AI Can Now Tell Your Boss What Skills You Lack - and How To Get Them

Whether knowing that employers are reviewing the data their coursework generates will discourage employees from signing up - or whether they will object to being judged in this way by AI systems, is one of the questions this approach raises. JL

Elizabeth Woyke reports in MIT Technology Review:

Companies that subscribe to training programs see which of their employees are earning top scores in classes; how their employees’ skills measure up to their competitors’; and what courses would help fill any knowledge gaps. Companies will be able to access the tool, which uses machine learning to derive insights, in the online dashboard of their profiles. Online-learning providers are using AI to match learners with courses, assess their ability, and tweak class content in response to feedback.

The 2020 Summer Olympics In Tokyo Will Use Facial Recognition On Every Athlete

It's what happens with the facial recognition images after the Olympics ends - based on usage in South Africa, Brazil, China, etc - that has raised concerns. JL

Sofie Werthan reports in Slate:

While facial recognition is marketed as a boon to security and efficiency, there is the persistent concern among privacy advocates that the increased use of facial recognition could have implications for people’s privacy and civil liberties in the public sphere. As reported during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, global sporting events pave the way for an expansion of a more permanent surveillance infrastructure in host countries that persists after the games conclude. For facial recognition to work, more than 300,000 people will need to submit photographs to a database before the 2020 Olympics commence.

Social Media User Numbers Are Stalling: Has It Peaked?

It is generally prudent never to write off technology companies too quickly. Apple, Amazon and Facebook, among others, have repeatedly faced reports of their demise by tweaking their models only to embarrass their eulogists by not just surviving but thriving.

The call on social media feels premature, but that's not to say that the growth trajectory won't be tempered as more humans come on line. The big question is what will drive growth in the future. JL


Kate Conger reports in the New York Times:

Snapchat said it lost three million daily active users in the second quarter from earlier this year. It was the first time since the company went public in early 2017 that it had reported a decline in users. Snap’s report follows similar trends from Facebook and Twitter. The declines and flattening growth raise questions about whether the social media companies have reached a saturation point in some markets, especially in developed countries.

For Drones To Overcome Public Distrust Is Going To Require Discipline, Not Ubiquity

The rush to promote drones has inspired negative public reaction. Like all new technologies, the initial euphoria needs to be succeeded by thoughful rather than heedless growth. JL


Devin Liddell and Nick Ross report in Fast Company:

Drones are perceived to be within the territories of the military’s hunter-killer UAVs, nosey neighbors, and police departments exploring the constitutional limits of surveillance. Like any new technology, for every use case there’s an abuse case, a tension between the promise of a technology to do good and its danger to do harm. The application of principles, expressed through design, is how these tensions are reconciled. Drones will need these organizing principles to lead productive public lives of good.

Who's Killing the Great American Cable TV Bundle?

Netflix's Reed Hastings, Disney's Bob Iger, Dish Network founder Charlie Ergen - or consumers' something for nothing mentality? JL

Gerry Smith reports in Bloomberg:

Every minute, another six people cut the cord. The answer can be traced to a few decisions in recent years that have set the stage for this extraordinarily lucrative and long-lived business model to unravel: licensing reruns to Netflix Inc., shelling out billions for sports rights, introducing slimmer bundles, and failing to promote a Netflix killer

How Old Social Media Posts Are Threatening Hiring Decisions

A world where nothing is erased and everything is searchable. JL

Rachel Feintzeig and Vanessa Furhmans report in the Wall Street Journal:

 With job recruits’ social-media histories readily available, more employers are trying to head off or prepare for such controversies, especially with high-profile hires. In a 2017 survey of more than 2,300 hiring managers and human-resources executives, 70% said they screened candidates’ social-media histories—up from 60% the previous year. One-third said they had found discriminatory comments that caused them not to hire someone.

