A lot of SF uses artificial intelligences more as a metaphor for people who struggle to be accorded full personhood, or (depending on the author’s politics) for the threatening Other whose personhood isn’t authentic and whose existence poses a threat to us.

If you wanted to be science-fictional in a different way, you could leave those well-trodden paths and explore the actuality of “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning”: it’s not particularly similar to human intelligence and human learning, which is a strength more than it’s a weakness.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

Why We Should Stop Conflating Human and Machine Intelligence https://suhub.co/2OzJ6u7

https://suhub.co/2OzJ6u7

“Some fear that information asymmetry will allow consumers to learn of their health risks and leave insurers in the dark…”

Um, Peter, I’m pretty sure more people are worried about it being the other way around, and don’t share your optimism about the beneficent nature of the insurance industry.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

Will Tech Make Insurance Obsolete in the Future?

https://suhub.co/2EEvIRc

So it turns out the problems of AI are the problems of technology in general. Specification (making sure it does the job you want); robustness (the ability to cope with unexpected conditions); and the ability to monitor its performance and understand what it’s doing.

These are hard problems, even for a system designed from the ground up by humans, let alone one that has partly built itself.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

DeepMind’s New Research Plan to Make Sure AI Is Safe

https://suhub.co/2EoLBee

While a lot of doubt has been cast on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (that we can only think about things we have words for) in detail, it does seem to hold to a certain extent. For example, people who don’t have words for numbers have only an approximate grasp on quantities, even small quantities.

Originally shared by Andy Brokaw

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/languages-without-numbers

I have a story idea cooking about completely automated supply chains, where you can decide you want a whatever and say (in effect) “Accio whatever!” and it gets delivered to your hand in short order, without another human having touched it or even known about it.

Still looking for the storytelling angle, but I need to get on with it before real life overtakes me.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

This Robotic Warehouse Fills Orders in Five Minutes, and Fits in City Centers

https://suhub.co/2OqQNmi