In Adage:
Will P&G's Forceful Call to Arms Reform the Digital Ad Economy? By Nat Ives
Procter & Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard has unleashed a broadside against the way things are done in digital advertising. "The days of giving digital a pass are over," Mr. Pritchard told the Interactive Advertising Bureau's recent annual leadership meeting. "It's time to grow up. It's time for action."
P&G, the biggest advertiser in the world, is re-examining all media-agency contracts after it found a surprise in at least one and making all partners use industry-standard viewability metrics, fraud protection and third-party verification. ... "
Tuesday, February 07, 2017
Monday, February 06, 2017
Managing With Immature AI
Good thoughts here, it is not mature yet. Yet still has value to pursue. Not quite enough shown about how and with which suppliers.
In MIT Sloan, may require registration.
Managing With Immature AI by Sam Ransbotham
The current state of AI does not yet live up to its promise. But that doesn’t mean managers should sit on the sidelines and wait until it develops further — they should start incorporating AI into business processes now. .... "
In MIT Sloan, may require registration.
Managing With Immature AI by Sam Ransbotham
The current state of AI does not yet live up to its promise. But that doesn’t mean managers should sit on the sidelines and wait until it develops further — they should start incorporating AI into business processes now. .... "
Tell me a Story
Data visualization expert Stephen Few makes a point I have made for a long time. And does not take it far enough. Telling a story is great, powerful, expressive and convincing. So use that technique if you like. But storytelling methods can just as well lead you to a narrative that is not in the data.
Better to let someone interact with data to tell the story they see, rather than wrap a preformed narrative around it. The latter happens too often, have seen it many times in the well funded and staffed enterprise. People will actively look for data to confirm their bias, their story ... then further select data to confirm the model. Dangerous way to model.
Better to let someone interact with data to tell the story they see, rather than wrap a preformed narrative around it. The latter happens too often, have seen it many times in the well funded and staffed enterprise. People will actively look for data to confirm their bias, their story ... then further select data to confirm the model. Dangerous way to model.
Disruption Through Design
In UXMatters:
How IBM Is Embracing the Future Through Design
By Atul Handa and Kanupriya Vashisht February 6, 2017
IBM has chosen to create disruption through design. … We interviewed Karel Vredenburg, Director of IBM Design’s worldwide client program and head of IBM Studios in Canada, who told us, “We’ve put everything into this transformation.”
Shifting trends are forcing technology companies to reimagine their value proposition. IBM has chosen to create disruption through design. In embracing the future, the company is essentially invoking its past. Back in 1956, IBM was the first large company to establish a corporate-wide design program. But this time, the company’s goals are more ambitious.
..... we interviewed Karel Vredenburg, Director of IBM Design’s worldwide client program and head of IBM Studios in Canada, who told us, .... The company is investing more than $100 million in becoming design centered. .... "
How IBM Is Embracing the Future Through Design
By Atul Handa and Kanupriya Vashisht February 6, 2017
IBM has chosen to create disruption through design. … We interviewed Karel Vredenburg, Director of IBM Design’s worldwide client program and head of IBM Studios in Canada, who told us, “We’ve put everything into this transformation.”
Shifting trends are forcing technology companies to reimagine their value proposition. IBM has chosen to create disruption through design. In embracing the future, the company is essentially invoking its past. Back in 1956, IBM was the first large company to establish a corporate-wide design program. But this time, the company’s goals are more ambitious.
..... we interviewed Karel Vredenburg, Director of IBM Design’s worldwide client program and head of IBM Studios in Canada, who told us, .... The company is investing more than $100 million in becoming design centered. .... "
Predictions about AI Assistants
Some reasonable thoughts about near time directions. Who will really want to own the space? What will it take to do that? Deeper AI is still some time away, so near time, focused, lesser investments can get considerable results. What will it take to really impress and engage the consumer? Playing music with a simple voice interface has done quite well so far. In VentureBeat:
5 predictions about Alexa, Cortana, and other AI assistants by Khari Johnson
5 predictions about Alexa, Cortana, and other AI assistants by Khari Johnson
Mayfield Robotics
Now known for Bosch's effort with the beta Kuri home robot.