Cybersecurity's Insidious New Threat: Workforce Stress

A highly complex skill set still requiring substantial human input, chronic threats, deeply held feelings of responsibility - and no obvious computerized or AI substitute (yet). JL


Martin Giles reports in MIT Technology Review:

Several factors have combined to create a particular problem in cybersecurity. One is the fact that IT systems of all kinds are now constantly under attack, which means there’s no obvious finish line to the work. The skills shortage is causing high rates of burnout and staff turnover. 300,000 cybersecurity positions in the US alone remain vacant. The speed at which bad guys are innovating also creates unique pressures.

Lifehacks For When a Robot Wants Your Job

Back to the future! Social skills and relationships...JL

Nisha Gopalan and Andy Mukherjee report in Bloomberg:

There’s a rush to hire geeks — so they can make other humans irrelevant. (But)the higher-margin areas within markets is relationship-oriented, and  (relatively) safe from robot overlords. And it happens to be a big contributor to the pie, especially in Asia, where language and client connections play a big role.

How 'Stories' Was Instagram's Smartest Move Yet

With high gloss influencers using professional services to goose up their imagery, 'regular folks' were beginning to cut their usage because they just didn't feel they could compete.

Stories changed that - and in the process, may have seriously wounded Snapchat, Instagram's primary rival. JL


Kurt Wagner reports in Re/code:

“The biggest problem [people had] with Instagram is feeling the pressure of sharing amazing photos. ”Stories, which disappear after 24 hours, are easily shot and decorated right in the Instagram app, represent a low-pressure alternative to Instagram’s high-pressure photo feed. Stories didn’t save Instagram but super-charged it. Instagram Stories has attracted more than 400 million daily users and changed the way people share and consume things online. And it seems to have taken real momentum away from Snapchat.

How Come Securities Analysts Are Afraid To Ask Tough Questions?

Because their real job is not analyzing financials, but getting investment banking underwriting business  from the companies they cover. JL

Spencer Jakab reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Questioning why they don’t ask uncomfortable questions shows that the investing public is clueless about what analysts actually do for a living. Being chummy with executives serves two purposes. Executives decide which broker will get the next banking mandate. Second, being on a first-name basis shows investors who might have the inside scoop from management. Analysts are a cost center for the brokers. While dissecting a company is of use to fund managers, analysts are primarily marketing machines for other departments.

The Reason New York's Ride-Hail Cap Is Good News For City Dwellers Everywhere

After the initial cave in to bullying by Uber, Airbnb et al, cities are reclaiming their right to manage for the public good. In smaller cities and suburbs drivers may work a few hours to pick up extra cash, but in big cities all over the world, many, if not most, are doing it full time to cover the cost of the vehicles they purchased on top of trying to make a living.

New York is also cracking down on the exponential increase in illegal Airbnbs run by people doing it professionally at scale, rather than the 'sharing economy' fantasy of a someone renting out a spare room for the occasional visitor.

The result in the for-hire example has been a race to the bottom for driver incomes while congestion and pollution lessen quality of life. Airbnb, meanwhile, has driven out poorer and older citizens as rents skyrocket. New York's example may serve as an stimulus for other cities to start asserting their rights as well. JL


Henry Grabar reports in Slate:

Taxi speeds in Midtown fell from 2010 to 2016 more than 25%. The subway system is shedding riders to ride hail services. 9 in 10 drivers do this full time. Ride hail vehicles were driving empty 40% of the time. The wage system and the cap will push Uber and its ilk to improve “utilization rates.” That’s good news for existing drivers, good news for the environment, and good news for traffic congestion.

Why Most Artificial Intelligence Projects Fail

Among the most common reasons AI projects fail: like CEOs of large corporations a generation ago decreeing they were all about innovation, AI is not some new whiz-bang you can plug and play - it may require wholesale reorganization and rethinking of mission; 'overfitting' of data in an attempt to make the model work leads to false reports and wastes resources; hoping AI will cut labor costs when its real advantage is increased productivity creates sub-optimal outcomes; failure to set realistic goals leads to confusion.

