GigaOM Looks at Trends in 2023

 Another analysis of the near future, much more at the link.

What do GigaOm analysts see as the big trends in 2023? 

By Jon Collins

This week I spoke to a number of GigaOm analysts about how they see 2023. Costs are driving, and consolidation, better architectures and more and governance are following, they told me – while this will cause a wave of uncertainty, you can be taking steps now to get ahead. Let’s tune into what they said, and do get in touch if you have any thoughts. ... '

Podcast Interview with Hilary Mason on GigaOM

Another AI practitioner talks about the advances and future of AI:

Voices in AI – Bonus: A Conversation with Hilary Mason   By Byron Reese

On this Episode of Voices in AI features Byron speaking with Hilary Mason, an acclaimed data and research scientist, about the mechanics and philosophy behind designing and building AI.

Listen to this episode or read the full transcript at www.VoicesinAI.com

Byron Reese: This is Voices in AI, brought to you by Gigaom and I am Byron Reese. Today, our guest is Hilary Mason. She is the GM of Machine Learning at Cloudera, and the founder and CEO of Fast Forward Labs, and the Data Scientist in residence at Accel Partners, and a member of the Board of Directors at the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology, and the co-founder of hackNY.org. That’s as far down as it would let me read in her LinkedIn profile, but I’ve a feeling if I’d clicked that ‘More’ button, there would be a lot more.

Welcome to the show, amazing Hilary Mason!

Hilary Mason: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

I always like to start with the question I ask everybody because I’ve never had the same answer twice and – I’m going to change it up: why is it so hard to define what intelligence is? And are we going to build computers that actually are intelligent, or they can only emulate intelligence, or are those two things the exact same thing?

This a fun way to get started! I think it’s difficult to define intelligence because it’s not always clear what we want out of the definition. Are we looking for something that distinguishes human intelligence from other forms of intelligence? There’s that joke that’s kind of a little bit too true that goes around in the community that AI, or artificial intelligence, is whatever computers can’t do today. Where we keep moving the bar, just so that we can feel like there’s something that is still uniquely within the bounds of human thought.

Let’s move to the second part of your discussion which is really asking, ‘Can computers ever be indistinguishable from human thought?’ I think it’s really useful to put a timeframe on that thought experiment and to say that in the short term, ‘no.’ I do love science fiction, though, and I do believe that it is worth dreaming about and working towards a world in which we could create intelligences that are indistinguishable from human intelligences. Though I actually, personally, think that it is more likely we will build computational systems to augment and extend human intelligence. For example, I don’t know about you but my memory is horrible. I’m routinely absentminded. I do use technology to augment my capabilities there, and I would love to have it more integrated into my own self and my intelligence. ..... " 

Voices in AI: David Cox

As always an excellent piece, one of 84, read the rest of the GigaOM pieces:

Voices in AI – Episode 84: A Conversation with David Cox   By Byron Reese

Episode 84 of Voices in AI features host Byron Reese and David Cox discuss classifications of AI, and how the research has been evolving and growing

Listen to this one-hour episode or read the full transcript at www.VoicesinAI.com

Transcript Excerpt:

Byron Reese: This is Voices in AI, brought to you by GigaOm and I’m Byron Reese. I’m so excited about today’s show. Today we have David Cox. He is the Director of the MIT IBM Watson AI Lab, which is part of IBM Research. Before that he spent 11 years teaching at Harvard, interestingly in the Life Sciences. He holds an AB degree from Harvard in Biology and Psychology, and he holds a PhD in Neuroscience from MIT. Welcome to the show David!

David Cox: Thanks. It’s a great pleasure to be here.

I always like to start with my Rorschach question which is, “What is intelligence and why is Artificial Intelligence artificial?” And you’re a neuroscientist and a psychologist and a biologist, so how do you think of intelligence?

That’s a great question. I think we don’t necessarily need to have just one definition. I think people get hung up on the words, but at the end of the day, what makes us intelligent, what makes other organisms on this planet intelligent is the ability to absorb information about the environment, to build models of what’s going to happen next, to predict and then to make actions that help achieve whatever goal you’re trying to achieve. And when you look at it that way that’s a pretty broad definition. ...." 

GigaOm Interviews about AI

Byron does a great job of interviewing emerging expertise.  Been a follower for along time, join up.

