“Decreasing economic growth and increasing inequality leads to increased uncertainty. The U.S. and, to a certain extent, countries in Europe as well, have experienced growing inequality within their population for decades -- a small group of people own the lion's share of the wealth. Populists take advantage of this, and their policies are extremely hard to predict. And this has serious consequences. Companies shy away from risk, postponing their investment decisions in times of uncertainty, the stock markets get nervous and unemployment threatens to increase.”

Tumultuous Times: 'Political Uncertainty Has Doubled Around the World' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-stanford-economist-on-political-uncertainty-of-trump-and-brexit-a-1131270.html
via Instapaper

“Jacques Attali in France, economist and social theorist, asked for a moratorium on AI research following a Google publication about an experiment on two artificial intelligences inventing encryption of their own that a third AI failed to decipher; or also the alert raised by Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and Elon Musk (see note ). Even if we’re ruling the artificial intelligence existential risk issue out, which does deserve a very precise analysis, the less dramatic hazards of a society without jobs will also challenge us. What of a world where machines dominate all production activities without any place for human beings - outdated, too slow and lacking the endurance to sustain a task to meet the new profitability standard dictated by autonomous machines?”

The Gradual Disappearance of Jobs
https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Gazengel20170125
via Instapaper

“WHEN education fails to keep pace with technology, the result is inequality. Without the skills to stay useful as innovations arrive, workers suffer—and if enough of them fall behind, society starts to fall apart. That fundamental insight seized reformers in the Industrial Revolution, heralding state-funded universal schooling. Later, automation in factories and offices called forth a surge in college graduates. The combination of education and innovation, spread over decades, led to a remarkable flowering of prosperity.”

Equipping people to stay ahead of technological change
https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21714341-it-easy-say-people-need-keep-learning-throughout-their-careers-practicalities
via Instapaper

“Benioff said during the hour-long discussion on “Preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

“I think now about how artificial intelligence will create digital refugees and how people will be displaced from jobs, tens of millions of people across the planet, because technology is moving forward so rapidly. . . . So companies, individuals have to decide are we going to be committed to improving the state of the world? We’re at a crucial point right now.”

He said the Fourth Industrial Revolution includes rapid advances in cloud computing, mobile computing, AI, genetic engineering —”all these things are happening all at once.” In just the past few months, AI has moved especially quickly, gaining “the ability for the software to learn more rapidly than we expected,” he said.

When asked by moderator Ngaire Woods, Dean of Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, what should be done about such digital refugees, Benioff replied, “Throughout history, technology has displaced workers, but then workers have the opportunity to be trained. . . . We need to have start having very serious conversations, multi-stakeholder dialogues, where we bring together corporate leaders, government leaders, social leaders, NGOs. Only through that are we going to get an answer. There is no clear path forward.””

Technology’s frantic speed will create ‘digital refugees’ with no clear fix, Salesforce’s Benioff warns at Davos
https://www.geekwire.com/2017/technologys-frantic-speed-will-create-digital-refugees-no-clear-fix-salesforces-benioff-warns-davos/
via Instapaper

“Consumers and regulators also have a role to play in determining how voice computing develops. Even in its current, relatively primitive form, the technology poses a dilemma: voice-driven systems are most useful when they are personalised, and are granted wide access to sources of data such as calendars, e-mails and other sensitive information. That raises privacy and security concerns.

To further complicate matters, many voice-driven devices are always listening, waiting to be activated. Some people are already concerned about the implications of internet-connected microphones listening in every room and from every smartphone. Not all audio is sent to the cloud—devices wait for a trigger phrase (“Alexa”, “OK, Google”, “Hey, Cortana”, or “Hey, Siri”) before they start relaying the user’s voice to the servers that actually handle the requests—but when it comes to storing audio, it is unclear who keeps what and when.”

How voice technology is transforming computing
https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21713836-casting-magic-spell-it-lets-people-control-world-through-words-alone-how-voice
via Instapaper

“ANY sufficiently advanced technology, noted Arthur C. Clarke, a British science-fiction writer, is indistinguishable from magic. The fast-emerging technology of voice computing proves his point. Using it is just like casting a spell: say a few words into the air, and a nearby device can grant your wish”

How voice technology is transforming computing
https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21713836-casting-magic-spell-it-lets-people-control-world-through-words-alone-how-voice
via Instapaper

“The Willing Suspension of Our Agency

Which brings us to the next level of insanity: the willing suspension of our agency for our own enjoyment. This is past the point of giving up a “reasonable amount” of data or privacy to optimize the capabilities of our digital assistants. Suspension of our agency exposes our normally unmonitored physical activity, innocent mumblings and sequestered conversations. Some people believe this is happening with Alexa, Google Home, Siri and other virtual assistant and IoT systems. It may well be.”

Just How Dangerous Is Alexa?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/just-how-dangerous-alexa-shelly-palmer
via Instapaper