Both China and India underway. Will we regulate it away?
India Planning Huge China-style Facial Recognition Program
Bloomberg By Archana Chaudhary
India plans to deploy a massive facial recognition system similar to China's that centralizes data recorded by surveillance cameras and connects with various databases. The move concerns critics because the country has no data protection or privacy laws, and a lack of safeguards for sensitive databases makes them prime targets for hackers and black markets. Supporters of the effort hope a properly implemented facial recognition system will make India's police force more effective, but others are unsettled by the potential for misuse, including spying, illegal hacking, and data leakage to foreign governments. Said Apar Gupta, a Delhi-based lawyer and executive director of the non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation, “We’re the only functional democracy which will set up such a system without any data protection or privacy laws. It’s like a gold rush for companies seeking large unprotected databases.” .... '
Friday, September 20, 2019
Cubans using Cryptocurrency
An example of how cryptocurrency is getting around regulation. Laundering money.
Skirting U.S. Sanctions, Cubans Flock to Cryptocurrency to Shop Online, Send Funds By Sarah Marsh in Reuters.
HAVANA (Reuters) - Jason Sanchez, 35, was able to start buying spare parts online last year for his cellphone repair shop in Havana thanks to the advent of cryptocurrency trading in Communist-run Cuba.
Cuba, which in many ways remains stuck in the analogue past, may seem an unlikely hotbed for cryptocurrencies - digital tokens that use encryption techniques to secure transactions.
Yet the roll-out of mobile internet nearly a year ago has opened the way for cryptocurrency transactions, and enthusiasts have multiplied as the currency helps overcome obstacles created by U.S. sanctions on Cuba. .... "
Skirting U.S. Sanctions, Cubans Flock to Cryptocurrency to Shop Online, Send Funds By Sarah Marsh in Reuters.
HAVANA (Reuters) - Jason Sanchez, 35, was able to start buying spare parts online last year for his cellphone repair shop in Havana thanks to the advent of cryptocurrency trading in Communist-run Cuba.
Cuba, which in many ways remains stuck in the analogue past, may seem an unlikely hotbed for cryptocurrencies - digital tokens that use encryption techniques to secure transactions.
Yet the roll-out of mobile internet nearly a year ago has opened the way for cryptocurrency transactions, and enthusiasts have multiplied as the currency helps overcome obstacles created by U.S. sanctions on Cuba. .... "
Advancing AI in the Workplace: Ambient and Voice
Not un-expected, further intrigued about how much of it will be 'ambient', that is happening in the background and alerting the employee, and how much of it will be using voice control, after the very popular systems in the home. Will Robo-Bosses become common?
Gartner: Get ready for more AI in the workplace in Computerworld
At the firm’s Digital Workplace Summit in London, analysts said they expect artificial intelligence to be common in the office by 2025; they already see ‘huge pent-up demand.’ By Matthew Finnegan
LONDON – Artificial intelligence (AI) will be widely adopted in office environments in a variety of ways over the next few years as businesses invest in digital workplace initiatives, Gartner analysts said today....
Gartner: Get ready for more AI in the workplace in Computerworld
At the firm’s Digital Workplace Summit in London, analysts said they expect artificial intelligence to be common in the office by 2025; they already see ‘huge pent-up demand.’ By Matthew Finnegan
LONDON – Artificial intelligence (AI) will be widely adopted in office environments in a variety of ways over the next few years as businesses invest in digital workplace initiatives, Gartner analysts said today....
Pitfalls of Customer Participation
Tech will continue to make this more complicated ... and increasingly in real-time. You can control employees in specific ways, but customers usually only statistically.
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Customer Participation in MIT Sloan
FrontiersResearch Highlight September 03, 2019
Omar Merlo, Andreas B. Eisingerich, Hae-Kyung Shin, and Robert A. Britton
When front-line employees feel torn between representing the customer and what they believe is reasonable, they need to know the company has their back.
This article is part of an MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management.
Companies pay a lot of attention to customer participation — getting customers to play an ongoing role in the business by providing suggestions and ideas on its products and services. Whether this feedback takes place through surveys, comment cards, online forms, or other means, studies have pointed to the advantages of encouraging such dialogue. It can create a bond that enhances customer loyalty and even a willingness to pay higher prices.2
However, it also has downsides that many senior executives are not aware of. Indeed, our research, which included interviews and roundtable discussions with 87 executives and 276 employees in a range of service industries, found that enthusiasm for customer participation wanes the closer one gets to the company’s front lines.3 When customers are encouraged to speak up, front-line employees can feel threatened. Even though they are committed to advancing the objectives of the business, front-line employees sometimes see themselves as caught in the middle, torn between representing the views of customers, regardless of how reasonable those views may be, and what they think is reasonable. .... "
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Customer Participation in MIT Sloan
FrontiersResearch Highlight September 03, 2019
Omar Merlo, Andreas B. Eisingerich, Hae-Kyung Shin, and Robert A. Britton
When front-line employees feel torn between representing the customer and what they believe is reasonable, they need to know the company has their back.
