DECONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING THE DEFINITION OF "US"
In January 2018, the EU Parliament debated a new legal status for robots as “electronic persons." In October 2018 the UK committee invited a non-human to testify before it for the first time in history. Pepper, a bot developed by SoftBank Robotics, served as a witness in a debate on artificial intelligence and robotics. Of course, Pepper was pre-programmed with answers to questions submitted in advance, leading to criticism from the AI research community of the move as a feckless publicity stunt.
Advances in space exploration, AI, cognitive psychology and digital biology forge new meaning to being “people.” A crowdsourced prediction project run by Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, including insights of over 350 neural computing researchers, estimated a 50-50 likelihood that machines would be able to accomplish every task a human worker could accomplish better, faster and more cheaply — in less than half a century.
The Biggest AI Ethical Issues Businesses Need To Address Now—And How
AS HUMANS RELY MORE AND MORE ON ROBOTS, RESEARCHERS SUGGEST THAT THE WAY TO SAFEGUARD AGAINST ROBOT TAKEOVER IS TO INTRODUCE “ARTIFICIAL STUPIDITY”
A pair of researchers, Michaël Trazzi and Roman V. Yampolskiy of France’s Sorbonne University and the University of Louisville respectively, have proposed a new concept — Artificially Stupid. They believe that the “general” intelligence (as opposed to specific, task-based capabilities) of AI should be limited to match what humans are able to match. The team asserts that artificial stupidity would not only protect humans from the threat of super intelligent machines, it would make AI, in general, more human and humane.
"AI is going to augment human capabilities. We’ll replace the redundant tasks, but the human element is still there. Now we can spend more of our time on things that require more creativity.”
How Brain is Being Hacked —
Cognitive modeling technology enables the manipulation of how information is processed and perceived. “It’s a way of hacking into the brain, getting it to process information in a way that it would not without manipulation. This is about how people perceive that information.”
Theoretical neuroscientist Dr. Vivienne Ming refers to the proliferation of cognitive modeling technology, or “brain hacks,” in which the messages delivered to each consumer emphasize vulnerabilities in that individual’s belief space. Dr. Ming acknowledges the positive use of brain hacks, but she also believes that they have exploitative power.
Theoretical neuroscientist Dr. Vivienne Ming refers to the proliferation of cognitive modeling technology, or “brain hacks,” in which the messages delivered to each consumer emphasize vulnerabilities in that individual’s belief space. Dr. Ming acknowledges the positive use of brain hacks, but she also believes that they have exploitative power.
Exponential technologies have the capability to enhance and accelerate our abilities, helping us to reach our full potential as human beings. Come learn how the combination of neuroscience and artificial intelligence can complement our growing understanding of the human brain to dramatically increase our ability to learn and to achieve.
How Sight is Being Hacked — Digital Fakes
Researchers from the University of Washington have created a new tool that takes audio files, converts them into realistic mouth movements, and then grafts those movements into an existing video, resulting in a video of someone saying something they didn’t.
Face2Face’s “expression-replacing” technology allows you to manipulate the facial expressions of a person in a video in real time. Similar DeepWarp tech changes the gaze on a face, too.
Source: Washington Post, Here are the tools that could be used to create the fake news of the future (for DeepWarp part)
Source: Skolkova Institute of Science and Technology
Computer scientist Supasorn Suwajanakorn shows how, as a grad student, he used AI and 3D modeling to create photorealistic fake videos of people synced to audio. Know more about both the ethical implications and the creative possibilities of this tech —and the steps being taken to fight against its misuse.
Our behaviors can be altered as we absorb visual cues related to others, via technology that has the ability to shift our perceptions and emotions. Developments in facial recognition and emotion-detecting technology, such as MIT’s empathy-building app that detects emotional cues in conversation, can provide real-time updates on what people are thinking/
The Verge, MIT built a wearable app to detect emotion in conversation
UK-based deep-tech startup Sensing Feeling has developed sensors that detect faces and classify the emotions being expressed. Designed to replace traditional survey methods in retail environments, the sensors’ image-processing is done at the edge “in a manner that is entirely GDPR friendly,” according to the company.
Our behaviors can be altered as we absorb visual cues related to others, via technology that has the ability to shift our perceptions and emotions. Developments in facial recognition and emotion-detecting technology, such as MIT’s empathy-building app that detects emotional cues in conversation, can provide real-time updates on what people are thinking/
The Verge, MIT built a wearable app to detect emotion in conversation
UK-based deep-tech startup Sensing Feeling has developed sensors that detect faces and classify the emotions being expressed. Designed to replace traditional survey methods in retail environments, the sensors’ image-processing is done at the edge “in a manner that is entirely GDPR friendly,” according to the company.
How Ears are Being Hacked —
Our ears may become a means of entering immersive mixed-reality worlds. Innovations like spatial audio for immersive sound experiences allow for sound to come from all sides in a virtual reality space, thereby completely absorbing your senses in a virtual environment.
