Category: Human Behavior

Impact Lab > Human Behavior
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Future, Human Behavior

How We’ll Survive When Artificial Intelligence Gets Smarter Than Us

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Physicist Max Tegmark has borne witness to the rise of artificial intelligence and insists that we start thinking about what it means for humanity—before machines decide for us.

The artificial intelligence revolution is here, and MIT physics professor Max Tegmark believes the implications are vaster than most of us imagine. Tegmark, cofounder and president of the Future of Life Institute, believes that as technology gives us the power to flourish or self-destruct, “We prefer the former.” In Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, he lays out both utopian and dystopian visions of a world dominated by AI. His prescription for the day we cease being Earth’s most intelligent minds? Humility.

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Analysis, Business, Human Behavior, Latest Trend

73 Percent of Millennials are Willing to Spend More Money on This 1 Type of Product

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It’s not even close to avocado toast.

In 2015, Nielsen polled 30,000 consumers in 60 countries around the world. They wanted to know more about what influences how people feel about brands, and how those feelings impact buying behavior.

One overwhelming conclusion of the report? That across the board, consumers are willing to pay extra for one thing: sustainability.

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Children, Corporate Manipulation, Human Behavior

Perfect prams for perfect parents: the rise of the bougie buggy

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How the rise of the luxury pram capitalised on the status anxiety of a new generation of parents

Before she had a baby, Kari Boiler never noticed what kinds of buggies were on the streets. But when Boiler – an American then working for an advertising agency in Amsterdam – became pregnant with her first child in 2001, she realised that the city’s pavements were dominated by a single buggy: the Frog, a sleek, futuristic stroller designed by a tiny Dutch company called Bugaboo. “It was all over Amsterdam – you didn’t see another stroller,” she said.

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Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Human Behavior

Debt prompts patients to delay treatment, data shows

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Does your outstanding debt cause you to avoid the medical care you need?

Though Americans certainly aren’t strangers to debt, the impact of owing money extends not just to their financial decisions, but health-related ones, as well. According to new data from lifeinsurance.org, indebted individuals often will delay medical treatment to avoid the added costs. This holds true for roughly 23% of U.S. adults with $10,000 to $25,000 of debt and 27% of those with $25,000 in debt or more.

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Analysis, Human Behavior, Latest Trend

The Population Bomb Has Been Defused

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The Earth and humanity will survive as fertility rates fall almost everywhere.

Some of the most spectacularly wrong predictions in history have been made by those who claim that overpopulation is going to swamp the planet. Thomas Malthus, a British economist writing in the late 1700s, is the most famous of these. Extrapolating past trends into the future, he predicted that population growth would inevitably swamp available food resources, leading to mass starvation. That didn’t happen — we continued to develop new technologies that let us stay ahead of the reaper.

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Analysis, Culture, Human Behavior, Science & Technology News, Social Media

The grim conclusions of the largest-ever study of fake news

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Falsehoods almost always beat out the truth on Twitter, penetrating further, faster, and deeper into the social network than accurate information.

A large megaphone projects lies, fake news, falsehoods, and images of Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, and Hillary Clinton. A smaller megaphone projects truth.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, Future, Human Behavior, new technology

Technology isn’t just changing society — it’s changing what it means to be human

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Is there something unusual about the pace and nature of technological change today? Should we be more worried about the world we’re creating?

Michael Bess is a historian of science at Vanderbilt University and the author of Our Grandchildren Redesigned: Life in a Bioengineered Society. His book offers a sweeping look at our genetically modified future, a future as terrifying as it is promising. But he’s also someone who thinks a lot about the broader relationship between technology and society.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, DaVinci Institute, Futurist, Human Behavior, Science & Technology News

Trent Fowler of the DaVinci Institute interviews futurist Robert Hanson

“In this far-ranging interview Da Vinci Institute associate Trent Fowler sits down with George Mason University economist and futurist Robin Hanson. They discuss Hanson’s two books (“The Age of Ems” and “The Elephant in the Brain”), the relationship between economics and futurism, the possibilities and dangers of self-improving AI, and many other things.

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Analysis, Big Problems, communication, Health & Fitness, Human Behavior

Your smartphone is making you stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. So why can’t you put it down?

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App, government, Human Behavior, Science & Technology News

India wants panic buttons on mobile phones to keep women safe—will it work?

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The Indian government has a hack for women’s safety: a panic button.

Come Jan. 26, a pilot project to test a panic button feature on mobile phones will be launched in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Maneka Gandhi, the union minister for women and child development, said on Jan. 02.

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.