“The point, though, is that we are on the verge of a revolution in transportation. For decades — actually, centuries — we have been dependent on locomotives and, more recently, airplanes to take us long distances. The technologies have hardly advanced. The entire industry is about to be disrupted. Many of us will choose to take the shared cars and Hyperloops; others will own their own cars. But we will take fewer rides in trains and planes.

That is why new rail-based transportation systems, such as the one that California has long been debating, are not sensible investments to make. By the time they are complete, our modes of mass transportation will have changed. The California project aims to move 20 to 24 million passengers a year from downtown L.A. to downtown San Francisco, through California’s Central Valley, in 2 hours 40 minutes. It is projected to cost an estimated $64 billion when completed by about 2030. By then, we will be debating whether human beings should be allowed to drive cars, and public rail systems will be facing bankruptcy because of cheaper and better alternatives.”

The transport systems of Science Fiction will be here sooner than you think - Vivek Wadhwa
https://wadhwa.com/2016/12/20/transport-systems-science-fiction-will-sooner-think/
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“Bye bye, call centers and wait times. According to researcher Gartner, AI bots will power 85% of all customer service interactions by the year 2020. Given Facebook and other messaging platforms have already seen significant adoption of customer service bots on their chat apps, this shouldn’t necessarily come as a huge surprise. Since this use of AI can help reduce wait times for many types of interactions, this trend sounds like a win for businesses and customers alike.”

9 Artificial Intelligence Stats That Will Blow You Away
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/10/artificial-intelligence-stats-that-will-blow-away.html
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“The great danger posed by the automation of production, in the context of a world of hierarchy and scarce resources,” Frase says, “is that it makes the great mass of people superfluous from the standpoint of the ruling elite.”

Four Futures: Life After Capitalism review – will robots bring utopia or terror?
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/24/four-futures-life-after-capitalism-peter-frase-review-robots
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Must read this book ;)

“One of the primary objectives — if not the primary objective — of artificial intelligence is to improve life for all people. But an equally powerful motivator to create AI is to improve profits. These two goals can occasionally be at odds with each other.

Currently, with AI becoming smarter and automation becoming more efficient, many in AI and government are worried about mass unemployment. But the results of mass unemployment may be even worse than most people suspect. A study released last year found that 1 in 5 people who committed suicide were unemployed. Another study found significant increases in suicide rates during recessions and the Great Depression.

A common solution that’s often suggested to address mass unemployment is that of a universal basic income (UBI). A UBI would ensure everyone has at least some amount of income. However, this would not address non-financial downsides of unemployment.”

Insight From the Dalai Lama Applied to AI Ethics - Future of Life Institute
https://futureoflife.org/2016/11/10/insight-dalai-lama-applied-ai-ethics/
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“What kind of things do you think we will be doing with our minds?

Look at it this way: a hundred years ago this interview would have happened with pen and paper through letters. Think of how much detail is lost through that method of communication. We could turn out a meaningful dialogue, but the emotional content would be largely lost. Today we are having it on a telephone, so you have an added layer of understanding through my voice, my enthusiasm, how I say things.

Then, if we have this conversation face to face, you can add even more detail. How my face looks as I speak, my hand gestures and so on.

Now, imagine if we spoke brain to brain and you could actually feel how I was feeling, understand what it is I am trying to say. You would know exactly what i am trying to tell you.”

Could you soon fly an airplane with your mind?
https://weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/could-you-soon-fly-an-airplane-with-your-mind/
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