How tech will change the way we work by 2030 — from techradar.com by Rob Lamb
Everyday jobs will be augmented by technology
Technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Blockchain will have a significant impact on work in the next decade and beyond. But if you believe the sci-fi hype or get bogged down in the technology, it can be difficult to relate them to today’s workplaces and jobs.
Excerpt:
Here are three everyday examples of their potential, expressed in terms of the business challenge they are addressing or how consumers will experience them. I don’t mean to over simplify – these are powerful tools – but I think their potential shines through best when they’re expressed in their simplest terms.
From DSC:
I have an issue with one of their examples that involves positioning AI as the savior of the hiring process:
The problem with this process isn’t just that it’s hugely time-consuming, it’s that all kinds of unconscious biases can creep in, potentially even into the job advert. These issues can be eradicated with the use of AI, which can vet ads for gendered language, sort through applicants and pick out the most suitable ones in a fraction of the time it would take an HR professional or any other human being.
AI can be biased as well — just like humans. Lamb recognizes this as well when he states that “Provided the algorithms are written correctly, AI will be key to organisations addressing issues around diversity and inclusion in the workplace.” But that’s a big IF in my mind. So far, it appears that the track record isn’t great in this area. Also, as Cathy O’Neil asserts: “Algorithms are opinions embedded in code.”
AI may not be as adept as a skilled HR professional in seeing the possibilities for someone. Can person A’s existing skillsets be leveraged in this new/other position?
Gartner: 4 Key Trends Speeding AI Innovation — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly
Excerpt:
Research firm Gartner has identified four trends that are driving artificial intelligence innovation in the near term. These technologies and approaches will be key to scaling AI initiatives, the company emphasized in a news announcement…
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.”
Personalized Learning Using AI — from datafloq.com by Dmitry Baraishuk
Excerpt:
Process of Implementing Personalized Learning Using AI
…
Personalized learning with AI encompasses all the core aspects of online training:
Drexel Researchers Will Develop Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Adult Learning and Online Education as Part of $220 Million NSF Initiative — from drexel.edu with thanks to Ray Schroeder for this resource out on LinkedIn
Excerpt:
Researchers in Drexel University’s College of Computing & Informatics, who are studying artificial intelligence as a tool for teaching, have been selected to join a $220 million National Science Foundation initiative to expand the use of AI technology in areas ranging from agriculture and food supply chains to adult and online learning. Drexel’s team will join AI researchers from around the country in an effort to use the technology to make education more accessible for Americans who are adapting to rapidly changing workplaces. The NSF’s Adult Learning & Online Education (ALOE) Institute will be supported by $20 million over five years.
There’s a New Wave of AI Research Coming to Transform Education — from edsurge.com by Nadia Tamez-Robledo
Preparing for Students’ Second Act
With a focus on adult learners, the AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education, or ALOE, will look to improve online education for the more than 100 million American workers who will need to “reskill” over the next 10 years.It will also learn from the massive amounts of data generated by online students that isn’t accessible in traditional in-person classes.
11 Emerging Business Opportunities In The Internet Of Things Sector — from forbes.com by a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
With this increased revenue comes a number of new ways for businesses to leverage IoT technology. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared some business opportunities they see emerging in the IoT sector. Keep an eye out for these 11 growing trends in the B2B IoT space.
1. Voice-Powered Technologies
With the growing popularity of IoT devices, the interaction of business with customers is also changing. Take for instance Siri, Alexa and Cortana — who are advanced voice technologies — to perform countless searches as the customer orders. This one area of IoT is going to expand gigantically in the future.
Top 10 Post-Covid Tech Trends — from forbes.com by Gil Press
Excerpt:
In an online broadcast to a global audience, leading VC firm OurCrowd released [on 7/13/21] a list of what it considers the top tech trends in mid-2021, when global venture capital funding reached an all-time high with more than $288 billion invested worldwide in the first half of this year. “There is no better time to analyze what the tech trends are for the smart investor, and where the technology market is moving,” said Jon Medved, OurCrowd’s founder and CEO, opening the broadcast. And the top 10 tech trends are…
Global EdTech Funding 2021 – Half Year Update — from holoniq.com
A record half year in EdTech funding with 568 rounds raising $10B of investment as, ready or not, the world turns to technology to support learning and education delivery.
The Future of Social Media: Re-Humanisation and Regulation — by Gerd Leonhard
How could social media become ‘human’ again? How can we stop the disinformation, dehumanisation and dataism that has resulted from social media’s algorithmic obsessions? I foresee that the EXTERNALTIES i.e. the consequences of unmitigated growth of exponential digital technologies will become just as big as the consequences of climate change. In fact, today, the social media industry already has quite a few parallels to the oil, gas and coal business: while private make huge profits from extracting the ‘oil’ (i.e. user data), the external damage is left to society and governments to fix. This needs to change! In this keynote I make some precise suggestions as to how that could happen.
Some snapshots/excerpts:
From DSC:
Gerd brings up some solid points here. His presentation and perspectives are not only worth checking out, but they’re worth some time for us to seriously reflect on what he’s saying.
What kind of future do we want?
And for you professors, teachers, instructional designers, trainers, and presenters out there, check out *how* he delivers the content. It’s well done and very engaging.
10 AI tech trends data scientists should know — from by Lisa Morgan
The rising environmental and monetary costs of deep learning are catching enterprises’ attention, as are new AI techniques like graph neural networks and contrastive learning.