This article is part of an MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management.
Companies pay a lot of attention to customer participation — getting customers to play an ongoing role in the business by providing suggestions and ideas on its products and services. Whether this feedback takes place through surveys, comment cards, online forms, or other means, studies have pointed to the advantages of encouraging such dialogue. It can create a bond that enhances customer loyalty and even a willingness to pay higher prices.2
However, it also has downsides that many senior executives are not aware of. Indeed, our research, which included interviews and roundtable discussions with 87 executives and 276 employees in a range of service industries, found that enthusiasm for customer participation wanes the closer one gets to the company’s front lines.3 When customers are encouraged to speak up, front-line employees can feel threatened. Even though they are committed to advancing the objectives of the business, front-line employees sometimes see themselves as caught in the middle, torn between representing the views of customers, regardless of how reasonable those views may be, and what they think is reasonable. .... "
Technical Look at Electric Aircraft
A somewhat technical outline view of the challenges involved:
Why don't we have electric aircraft? by Dries Verstraete, The Conversation in TechXplore
Electric cars, trains, trams and boats already exist. That logically leads to the question: why are we not seeing large electric aircraft? And will we see them any time soon?
Why do we have electric cars and trains, but few electric planes? The main reason is that it's much simpler to radically modify a car or train, even if they look very similar to traditional fossil-fuel vehicles on the outside.
Land vehicles can easily cope with the extra mass from electricity storage or electrical propulsion systems, but aircraft are much more sensitive.
For instance, increasing the mass of a car by 35% leads to an increase in energy use of 13-20%. But for a plane, energy use is directly proportional to mass: increasing its mass by 35% means it needs 35% more energy (all other things being equal).
But that is only part of the story. Aircraft also travel much further than ground vehicles, which means a flight requires far more energy than an average road trip. Aircraft must store onboard all the energy needed to move its mass for each flight (unlike a train connected to an electrical grid). Using a heavy energy source thus means more energy is needed for a flight, which leads to extra mass, and so on and on.
For an aircraft, mass is crucial, which is why airlines fastidiously weigh luggage. Electric planes need batteries with enough energy per kilogram of battery, or the mass penalty means they simply can't fly long distances. ... "
Why don't we have electric aircraft? by Dries Verstraete, The Conversation in TechXplore
Electric cars, trains, trams and boats already exist. That logically leads to the question: why are we not seeing large electric aircraft? And will we see them any time soon?
Why do we have electric cars and trains, but few electric planes? The main reason is that it's much simpler to radically modify a car or train, even if they look very similar to traditional fossil-fuel vehicles on the outside.
Land vehicles can easily cope with the extra mass from electricity storage or electrical propulsion systems, but aircraft are much more sensitive.
For instance, increasing the mass of a car by 35% leads to an increase in energy use of 13-20%. But for a plane, energy use is directly proportional to mass: increasing its mass by 35% means it needs 35% more energy (all other things being equal).
But that is only part of the story. Aircraft also travel much further than ground vehicles, which means a flight requires far more energy than an average road trip. Aircraft must store onboard all the energy needed to move its mass for each flight (unlike a train connected to an electrical grid). Using a heavy energy source thus means more energy is needed for a flight, which leads to extra mass, and so on and on.
For an aircraft, mass is crucial, which is why airlines fastidiously weigh luggage. Electric planes need batteries with enough energy per kilogram of battery, or the mass penalty means they simply can't fly long distances. ... "
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Deep Learning Approach to Data Compression
Worked in a related space. Good high level description of what was done, but this is by its nature technical
In Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) :
A Deep Learning Approach to Data Compression
By Friso Kingma, Sep 19, 2019
The BAIR Blog
Overview and Blog Purpose
The BAIR Blog provides an accessible, general-audience medium for BAIR researchers to communicate research findings, perspectives on the field, and various updates. Posts are written by students, post-docs, and faculty in BAIR, and are intended to provide relevant and timely discussion of research findings and results, both to experts and the general audience. Posts on a variety of topics studied at BAIR will appear approximately once every two weeks. ...