We Make Helpful Home Robots
Our robots bring joy to your house. Our small team of engineers, roboticists, and designers is growing quickly and we are having a great time creating our first products ... "
We Make Helpful Home Robots
Our robots bring joy to your house. Our small team of engineers, roboticists, and designers is growing quickly and we are having a great time creating our first products ... "
Sunday, February 05, 2017
Future of Interaction
We looked at interaction starting with light pens. Later on to smart mice, VR googles, eye direction, gestures and voice. The Verge examines the state of the question:
What’s the future of interaction?
by Ashley Carman@ashleyrcarman ...
What’s the future of interaction?
by Ashley Carman@ashleyrcarman ...
Voicebots Blog
Newly discovered blog on one of my favorite topics, AI voicebots, and pointer to post on Alexa advertising:
" ... There are now more than 5,000 Alexa skills which means there are thousands of ways for users to interact and engage with their Alexa devices. Amazon recognized this and rolled out a new advertising campaign called “Alexa Moments” last month. The campaign consists of a hundred 10-second vignettes showcasing the various ways people use Alexa in their daily lives. Each one ends promoting the hashtag “JustAsk.” ... "
" ... There are now more than 5,000 Alexa skills which means there are thousands of ways for users to interact and engage with their Alexa devices. Amazon recognized this and rolled out a new advertising campaign called “Alexa Moments” last month. The campaign consists of a hundred 10-second vignettes showcasing the various ways people use Alexa in their daily lives. Each one ends promoting the hashtag “JustAsk.” ... "
The Last User Interface? Towards Intelligent Generalization.
Nicely put piece I just reread.. A good look at why Google should win the the voice assistant interface. By being able to efficiently figure out what we need, based on our personal and processional needs, and previous conversations. By directing you to the right focused bot to solve your problem. Doesn't mean Google will win. Its not winning yet. Focused applications can still excel, and generalization will be harder than we think.
Why Google A.I. is the last user interface
There's no question that A.I. is the next UI. The question is: Whose A.I.? ....
By Mike Elgan | Contributing Columnist, Computerworld ... '
Why Google A.I. is the last user interface
There's no question that A.I. is the next UI. The question is: Whose A.I.? ....
By Mike Elgan | Contributing Columnist, Computerworld ... '
Is there a Master Algorithm?
Interesting question. Though I suggest there is always a focus to such a 'master'
question. And ultimately the question directs you towards some process of direction or need. This is why 'decision tree' approaches, that include understandable rules, can be evocative. ....
Is a master algorithm the solution to our machine learning problems?
Posted Jan 30, 2017 by Hassaan Ahmed (@hassaancs) In Techcrunch:
Machine learning is not new. We have witnessed it since the 1990s, when Amazon introduced a new “recommended for you” section for its users to display more personalized results. When we search for something on Google, machine learning is behind those search results. The “Friends” recommendations or the suggested pages on Facebook or a product recommendation on any e-commerce site all depend on machine learning. ....
What is a master algorithm?
But suppose there’s an algorithm that knows what we’re searching for on Google, what we’re buying on Amazon and what we’re listening to on Apple Music or watching on Netflix. It also knows about our recent statuses and shares on Facebook. ... "
This powerful “master algorithm” is at the heart of work postulated by Pedro Domingos, author of The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World. ...
Machine learning has different schools of thought, and each looks at the problem from a different perspective. The symbolists focus more on philosophy, logic and psychology and view learning as inverse of deduction. The connectionists focus on physics and neurosciences and believe in the reverse engineering of the brain. The evolutionaries, as the name suggests, draw their conclusions on the basis of genetics and evolutionary biology, whereas the Bayesians focus on statistics and probabilistic inference. And the analogizers depend on extrapolating the similarity judgements by focusing more on psychology and mathematical optimization. .... "
question. And ultimately the question directs you towards some process of direction or need. This is why 'decision tree' approaches, that include understandable rules, can be evocative. ....
Is a master algorithm the solution to our machine learning problems?
Posted Jan 30, 2017 by Hassaan Ahmed (@hassaancs) In Techcrunch:
Machine learning is not new. We have witnessed it since the 1990s, when Amazon introduced a new “recommended for you” section for its users to display more personalized results. When we search for something on Google, machine learning is behind those search results. The “Friends” recommendations or the suggested pages on Facebook or a product recommendation on any e-commerce site all depend on machine learning. ....