Like any major initiative, smart enterprises recognize the costs and disruption required for success may exceed initial estimates and plan accordingly to assure achieving goals. JL


Greg Satell reports in Digital Tonto:

There remains a gap between aspiration and reality. Gartner estimated 85% of big data projects fail. Too often, projects start by trying to implement a particular technical approach (which) managers and employees don’t find it useful. While change has to be driven from the top, implementation is driven lower down. A model that is 99% accurate is not robust to changing conditions. You might be better off with one that is 70% accurate. Robots are not taking jobs, but taking tasks. That means a shift in value from cognitive skills to social skills. The future of AI is all too human.

The American Cities Where Most of Your Salary Goes To Rent

San Francisco, New York, LA and Seattle all make sense: lots of tech and media jobs that pay well, but where the cost of living is also exorbitant. Jersey City is a bedroom community for NYC.

The others - mostly Sunbelt locales - offer relatively low costs of living but also low pay.

The answer? Smaller cities - or places with serious winter weather. JL


Price Economics reports:

The highest paying business jobs are in Washington, DC, California, New York, and Massachusetts. The states with the lowest paying business jobs are Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota. All five of the top cities with the highest paying business jobs are located in Silicon Valley, with Palo Alto, CA having the highest of all. Cities that pay a lot in salaries also typically have very high cost of living.

What Happens When Bots Teach Themselves To Cheat?

"Engineers have to collaborate with, not command, their creations. Algorithms do what you say, not what you meant."

Tom Simonite reports in Wired:

Moments when experimental bots go rogue—some would call it cheating—are not typically celebrated in scientific papers or press releases. Bug hunters point to a communication problem between humans and machines: Given a clear goal, an algorithm can master complex tasks. But even with logical parameters, mathematical optimization empowers bots to develop shortcuts humans didn’t think to deem off-­limits. Engineers have to collaborate with, not command, their creations. “Your job is to coach the system. Algorithms do what you say, not what you meant."

Venezuela? Turns Out America Isn't Ready For Exploding Drones Either

As in so many other spheres, the technology is developing much faster than society's ability to understand and manage it. JL

Kathy Gilsinan reports in The Atlantic:

Like the drone that crashed on the White House lawn, they can be too small or too low to spot with radar. Though the technology now exists to identify who is operating a commercial drone, drone operators are not required to use it. In the event that a rogue drone is detected, it’s illegal to shoot it down; ditto with jamming the radio or Wi-Fi signal controlling it. "There’s  no comprehensive protection right now across the U.S.”

Why It's Not a Crazy Idea For Elon Musk To Take Tesla Private.

It would allow him to focus on what he does best - run the enterprise - and that may benefit investors in the short and long term, as well. JL


Felix Salmon reports in Slate:

Why does it make sense for Musk? Because he would concentrate on running Tesla without worrying about the share price. Public companies, and Tesla in particular, get conflated with their stocks. Attacks on the stock are tantamount to attacks on the company. A CEO ends up spending a lot of time worrying about perception of the company, at the expense of running the shop. Musk’s erratic behavior in recent months can be traced to his war against short sellers. If big shareholders have the option to remain invested they might prefer (not) having to worry about stock market volatility.

How Tech Costs Are Forcing Honda To Let Go Of Its Engineering Legacy

A wrenching but pragmatic culture change in the face of quickly evolving - and expensive - technological changes. JL

Sean McLain reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Honda believes rapid shifts in technology mean it can no longer afford to keep pace working solely on its own. Car makers around the world are under stress from the huge investments needed to develop new technologies used in electric vehicles and autonomous driving. To trim costs, most are leaning on megasuppliers such as Bosch, Continental AG and Denso Corp. , as well as smaller companies with cutting-edge technology. “Rather than one company doing everything, it is important to gather the best parts and assemble them into one vehicle,”

The Dangerous Allure of Imitating Apple

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it may also become a deadly trap for enterprises strategically ill-equipped to execute it under different circumstances. JL


Mihir Desai reports in the New York Times:

The model perfected at Apple is risky and imitated poorly by many corporations. The next decade will reveal whether these were brilliant moves or large-scale financial engineering. The financial archetype defined by Apple — asset-light strategy, leveraged share buybacks and cash flow above all — is a high-wire act. The strategy is a risky one for companies with weaker strategic positions. Aping Apple can result in too much debt, precarious supply chains and deferred investments. Apple’s imitators are more likely to mortgage the future than create it.