We introduce Bit-Swap, a scalable and effective lossless data compression technique based on deep learning. It extends previous work on practical compression with latent variable models, based on bits-back coding and asymmetric numeral systems. In our experiments Bit-Swap is able to beat benchmark compressors on a highly diverse collection of images. We’re releasing code for the method and optimized models such that people can explore and advance this line of modern compression ideas. We also release a demo and a pre-trained model for Bit-Swap image compression and decompression on your own image. See the end of the post for a talk that covers how bits-back coding and Bit-Swap works. .... "
In Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) :
A Deep Learning Approach to Data Compression
By Friso Kingma, Sep 19, 2019
The BAIR Blog
Overview and Blog Purpose
The BAIR Blog provides an accessible, general-audience medium for BAIR researchers to communicate research findings, perspectives on the field, and various updates. Posts are written by students, post-docs, and faculty in BAIR, and are intended to provide relevant and timely discussion of research findings and results, both to experts and the general audience. Posts on a variety of topics studied at BAIR will appear approximately once every two weeks. ...
We introduce Bit-Swap, a scalable and effective lossless data compression technique based on deep learning. It extends previous work on practical compression with latent variable models, based on bits-back coding and asymmetric numeral systems. In our experiments Bit-Swap is able to beat benchmark compressors on a highly diverse collection of images. We’re releasing code for the method and optimized models such that people can explore and advance this line of modern compression ideas. We also release a demo and a pre-trained model for Bit-Swap image compression and decompression on your own image. See the end of the post for a talk that covers how bits-back coding and Bit-Swap works. .... "
Oracle Plans Voice Digital Assistant to Integrate with MS Teams
Of interest because this implies that this assistant will integrate with office features, like Microsoft Teams. Below the introduction, much more in the article. Am a user of teams so will be interested to see how this works together.
During its OpenWorld event this week, the company also unveiled plans to have its Digital Assistant integrate with Microsoft’s Teams collaboration platform.
By Matthew Finnegan in Compterworld
Oracle has added AI voice commands to its Digital Assistant, offering users an alternative way to interact with its various business apps. The company on Tuesday also announced that the bot will integrate with Microsoft’s work stream collaboration platform, Teams.
Oracle’s Digital Assistant was launched last year as an interface to its portfolio of enterprise software applications, which includes sales, marketing and human resource tools. The virtual assistant uses AI techniques such as machine learning and natural language processing and understanding to interpret user intent; it’s designed to automate processes such as expense approvals and meeting re-schedules.
The Digital Assistant was initially targeted at text interactions and embedded in various communication and collaboration tools such as Slack, WeChat and Facebook Messenger, as well as user websites and as a standalone mobile app. The most common use cases so far have been customer service interactions, employee self-service for IT help desk issues, and interactions with Oracle’s enterprise resource planning systems, such as invoices, the company said.
The addition of a voice interface should broaden the appeal of the virtual assistant, said Suhas Uliyar, Oracle’s vice president of AI and Oracle Digital Assistant. “One of the things we are beginning to see in the field or have received feedback from customers on is the rise of voice in the enterprise,” he said. “People want to be able to speak to the chatbot or virtual assistant rather than type or tap.” .... "
During its OpenWorld event this week, the company also unveiled plans to have its Digital Assistant integrate with Microsoft’s Teams collaboration platform.
By Matthew Finnegan in Compterworld
Oracle has added AI voice commands to its Digital Assistant, offering users an alternative way to interact with its various business apps. The company on Tuesday also announced that the bot will integrate with Microsoft’s work stream collaboration platform, Teams.
Oracle’s Digital Assistant was launched last year as an interface to its portfolio of enterprise software applications, which includes sales, marketing and human resource tools. The virtual assistant uses AI techniques such as machine learning and natural language processing and understanding to interpret user intent; it’s designed to automate processes such as expense approvals and meeting re-schedules.
The Digital Assistant was initially targeted at text interactions and embedded in various communication and collaboration tools such as Slack, WeChat and Facebook Messenger, as well as user websites and as a standalone mobile app. The most common use cases so far have been customer service interactions, employee self-service for IT help desk issues, and interactions with Oracle’s enterprise resource planning systems, such as invoices, the company said.
The addition of a voice interface should broaden the appeal of the virtual assistant, said Suhas Uliyar, Oracle’s vice president of AI and Oracle Digital Assistant. “One of the things we are beginning to see in the field or have received feedback from customers on is the rise of voice in the enterprise,” he said. “People want to be able to speak to the chatbot or virtual assistant rather than type or tap.” .... "
Is Amazon Go Failing and if so Why?