What is a master algorithm?
But suppose there’s an algorithm that knows what we’re searching for on Google, what we’re buying on Amazon and what we’re listening to on Apple Music or watching on Netflix. It also knows about our recent statuses and shares on Facebook. ... "
This powerful “master algorithm” is at the heart of work postulated by Pedro Domingos, author of The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World. ...
Machine learning has different schools of thought, and each looks at the problem from a different perspective. The symbolists focus more on philosophy, logic and psychology and view learning as inverse of deduction. The connectionists focus on physics and neurosciences and believe in the reverse engineering of the brain. The evolutionaries, as the name suggests, draw their conclusions on the basis of genetics and evolutionary biology, whereas the Bayesians focus on statistics and probabilistic inference. And the analogizers depend on extrapolating the similarity judgements by focusing more on psychology and mathematical optimization. .... "
Living Your Best Life with Math
Inspiring, non-technical look at Math and living Life, perhaps a way to get kids inspired? in Quanta Magazine:
To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics
The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them. .... "
To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics
The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them. .... "
Detecting Trouble, Predicting Maintenance
Been involved in methods of detecting and predicting maintenance issues for some time. Nice thoughts here.
Deep Learning AI Listens to Machines For Signs of Trouble By Jeremy Hsu
Driving your car until it breaks down on the road is never anyone’s favorite way to learn the need for routine maintenance. But preventive or scheduled maintenance checks often miss many of the problems that can come up. An Israeli startup has come up with a better idea: Use artificial intelligence to listen for early warning signs that a car might be nearing a breakdown.
The service of 3DSignals, a startup based in Kefar Sava, Israel, relies on the artificial intelligence technique known as deep learning to understand the noise patterns of troubled machines and predict problems in advance. 3DSignals has already begun talking with leading European automakers about possibly using the deep learning service to detect possible trouble both in auto factory machinery and in the cars themselves. The startup has even chatted with companies about using their service to automatically detect problems in future taxi fleets of driverless cars. ... "
Deep Learning AI Listens to Machines For Signs of Trouble By Jeremy Hsu
Driving your car until it breaks down on the road is never anyone’s favorite way to learn the need for routine maintenance. But preventive or scheduled maintenance checks often miss many of the problems that can come up. An Israeli startup has come up with a better idea: Use artificial intelligence to listen for early warning signs that a car might be nearing a breakdown.
The service of 3DSignals, a startup based in Kefar Sava, Israel, relies on the artificial intelligence technique known as deep learning to understand the noise patterns of troubled machines and predict problems in advance. 3DSignals has already begun talking with leading European automakers about possibly using the deep learning service to detect possible trouble both in auto factory machinery and in the cars themselves. The startup has even chatted with companies about using their service to automatically detect problems in future taxi fleets of driverless cars. ... "
Saturday, February 04, 2017
Spotting Fake Info in Data
Would add to beyond 'fake', tags like, 'expired', 'contradictory', 'signals of bias', ' unstable metadata', 'evidence of value', 'risk of use (or non-use)' ... just a few I have had experience with .... there are more. The thought is good though. Every piece of data should have metadata that flags its interpretation. In this case its use for strategic espionage. But for other contexts as well.
Can an app help spies spot phony info? Syracuse researchers, others get $11M to study
By Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com
on January 26, 2017 at 11:49 AM, updated January 26, 2017 at 12:17 PM
Syracuse, N.Y. -- A team that includes researchers from Syracuse University and SRC Inc. is developing digital tools that will use crowdsourcing and other techniques to help the nation's intelligence analysts do their jobs better.
Among the things the software would do is help intelligence analysts determine the credibility of the information they are receiving, researchers said. Another goal is to make the applications more like computer games, researchers said. ... "
Can an app help spies spot phony info? Syracuse researchers, others get $11M to study
By Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com
on January 26, 2017 at 11:49 AM, updated January 26, 2017 at 12:17 PM
Syracuse, N.Y. -- A team that includes researchers from Syracuse University and SRC Inc. is developing digital tools that will use crowdsourcing and other techniques to help the nation's intelligence analysts do their jobs better.