Voices in AI – Episode 88: A Conversation with Ron Green   By Byron Reese

Episode 88 of Voices in AI features Byron speaking with Ron Green of KUNGFU.AI about how companies integrate AI and machine learning into their business models.

Listen to this episode or read the full transcript at www.VoicesinAI.com

Transcript Excerpt:

Byron Reese: This is Voices in AI brought to you by GigaOm and I’m Byron Reese. Today my guest is Ron Green. Ron is the CTO over at KUNGFU.AI. He holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, and he holds a Master of Science from the University of Sussex in Evolutionary and Adaptive Systems. His company, KUNGFU.AI is a professional services company that helps companies start and accelerate artificial intelligence projects. I asked him [to be] on the show today because I wanted to do an episode that was a little more ‘hands-on’ about how an enterprise today can apply this technology to their business. Welcome to the show, Ron. ,,,, " 

AI Disrupting Job Markets

Jobs and AI. 

Voices in AI – Episode 74: A Conversation with Dr. Kai-Fu Lee   By Byron Reese in GigaOM

About this Episode
Episode 74 of Voices in AI features host Byron Reese and Dr. Kai-Fu Lee discussing the potential of AI to disrupt job markets, the comparison of AI research and implementation in the U.S. and China, as well as other facets of Dr. Lee’s book “AI Superpowers”. Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, previously president of Google China, is now the CEO of Sinovation Ventures.

Visit www.VoicesinAI.com to listen to this one-hour podcast or read the full transcript. ... "

Interview with Irving Wladawsky-Berger on AI

Look forward to listening to this, we had a number of interactions with Irving Wladawsky-Berger when he was at IBM and respected his thoughts regarding AI.

Voices in AI – Episode 72: A Conversation with Irving Wladawsky-Berger    By Byron Reese 

Episode 72 of Voices in AI features host Byron Reese and Irving Wladawsky-Berger discuss the complexity of the human brain, the possibility of AGI and its origins, the implications of AI in weapons, and where else AI has and could take us. Irving has a PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago, is a research affiliate with the MIT Sloan School of Management, he is a guest columnist for the Wall Street Journal and CIO Journal, he is an agent professor of the Imperial College of London, and he is a fellow for the Center for Global Enterprise. .... 

Visit www.VoicesinAI.com to listen to this one-hour podcast or read the full transcript. ..... "

Review: The Fourth Age by Byron Reese

The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity: by Byron Reese

Good book.  I have been an explorer and practitioner in this space for decades.   He covers the space well.   First, I much
like the use of the four ages structure.  So we can think about  how the eras are divided and how people lived in each.  Broad discussion of how we used tools to advance. Also covers the question of how AI will influence the future work we do.  The book is non-technical,  the examples, especially in the last age are interesting,  but no details and no references, so you have to do the work to find out more.

The book is a useful read for you or your non-technical manager.   Its not a how-to, but a possibilities exploration.    Sometimes the author is a bit too glib, but the examples are still instructive.  I like too that he connects some of his examples to interview sessions he has been doing online on GigaOM, with practitioners in AI.   Since there is a lot of opinion and prediction involved, that's helpful to position the book in terms of what experts in the field think.   Makes it less out of date.    For more details about some topics in the book I suggest Nick Bostrom's "Superintelligence: Paths. Dangers, Strategies."  Which is a much more technical read.

AI Conversation with Chris Eliasmith

Another good conversation about AI.  I don't always report these but they are all out at the link.

Voices in AI – Episode 58: A Conversation with Chris Eliasmith
By Byron Reese,  Podcast and transcript 

Episode 58 of Voices in AI features host Byron Reese and Chris Eliasmith talking about the brain, the mind, and emergence. Dr. Chris Eliasmith is co-CEO of Applied Brain Research, Inc. and director of the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo. Professor Eliasmith uses engineering, mathematics and computer modelling to study brain processes that give rise to behaviour. His lab developed the world’s largest functional brain model, Spaun, whose 2.5 million simulated neurons provide insights into the complexities of thought and action. Professor of Philosophy and Engineering, Dr. Eliasmith holds a Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Neuroscience. He has authored or coauthored two books and over 90 publications in philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and engineering. In 2015, he won the prestigious NSERC Polayni Award. He has also co-hosted a Discovery channel television show on emerging technologies.

Visit www.VoicesinAI.com to listen to this one-hour podcast or read the full transcript. ... "