Pace of adoption may note indicate longer term use. I think it will have the power of novelty if run well enough in the right context. Will continue to follow.
Is Amazon Go heading for a hard stop?
by Matthew Stern In Retailwire, with additional expert comment.
From the public relations push that followed the 2018 launch of Amazon Go, one might have surmised that it was only a matter of time until Just Walk Out technology supplanted all other forms of checkout in brick-and-mortar retail. This impression was bolstered by a report later that year that Amazon.com wanted to have some 3,000 Go stores in operation by 2021. A recent report indicates, however, that Amazon Go’s footprint is not expanding at anywhere near the pace once anticipated.
Amazon had planned to open 56 Go locations by the end of 2019 and 156 by the end of 2020, according to a story originally broken by The Information and discussed on The Verge. Amazon has in fact opened only 15 Go stores, all located in major metropolitan areas.
The apparent slowdown in expansion could be the result of numerous factors such as, among other possibilities, the cost of deployment, difficulty scaling the technology to handle more foot traffic and larger locations or concerns about low rates of shopper adoption outside of city centers. ... "
Is Amazon Go heading for a hard stop?
by Matthew Stern In Retailwire, with additional expert comment.
From the public relations push that followed the 2018 launch of Amazon Go, one might have surmised that it was only a matter of time until Just Walk Out technology supplanted all other forms of checkout in brick-and-mortar retail. This impression was bolstered by a report later that year that Amazon.com wanted to have some 3,000 Go stores in operation by 2021. A recent report indicates, however, that Amazon Go’s footprint is not expanding at anywhere near the pace once anticipated.
Amazon had planned to open 56 Go locations by the end of 2019 and 156 by the end of 2020, according to a story originally broken by The Information and discussed on The Verge. Amazon has in fact opened only 15 Go stores, all located in major metropolitan areas.
The apparent slowdown in expansion could be the result of numerous factors such as, among other possibilities, the cost of deployment, difficulty scaling the technology to handle more foot traffic and larger locations or concerns about low rates of shopper adoption outside of city centers. ... "
Samsung Smart Things, Smart Home data
Been following SmartThings for some time. Here an interview about the management and securing of data on Smart Home Platforms.
Smart home data is flowing for the Samsung SmartThings platform By Mark Albertson in SiliconAngle
One hundred Webster dictionaries would fill a gigabyte of data and 100,000 would fill a terabyte. Samsung SmartThings, the electronics giant’s smart home platform, generates 150 terabytes of “interesting” data every day, according to SmartThings’ chief technology officer.
And that’s a significant increase from the previous year, which offers a singular hint at where the data numbers are headed based on the growth of internet-connected smart home devices.
“Out of that I would say 10 terabytes is really actionable,” said Robert Parker (pictured), chief technology officer of Samsung SmartThings. “A year ago, we would have been at 60 terabytes of what I would have called interesting data and maybe five terabytes were immediately actionable.”
Parker spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Sumo Logic Illuminate event in Burlingame, California. They discussed the challenge of managing data being driven increasingly by the use of mobile applications and ensuring both security and privacy in a complex partner ecosystem (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.) ..... "
Smart home data is flowing for the Samsung SmartThings platform By Mark Albertson in SiliconAngle
One hundred Webster dictionaries would fill a gigabyte of data and 100,000 would fill a terabyte. Samsung SmartThings, the electronics giant’s smart home platform, generates 150 terabytes of “interesting” data every day, according to SmartThings’ chief technology officer.
And that’s a significant increase from the previous year, which offers a singular hint at where the data numbers are headed based on the growth of internet-connected smart home devices.
“Out of that I would say 10 terabytes is really actionable,” said Robert Parker (pictured), chief technology officer of Samsung SmartThings. “A year ago, we would have been at 60 terabytes of what I would have called interesting data and maybe five terabytes were immediately actionable.”
Parker spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Sumo Logic Illuminate event in Burlingame, California. They discussed the challenge of managing data being driven increasingly by the use of mobile applications and ensuring both security and privacy in a complex partner ecosystem (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.) ..... "
Amazon and Conquest Advertising
A term I had not heard in a very long time. Only Amazon and Google might be in place to do this.