Excerpt:
AI adoption is accelerating across industries, driven by a combination of concrete results, high expectations and a lot of money. Among the many new AI concepts and techniques launching almost daily, 10 AI tech trends in particular grab data scientists’ attention.
6 Emerging Technology Trends in Higher Education — from edtechmagazine.com by Amelia Pang
From artificial intelligence to microcredentials, here’s a look at the future.
Excerpts:
1. The Growth of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Ed
2. Actualizing the Potential of Data Analytics to Improve Education
3. A Permanent Place for Blended and Hybrid Course Models
4. The Expansion of Open Educational Resources
5. Microcredentials Provide Business Opportunities for Higher Ed
6. More Investments in Quality Online Learning
Microsoft President Warns of Orwell’s 1984 ‘Coming to Pass’ in 2024 — from interestingengineering.com by Chris Young
Microsoft’s Brad Smith warned we may be caught up in a losing race with artificial intelligence.
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
The surveillance-state dystopia portrayed in George Orwell’s 1984 could “come to pass in 2024” if governments don’t do enough to protect the public against artificial intelligence (AI), Microsoft president Brad Smith warned in an interview for the BBC’s investigative documentary series Panorama.
During the interview, Smith warned of China’s increasing AI prowess and the fact that we may be caught up in a losing race with the technology itself.
“If we don’t enact the laws that will protect the public in the future, we are going to find the technology racing ahead, and it’s going to be very difficult to catch up,” Smith stated.
From DSC:
This is a major heads up to all those in the legal/legislative realm — especially the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Bar Associations across the country! The ABA needs to realize they have to up their game and get with the incredibly fast pace of the twenty-first century. If that doesn’t occur, we and future generations will pay the price. Two thoughts come to my mind in regards to the ABA and for the law schools out there:
Step 1: Allow 100% online-based JD programs all the time, from here on out.
Step 2: Encourage massive new program development within all law schools to help future lawyers, judges, legislative reps, & others build up more emerging technology expertise & the ramifications thereof.
Google’s plan to make search more sentient — from vox.com by Rebecca Heilweil
Google announces new search features every year, but this time feels different.
Excerpt:
At the keynote speech of its I/O developer conference on Tuesday, Google revealed a suite of ways the company is moving forward with artificial intelligence. These advancements show Google increasingly trying to build AI-powered tools that seem more sentient and that are better at perceiving how humans actually communicate and think. They seem powerful, too.
Two of the biggest AI announcements from Google involve natural language processing and search.
…
Google also revealed a number of AI-powered improvements to its Maps platform that are designed to yield more helpful results and directions.
Google’s plans to bring AI to education make its dominance in classrooms more alarming — from fastcompany.com by Ben Williamson
The tech giant has expressed an ambition to transform education with artificial intelligence, raising fresh ethical questions.
Struggling to Get a Job? Artificial Intelligence Could Be the Reason Why — from newsweek.com by Lydia Veljanovski; with thanks to Sam DeBrule for the resource
Excerpt:
Except that isn’t always the case. In many instances, instead of your application being tossed aside by a HR professional, it is actually artificial intelligence that is the barrier to entry. While this isn’t a problem in itself—AI can reduce workflow by rapidly filtering applicants—the issue is that within these systems lies the possibility of bias.
It is illegal in the U.S. for employers to discriminate against a job applicant because of their race, color, sex, religion, disability, national origin, age (40 or older) or genetic information. However, these AI hiring tools are often inadvertently doing just that, and there are no federal laws in the U.S. to stop this from happening.
These Indian edtech companies are shaping the future of AI & robotics — from analyticsinsight.net by Apoorva Komarraju May 25, 2021
Excerpt:
As edtech companies have taken a lead by digitizing education for the modern era, they have taken the stance to set up Atal Tinkering Labs in schools along with other services necessary for the budding ‘kidpreneurs’. With the availability of these services, students can experience 21st-century technologies like IoT, 3D printing, AI, and Robotics.
Researchers develop machine-learning model that accurately predicts diabetes, study says — from ctvnews.ca by Christy Somos
Excerpt:
TORONTO — Canadian researchers have developed a machine-learning model that accurately predicts diabetes in a population using routinely collected health data, a new study says.
The study, published in the JAMA Network Open journal, tested new machine-learning technology on routinely collected health data that examined the entire population of Ontario. The study was run by the ICES not-for-profit data research institute.
Using linked administrative health data from Ontario from 2006 to 2016, researchers created a validated algorithm by training the model on information taken from nearly 1.7 million patients.
Project Guideline: Enabling Those with Low Vision to Run Independently — from ai.googleblog.com by Xuan Yang; with thanks to Sam DeBrule for the resource
Excerpt:
For the 285 million people around the world living with blindness or low vision, exercising independently can be challenging. Earlier this year, we announced Project Guideline, an early-stage research project, developed in partnership with Guiding Eyes for the Blind, that uses machine learning to guide runners through a variety of environments that have been marked with a painted line. Using only a phone running Guideline technology and a pair of headphones, Guiding Eyes for the Blind CEO Thomas Panek was able to run independently for the first time in decades and complete an unassisted 5K in New York City’s Central Park.
Deepfake Maps Could Really Mess With Your Sense of the World — from wired.com by Will Knight
Researchers applied AI techniques to make portions of Seattle look more like Beijing. Such imagery could mislead governments or spread misinformation online.