Should governments start taxing robots as a way to prepare for a future of mass unemployment brought on by technology?
Continue reading… “Preparing for the economic impact of artificial intelligence”
Fake processed food is becoming an epidemic in African urban life
In late February, 14-year-olds Nahima and Yayaya, died after eating tainted biscuits at a classmate’s birthday celebration in their school, located just outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja. Several other children in their class were hospitalized. Panic and threats from angry parents forced a temporary school closure, but to date, there have been no efforts to investigate the root causes nor track or shut down the responsible company.
Continue reading… “Fake processed food is becoming an epidemic in African urban life”
How close are we to a hamburger grown in a lab?
The creation of in vitro, or “clean,” meat involves extracting stem cells from animals
The extracted cells are grown and multiplied in a lab to create meat
Experts’ conservative estimates say clean meat will on store shelves by 2021
Continue reading… “How close are we to a hamburger grown in a lab?”
Your smartphone is making you stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. So why can’t you put it down?
A decade ago, smart devices promised to change the way we think and interact, and they have – but not by making us smarter. Eric Andrew-Gee explores the growing body of scientific evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds.
Dawn of the techlash
Once seen as saviours of democracy, tech giants are now viewed as threats to truth. But how did our faith in all things digital turn into an erosion of trust, particularly in the arena of information and politics?
Mark Zuckerberg: ‘Facebook was built to accomplish a social mission – to make the world more open and connected.’
Continue reading… “Dawn of the techlash”
Where are the startups? Loss of dynamism is impeding growth
A solar panel factory in Hillsboro, Ore. A decline in business formation has contributed to a flattening of the labor supply.
Can the market economy still deliver prosperity?
Continue reading… “Where are the startups? Loss of dynamism is impeding growth”
8 incredible innovations helping homeless people around the world
Homelessness is widespread and hard to solve, affecting more than 560,000 people in the U.S. and hundreds of millions around the world.
Continue reading… “8 incredible innovations helping homeless people around the world”
Robots are coming for financial services jobs first
By Deb Frey: City jobs will be lost to automation earlier than those in the wider job market, new research reveals.
The first wave of automation arriving in the next two to three years will hit financial and professional services hardest compared to other industries, according to the analysis of more than 200,000 jobs across 26 counties by PwC.
Continue reading… “Robots are coming for financial services jobs first”
Keeping robots friendly: Meet the woman teaching AI about human values
Anca Dragan has a cool name, an impressive CV and an important job. While many roboticists focus on making AI better, faster and smarter, Dragan is also concerned about robot quality control. In anticipation of robots moving into every area of our lives, she wants to ensure our interactions with robots are positive ones. The computer scientist and robotics engineer is a principal investigator with UC Berkeley’s Center for Human-Compatible AI. “One particular area of interest is the problem of value alignment,” says Dragan. “How do you ensure that an artificially intelligent agent–be it a robot a few years from now or a much more capable agent in the future–how do you make sure that these agents optimize the right objectives? How do we teach them to optimize what we actually want optimized?”
Continue reading… “Keeping robots friendly: Meet the woman teaching AI about human values”
‘Migrants are more profitable than drugs’: how the mafia infiltrated Italy’s asylum system
Crime families have cashed in on the ‘refugee industry’.
Where are India’s millions of missing girls?
India’s 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven – activists fear eight million female foetuses may have been aborted in the past decade. The BBC’s Geeta Pandey in Delhi explores what has led to this crisis.
Continue reading… “Where are India’s millions of missing girls?”
Hong Kong is so expensive that architects are building 100-square-foot ‘tube homes’ made from concrete water pipes
For the past seven years, Hong Kong has held the title of the world’s priciest city for homebuyers, according to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.
