Talking Trash: Recycling Inches Up, But Problems Remain

With the changes in consumed materials, recycling is running into problems; meanwhile, plastic and overall waste climb.

By Geoffrey Dutton | March 20, 2019 | Economics, Environment, Government | Automation, Bioplastics, Black Plastic, BPA, Bubble Wrap, Clamshell Packaging, Compost, Corrugated Cardboard, EPA, Foil, Garbage, Glass, Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Grocery Bags, Metal, Newspapers, Newsprint, NOAA, Packaging, PET, Plastic, Plastic Bags, Pollution, Produce Bags, Recycling, Recycling Rates, Resin, Straws, Styrofoam, Trash, Waste, Water Bottles

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Podcast #28: Jonathan Taplin on Internet Aggregators

Jonathan Taplin, former music and film professional, tells first-hand what the new rentier economy of Internet aggregators like Google and Facebook has done to the creative arts, journalism, and democracy.

By Mo Lotman | March 13, 2019 | Advertising, Culture, Economics, Journalism, Law, Media, Podcasts, Politics, Society | Addiction, Advertising, Amazon, Annenberg Innovation Lab, Antitrust, Art, Automation, Bing, Bodycams, Cambridge Analytica, Campaign Finance, China, Civil War, Consumers, Copyright, Creative Fields, Decentralization, Democracy, Digitization, Dystopia, Eric Garcetti, Europe, Fake News, Federal Government, GDPR, Google Facebook, Head Tax, Infrastructure, Internet, Jeff Bezos, John Seely Brown, Journalism, LA Times, Larry Page, Law, Levon Helm, Local News, Localism, Mark Zuckerberg, Martin Luther King, Middle Class, Musicians, New York Times, Newspapers, Parking Apps, Peter Thiel, Photography, Privacy, Producers, Recommendations, Record Business, Robert Bork, Roger McNamee, Royalties, Safe Harbor, Search Engine, Social Credit, Social Networking, State Politics, surveillance, The Band, The Last Waltz, The Weight, Throat Cancer, Tim Berners-Lee, Tristan Harris, Vint Cerf, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Watchdog Role, Winner-Take-All, Yelp, YouTube

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Podcast #20: Huei Peng and Driverless Cars

A tour of autonomous vehicle testing track Mcity with director Huei Peng answers many questions, and raises others.

By Mo Lotman | September 26, 2018 | Automation, Environment, Government, Podcasts, Privacy, Safety, Society, Transportation | Ann Arbor, Automation, Autonomous Vehicles, Chauffeur, Commerce, Convenience, Driverless Cars, Driving, Efficiency, Engineering, Environment, Ford, GM, Greg McGuire, Higher Education, Lidar, Mcity, Mileage, Research, surveillance, Toyota, Uber, University of Michigan

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Podcast #17: Cal Newport on Deep Work

For a computer scientist, Georgetown professor and author Cal Newport is hard to reach via email. But it’s part of his philosophy that focused concentration–so elusive in our overstimulated world–is the key to a better and more rewarding work and personal life.

By Art Keller | March 14, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Cognition, Employment, Ethics, Podcasts, Society | Accessibility, AI, American Girls, Attention, Automation, Boredom, Business, Clarity, Communication, Computer Science, Concentration, Deep Work, Depression, Economy, Effort, Email, Exercise, Extrovert, Flow, Georgetown, Impulse, Impulse Control, Introvert, Jerry Seinfeld, Jobs, Laptops, Learning, Meaning, Multitasking, Open Office Plans, Opportunity Cost, Outsourcing, Overstimulation, Practice, Productivity, Quick Checks, Quiet, Robots, Shallow Work, smart phones, Training

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Podcast #16: Tomaso Poggio on the State of AI

After a long so-called winter, artificial intelligence has recently made amazing gains. Tomaso Poggio, Director of MIT’s Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines, explains why this success is still a long way from the dystopian fears of robot overlords, but that the threat to jobs is real.

By Mo Lotman | February 14, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Cognition, Employment, Ethics, Podcasts, Society | Academia, AI, AI Winter, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Autonomous Vehicles, Back Propagation, Center for Brains Minds & Machines, China, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT, Deep Learning, Doctors, Economy, Facial Recognition, Google, Job Loss, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Meaning, Microsoft, MIT, Mobileye, National Science Foundation, Natural Language Processing, Neural Networks, Purpose, self-driving cars, surveillance, Truck Drivers

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Spotify Automates; Humans Get Played

When Spotify’s music algorithms lead one writer to a band he can’t stand that he loves, he wonders about who’s programming who.

By Reis Thebault | February 7, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Culture, Philosophy, Relationships | AI, Algorithms, Automation, CDs, Creativity, Discovery, Engagement, Geography, Houndmouth, Human Interaction, Identity, Midwest, Mix Tapes, Monoculture, music, Music Appreciation, Playlists, Sharing, Spotify, streaming

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Google’s Smart Reply: Convenience Over Connection

Gmail offers users canned responses to emails, based on AI interpretations of the contents and the user’s typical writing style. This convenience, unknown to the recipient, comes at a social cost.

By Samantha Maxwell | December 20, 2017 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Ethics, Relationships, Society | Automation, Communication, Connection, Connectivity, Convenience, Conversation, Email, Friendship, Gmail, Google, Love, relationships, Smart Reply, Social Interaction, Speed

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The Proud Luddite

The word Luddite has a long history as a derogatory term. But it has little to do with the real history of the Luddites, who seem more relevant than ever.

By Vittorio Bollo | November 8, 2017 | Automation, Economics, Employment, Ethics, Law, Philosophy, Society | Automation, Change, Destruction, Dignity, England, Garment Workers, Hanging, Industrial Revolution, Industry, Inequality, Jobs, Labor, Luddites, Machines, Manufacturing, Ned Ludd, Nottingham, Respect, Riots, Sabotage, Technoskepticism, Textiles, Work

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Speeding Towards a Potential AI Jobocalypse, Government is on Autopilot

A White House paper on AI betrays a stunning naivte about potential economic fallout, but few in government are interested in even acknowledging the issue.

By Art Keller | June 21, 2017 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Economics, Employment, Government, Politics | AI, Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Autonomous Vehicles, Bill Gates, Capitalism, Class Warfare, Conflict, Elon Musk, Employment, Germany, High-Tech, Inequality, Job Losses, Labor, Lifelong Learning, Manufacturing, Obama, Office of Science and Technology Policy, OSTP, Retraining, Robots, Social Safety Net, Stephen Hawking, Trump, Unemployment, White House

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The Care in Healthcare May Not Be So Easily Automated

Cost pressures are pushing doctors and hospitals to explore automating healthcare in various ways. Results thus far are mixed.

By Lorenzo Migliorato | June 7, 2017 | Automation, Health | Aging, Algorithms, Assistive Technologies, Automation, Care, Data, eConsult, Health 2.0, Healthcare, London, National Health Service, Robots, surveillance

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