Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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Photo by Gabriel Benois
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
April 12, 2020
Categorized
Global Technology, Social Media, Work
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Online Conferences, Part 1: Conference Technology

The COVID-19 crisis has sparked a demand for online conferences. Here’s how to make it work
Jonathan Bartlett
April 12, 2020
6
Global Technology, Social Media, Work

The COVID-19 response has plunged many people who have never used online meeting software into the world of virtual meetings. One challenge that comes up is running an entire conference online. I’ve been doing that on and off since 2016 so I can outline some things you need to think about if you try. This three-part series covers 1) Conference Technology (below), 2) Conference Personnel, and 3) Conference Documents and Technology Tests. Part 1. Conference Technology Most of the meetings I have organized were on a tight budget so the solutions I will be suggesting are all free or extremely low cost. However, the main thing to recognize is that, as of right now, no one system has everything that Read More ›

Group Friends Video Chat Connection Concept
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 17, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Social Media, Work
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We Will Never Go Back to the Pre-COVID-19 Workplace

The virus forced us to realize: Staying together apart has never been so easy
Jonathan Bartlett
March 17, 2020
3
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Social Media, Work

While many people (myself included) have railed against the excesses of technology and its tendency to weaken community spirit and understanding, it turns out that, in the present crisis, it is having the opposite effect. We aren’t really alone in the same way any more.

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Remote jobs for public health concept. Computers, pills and medical mask
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 17, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Work
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COVID-19: Do Quarantine Rules Apply to Mega-Geniuses?

How did Elon Musk, who has a cozy relationship with China, get his upscale car factory classified as an essential business during the pandemic?
Jonathan Bartlett
March 17, 2020
3
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Work

If we are going to hold some people up as business icons, why should it be those who—in the present COVID-19 troubles—have relations with China that necessarily raise questions?

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Young little Asian boy wearing shoes on stair with wear medical face mask to protect from infection of viruses, pandemic, outbreak and epidemic of disease in empty shopping mall during quarantine.
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post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
March 16, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Surveillance, Work
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DingTalk: Where the “Teacher” Really Is Always Watching You

The COVID-19 quarantine has spiked both virtual workplaces and classrooms in China, highlighting anger at the surveillance
Heather Zeiger
March 16, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Surveillance, Work

Every human being, whether office worker or high school student, bucks against digital harnesses.

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young asian man working from home
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 27, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Work
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The Future of Transportation is Not Going Anywhere

As legislators and lobbyists wrangle, we may be trying to solve a problem that is gradually solving itself
Jonathan Bartlett
February 27, 2020
4
Business and Finance, Work

The last decade has resounded with failed predictions about the future of transportation. I can't speak for other locations, but the Great E-Scooter Revolution of 2019 has both come and gone in the city in which I live. Isn’t the real future of transportation working and shopping at home? Why not just let the electrons do the commute and streamline the grocery run? 

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Beautiful bored people bored isolated on pink background
Type
post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
February 25, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work
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Are Facial Expressions a Clear, Simple Basis for Hiring Decisions?

Marketing AI to employers to analyze facial expressions ignores the fact that correlation is NOT causation
Brendan Dixon
February 25, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work

Have you heard of the Law of the Instrument? It just means, to quote one formulation, “He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail.” All any given problem needs is a good pounding. This is a risk with AI, as with amateur carpentry. But with AI, it can get you into more serious trouble. Take hiring, for instance.

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Man typing on keyboard background with brain hologram. Concept of big Data.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
February 23, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Work
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Which Career-Limiting Data Mistake Are YOU Most at Risk For?

Award-winning data science author Gary Smith says the odds depend on your relationship to the data
News
February 23, 2020
6
Business and Finance, Work

Dr. Smith thinks that the most dangerous error is putting data before theory. Many data-mining algorithms that are now being used to screen job applicants, price car insurance, approve loan applications, and determine prison sentences have significant errors and biases that are not due to programmer mistakes and biases, but to a misplaced belief in data-mining.

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Profile photo of it specialist guy lady two business people night coworking watch together indicate monitor testing debugging java script code smart professionals office indoors
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 4, 2020
Categorized
Programming, Work
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What To Ask a Programmer in a Job Interview

Does your candidate have the inner attributes needed to grow as a developer and face new challenges? Key questions can help you find out
Jonathan Bartlett
February 4, 2020
7
Programming, Work

Good computer programmers are very opinionated people. If you find a computer programmer who is not opinionated, that’s usually because the programmer hasn’t taken the time to think about the task. Those types of people tend to be order-takers, not inventors.

