Of Mold and Men (and social swarms…)

I think about slime mold a lot.  And fish.  And birds.  And all other social creatures that have evolved to amplify their collective intelligence by collaborating in closed-loop systems.  We have many names for these natural systems, including flocks, schools, shoals, blooms, herds, and swarms. In…
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How a Collaborative A.I. beat the Experts

How a Collaborative A.I. beat the Experts

 THE CONTENDERS: Last week, the New York Times posted their picks for the Oscars.  So did the renowned analysis and forecasting blog FiveThirtyEight.  Both made their picks based on deep industry knowledge and/or historical stats.  Both were overseen by experts…
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On Building a Moral A.I.

Much debate has erupted recently over fears that an “evil A.I” will soon emerge that threatens humanity.  Although it’s hard to assess the likelihood of the A.I. risk, it’s undeniable that the vast majority A.I. researchers are pushing for the…
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Intelligence in Numbers

  “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” -George Carlin       "No one in this world, so far as I know, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of…
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Will A.I. destroy humanity? Maybe not…

Will A.I. destroy humanity? Maybe not…

As we dive into 2015, it’s worth reflecting on the groundswell of fear that erupted over the last 12 months related to A.I. and its potential to undermine humanity. The frenzy was kicked off when Physicist Stephen Hawking declared Artificial Intelligence a grave danger to…
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