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AI, Analysis, Big Data, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Employment, Internet of Things

Ten key skills for the future

June 21, 2017

This report analyzes key drivers that will reshape the landscape of work and identifies key work skills needed in the next 10 years. It does not consider what will be the jobs of the future. Many studies have tried to predict specific job categories and labor requirements.

Consistently over the years, however, it has been shown that such predictions are difficult and many of the past predictions have been proven wrong. Rather than focusing on future jobs, this report looks at future work skills—proficiencies and abilities required across different jobs and work settings.

Continue reading… “Ten key skills for the future”

AI, Art, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Music

Will A.I. and machine learning make everyone a musician?

June 21, 2017

Music and other live performance art has always been at the cutting edge of technology so it’s no surprise that artificial intelligence and machine learning are pushing its boundaries.

As AI’s ability to manage key elements of the creative process continue to evolve, should artists be worried about the machines taking over? Probably not, says Douglas Eck, research scientist at Google’s Magenta.

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Amazon.com, Analysis, Business

Some surprising details about the Amazon-Whole Foods deal

June 19, 2017

For years, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was convinced that grocery stores and e-commerce didn’t mix. And I was more surprised than most when the news broke last week that he’s selling Whole Foods to Amazon for $13.7 billion.

Continue reading… “Some surprising details about the Amazon-Whole Foods deal”

Science & Technology News

‘Solar paint’ a breakthrough promising endless energy from water vapor

June 19, 2017

The paint contains a recently-developed compound that looks and feels like silica gel — commonly used in sachets to absorb moisture and keep food, electronics, and medicine dry — but acts like a semiconductor. Additionally, the synthetic molybdenum-sulphide material catalysis the splitting of water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen.

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Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Baby Gadgets, Big Problems, Business

Man vs. machine – predicting the year when machines win

June 19, 2017

Don’t expect to see a human behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler after 2027. Or a set of human hands performing a delicate surgery after 2053.

According to a new study from Oxford and Yale University researchers, those are the years artificial intelligence is slated to take over each of those tasks. And so it will go for millions of other jobs over the next 50 years, researchers find.

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Blockchain, Business, Crypto-Technology

After the IPO comes the ICO, a revolutionary new way to get funded

June 18, 2017

A few days ago, a startup called Bancor raised around $153 million in two hours and twenty-five minutes.

The ICO, short for initial coin offering, followed several similar, equally successful funding events, and the numbers are rising. Prediction market Augur raised around $5.2 million over two months in 2015; this year, its competitor Gnosis raised $12 million in just 15 minutes. And we could only be getting started.

Continue reading… “After the IPO comes the ICO, a revolutionary new way to get funded”

Alzheimer's Disease, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Report

At what age do you become ‘old?’ Here’s what four different generations think

June 17, 2017

If age really is just a number, what number marks old age? Well, the answer to that depends on how old you are now.

Millennials hold the least generous views on aging, saying that you are old beginning at just 59, according to a new study by U.S. Trust. Older groups, however, put the starting point further out.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, cutting edge

Chatbots are losing steam, think instead about workbots

June 17, 2017

It’s no secret that chatbots are growing in popularity. From Facebook’s ecommerce bots for consumers to a plethora of customer service tools that now rely on chatbots to interface with customers, it’s clear that consumer chatbots have hit mainstream. Even Apple is expanding its commitment to chat technology with the release of Business Chat at a recent WWDC, allowing consumers to interact with businesses through iMessage.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, Big Problems, facebook, Hacking, Hot Issues, Human Behavior, Machine Learning

Facebook’s A.I. system that learned to lie to get what it wants

June 17, 2017

We’re beginning to get a glimpse of some of the built-in limits to artificial intelligence.

Humans are natural negotiators. We arrange dozens of tiny little details throughout our day to produce a desired outcome: What time a meeting should start, when you can take time off work, or how many cookies you can take from the cookie jar.

Machines typically don’t share that affinity, but new research from Facebook’s AI research lab might offer a starting point to change that. The new system learned to negotiate from looking at each side of 5,808 human conversations, setting the groundwork for bots that could schedule meetings or get you the best deal online.

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Health & Fitness, Report

Tobacco’s new crisis – rich people stopped smoking, the poor didn’t

June 16, 2017

After decades of lawsuits, public campaigns and painful struggles, Americans have finally done what once seemed impossible: Most of the country has quit smoking, saving millions of lives and leading to massive reductions in cancer.

That is, unless those Americans are poor, uneducated or live in a rural area.

Continue reading… “Tobacco’s new crisis – rich people stopped smoking, the poor didn’t”

3D Printer, Biotech, Brain, brain hacking, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Elon Musk, Medicine, NASA, New Inventions, New Viewpoints

Craig Venter’s ‘digital-to-biological converter’ is based on real science

June 16, 2017

Right now, it prints proteins. In the far future, it could print human babies on Mars. Craig Venter and Elon Musk have even discussed how printed life could help terraform Mars.

Continue reading… “Craig Venter’s ‘digital-to-biological converter’ is based on real science”

Aviation, Breakthrough Thinking, Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s 4-step plan for colonizing Mars

June 16, 2017

Elon Musk wants to launch a million people to Mars in the event some apocalyptic disaster eventually ruins Earth. And he wants it to be somewhat affordable — $200,000 or less per person.

To that end, the SpaceX CEO outlined his plan to colonize Mars on September 27, including how his Interplanetary Transport System of rockets, spaceships, fuel pods, and other crucial components would get the job done. Still, the full presentation at the International Astronomical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, barely scratched the surface.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk’s 4-step plan for colonizing Mars”