How JD.Com Is Using AI, Robotics and Big Data To Take On Amazon

JD is investing both in the use of AI, robotics and big data on the back end to optimize logistics and efficiency while also investing on the front end to enhance sell-through to customers.

Along with Alibaba and Tencent, JD constitutes the most serious competition Amazon faces. JL


Bernard Marr reports in Forbes:

JD.com uses AI, big data, and robotics (for): automated warehouses; robots;  drones deliver products across China since March 2016 (working to build a drone that can carry five tons); facial recognition (for) shoppers to take merchandise without stopping to pay; develop a seamless customer experience between online and offline shopping; created a profile for every individual that tracks their favorite brands, marital status (etc); develop smart supply chains that leverage data, natural language processing, image recognition and machine learning to anticipate consumer's needs and achieve the highest efficiency

US Testing Traveler Facial Recognition - But No Limits On How Data Can Be Used

Yet another node in the digital conveniency-privacy trade-off.

But this time it's the US government making personal information available to anyone who wants it. JL

Catie Edmondson reports in the New York Times:

There is no paper ticket or airline app. Thanks to facial recognition technology, their face becomes their boarding pass.The problem is that few companies participating in the program, called the Traveler Verification Service, give guarantees that passengers’ facial recognition data will be protected.  Even though the program is run by the Department of Homeland Security, federal officials say they have placed no limits on how participating companies — mostly airlines but also cruise lines — can use that data

Driving the Tesla Model 3: 'It's A Giant iPhone!'

A car designed for 'anyone who's grown up with a smartphone would think a car is supposed to work.' JL

Geoffrey Fowler reports in The Washington Post, photo by Hollis Johnson in Business Insider:

Tesla loaned me a Model 3 to review. I navigated the steep learning curve to operate this iPhone with wheels. Anyone who’s grown up with a smartphone would think the Model 3 is how a car is supposed to work; through cellular, WiFi and Bluetooth connections, is constantly online. It is the car of the future. My buddy says after three weeks he’s still unearthing how to operate it. It feels like he’s leveling up in a video game. He’d think twice about getting a Model 3 for his wife, who unlike him isn’t a Silicon Valley engineer. Tesla’s mass-market car is still for early adopters.

Facebook To Banks: Give Us Your Customers' Data And We'll Give You Our Users'

Sure! What could go wrong with Facebook having access to its users' personal financial, credit card and banking information...? JL

Emily Glazer and colleagues report in the Wall Street Journal:

The social-media giant has asked large U.S. banks to share detailed financial information about their customers, including card transactions and checking-account balances, as part of an effort to offer new services to users. Facebook asked banks for information about where their users are shopping with their debit and credit cards. Facebook has told banks that the additional customer information could be used to offer services that might entice users to spend more time on Messenger.

So How Come No One Is Buying Stuff Via Alexa?

It could be that the technological adaptation is maturing. Or it could be that people don't trust the technology - and fear how it could be abused to their disadvantage. JL

Devin Coldewey reports in Tech Crunch:

Of 50 million Alexa users, only 100,000 bought something via voice interface more than once. A million people tried buying stuff but only 100,000 continues. It may just be that it's something people don't want to do.

The Blitzscaling Illusion: Has Tech Had It Too Easy?

Technological development has benefited from an economy driven by excess surplus capital, which has fostered the growth of innovations which can take years to achieve profitability.

But as market saturation and consumer's tech sophistication increase, successful companies recognize that dominance almost never lasts more than a generation or two (20 years since the dotcom era began...). They prepare to optimize their advantage despite changing circumstances. JL


Edward Tenner reports in Aeon:

The fact of technological transformation from the late 18th century to the early 20th century was that there was scarce low-hanging fruit. Innovation, much less transformation, was arduous and slow. Software ventures are easier to scale up. It is not exhaustion of technological resources but success at attracting capital.

