Top minds in machine learning predict where AI is going in 2020
AI is no longer poised to change the world someday; it’s changing the world now. As we begin a new year and decade, VentureBeat turned to some of the keenest minds in AI to revisit progress made in 2019 and look ahead to how machine learning will mature in 2020. We spoke with PyTorch creator […]
How U.S. tech policy could change if Democrats win back the Senate
Election Day in the U.S. is now only weeks away, and the variables and stakes are rapidly mounting. Troll farms, fake accounts, and other disinformation threats from within the United States and abroad are coming into view. The current president is attempting to convince people the election is rigged before it happens. Groups are actively working to […]
Robots, AI, and the road to a fully autonomous construction industry
Built Robotics executives are fond of saying that their autonomous system for construction equipment, like dozers and excavators, might be further along than many autonomous vehicles. In fact, CEO Noah Ready-Campbell insists you’ll see autonomous vehicles in controlled industrial environments — like construction sites — before you see level 5 driverless cars on public roads. That […]
AI ethics is all about power
At the Common Good in the Digital Age tech conference recently held in Vatican City, Pope Francis urged Facebook executives, venture capitalists, and government regulators to be wary of the impact of AI and other technologies. “If mankind’s so-called technological progress were to become an enemy of the common good, this would lead to an unfortunate regression […]
The U.S. military, algorithmic warfare, and big tech
We learned this week that the Department of Defense is using facial recognition at scale, and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he believes China is selling lethal autonomous drones. Amid all that, you may have missed Joint AI Center (JAIC) director Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan — who is charged by the Pentagon with modernizing and guiding […]
As robotic grasping improves, rivals debate the metrics of success
Amazon’s re:Mars conference last June featured a carnival of robotics and AI. Disney showed a demo of its stunning robot acrobats, while others showed off delivery robots, dextrous robotic hands, and robotic snakes that can weave through the cracks of buildings after a disaster. Boston Dynamics’ four-legged Spot Mini was there, as well as robots built for space. […]
How Congress is shaping data privacy laws during the pandemic
After saving lives, the most urgent — and hotly debated — problem facing government policymakers in the age of COVID-19 may be how to strike a balance between privacy and public health. The fast-moving and unprecedented story around surveillance tech highlights a long-delayed push for comprehensive consumer data privacy laws, even as privacy advocates grudgingly […]
How AI is fighting, and could enable, ransomware attacks on cities
Imagine getting to a courthouse and seeing paper signs stuck to the doors with the message “Systems down.” What about police officers in the field unable to access information on laptops in their vehicles, or surgeries delayed in hospitals? That’s what can happen to a city, police department, or hospital in a ransomware attack. Ransomware […]
A fight for the soul of machine learning
Last Tuesday, Google shared a blog post highlighting the perspectives of three women of color employees on fairness and machine learning. I suppose the comms team saw trouble coming: The next day NBC News broke the news that diversity initiatives at Google are being scrapped over concern about conservative backlash, according to eight current and former employees speaking […]
Entrepreneurialism and the Bright, Slightly Terrifying Future of Journalism
I recently had the opportunity to speak with fellows at John S. Knight (JSK) Fellowship at Stanford University about different ways storytellers use crowdfunding to enable journalism. I got to exchange ideas with journalists from China, Columbia, Australia, and the United States about how to sustain journalism. I also learned a little about how crowdfunding […]