No Singularity Without Transparency

I was planning a post on singularity when this form came up ahead of a Singularity99 event. I might as well put down my answers there:

Q - Will technology create or destroy jobs?
A - Technology redefines employment. You won't employ a person, but hire skills, connections, shares of time and people. Jobs will be more contextual, evolutive, shared. There will be fewer permanent jobs, which doesn't necessarily mean that fewer people will have a job.

Q - Relation between technology, developement, unemployment:
A - Technology, as an accelerator and a revealer, accelerates unemployment, exposes discrepancies.
Some jobs are naturally made irrelevant or obsolete, new ones emerge, but we're reaching the point when the old employment model itself is obsolete.

Q - Is it the same as previous industrial revolutions, will new jobs compensate for the lost ones?
A - This is a more fundamental revolution than the previous ones.
The question remains what and where will be the added value of humans, but will we still be looking for the optimal return on investment, or at long last consider a sounder trade off?
Instant players will destroy jobs, humanists will work on a more sustainable, fair, open, shared platform.

Q - A.I., Deep learning, etc a threat to humans?
A - Since the stakes (economy, social trends, politics, environment, ethics...) and the complexity are maximal, so is the risk of seeing a minority trying to control key entry points.
The only answer is transparency: an open debate on the risks and opportunities, on who's doing what, on who's behind which initiative. Anyone can contribute on any issue, each decision can be monitored.

Also:

. There is a need for monitoring, regulation, ethics, but innovation demands reaching beyond limits. The 99% must act as moderators, not as censors. It is essential to not kill the game, but also to expose unfair play.

. High frequency trading proves that the frontier between intelligence and stupidity isn't that clear. As a reminder, here's my definition of both, along with other terms:




At a personal level, I don't want an enhanced brain. 

I have the right to remain stupid, and to write silly stuff about hacked transhumanism, such as my old "Rise Of The Nork Zombies".


mot-bile 2014

CES 2015 - Sensors and Sensibility - Internet Everywhere, Everyware, and Everywear

This excuse for a blog is starting its Season XI, at its own pace - about a post a month, far from the twice-a-week-routine of its heyday.

And as usual, the new year resonates with echoes from Vegas glitz and the CES.

So far, nothing disruptive, only recurrent stuff looming on a less distant horizon. No brain implants, mind you - Apple won't release iSingularity before a while, but driverless cars (Audi A7, BMW i3...), pervasive sensors, drones, cameras, and virtual reality, and an internet that keeps going everywhere, everyware, and everywear.

Samsung promises IoT on all its devices by 2017, and Tizen on its TVs as early as next month. But still no TTM for Tizen on smartphones.

Intel showed its RealSense 3D sensors, and smaller players their latest face-recognition-enabled cameras, ideal for a family, household, or small community/company: ArcSoft's Simplicam can deal with up to 10 regulars, and Netatmo's Welcome (TTM Q2 2015) can extend its reach through "Welcome Tags". Look how the Simplicam exsudes bigbrotherian power, where welcome plays on a rather 'air freshener' mode (netatmo again on the glam side of the force - remember last year's JUNE? - see "CES 2014: Beep Beep Goes Bling Bling"):

Welcome by netatmo

Simplicam by ArcSoft

Interesting to see how marketers try to give different flavors to similar enablers or functionalities. Camera-wise, for instance, the Narrative Clip 2 proposes a GoAm answer to GoPro - or is it dull vs bull? If this clipable, mini camera can also record everything as you go, it is marketed like a simple diary for ordinary people. Low expectations as a new driver for innovation, I like that.

And yes, we've got the unavoidable collection or more-or-less-pseudo-healthy wearables. At least, from the outlook, Withings's Activite Pop won't appear too obsolete next year, because it pretty much look like a normal watch:



NeuroMetrix's Quell aims at actual medical cure: this Bluetooth wrap-on sends neuro-signals to relieve pain.

But the winner of Day 1 remains Emiota's Belty, a Bluetooth belt that adjusts to your eating record. A must for anyone willing to cope with European austerity measures.

emiota's Belty - austerity rules!

mot-bile 2015