Pentagon Tells Troops To Turn Off Fitness Trackers When They Head To War Zones

Loose hips sink ships? JL

Sean Gallagher reports in ars technica:

Eight months after a researcher discovered that the "heatmap" feature of the Strava fitness tracking community was revealing the location of US military facilities in Syria and other conflict zones as well as some troop movements, the Department of Defense has instructed troops headed to potentially hostile territory to turn off the Global Positioning System features of their fitness tracking gadgets and mobile applications.

Cashier-less Tech Is Coming. What Will It Do To Retail?

Ease of use and lower cost of doing business. Could this make stores more competitive with e-commerce? 

Lisa Lacy reports in Ad Week:

This new technology is paving the way for retailers to make shopping easier for consumers and inventory management better for retailers. Cameras can recognize customer movement and generate heat maps so retailers can monitor traffic flow, product selection and customer preferences.“The advantage is convenience to the customer, especially if loyalty, rewards and payment are embedded. The retailer can redeploy the cashiers to more value-added, customer-facing tasks, [improve] inventory management and certainly [tap into] the plethora of data on customer behavior.”

The Growing Allure of Small Locales For Big City Gig Workers and Freelancers

Cost of living differentials are the greatest motivator, but those who move are increasingly surprised to find active, engaged creative and tech communities full of people like themselves. JL

Rebecca Gale reports in Slate:

Leaving high-cost cities in pursuit of more affordable places is a trend that is likely to increase as millennials come of age. Housing is the greatest cost for a family, and in some locations, the costs are staggering. Child care is the second biggest cost for most families. “Life in California meant that all hours were spent making money to pay for the cost of living"

Is Jeff Bezos' $150 Billion Fortune the Result of a Policy Failure?

Failure for whom is the operative question. For those who believe in the Darwinian principles that separate the few from the mass, then this is the realization of a dream.

But for those who believe in the possibility of the greater populace bettering itself, perhaps not. JL


Annie Lowrey reports in The Atlantic:

He has gotten $50 billion richer in less than a year. He needs to spend $28 million a day to keep from accumulating more. This is a credit to Bezos’s ingenuity and business acumen. Amazon has changed everything from how we read, to how we shop, to how we structure our neighborhoods. But his fortune is also a policy failure, an indictment of a tax and transfer system and a business and regulatory environment designed to supercharge the earnings and wealth among the few. Bezos did not just make his $150 billion. In some ways, we gave it to him

How Menial Tasks Are Easing Artificial Intelligence Into the Marketplace

Despite the bold predictions, AI is proceeding like many of its technological predecessors: incrementally. Organizations are learning - and in the process - so are the machines and their algorithms.

For now, they are being billed as help mates, not replacements; digital buddies who make their human buddies more productive. Everyone is acutely conscious of the backlash that may ensue if wholesale layoffs result. But the emphasis should be on 'for now.' JL


Steve Lohr reports in the New York Times:

New software is automating mundane office tasks in operations like accounting, billing, payments and customer service. The programs can scan documents, enter numbers into spreadsheets, check the accuracy of customer records and make payments with a few automated computer keystrokes. These initial bots will get better, and the task harvesting will accelerate. The emerging field has a klutzy name, “robotic process automation.” "It's not the kind of robot you can see."

Big Tech's Path To $4 Trillion Is Fraught: Or Is It?

As a general rule, the words 'this time it's different' should send investors, business partners, suppliers, customers - and regulators running screaming for the hills.

IBM, Microsoft and America Online - hey, remember them? - can all attest to how quickly circumstances can change.

Big tech dominates, operationally and financially. The question is to what degree the unprecedented scale of  these companies' dominance is economically sustainable - and insulates them from a dotcom-like fall. It won't be like the last time, but there will be change.JL 

Dan Gallagher reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Tech firms now make up five of the 10 most valuable American companies. Three not named Apple now have market values exceeding $800 billion. Amazon.com,  Alphabet and Microsoft—along with Apple and Facebook —together comprise 16% of the S&P’s total value.The last time tech companies made up half of the S&P’s top 10 was 1999, when they accounted for 13% of the index’s value. Market values rise and fall quickly, but scale tends to stick around longer.

