onto the LMS?
Dim the lights?
Turn on the projector(s) and/or display(s)?
Other?

Will students be able to send the contents of their mobile devices to particular displays via their voices?

Will voice be mixed in with augmented reality (i.e., the students and their devices can “see” which device to send their content to)?

Hmmm…time will tell.

DC: Will be interesting to see how this impacts healthcare

On 06/15/2019, in assistive technologies, collaboration, communications, emerging technologies, future, health, human-computer interaction (HCI), nursing, platforms, telecommunications, tools, by Daniel Christian

5G and the tactile internet: what really is it? — from techradar.com by Catherine Ellis
With 5G, we can go beyond audio and video, communicating through touch

Excerpt:

However, the speed and capacity of 5G also opens up a wealth of new opportunities with other connected devices, including real-time interaction in ways that have never been possible before.

One of the most exciting of these is tactile, or haptic communication – transmitting a physical sense of touch remotely.

Is your college future-ready? — from jisc.ac.uk by Robin Ghurbhurun

Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming science fact rather than science fiction. Alexa is everywhere from the house to the car, Siri is in the palm of your hand and students and the wider community can now get instant responses to their queries. We as educators have a duty to make sense of the information out there, working alongside AI to facilitate students’ curiosities.

Instead of banning mobile phones on campus, let’s manage our learning environments differently

…

We need to plan strategically to avoid a future where only the wealthy have access to human teachers, whilst others are taught with AI. We want all students to benefit from both. We should have teacher-approved content from VLEs and AI assistants supporting learning and discussion, everywhere from the classroom to the workplace. Let’s learn from the domestic market; witness the increasing rise of co-bot workers coming to an office near you.

Learning Ecosystems

Cisco & American Well are teaming up to let you talk to your doctor from your TV [Farr]

DC: Are you kidding me!?! Amazon patents ‘surveillance as a service’ tech for its delivery drones [Porter]

Wi-Fi at 20: The internet’s most important tech is about to grow up [Zeman]

What new trends & technologies can we use to design & deliver modern training experiences? [Hart]

Reflections on “How surveillance cameras could be weaponized with A.I.” [Chokshi]

DC: Will be interesting to see how this impacts healthcare

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