Among the things the software would do is help intelligence analysts determine the credibility of the information they are receiving, researchers said. Another goal is to make the applications more like computer games, researchers said. ... "
Stories Configure Human Nature
Configuring human nature using stories. I agree, but also believe this needs to be controlled. Stories also often contain strong elements of confirmation bias. Stories need to be a way to present structure that can then be interacted with to test its truth and applicability to changing context, else it is too easy to get stuck in a number of common biases.
Analytics at P&G
Andy Walter of P&G on their experiences with analytics. Interesting to read since I spent a long time there in related roles.
Friday, February 03, 2017
How Will Robotics Alter Staffing Models in Retail?
Have been following how robotics will interact with in-store retail personnel. Lowe's is an interesting example to follow. How will this alter staffing models, customer engagement and satisfaction? In Retailwire, with further expert discussion:Will a new staffing model improve Lowe’s customer service? by Matthew Stern
Lowe’s Home Improvement recently announced layoffs as a part of an effort to “overhaul its staffing model.” The cuts, which will constitute less than one percent of the total staff, come in the context of a reshuffling of responsibilities, which a source told the Charlotte Observer is meant to provide an increase in “face time with customers.” .... '
... In late 2016, the one-store OSHBot pilot expanded into the release of a branded “LoweBot.” Slated to be rolled out in 11 Lowe’s locations in the San Francisco Bay area over seven months, the LoweBot can, like its predecessor, find products, answer simple customer questions and help manage inventory.
The Lowe’s Innovation Labs website positions LoweBot as a way to free up staff so that the they can offer customers specialized knowledge and expertise. With that in mind, Lowe’s may be anticipating a future in which robots do the heavy lifting and real-live humans help customers with the higher-level tasks. It has not been announced if or when Lowe’s robotic helper will appear in stores beyond the San Francisco area. ..... "
AI in the Everyday Enterprise
Always interested in how AI will be inserted into the enterprise. We made early, simplistic attempts that were highly focused, very successful at times, but not integrated into common tasks. How will this change in the near future? Clear need is to integrate with corporate data and knowledge structure. Make the system easy to maintain. Related CWorld Opinion:
From presentation to conversation: How A.I. will transform enterprise apps Apps will soon shift from dumb repositories to deft assistants. ....
" .... In the second stage, A.I. identifies valuable tasks and pushes notifications to users suggesting they take action. For a recent example, a medical benefits management company had A.I. evaluate claims before any human intervention, approving those that were clearly appropriate. The tricky claims are pushed to nurses and doctors for further review. With apologies to Marshall McLuhan, at this stage the message is the medium, not the app’s presentation layer.
Whether it’s email or a rich messaging platform like Slack, the notification serves as a gateway deep into the presentation layer of the app that generated it. A churn alert links directly to the affected customer -- you no longer navigate down to that user from the app’s landing page. And recipients can even directly take action within the message itself as part of micro flow. The app is still the system of record, but its presentation layer is no longer the entry point for many user tasks. .... "
From presentation to conversation: How A.I. will transform enterprise apps Apps will soon shift from dumb repositories to deft assistants. ....
" .... In the second stage, A.I. identifies valuable tasks and pushes notifications to users suggesting they take action. For a recent example, a medical benefits management company had A.I. evaluate claims before any human intervention, approving those that were clearly appropriate. The tricky claims are pushed to nurses and doctors for further review. With apologies to Marshall McLuhan, at this stage the message is the medium, not the app’s presentation layer.
Whether it’s email or a rich messaging platform like Slack, the notification serves as a gateway deep into the presentation layer of the app that generated it. A churn alert links directly to the affected customer -- you no longer navigate down to that user from the app’s landing page. And recipients can even directly take action within the message itself as part of micro flow. The app is still the system of record, but its presentation layer is no longer the entry point for many user tasks. .... "
RFID Enabled Packaging
Continue to follow RFID solutions. We tested many alternatives in our labs.
Prime Vision to Offer RFID-enabled Packaging System
The solution provider hopes to improve tampering detection and tracking for packages by using Thinfilm's Near Field Communication technology.
