_{Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis}

Jonathan Bartlett

The concept of planet Earth similar to the COVID-19 virus

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
June 7, 2020

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Peer Review, Science

Tagged
censorship, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Drake Equation, Featured, Michael Crichton, The Lancet}

Twenty Years on, Aliens Still Cause Global Warming

_{Over the years, the Jurassic Park creator observed, science has drifted from its foundation as an objective search for truth toward political power games} _{Jonathan Bartlett
June 7, 2020

5

Medicine and Health, Peer Review, Science}

In 2003, author and filmmaker Michael Crichton (1942–2008), best known for Jurassic Park, made a now-famous speech at Caltech, titled “Aliens Cause Global Warming.” The title was humorous but the content was serious. He was not addressing some strange theory of global warming; he was warning about the politicization of science. Crichton (left, in 2002, courtesy Jon Chase, Harvard CC 3.0), noted that, over the years, science has drifted away from its foundation as an objective search for truth and given itself over to political power games. The first time that he witnessed that was with the famous Drake Equation, used to turn SETI speculations about space aliens into a science. The Drake equation was a series of probabilities multiplied Read More ›

Software engineers working on project and programming in company

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
May 26, 2020

Categorized
Programming

Tagged
Featured, JavaScript}

Automated Code Generation Tools Can Solve Problems

_{We may be seeing the rebirth of an old approach to productivity that finds a middle ground between too constrained and too risky} _{Jonathan Bartlett
May 26, 2020

6

Programming}

A programming language creates a middle space between the way humans think and the way computers think. What’s the best compromise point?

Neurons cells concept

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
May 15, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience

Tagged
brain, Elon Musk, Featured, Joe Rogan, mind, Neuralink, self-driving cars}

Elon Musk’s Myths About the Mind

_{According to Musk, everything in the brain is an electrical signal. That’s pretty naive} _{Jonathan Bartlett
May 15, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience}

Neuroscientists used to think that each neuron was as complex as a switch. But newer research shows that each neuron is more similar to a microprocessor. Musk’s 3,000 Neuralink electrodes controlled by a single processor does not remotely match your brain’s 80 billion processors, all linked together.

gold-colored Bitcoin coin on ground

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
April 20, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
bitcoin, Coronavirus, COVID-19, cryptocurrencies}

And Now… Crypto-COVID!

_{How the COVID-19 pandemic is creating “social distance” for crypto-currencies} _{Jonathan Bartlett
April 20, 2020

4

Business and Finance}

While the equity markets have garnered a lot of attention in the COVID-19 pandemic, cryptocurrencies have been largely ignored by the media. This is partly because interest in cryptocurrency in general has waned over the last two years. But the pandemic has shed some light on their market mechanics.

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 25, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Military

Tagged
COVID-19, design inference}

Was the COVID-19 Virus Designed? The Computer Doesn’t Know

_{Some researchers confuse not finding a particular type of design with ruling out design} _{Jonathan Bartlett
March 25, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Military}

The authors of the paper saying that the virus could not have been designed base their findings on the fact that current software would not have predicted this result. I am not claiming that the virus was designed, only that a researcher need not have relied on this software to design a virus. The paper makes a faulty assumption.

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 17, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology, Social Media, Work

Tagged
COVID-19, Quarantine, Remote working, Teleworking}

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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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 17, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Medicine and Health, Work

Tagged
China, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Elon Musk, Quarantine, Tesla}

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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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 27, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Work

Tagged
Teleworking, Transportation}

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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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 10, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics

Tagged
Eugene Wigner}

Why Does Mathematics Interpret Reality?

_{In the latest issue of Communications of the Blyth Institute, Gordon Mullings presents his account of why mathematics and physics are connected} _{Jonathan Bartlett
February 10, 2020

4

Mathematics}

The amazing applicability of mathematics to the real world has caused many mathematicians, philosophers, and physicists to pause throughout history. How can something as abstract and ideal as mathematics apply to the real world?

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 8, 2020

Categorized
Education, Mathematics

Tagged
Featured, Georg Cantor, Hyperreal numbers, Srinivasa Ramanujan}

Are Divergent Series Really an “Invention of the Devil”?

_{The real villain in the piece is horrendously non-specific concepts of infinity. But that can be fixed} _{Jonathan Bartlett
February 8, 2020

6

Education, Mathematics}

It turns out that hyperreal numbers (i.e., infinities that obey algebraic rules) resolve many of the paradoxes that previously plagued conceptions of divergent series. It is now possible to assign specific values to divergent series.

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 4, 2020

Categorized
Programming, Work

Tagged
Computer programmers, Job interview}

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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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 3, 2020

Categorized
Programming, Work

Tagged
Computer programmers, Hiring, Job interview}

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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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 12, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
entrepreneurship, Investment banking, Investment strategies, stock market}

EVERYONE Can Beat the Market!

_{We’ve all heard: “No one can beat the market.” Is that true? Let’s look a little deeper} _{Jonathan Bartlett
January 12, 2020

6

Business and Finance}

Using your talents to identify and invest in high-quality assets and pull money away from low-quality assets is a benefit to everyone involved in the market and, on the larger scale, the market’s future. If you invest in this way, you will beat the market.

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 30, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Elon Musk, Featured, Robotaxis, self-driving cars, Tesla, Traffic safety}

2019 AI Hype Countdown #1: Tesla’s Robotaxis—Tales of a Phantom Fleet

_{Musk put out a tweet on December 22, saying “Sorry, it's been a bit of a struggle.” At last, a claim we can unreservedly believe} _{Jonathan Bartlett
December 30, 2019

7

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology}

Because Tesla has yet to make a yearly profit in any of its sixteen years of existence, it depends on capital raises of various forms (equity, debt, etc.) to stay in business. Capital raises require big promises and Tesla’s overstatements about its self-driving cars are always good for a few billion.

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 30, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion

Tagged
Big Data, computer models, Computer Simulation, simulation}

2019 AI Hype Countdown #2: Big Data Is Our Crystal Ball!

_{The biggest problem is that human behavior is not as predictable as the models imply} _{Jonathan Bartlett
December 30, 2019

5

Artificial Intelligence, Religion}

Many models are ridiculously simplistic, making the results worse than worthless. They become a way of solidifying biases.

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 28, 2019

Categorized
Programming

Tagged
Google, IBM, Quantum Computing, Quantum Supremacy}

2019 AI Hype Countdown #3: Quantum Supremacy? Less Supreme Than It Sounded

_{It’s possible that Google’s result can be generalized to more useful scenarios than the test case though it isn't immediately obvious how} _{Jonathan Bartlett
December 28, 2019

5

Programming}

What Google really achieved was increased stability in its quantum computing platform—keeping qubits stable has been a hard problem in quantum computing for a long time. That was certainly a step forward, but advertising it as “quantum supremacy” was certainly a classic exercise in hype.

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 27, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Tagged
Gary Smith, Information Theory}

2019 AI Hype Countdown #4 Investment: AI Beats the Hot Stock Tip… Barely

_{At the end of the day, AI-based investing actually performed like a bad index fund} _{Jonathan Bartlett
December 27, 2019

4

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance}

Artificial intelligence may do well summarizing data, but the new insights that will lead the economy forward cannot be gleaned that way. What we need is not old data but new truths.