How Alibaba Is Using Artificial Intelligence To Optimize Its Business

It is providing updated AI capabilities to the companies that use its platforms, enhancing their attractiveness to consumers and assuring that it will remain the world's leading ecommerce market. JL

Bernard Marr reports in Forbes:

In addition to turning physical shops into “smart stores”, Alibaba is introducing “digitalization in a box” to smaller retailers. Alibaba has redone 1 million mom-and-pop shops and 100 superstores. 42% of global e-commerce transactions took place in China, more than Japan, France, Germany, the UK and the U.S. combined. Only those retailers who embrace digitization who will survive, and Alibaba is providing the structure to make it possible.These technological advances helped power Singles’ Day last year to $25 billion in sales, $20 billion more than Cyber Monday in the U.S.

Google Maps Renames Neighborhoods - And Residents Don't Always Agree

Who ya gonna believe: the internet or your lying eyes? JL


Jack Nicas reports in the New York Times:

Before the internet era, neighborhood names developed via word of mouth, newspaper articles and physical maps that were released periodically. But Google Maps, which debuted in 2005, is updated continuously and delivered to more than one billion people on their devices. Google also feeds map data to thousands of websites and apps. A 50-block district north of Golden Gate Park trumpets on its website it is a neighborhood. Its proof? Google Maps.“Don’t believe us?. We’re on the internet; so we must be real.”

How Sellers Trick Amazon To Boost Sales

As Amazon becomes more dominant, the benefits of gaming the system have risen - and the risks have decreased. JL

Laura Stevens and John Emont report in the Wall Street Journal:

The tactics threaten to undermine the integrity of one of the world’s largest web marketplaces (by)spawning an entire underground economy offering to deceive Amazon’s algorithms. Chinese sellers include the control of 8,000 U.S. buyer accounts to stimulate fake purchases and generate phony reviews.Another markets itself as having more than 10,000 Amazon accounts, local IP addresses, 100% real buying behavior and zero risk. The accounts can be used to generate reviews for products, and purchases are made with real credit cards,

How Marketing Is At Risk of Becoming Commoditized

If the data are commoditized - and then analyzed by people with the same cultural, geographic, educational and technological backgrounds using similar technology - the insights derived from it will inevitably become commoditized, as well. JL


Giana Capadona reports in Digiday:

"Commodity already has made huge inroads with programmatic and other forms of utilization of data. This anonymity, and the idea that you can do everything through data, is a big threat to marketing.”

Is It Time To Be Skeptical About the Lean Startup?

All models have a lifespan. JL

Greg Satell reports in Digital Tonto:

No model is perfect and eventually anomalies show up. Initially, these are regarded as “special cases” and are worked around. As the number of special cases proliferate, the model becomes increasingly untenable and a crisis ensues. At this point, a change in assumptions has to take place if things are to move forward. That’s where the Lean Startup is heading now. Much of the value from innovation has come from iterating new applications. We’ve learned how to go fast, but in the years to come we will have to relearn how to go slow.

Why Smart Companies Hire People Who Don't Believe In Their Mission

Groupthink and unquestioning obedience increases the risk of unintended consequences. 

Successful companies recognize the need for employees who are not afraid to challenge the prevailing wisdom in order to make the ultimate product - and the organization - stronger. JL


Leah Fessler reports in Quartz:

Hire too few employees who have passion for your mission and motivation will suffer. But hire too many, and “you’ll end up more vulnerable to groupthink and tunnel vision, and more resistant to change. You get evangelists who single-mindedly spread the purpose without questioning the unintended consequences. Every workplace needs at least a handful of people who object to the organization’s mission. They’re the ones we can count on to anticipate the harm the mission might do—and take action to prevent it,”

New Study Says It's Harder For Humans To Turn Off a Robot When It's Begging For Its Life

The study contributes to the debate about how humans will respond to machines which are increasingly powerful and sophisticated at manipulating emotions.