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Profile side view portrait of his he nice attractive skilled focused serious guy writing script ai tech support devops creating digital solution front-end in dark room workplace station indoors
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 3, 2020
Categorized
Programming, Work
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Pro Tips for Hiring the Best Computer Programmers

It’s easier when we stop to think about how programming differs from other jobs
Jonathan Bartlett
February 3, 2020
5
Programming, Work

Hiring a programmer is different because you are rarely looking for a fixed set of skills. Nearly everything the programmer does is an invention. The thing you are usually hiring the programmer for is not a fixed task but the ability to adapt to whatever is coming up next. For example, twelve years ago, nobody knew the degree to which mobile phones would run our businesses. The idea of hiring mobile developers was unheard of.

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Middle-aged man calling his attorney for legal assistance
Type
post
Author
News
Date
January 24, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Technocracy, Work
Tagged
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AI in the Courtroom: Will a Robot Sentence You?

Some experts think AI might be fairer than human judgment. Others are not so sure
News
January 24, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Technocracy, Work

One Superior Court judge has warned that many cases don’t come down to information alone, which is all AI can do. Law professor David DeWolf also expresses concern about increasing dependence upon law—a form of coercion—to regulate human behavior, a choice that is irrelevant to the growth of AI in the courtroom.

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Photo by Michal Mrozek
Type
post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
January 21, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Work
Tagged

So Is an AI Winter Really Coming This Time?

AI did surge past milestones during the 2010s but fell well short of the hype
Brendan Dixon
January 21, 2020
4
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Work

Maybe both. AI will require more from us, not less, because how we choose to use these tools will make an increasingly stark difference between benefit and ruin.

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Photo by Clem Onojeghuo
Type
post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
January 16, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work
Tagged
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Can We Outsource Hiring Decisions to AI and Go for Coffee Now?

I would have fired any of my hiring managers who demonstrated characteristic AI traits immediately. So why do we tolerate it coming from a machine?
Brendan Dixon
January 16, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work

With historically low unemployment, employers are tempted to reduce costs and speed up the process using artificial intelligence (AI) systems. These systems might help but, for best results, let’s have a look at the problems they can’t solve and some that they might create.

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Pleasant girl and robot working in the office
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post
Author
News
Date
January 9, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Work
Tagged
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Robots Move? Tax Them!

Some policymakers see robots as a direct threat to jobs and hope taxes will slow them down
News
January 9, 2020
5
Business and Finance, Work

Jay Richards asks: Just imagine if our government had taxed earlier technological innovations because they threatened jobs. Does anyone think a targeted “tractor tax” would have been a good idea in the early twentieth century?

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Group Of Businesspeople Identified By AI System
Type
post
Author
News
Date
January 2, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Work
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How To Fool Facial Recognition

Changing a couple of pixels here and there can stump a computer
News
January 2, 2020
8
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Work

Both computers and humans can be fooled by patterns that appear significant but really aren’t. But the bigger the computer, the more random patterns it can find in the vast swathes of data processed.

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Robot Predicting Future With Crystal Ball
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post
Author
News
Date
January 2, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Work
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Five AI Predictions to Watch in 2020

We'll check on these a year from now
News
January 2, 2020
4
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Work

Some problems experts hope AI can help with may be outside AI's capacities. Some people may simply want to believe doctored images and deepfakes, for example.

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Archeological site of Phaistos in Crete
Type
post
Author
News
Date
December 12, 2019
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Machine Learning, Work
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Can AI Help Us Decipher Lost Languages?

That depends mainly on the reasons we haven’t yet deciphered ancient texts
News
December 12, 2019
7
Arts & Culture, Machine Learning, Work

AI can speed up translation of ancient documents where only a few scholars know the language. Whether it can help with mysterious unknown languages like Minoan A is another question.

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Clouds Michael Weidner-h-rP5KSC2W0-unsplash
Type
post
Author
News
Date
December 2, 2019
Categorized
Education, Machine Learning, Work
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Improve Your Job Chances by Scaling the Cloud

WBC Fellow Releases introductory book on Building Scalable PHP web applications using the cloud
News
December 2, 2019
4
Education, Machine Learning, Work

One new issue that the cloud creates is that programmers are more often required to be “full stack” developers,” Jonathan Bartlett explains. “Unfortunately, most programmers coming out of college have little to no system administration experience. That’s why this book is based on the ‘full stack’ concept, showing how system administration and programming relate to each other.”

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Shakespeare's Globe Theatre by the river Thames in Londob, UK
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 28, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Education, Work
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Can AI Prove That Shakespeare Had Ghostwriters?

An author’s unique style is like a fingerprint. AI can fill it in
Denyse O'Leary
November 28, 2019
4
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Education, Work

Turning AI loose on some of these vexing problems should give literary scholars more to write about rather than less. The AI verdict may not always be right but it is bound to be food for thought.

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Milchstraße Panorama
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 27, 2019
Categorized
Work
Tagged
, ,

Will AI End Astrophysics As We Know It?

Astrophysicists will certainly be spending much less time staring at very slowly changing skies
News
November 27, 2019
3
Work

Far from reducing jobs in astrophysics, AI is likely to create many more of them. As far more information becomes available, talented people will be needed to interpret, teach it, and write about it for the public.

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