NPR, A beginner’s guide to spatial audio in 360-degree video
Adobe’s “photoshop for audio” lets you create entirely new sentences using a person’s voice. Dubbed VoCo, the technology breaks down voice data into phonemes (each of the distinct sounds that make up a spoken language), and then creates a voice model of the speaker.
Source: Washington Post, Here are the tools that could be used to create the fake news of the future
NPR, A beginner’s guide to spatial audio in 360-degree video
Adobe’s “photoshop for audio” lets you create entirely new sentences using a person’s voice. Dubbed VoCo, the technology breaks down voice data into phonemes (each of the distinct sounds that make up a spoken language), and then creates a voice model of the speaker.
Source: Washington Post, Here are the tools that could be used to create the fake news of the future
When recording voiceovers, dialogue, and narration, wouldn’t you love the option to edit or insert a few words without the hassle of recreating the recording environment or bringing the voiceover artist in for another session? #VoCo allows you to change words in a voiceover simply by typing new words.
"Technologies that speak to us, our auditory senses have the ability to alter our perceptions of truth, and even change behaviors."
Developments in AI, such as Google’s text-to-speech (TTS) systems, aim to generate
“natural-sounding” human speech from text, It could have the ability to evoke the “sound” of a friend, public figure or fictional character through text by a sequencing model that maps letters to a sequence of features that encode the audio.
Google Research Blog, Expressive Speech Synthesis with Tacotron
How Taste is Being Hacked —
Scientists at the University of London have developed Taste Buddy, an invention that emits electrical currents to stimulate taste buds so that the mouth perceives sweet or salty flavors even when they are not really present. The Taste Buddy could transform tofu into a juicy steak, or chocolate into broccoli. It works with a 2cm tab sitting on the tongue and wired to a processor. To enhance sweetness, it warms up fast to stimulate specific taste receptors that react to heat. A weaker electric current is used to target other taste buds responsible for salty flavors.
Source: Digital Trends, Lips like sugar
Source: Digital Trends, Lips like sugar
How Touch is Being Hacked --
"Haptic technology, haptic feedback, or simply haptics, is technology that incorporates tactile experience or feedback as part of its user interface, creating a sense of touch through vibrations, motion, or other forces."
Disney researchers in collaboration with researchers at MIT Media Lab and Carnegie Melon University; the prototype force jacket contains twenty-six inflatable compartments which can reproduce more than a dozen "feel affects," such as a hug, a punch, or a snake slithering across your body and might enhance VR experiences typically limited to visual displays seen through headset and simple hand vibrations felt through joysticks.
"Disney unveils a prototype virtual reality jacket to simulate hugs, punches, and a snake gas powered vibrations," Hamza Shaban, Washington Post, April 26, 2018 "Disney's VR 'force jacket' sends snakes wriggling over your body," Mark Serrels, CNET, May 1, 2018
Disney researchers in collaboration with researchers at MIT Media Lab and Carnegie Melon University; the prototype force jacket contains twenty-six inflatable compartments which can reproduce more than a dozen "feel affects," such as a hug, a punch, or a snake slithering across your body and might enhance VR experiences typically limited to visual displays seen through headset and simple hand vibrations felt through joysticks.
"Disney unveils a prototype virtual reality jacket to simulate hugs, punches, and a snake gas powered vibrations," Hamza Shaban, Washington Post, April 26, 2018 "Disney's VR 'force jacket' sends snakes wriggling over your body," Mark Serrels, CNET, May 1, 2018
ISE 2019: Mimo Monitors Previews Mimo View 10.1" Touch Monitor With Tanvas Touch, Haptic Feedback — Tanvas’ haptic feedback technology allows you to feel different textures on a touchscreen.
Google’s Project Jacquard seeks to integrate conductive yarns into everyday garments and fabric, building a network of touch sensors and haptic feedback into clothing and household upholstery (curtains, furniture, etc.). Such advances would allow users to access apps and services, through gestures, movements or even by virtue of wearing a garment, from multiple points throughout the home or office, not just through direct contact with a computer or smartphone.
“Google is Hacking Our Clothes to Work Like Touchscreens,” David Peirce, Wired, May 29, 2015,
The adage "Seeing is Believing" no longer holds true --
Soon we will be making decisions based on a flurry of information, received from multiple directions, platforms, and people. We can no longer trust our human senses to discern what we consume.
"Truth has traditionally been a malleable concept. In the future, however, our notions of truth could become indistinguishable from fiction when truth is defined by one perception over that of another. Our perceptions of truth are increasingly being challenged by reality-manipulating technologies."
"Truth has traditionally been a malleable concept. In the future, however, our notions of truth could become indistinguishable from fiction when truth is defined by one perception over that of another. Our perceptions of truth are increasingly being challenged by reality-manipulating technologies."