His high school programming club was arguing about whether artificial intelligence could ever accomplish tasks better than humans. Barrat thought the answer was obvious. A few of his peers, however, weren’t so easily convinced and asked for proof by the
2021-09-16
On a chilly March afternoon last year in the South Korean capital Seoul, a computer algorithm made history. A program called AlphaGo beat the reigning human world champion at go, an ancient Chinese board game considered to be one of the most complex pastimes
2021-09-16
I’m a huge fan of the original “Alien” franchise, largely because of Sigourney Weaver’s performance and the crucial part technology plays in its lore. Not only does this tech allow humans to traverse immense distances to reach alien-infested worlds,
2021-09-12
The workplace is going to look drastically different ten years from now. The coming of the Second Machine Age is quickly bringing massive changes along with it. Manual jobs, such as lorry driving or house building are being replaced by robotic automation, and
2021-09-12
Entrepreneur Bryan Johnson says he wanted to become very rich in order to do something great for humankind. Last year Johnson, founder of the online payments company Braintree, starting making news when he threw $100 million behind Kernel, a startup he
2021-09-12
On Dec. 6, 2016, thousands of translators filed into office buildings across mainland China to pore over brochures, letters, and technical manuals, all in foreign languages, painstakingly rendering their texts in Chinese characters. This marathon carried on
2021-09-09
When the robots rise up, they won’t take your life. They’ll take your job, particularly those in fields primed for automation, like manufacturing, trucking, and customer service. Technologists, economists, and policymakers believe this future is all but
2021-09-09
The most fascinating and important news in technology and innovation delivered straight to your inbox, every day. Corporal Robot, Explain Yourself! The U.S. military doesn’t want to blindly trust any old algorithm. Rightly so, because the use of robots in
2021-09-09
Navigating the web these days can make a person feel like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. There’s so much to be seen here that -- until somewhat recently -- was fairly unheard of. And we don’t know what’s good or bad. It’s as if we’re constantly
2021-09-06