Amazon Rewrites the Conquest Advertising Textbook in ECOmmerce Times By Alasdair McLean-Foreman
Amazon has powerful tools to help brands hold onto and acquire new customers
You've just come home from the gym and discovered that your teenager cleaned out your stash of energy bars. Drat. You grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to ease the hunger pangs, then decide to avoid future deprivation by ordering a new supply of bars online.
You usually buy Clif Bars, so you type the brand name into Amazon search and start to place an order -- but just as you're about to click the "Buy Now" button, you notice an ad for Quest Nutrition bars at the top of the search page, tempting you with a compelling alternative. The bars look appetizing, they get multiple-star customer reviews and -- best of all -- you can get them at a bargain price. One click later, Quest has acquired your business from the folks over at Clif Bar.
In a dynamic marketplace like Amazon, where an astonishing 50 percent of all e-commerce transactions now occur, this type of last-minute product switch is there for the taking. Amazon gives advertisers the ability to offer real-time promotions, targeted discounts, and highlighted customer reviews that can be highly effective in persuading shoppers to choose alternative products at the last phase of the purchase funnel.
Snatching a sale directly away from the competition is every marketer's dream. If the buyer goes on to make a long-term switch to the new brand, the company has pulled off a marketing coup. Multiply that by thousands of customers, and the result is a shift in actual market share.
This is what commonly is known as "conquest advertising." Amazon has developed uniquely powerful tools that brands can use toward that end -- and not just when customers are about to buy a particular product. These real-time advertising vehicles can encourage dramatic shifts toward established brands or aggressive newcomers alike. It all depends on who best takes advantage of Amazon's powerful ad capabilities. .... "
Amazon Rewrites the Conquest Advertising Textbook in ECOmmerce Times By Alasdair McLean-Foreman
Amazon has powerful tools to help brands hold onto and acquire new customers
You've just come home from the gym and discovered that your teenager cleaned out your stash of energy bars. Drat. You grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to ease the hunger pangs, then decide to avoid future deprivation by ordering a new supply of bars online.
You usually buy Clif Bars, so you type the brand name into Amazon search and start to place an order -- but just as you're about to click the "Buy Now" button, you notice an ad for Quest Nutrition bars at the top of the search page, tempting you with a compelling alternative. The bars look appetizing, they get multiple-star customer reviews and -- best of all -- you can get them at a bargain price. One click later, Quest has acquired your business from the folks over at Clif Bar.
In a dynamic marketplace like Amazon, where an astonishing 50 percent of all e-commerce transactions now occur, this type of last-minute product switch is there for the taking. Amazon gives advertisers the ability to offer real-time promotions, targeted discounts, and highlighted customer reviews that can be highly effective in persuading shoppers to choose alternative products at the last phase of the purchase funnel.
Snatching a sale directly away from the competition is every marketer's dream. If the buyer goes on to make a long-term switch to the new brand, the company has pulled off a marketing coup. Multiply that by thousands of customers, and the result is a shift in actual market share.
This is what commonly is known as "conquest advertising." Amazon has developed uniquely powerful tools that brands can use toward that end -- and not just when customers are about to buy a particular product. These real-time advertising vehicles can encourage dramatic shifts toward established brands or aggressive newcomers alike. It all depends on who best takes advantage of Amazon's powerful ad capabilities. .... "
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
AI Ethics Multi Country Partnership
Note the mention of human-centered AI, which reading on seems to be about bias/fairness. But its really also about how humans use/interact/are influenced by AI systems. I would suggest this later aspect will become much more important. Will be interesting to see how this evolves over time. Note also the Individual vs Private sector vs Govt 'regulation' aspects.
Research Alliance Cements Split on AI Ethics
Inside Higher Ed
By David Matthews
Germany, France, and Japan have partnered to underwrite research into human-centered artificial intelligence (AI), designed to respect privacy and transparency. The three countries issued a joint call for proposals, supported by an initial 7.4-million-euro ($8.2-million) in funding. The German Research Foundation's Susanne Sangenstedt said the partnering nations have common beliefs and standards for ethical AI development, with the call for research proposals seeking projects on AI democratization, data integrity for fairness, AI ethics to avoid gender/age discrimination, and technologies like machine learning, computer vision, and data mining. Holger Hoos at Leiden University in the Netherlands said China has put AI development under the control of the government-state, while the U.S. has permitted the private sector to oversee development. In contrast, Europe's approach has been to try to strike a balance among "government, industry, and individual."
