Category: Computers
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Universe as a computer. Humans as… ?
A future form of computing could see information stored on clusters of microscopic particles suspended in liquid. Clusters of spheres can arrange themselves around a central sphere in a limited number of ways, similar to how a Rubik’s cube can only be twisted in certain ways around the central point. Sharon Glotzer at the University…
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AI, algorithms, managers, dehumanization…
An algorithm schedules and manages the nightly engineering work on one of the world’s best subway systems – and does it more efficiently than any human could. (1) We believe we are just matter. So why does it matter that a lifeless matter dictates what we do? We believe we are just flesh and bones. So…
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Law. Surveillance. Dehumanization.
Nine years ago, federal agents stuck a location tracker on a nightclub owner’s car without a warrant. The agents thought their suspect might be dealing drugs, and four weeks of GPS data ultimately proved them right. He countered that the prolonged tracking had violated his privacy, and therefore his constitutional rights. The case fell apart…
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Watson, computers, humans becoming them…
In 2007 IBM began a research project to build a supercomputer that could quickly and accurately understand questions. Seven years later, the computer called Watson has shrunk in size and is now going mobile – IBM has challenged developers to come up with ways to take advantage of its computing power. BBC Click’s Sumi Das finds out…
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IBM, Watson, non-thinking…
IBM’s Watson supercomputer has already mastered Jeopardy! and can even whip up an innovative recipe. Next step: it’ll be elected to the presidency after dominating against humans in a series of debates. The computer’s new Debater function is what it sounds like: after being given a topic, Watson will mine millions of Wikipedia articles until it…
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