Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
U.S. Government Will Release Policy on Autonomous Vehicles Today
September 20th, 2016Via: Cnet: On Tuesday, the government will issue federal policy, comprising a four-section package to help facilitate the “responsible” testing and deployment of self-driving vehicles. The policy will include a 15-point “Safety Assessment,” which the government has asked automakers to sign and submit when an autonomous car is believed to be ready for public roads. […]
“Disruptive Tidal Wave”: Robots Will Eliminate 6% of All U.S. Jobs by 2021
September 19th, 2016Via: Guardian: By 2021, robots will have eliminated 6% of all jobs in the US, starting with customer service representatives and eventually truck and taxi drivers. That’s just one cheery takeaway from a report released by market research company Forrester this week. These robots, or intelligent agents, represent a set of AI-powered systems that can […]
‘The Going Rate for Self-Driving Talent Is $10 Million Per Person’
September 17th, 2016The business of eliminating millions of jobs is today’s version of the moonshot or the Manhattan Project. Via: Recode: “Uber has just bought a half-a-year-old company [Otto] with 70 employees for almost $700 million,” Thrun said. “If you look at GM, they spent $1 billion on its acquisition of Cruise. These are mostly talent acquisitions. […]
Pittsburgh: Fears of Uber’s Human Drivers Become a Reality
September 14th, 2016Obviously, the mass deployment of this technology is still at least a few years out, but I’d be very surprised if it didn’t happen within a decade in major cities. I think LIDAR will have to be used. Currently, LIDAR is very expensive and cumbersome. Once the MIT/DARPA LIDAR-on-a-chip gadget emerges in bulk, watch out. […]
HUD Video of Auto-GCAS Saving Unconscious F-16 Pilot
September 13th, 2016Via: Aviation Week: This newly declassified video footage from the head-up-display of a U.S. Air Force Arizona Air National Guard F-16 records the dramatic moment when its unconscious pilot is saved from certain death by the aircraft’s Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS).
Google Drones Will Deliver Chipotle Burritos at Virginia Tech
September 8th, 2016Via: WTVR: Project Wing, a drone project in Google’s X lab, will begin testing drone delivery of burritos at Virginia Tech later this month. Google expects to conduct a few hundred deliveries over the course of several days or potentially weeks. Burritos won’t be delivered just anywhere on campus. Testing will be confined to a […]
Pentagon Working Through ‘Terminator Conundrum’
September 6th, 2016Via: USNI News: The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Defense Department is working through the problems of future robotic weapon systems – so-called thinking weapons. “We’re not talking about cruise missiles or mines,” but “robotic systems to do lethal harm… a Terminator without a conscience,” a reference to the 1984 […]
Ship Operators Explore Autonomous Sailing
August 31st, 2016Via: Wall Street Journal: “All hands on deck” may become a thing of the past. Ship designers, their operators and regulators are gearing up for a future in which cargo vessels sail the oceans with minimal or even no crew. Advances in automation and ample bandwidth even far offshore could herald the biggest change in […]
Driverless Taxi Firm Eyes Operations in 10 Cities by 2020
August 29th, 2016Via: AFP: A US software firm which chose Singapore for the world’s first public trial of driverless taxis hopes to be operating in 10 Asian and US cities by 2020, an executive said Monday. Doug Parker, nuTonomy’s chief operating officer, said the firm is eyeing tests by early next year in three other Asian countries […]
Amazon and the CIA Want to Teach AI to Interpret Satellite Imagery
August 25th, 2016Via: MIT Technology Review: Why can’t computers watch the Earth from above and automatically map our roads, buildings, and trash heaps? Satellite operator DigitalGlobe is teaming up with Amazon, the venture arm of the CIA, and chipmaker Nvidia to try to make it happen. In a joint project, DigitalGlobe today released satellite imagery depicting the […]