Research Alliance Cements Split on AI Ethics
Inside Higher Ed
By David Matthews
Germany, France, and Japan have partnered to underwrite research into human-centered artificial intelligence (AI), designed to respect privacy and transparency. The three countries issued a joint call for proposals, supported by an initial 7.4-million-euro ($8.2-million) in funding. The German Research Foundation's Susanne Sangenstedt said the partnering nations have common beliefs and standards for ethical AI development, with the call for research proposals seeking projects on AI democratization, data integrity for fairness, AI ethics to avoid gender/age discrimination, and technologies like machine learning, computer vision, and data mining. Holger Hoos at Leiden University in the Netherlands said China has put AI development under the control of the government-state, while the U.S. has permitted the private sector to oversee development. In contrast, Europe's approach has been to try to strike a balance among "government, industry, and individual."
DOE Unveils AI and Tech Office
Another vote of confidence for the current emergence of AI, depending upon how you define it.
DOE Unveils AI and Technology Office
NextGov.com
Brandi Vincent
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established an Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office to coordinate and accelerate the agency's enterprise efforts to leverage the technology. The DOE currently has a wide range of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications and projects under way, including strengthening the nation's national security posture, supporting the nuclear stockpile, and enabling the Internet of Things. The agency also conducts AI research at its national labs, where experts are building three exascale computers and conducting advanced research on four of the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world. Said Energy Secretary Rick Perry, "The importance of [AI] to our country, the importance of this to your children, to our families, and economy, can’t be overstated." .... "
DOE Unveils AI and Technology Office
NextGov.com
Brandi Vincent
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established an Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office to coordinate and accelerate the agency's enterprise efforts to leverage the technology. The DOE currently has a wide range of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications and projects under way, including strengthening the nation's national security posture, supporting the nuclear stockpile, and enabling the Internet of Things. The agency also conducts AI research at its national labs, where experts are building three exascale computers and conducting advanced research on four of the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world. Said Energy Secretary Rick Perry, "The importance of [AI] to our country, the importance of this to your children, to our families, and economy, can’t be overstated." .... "
China Suggests a Global Grid
Interesting idea, but I wonder if we can predict the future stability and/or trust of other countries to build and manage our power grid? Would require some evolution beyond where we are today.
China’s Grid Architect Proposes a “Made in China” Upgrade to North America’s Power System
Liu Zhenya’s vision for a global grid must overcome tensions between neighboring nation-states and growing distrust between superpowers .... By Peter Fairley in IEEE Spectrum
China’s Grid Architect Proposes a “Made in China” Upgrade to North America’s Power System
Liu Zhenya’s vision for a global grid must overcome tensions between neighboring nation-states and growing distrust between superpowers .... By Peter Fairley in IEEE Spectrum
Google Perspective about AI
No doubt Google is doing lots of internal and external work with AI, so their perspective about use is useful. Non technical and fairly balanced.
CIOs: Here’s How Google is Approaching AI
A team of experts learned from their application of AI across a variety of real-world projects. Here are six steps they recommend for CIOs engaging with AI.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the key to unlocking humanity’s problem-solving capabilities but engaging with AI is not necessarily intuitive. Business leaders may find it difficult to understand how specific AI advances can be applied to their organizations and how to begin integrating AI technology at scale.
Using AI may not always be the right -- or even necessary -- approach. Before engaging with AI, chief information officers and business leaders should map out the most pressing problems, prioritize them, and then determine which technology would best solve those challenges. Don’t overlook simple solutions or force the use of AI within your organization.
Once the problem is identified and it is determined that AI is indeed the right solution, start work in the most technologically advanced areas of your business because AI models need a rich data history (and ongoing data collection) to make beneficial recommendations. It can be helpful to prioritize the functions, verticals, assembly lines and assets within that problem domain that are further along in data readiness. As an added benefit, these areas are often the most critical to a business. ... "
CIOs: Here’s How Google is Approaching AI
A team of experts learned from their application of AI across a variety of real-world projects. Here are six steps they recommend for CIOs engaging with AI.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the key to unlocking humanity’s problem-solving capabilities but engaging with AI is not necessarily intuitive. Business leaders may find it difficult to understand how specific AI advances can be applied to their organizations and how to begin integrating AI technology at scale.
Using AI may not always be the right -- or even necessary -- approach. Before engaging with AI, chief information officers and business leaders should map out the most pressing problems, prioritize them, and then determine which technology would best solve those challenges. Don’t overlook simple solutions or force the use of AI within your organization.