By Nathaniel Prince
Feb 03, 2017—Electronics manufacturer Thin Film Electronics ASA (Thinfilm) and Dutch logistics solutions provider Prime Vision are teaming up to develop an RFID-enabled smart packaging system. Prime Vision is utilizing Thinfilm's OpenSense and SpeedTap Near Field Communication (NFC) tags as it develops its new solution.
Prime Vision's inspiration stemmed from the fact that the ability for customers to determine whether a package has been tampered with is essentially non-existent in the industry at present, according to Freek Smoes, the company's director of innovation. "Because of the increased popularity of e-shopping," he says, "more parcels are being shipped than ever before, and we therefore see a strong need for a solution that can track parcels as they move from the e-commerce company to the consumer." .... "
Prime Vision to Offer RFID-enabled Packaging System
The solution provider hopes to improve tampering detection and tracking for packages by using Thinfilm's Near Field Communication technology.
By Nathaniel Prince
Feb 03, 2017—Electronics manufacturer Thin Film Electronics ASA (Thinfilm) and Dutch logistics solutions provider Prime Vision are teaming up to develop an RFID-enabled smart packaging system. Prime Vision is utilizing Thinfilm's OpenSense and SpeedTap Near Field Communication (NFC) tags as it develops its new solution.
Prime Vision's inspiration stemmed from the fact that the ability for customers to determine whether a package has been tampered with is essentially non-existent in the industry at present, according to Freek Smoes, the company's director of innovation. "Because of the increased popularity of e-shopping," he says, "more parcels are being shipped than ever before, and we therefore see a strong need for a solution that can track parcels as they move from the e-commerce company to the consumer." .... "
Complexity and Interaction
Interesting thoughts about the complexity of conversation.
Caring Cyborgs Asian Scientist (01/03/17)
Social robots designed to interact with people could act as caregivers for the elderly and children, but current models struggle to understand and mimic the subtleties of human interaction. Nadine, a humanoid robot created at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, can remember names and past conversations and initiate conversations with people. Although such robots can be programmed to identify people, objects, and words, they are largely unable to detect a multitude of nuances, such as sarcasm, body language, facial expression, and tone of voice. "When there are many people around Nadine, she has to decide who to look at, who to listen to and, if there's a discussion, when to speak and why," says NTU professor Nadia Thalmann. "Research on multi-party interactions is very complex." One popular method used to address such challenges involves collecting massive datasets to teach the robots. Xiaoice, an artificial intelligence (AI) designed by Microsoft's Applications and Services Group East Asia, has had more than 10 billion online chats with people, many of whom initially did not realize they were talking to a robot. Microsoft launched a similar chatbot called Tay in March, but the AI was taken down after it starting repeating racist and hateful language learned from its analysis of Twitter data. ..... "
Caring Cyborgs Asian Scientist (01/03/17)
Social robots designed to interact with people could act as caregivers for the elderly and children, but current models struggle to understand and mimic the subtleties of human interaction. Nadine, a humanoid robot created at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, can remember names and past conversations and initiate conversations with people. Although such robots can be programmed to identify people, objects, and words, they are largely unable to detect a multitude of nuances, such as sarcasm, body language, facial expression, and tone of voice. "When there are many people around Nadine, she has to decide who to look at, who to listen to and, if there's a discussion, when to speak and why," says NTU professor Nadia Thalmann. "Research on multi-party interactions is very complex." One popular method used to address such challenges involves collecting massive datasets to teach the robots. Xiaoice, an artificial intelligence (AI) designed by Microsoft's Applications and Services Group East Asia, has had more than 10 billion online chats with people, many of whom initially did not realize they were talking to a robot. Microsoft launched a similar chatbot called Tay in March, but the AI was taken down after it starting repeating racist and hateful language learned from its analysis of Twitter data. ..... "
Thursday, February 02, 2017
Harnessing Automation
In McKinsey. Ultimately we will have to deal with this. To me this will mean better collaboration between humans, machines and evolving tacit knowledge. The future must work.
Harnessing automation for a future that works
By James Manyika, Michael Chui, Mehdi Miremadi, Jacques Bughin, Katy George, Paul Willmott, and Martin Dewhurst. ... "
Harnessing automation for a future that works
By James Manyika, Michael Chui, Mehdi Miremadi, Jacques Bughin, Katy George, Paul Willmott, and Martin Dewhurst. ... "
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