Friday, January 01, 2021

Good riddance to 2020! I agree with Mr Peabody.

https://theweek.com/articles/957946/5-cartoons-about-end-bad-year

5 cartoons about the end of a very, very bad year





What we think, what we know and what we think we know...

https://www.itproportal.com/features/fiction-vs-reality-the-true-potential-of-ai/

Fiction vs. reality: The true potential of AI

The roots of artificial intelligence (AI) in popular culture and science fiction run deep. The concept has been used in films, television and books to cause panic and laughter or to highlight how the world might one day be overrun by technology. Unsurprisingly, such a framing of AI hasn’t encouraged positive development of the technology and has by no means depicted it accurately. In fact, the proliferation of AI technology in popular culture has skewed public perception of the technology’s applications and capabilities.

To understand this further, O’Reilly recently conducted research into consumer opinion of AI, including how consumers would like to see the technology applied. Notably, the research gave AI-creators insight into how and where consumers believe AI plays a role in their day-to-day lives.

The results highlighted a distinct disconnect. So we ask, is science fiction and popular culture to blame?





Covid or poor time management?

https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2020/12/30/lawyer-blames-covid-for-missed-deadline-dividing-an-appellate-panel/

Lawyer Blames COVID for Missed Deadline—Dividing an Appellate Panel

Some appellate justices disagreed with colleagues, and would have reinstated a woman's appeal even though the litigant's attorney's work-from-home arrangement during the pandemic made him miss the deadline to file the client's appeal.





SciFi is my favorite genre.

https://slate.com/technology/2020/12/future-tense-fiction-2020-roundup.html

12 Short Sci-Fi Stories to Make You Think Hard About the Future

When the present is scary, the future can be virtually unthinkable. But it’s at times of great change and uncertainty—and 2020 surely qualifies—that it is most important to try to look ahead, to think about how decisions made right now can reverberate.

… Each story comes with a response essay in which an expert—like a technologist, a scientist, a journalist, or a researcher—responds to the real-world themes, bringing even the most fantastical imagined tomorrow down to earth.

Below, you’ll find links to each story, accompanied by its response essay.

The Truth Is All There Is,” by Emily Parker

Trust No One. Not Even a Blockchain.,” by Jill Carlson

It Came From Cruden Farm,” by Max Barry

Why Would the Government Lie About Aliens? by Sarah Scoles

Paciente Cero,” by Juan Villoro

How China Turns Trash Into Wealth,” by Adam Minter

Daffodil’s Baby,” by Alyssa Virker

What’s Missing From Conversations About Designer Babies,” by David Plotz

Scar Tissue,” by Tobias S. Buckell

When the Robot You Consider Family Tries to Sell You Something,” by John Frank Weaver

The Last of the Goggled Barskys,” by Joey Siara

How Not to Optimize Parenthood,” by Brigid Schulte

Legal Salvage,” by Holli Mintzer

How Can an A.I. Develop Taste? by Kate Compton

How to Pay Reparations: a Documentary,” by Tochi Onyebuchi

Racism Cannot Be Reduced to Mere Computation,” by Charlton McIlwain

The State Machine,” by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

Under the Gaze of Big Mother,” by S.B. Divya

The Suicide of Our Troubles,” by Karl Schroeder

When Nature Speaks for Itself,” by Anna V. Smith

Dream Soft, Dream Big,” by Hal Y. Zhang

Can We Convince the Sleeping Brain to Process Our Problems? by Kristin E.G. Sanders

The Vastation” by Paul Theroux

Who Do Health Care Workers Owe Their Ultimate Loyalty to in a Pandemic?? by Allison Bond



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