TagAutomation
What Do Robots Find Hard? Sewing a T-shirt, For One Thing
Humans automatically and constantly adjust hand movements to the ever-changing alignment of cloth. Robots just freezeMenswear entrepreneur Harris Quinn wrote a thoughtful piece at Wired recently on the mixed success of efforts to automate sewing via Sewbots, for example, developed by SoftWear Automation CEO Palaniswamy Rajan: One reason that sewing lends itself so well to the grinding labor of sweatshops is that it is very difficult to automate. That’s because cloth is pliable and constantly moving. The Sewbots face unexpected hurdles: But no two batches of cotton are exactly alike, often varying from harvest to harvest; variations in the fabric and dyes further complicate matters. Each variation can necessitate recalibrating the system, interrupting operations, and SoftWear has to train its machinery to respond accordingly. “The biggest challenge we have faced getting to a production system Read More ›
Is Technology Running Backward?
Technology isn't adding value anymore. It's adding expense.I’ve been a computer nerd since I was a young child. My dad bought the family a TI 99/4A before I even went to Kindergarten, and I basically started programming when I learned to read. As I grew up, the thing that fascinated me most about technology was the ability to automate. Automation, in theory, is supposed to make people’s lives better. It’s supposed to take the drudgery out of work, to leave people to focus on the more creative aspects of their work. With a word processor, I can type, correct, spellcheck, rewrite, and reorganize in an instant. I can even maintain old drafts easily. With a spreadsheet, I can keep track of all my income, expenses, grades, goals, Read More ›
COVID-19: Technology Trends That Are Sneaking Up on Us Faster Now
Most of these changes, for better or worse, are probably here to stayWe knew big changes were coming. And that COVID-19 has ramped them up. But when experts expound grand generalities and wave their hands a lot, it can be hard to clearly see what a change means where we live and work. One writing teacher, for example, learned how to massively adapt all of a sudden: Each spring, I teach Writing about Oneself, a class on first-person reading and writing, to 12 Yale undergraduates chosen from 100 or so… Every year I fill out the registrar’s Pedagogical Needs Request Form, leaving 14 of the 15 “Technological Needs” boxes unchecked. (No, I don’t need a SMART board. No, I don’t need a digital projector. No, I don’t need a Blu-ray player.) The Read More ›
Will the COVID-19 Pandemic Promote Mass Automation?
Caution! Robots don’t file for benefits but that’s not all we need to know about themI understand the panic many business leaders experience as they try to stay solvent while customers evaporate. Panic, however, is a poor teacher: AI-based automation will not only not solve all their problems, it may very well add to them. AI is not a magic box into which we can stuff them and make them disappear.
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Random Comments on the Passing Scene: Carbon Computing and Much More
Child porn traffickers arrested despite their attempts to hide using high tech and BitcoinAlso, McDonald’s doubles down on self-ordering kiosks, acquires automation firm.
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Pizza Robots Get the Pink Slip
True, the doughbots didn’t make good pizza. But is the message about them or something else?I have nothing against robots. (I am against bad pizza.) I do, however, get very tired of the science fiction-fantasy of humanity-squashing robots. And that’s all it is: A fantasy.
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Boeing Workers, Please Don’t Kick the Robot on Its Way Out
The jetliner manufacturer’s decision to give the robots’ job back to machinists underlines the hard realities of automation. For example, it doesn’t always workRobot error turned out to be a bigger problem than human error.
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Should AI-Written News Stories Have Bylines? Whose?
Like it or not, AI is here to stay. So, how do we make the best use of it in writing?Automation can help some aspects of writing. But media outlets get tech “google”-eyes and too often fail to ask the hard questions about what they are automating, how, and why.
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Students, Don’t Let Smart Machines Disrupt Your Future
Three ways you can avoid life in Mom’s basement and the job pouring coffeeAt first sight, the number of options might seem bewildering. The key question is: Will you ignore the coming job disruption, fear it, or treat it as an opportunity?
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Random Thoughts on Recent AI Headlines: Google Gives Away “Free” Cookies…
Also, why AI can't predict the stock market or deal with windblown plastic bagsA good rule of thumb is that unexpected outcomes increase exponentially as a function of AI complexity.
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McPathogens: Are McDonalds’ Order Kiosks Clean? Another Look
Can rebuttals exposing fake news be fake news themselves? Judge for yourself
Does Workplace Automation Improve Service or Merely Cut Costs?
Chances are, the CEO won’t know there’s a problem until complaints come in. Elon Musk didn’t
Laundry Robot Firm, er, Folds
Keeping proposed costs and space requirements within average household budgets may be a deal breaker for most consumersEven if robots can be engineered to fold laundry, the question of whether they threaten jobs, as a result, is more complex.
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Jay Richards: Creative Freedom, Not Robots, Is the Future of Work
In an information economy, there will be a place where the human person is at the very centerThe Officially Smart people are telling us two scenarios, good and bad, about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), says Jay Richards, a research professor at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. He disagrees with both.
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A Mind Matters Review: AI Week at DUST, the sci-fi short films channel
Films you have time to see and think aboutLooking for a good “robots, AI, ‘n sci-fi” fix to round out your weekend? Mind Matters has you covered for animations and shorts. For starters, check out DUST, a YouTube channel dedicated to short sci-fi. Its recent AI WEEK (February 11–18) offered “A collection of curated short films dedicated to artificial intelligence and its connection with humanity.” When I say “short,” I mean that the longest is about 30 min; the others are much shorter. So if you have just a few minutes to kill while downing a bowl of spicy curry ramen, I would recommend giving them a watch. For AI narratives, they’re not as clichéd as you might fear. Sunspring | DUST AI Week Runtime | 8:15 Cleanliness Read More ›
Military Technology and AI
Past, Present, and FutureTechnology, including AI, needs protection. Intellectual property of corporations needs protected from espionage. Military technology needs protection from foreign agents. Show Notes 01:10 | Introduction; Daniel M. Ogden, J.D. 02:20 | Technology in the military history 08:00 | WWII technology; Norton Gun Site 12:20 | Banning AI autonomous weapons 16:48 | Slaughterbots 18:13 | Military AI endgame 18:55 | Other Read More ›
Remember the Luddites!
The Luddites became famous for breaking machinery during the Industrial Revolution. Were they entirely wrong?
Be Choosy About What You Automate!
Having automated many processes, I can assure you that that is the First Rule of Automation