Once the problem is identified and it is determined that AI is indeed the right solution, start work in the most technologically advanced areas of your business because AI models need a rich data history (and ongoing data collection) to make beneficial recommendations. It can be helpful to prioritize the functions, verticals, assembly lines and assets within that problem domain that are further along in data readiness. As an added benefit, these areas are often the most critical to a business. ... "
Google Assistant Advances Languages
Have now been using Google assistant bilingually for about a year, with multiple voices as I explore them. Impressive work, everybody needs language assistance.
Google Assistant gets new voice options in nine more languages
Voice options will be presented as colors, not genders.
By Rachel England, @rachel_england in Engadget
Google Assistant users outside the US haven't had much choice when it comes to voice options -- until now, as Google launches a second voice for Assistant in French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Norwegian, Korean, Italian and English for India and the UK.
The new voices have been built with DeepMind's WaveNet technology to help them sound natural, and will be displayed in settings as a color, rather than as a gender. Users selecting a voice in one of these languages will be able to choose from "orange" or "red," and when you set up Google Assistant for the first time you'll be randomly assigned one of them. According to Google, "We've learned that people enjoy choosing between voices to find one that sounds right to them, and we think it's important to present these voices without any labels." The new voice options launch today. ... "
Google Assistant gets new voice options in nine more languages
Voice options will be presented as colors, not genders.
By Rachel England, @rachel_england in Engadget
Google Assistant users outside the US haven't had much choice when it comes to voice options -- until now, as Google launches a second voice for Assistant in French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Norwegian, Korean, Italian and English for India and the UK.
The new voices have been built with DeepMind's WaveNet technology to help them sound natural, and will be displayed in settings as a color, rather than as a gender. Users selecting a voice in one of these languages will be able to choose from "orange" or "red," and when you set up Google Assistant for the first time you'll be randomly assigned one of them. According to Google, "We've learned that people enjoy choosing between voices to find one that sounds right to them, and we think it's important to present these voices without any labels." The new voice options launch today. ... "
Where Blockchain Will be Delivered
Starting to see this trend, since the data involved is already in ERP and CRM.
Gartner: Blockchain will be nothing more than an add-on for ERP, CRM software
The distributed ledger technology has already become highly fragmented, making it difficult for companies to push ahead with real-world uses. On top of that, Gartner expects that fragmentation to collapse into no more than four dominant standards in the next few years. .... '
By Lucas Mearian in ComputerWorld
Gartner: Blockchain will be nothing more than an add-on for ERP, CRM software
The distributed ledger technology has already become highly fragmented, making it difficult for companies to push ahead with real-world uses. On top of that, Gartner expects that fragmentation to collapse into no more than four dominant standards in the next few years. .... '
By Lucas Mearian in ComputerWorld
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Analytics Translators
I did this kind of thing for some time in the enterprise, we did not call it a translator, but helped execs and other decision makers understand the results of analytics, interface with our contractors and also to commission new capabilities as needed. Someone always does this, and it does help to have it institutionalized. As methods become more complex and quickly emerging, it becomes yet more necessary.
Mckinsey has a good article on the concept, and as mentioned, knowledge of the institution can be key, Also look at the tag below for another piece on this.
How to train your analytics translators
Analytics translators need deep institutional knowledge to perform their critical function, making it best to develop current employees to fill these roles. Here’s how to do it. ... "
Mckinsey has a good article on the concept, and as mentioned, knowledge of the institution can be key, Also look at the tag below for another piece on this.
How to train your analytics translators
Analytics translators need deep institutional knowledge to perform their critical function, making it best to develop current employees to fill these roles. Here’s how to do it. ... "
Reminder: Talk Today: Mixed integer Programming and Machine Learning
Highly recommended! We used Mixed Integer Programming optimization methods for many years in the enterprise. Especially for complex combinatorial decision making. Nice to see this upcoming Webinar presenting it as complimentary to Machine Learning (ML), for helping with related decisions. Always better to get analytics closer to the actual decision. I will be attending.
Title: Mathematical Optimization + ML: Featuring Forrester Survey Insights
Date: 9/17/2019 Time: 9:00 AM PDT Duration: 60 Minutes
Overview:Mathematical optimization (AKA Mixed Integer Programming) and Machine Learning (ML) are different but complementary technologies. Simply put – Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) answers questions that ML cannot. Machine learning makes predictions while MIP makes decisions. For Data Scientists to be effective, an understanding of MIP and when to use it is critical, as ML does not solve all problems effectively.
In this latest Data Science Central webinar, you will hear the results of the 2019 Mathematical Optimization Survey commissioned by Gurobi Optimization and conducted by Forrester and insights on how Data Scientists can use tools such as MIP to make complex decisions.
