The Singularity Asymptote Now

29Jul/090

Robot attacked Swedish factory worker

Jesus, they were already trying to kill us in 2007. Maybe we need to revise our projections...

The incident took place in June 2007 at a factory in Bålsta, north of Stockholm, when the industrial worker was trying to carry out maintenance on a defective machine generally used to lift heavy rocks. Thinking he had cut off the power supply, the man approached the robot with no sense of trepidation.

But the robot suddenly came to life and grabbed a tight hold of the victim's head. The man succeeded in defending himself but not before suffering serious injuries.

Article here.

25Jul/090

Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man (NY Times)

The researchers also discussed possible threats to human jobs, like self-driving cars, software-based personal assistants and service robots in the home. Just last month, a service robot developed by Willow Garage in Silicon Valley proved it could navigate the real world.

Machines have repeatedly replaced human labor, particularly in dangerous and unpleasant jobs. New jobs emerge to reflect an evolving economic reality. This seems no different.

New York Times article here.

24Jun/090

AI in the C-Suite (Forbes.com)

New fields of research under the banner of "data mining," also known as informatics, have emerged to tackle not just the volume, but also the sheer complexity of modern data, such as the rise of bioinformatics in the field of medicine. And this, in my opinion, is the inroad into the business community that AI has needed.

Full article here.