How Tech is rewiring our brains, a few bumps on the road for data science, new AI beats historic videogame trap; and the newest new Internet… Discover our weekly news about Tech & IT.
How Tech Is Rewiring our Brains – ‘We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.’
How Tech is rewiring our brains?
‘We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.’ Often mistakenly attributed to the philosopher Marshall McLuhan, this quote by John Culkin has become a symbol of the symbiotic relationship between humans and tech.
Science writer Nicholas Carr took the concept to a new level in his 2010 book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to our Brains. It was not that well-received at the time. But with every new app that changes the way we communicate and consume information, it gets clearer how relevant Carr’s work was and remains.
In the book, Carr leaves moral judgements aside and urges us to approach technology from a position of understanding.
Our brain is being rewired, pushed towards shorter attention spans and shallower forms of reading by feeds and visuals. Only by being aware of these effects, we will be able to stay in control.
Ten years after the book’s publication, Vox’s Ezra Klein sits down with Carr to discuss where we stand today.
An interview worth checking out.
A few bumps on the road for data science
A new report by software provider Aanaconda sheds some light on the current state of data science and its role in the enterprise. Far from being a consolidated part of today’s business world, the discipline has yet to overcome a few key challenges before reaching maturity.
Problems demonstrating ROI across the organisation. Difficulty integrating open-source tools. Attracting and retaining top talent. Tackling AI bias and ethics — quite the line-up.
Thankfully, the report also provides specific recommendations on how to overcome these challenges. Taking a look at them won’t hurt.
New AI beats historic videogame trap
First released in 1979, Zork set a new standard for interactive, story-driven videogames. Rich in storytelling and equipped with advanced language syntax recognition, this text-based adventure prompted players to input actions at every step.
Now, a new AI built by Georgia Tech and Microsoft Research has become the first to overcome one of the game’s most iconic bottlenecks (i.e. times where players tend to get trapped and die).
Named Q*BERT, the AI leverages NLP and reinforcement learning to avoid getting eaten by a ‘Grue’ monster whenever it moves without any lights around the game’s dungeons.
Also read our article: The Task of Rebuilding AI Infrastructure: Machines and the New Reality
The newest new Internet
Blockchain-powered Dfinity proposes a decentralized and non-proprietary type of network that takes the power away from existing monopolies.
It does this by allowing for apps to be built and run on the network itself, rather than exist in data centres that are increasingly controlled by large companies like Facebook and Amazon.
This so-called ‘Internet Computer’ is now open to third-party developers and entrepreneurs in a bid to spur a new era of connectivity and development.
Dfinity launched a privacy-friendly version of TikTok named CanCan to illustrate the platform’s power. Thanks to its architecture, the app is said to do in 1,000 lines of code what Facebook does in 62 million.
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