Does this mean they will have their way with us? Maybe they already do. JL


James Vincent reports in The Verge:

What does this mean for our machine-filled future? Are we destined to be manipulated by socially sophisticated bots that know how to push our buttons? “I hear this worry a lot. But I think it’s just something we have to get used to. The media equation theory suggests we react to [robots] socially because for hundreds of thousands of years, we were the only social beings on the planet. Now we’re not, and we have to adapt to it. It’s an unconscious reaction, but it can change.”

Why Did Anyone Think MoviePass Could Have Worked?

The problem with calculating the 'average' cost of anything - like movie tickets - often ignores crucial data from submarkets. JL

Felix Salmon reports in Slate:

(The) expectation was that while MoviePass might find its first adopters in markets with $15 movie tickets, it would ultimately catch on nationwide, at which point the average price of a MoviePass ticket would converge toward the average price of a normal ticket. But that didn’t happen—partly because MoviePass died long before the convergence could occur, but also because the actual marginal attractiveness of MoviePass in urban areas was hugely greater than it was elsewhere.

Life of An Electric Scooter: Nasty, Brutish and Often Short

It is not yet clear why scooters have become the objects of such violent scorn. But they may - like Google Glasses - be an avatar for all the frustrations posed by modern technology - and life JL

Peter Holley reports in the Washington Post:

Scooter companies may not need their products to live a long life to make money off them. Spin “recoups the cost of a scooter in two to three weeks.”Scooters that reach their expiration date after being worn down by weather, overuse and potholes are the lucky ones. Others can expect their final moments to be barbaric. Scooter vandalism appears to be continuing as scooter companies parachute into cities ahead of regulations, often taking the public and local officials by surprise.

The Reason Big Tech Should Take the Lead On Climate Change

Self interest. It knows how to scale and this may provide a technologically-driven burst of new growth.  JL

Owen Gaffney reports in Singularity Hub:

The biggest influence the tech sector can have is not on its emissions or its suppliers, just 2-2.5% of global emissions. Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial launched an app that encourages users to reduce their carbon footprint through gamification. By 2018, more than 300 million people, or over one fifth of the Chinese population, had signed up. This led to 10 million new trees planted and 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided.  The tech sector did not keep pace with Moore’s Law by accident. In the 1960s, chips had a few hundred transistors: today, a chip with 30 billion transistors.

Should Artificial Intelligence Copy the Human Brain?

In fact, it already is. Because AI is not yet capable of the powers its creators and users wish it to have, much of the ostensibly 'artificial' intelligence machines employ has been put there by human coders.
Which makes them the default model being copied. So far. JL

 
Christopher Mims reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Until we figure out how to make our AIs more intelligent and robust, we’re going to have to hand-code into them a great deal of existing human knowledge. A lot of the “intelligence” in artificial intelligence systems like self-driving software isn’t artificial at all. As much as companies need to train their vehicles on as many miles of real roads as possible, for now, making these systems truly capable will still require inputting a great deal of logic that reflects the decisions made by the engineers who build and test them.

The Downside of Apple's Trillion Dollar Valuation

Thanks to the kind of concentration that enabled Apple's milestone valuation, fewer financial rewards are being spread across the economy - to the workforce, to other companies, to innovation.

But when things eventually go south - as economic cyclicality and reversion to the mean tell us they inevitably will - that same concentration will drag the financial markets and the rest of the economy with it. JL


Matt Phillips reports in the New York Times:

In 1975, 109 companies collected half of the profits produced by all publicly traded companies. Today, those winnings are captured by just 30. The rise of superstar firms is contributing to lackluster wage growth, shrinking middle class and rising income inequality in the United States. Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet have delivered half of the gains achieved by the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. This is good only as long as profits keep pouring in. If the tech companies’ shares start to sputter, “it’s going to be tough for the rest of the market to keep things propped up."