You’ll learn:- The latest trends in ML and Artificial Intelligence
- Key findings from the Mathematical Optimization Survey
- How you can use MIP in concert with ML techniques
- How industries are using MIP today to efficiently use resources, often resulting in time savings and millions of dollars in cost savings
All registrants will receive a copy of the 2019 Mathematical Optimization Study available in October 2019.
Speakers: Mike Gualtieri, VP Principal Analyst, Application Development and Delivery Professionals - Forrester Research
Edward Rothberg, CEO and Co-Founder - Gurobi Optimization
Hosted by: Stephanie Glen, Editorial Director - Data Science Central
Not registered for the Mathematical Optimization + ML: Featuring Forrester Survey Insights webinar and interested in signing up? Click below:
REGISTER NOW! https://onlinexperiences.com/Launch/QReg.htm?ShowKey=73521
Talk: [ to be inserted here ]
See also: https://www.datasciencecentral.com/video/dsc-webinar-series-adding-optimization-to-your-analytics-toolbox
Title: Mathematical Optimization + ML: Featuring Forrester Survey Insights
Date: 9/17/2019 Time: 9:00 AM PDT Duration: 60 Minutes
Overview:Mathematical optimization (AKA Mixed Integer Programming) and Machine Learning (ML) are different but complementary technologies. Simply put – Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) answers questions that ML cannot. Machine learning makes predictions while MIP makes decisions. For Data Scientists to be effective, an understanding of MIP and when to use it is critical, as ML does not solve all problems effectively.
In this latest Data Science Central webinar, you will hear the results of the 2019 Mathematical Optimization Survey commissioned by Gurobi Optimization and conducted by Forrester and insights on how Data Scientists can use tools such as MIP to make complex decisions.
You’ll learn:- The latest trends in ML and Artificial Intelligence
- Key findings from the Mathematical Optimization Survey
- How you can use MIP in concert with ML techniques
- How industries are using MIP today to efficiently use resources, often resulting in time savings and millions of dollars in cost savings
All registrants will receive a copy of the 2019 Mathematical Optimization Study available in October 2019.
Speakers: Mike Gualtieri, VP Principal Analyst, Application Development and Delivery Professionals - Forrester Research
Edward Rothberg, CEO and Co-Founder - Gurobi Optimization
Hosted by: Stephanie Glen, Editorial Director - Data Science Central
Not registered for the Mathematical Optimization + ML: Featuring Forrester Survey Insights webinar and interested in signing up? Click below:
REGISTER NOW! https://onlinexperiences.com/Launch/QReg.htm?ShowKey=73521
Talk: [ to be inserted here ]
See also: https://www.datasciencecentral.com/video/dsc-webinar-series-adding-optimization-to-your-analytics-toolbox
Health Data for Personal Use
Just heard this podcast, was on my reading list, regarding https://Doc.AI an interesting model about using health data. Some good thoughts in the podcast. Creating health models based on personal data. And offering to link you to health research based on your data.
Similarly Walter De Brouwer talks about another project called XY Health Which creates 'digital twins' to help predict health results using precision medicine. ... "
Similarly Walter De Brouwer talks about another project called XY Health Which creates 'digital twins' to help predict health results using precision medicine. ... "
In China: Smile to Pay
Seeming to be expanding in China. Payment here, but to what degree also product recognition and tallying?
Smile-to-Pay: Chinese Shoppers Turn to Facial Payment Technology in the Guardian
China is embracing facial payment technology, which allows consumers to purchase goods simply by posing in front of point-of-sale (POS) machines equipped with cameras after linking an image of their face to a digital payment system or bank account. Similar facial recognition software is already widely used by the government to monitor citizens, although authorities have been criticized for using it to crack down on dissent. Despite concerns over data security and privacy, many consumers seem unfazed by facial payment technology. Alipay—the financial arm of Alibaba—already has facial payment devices in place in 100 Chinese cities. ... "
Smile-to-Pay: Chinese Shoppers Turn to Facial Payment Technology in the Guardian
China is embracing facial payment technology, which allows consumers to purchase goods simply by posing in front of point-of-sale (POS) machines equipped with cameras after linking an image of their face to a digital payment system or bank account. Similar facial recognition software is already widely used by the government to monitor citizens, although authorities have been criticized for using it to crack down on dissent. Despite concerns over data security and privacy, many consumers seem unfazed by facial payment technology. Alipay—the financial arm of Alibaba—already has facial payment devices in place in 100 Chinese cities. ... "
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