Michael Nagenborg, researcher at University of Twente, Netherlands - Could we forgive a machine? Study explores forgiveness in the context of robotics and AI

Title:
Could we forgive a machine? Study explores forgiveness in the context of robotics and AI

Author:
Ingrid Fadelli
Publised:
TechXplore, 12 March 2020

From the article:
"Michael Nagenborg, a researcher at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, has recently carried out a study investigating what could happen if a robot or machine makes a terrible mistake that has detrimental consequences for its users. His paper, published in Springer Link's Technology, Anthropology, and Dimensions of Responsibility journal, specifically explores the question of whether humans would be able to forgive a robot if it does something wrong, from a philosophical standpoint."

To read this article:
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-03-machine-explores-context-robotics-ai.html

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic: A deep-learning model identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Title:
Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic: A deep-learning model identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Author:
Anne Trafton

Published:
MIT News, 2o February 2020

From the article:
"Using a machine-learning algorithm, MIT researchers have identified a powerful new antibiotic compound. In laboratory tests, the drug killed many of the world’s most problematic disease-causing bacteria, including some strains that are resistant to all known antibiotics. It also cleared infections in two different mouse models." 

To read this article:
http://news.mit.edu/2020/artificial-intelligence-identifies-new-antibiotic-0220

Panel Discussion (12 February 2020) on Artificial Intelligence in Education: Is There A Silver Lining in the Dystopian Storm Clouds?

Title of panel discussion:
Artificial Intelligence in Education: Is There A Silver Lining in the Dystopian Storm Clouds?

Speakers:
* Nantambu Kohlbatz, Information Technology/Computer Science instructor at McKinley Technology High School, Washington, D.C.  
* Natalie Milman, Professor of Educational Technology and Director of the Educational Technology Leadership Program at The George Washington University  
* Kentaro Toyama, the W.K. Kellogg Professor of Community Information at the University of Michigan School of Information & Fellow, MIT Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values

Moderator:
Cheryl Teare, Assistant to the President, Union Leadership Institute, American Federation of Teachers

Focus of panel:
From different points of view, this panel explores both the promise and the perils of artificial intelligence in education.

Published:
Albert Shanker Institute, 12 February 2020

For more information, as well as to watch an introductory video to the panel discussion & to have access to material related to the speakers' presentations:
http://www.shankerinstitute.org/event/artificial-intelligence-education

See also:
Three Reasons to be Skeptical of Artificial Intelligence in schools by Alyson Klein (Digital Education, 12 February 2020).

Massachusetts Institute of Tecnology (MIT) - Artificial Intelligence Finds A Powerful New Antibiotic For The First Time (IFLScience! article)

Title:
Artificial Intelligence Finds A Powerful New Antibiotic For The First Time

Author:
Tom Hale

Published:
IFLScinece!, 21 February 2020

From the article:
"Artificial intelligence (AI) has proved to be a useful ally in the battle against antibiotic resistance. A powerful antibiotic that’s even able to kill superbugs has been discovered thanks to a machine-learning algorithm."

To read this article:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/artificial-intelligence-finds-a-powerful-new-antibiotic-for-the-first-time/

Short Article - AI can automatically rewrite outdated text in Wikipedia articles (by Jon Fingas)

Title:
AI can automatically rewrite outdated text in Wikipedia articles

Author:
Jon Fingas

Published:
Engadget, 12 February 2020

From the article:
"It's good to be skeptical of Wikipedia articles for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the possibility of outdated info -- human editors can only do so much. And while there are bots that can edit Wikipedia, they're usually limited to updated canned templates or fighting vandalism. MIT might have a more useful (not to mention more elegant) solution."

To read this article:
https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/12/mit-ai-automatically-rewrites-outdated-wikipedia-text/

Short Article - Top 10 AI Trends for 2020: The rise of artificial intelligence in the workplace to enable and sustain the digital workforce is an apparent trend for 2020

Title:
Top 10 AI Trends for 2020

Author:
Ryan M. Raiker, MBA

Published:
Toward Data Science, 3 February 2020

From the article:
"Artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural networks or whatever other fancy terms industry is coming out with for what is defined as the sophisticated computer technology that is becoming widely utilized to understand and improve business and customer experiences. I assume, you have heard of it before, but they way it is defined today is an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans." 

To read this article:
https://towardsdatascience.com/top-10-ai-trends-for-2020-d6294cfee2bd

Short Article: There's a new obstacle to landing a job after college: Getting approved by AI

Title:
There's a new obstacle to landing a job after college: Getting approved by AI

Author:
Rachel Metz

Published:
CNN Business, 15 January 2020

From the article:
"College career centers used to prepare students for job interviews by helping them learn how to dress appropriately or write a standout cover letter. These days, they're also trying to brace students for a stark new reality: They may be vetted for jobs in part by artificial intelligence."

Click here to read this article

Tufts University & University of Vermont - Not Bot, not beast: scientists create first ever living, programmable organism

Title:
Not Bot, not beast: scientists create first ever living, programmable organism

Authors:
Simon Coghlan & Kobi Leins

Published:
The Conversation, 19 January 2020

From the article:
A remarkable combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and biology has produced the world's first "living bot".

This week, a research team of roboticists and scientists published their recipe for making a new lifeform called xenobots from stem cells. The term "xeno" comes from the from cells (Xenopus laevis) used to make them.

To read this article:
https://theconversation.com/not-bot-not-beast-scientists-create-first-ever-living-programmable-organism-129980

Short Article - OK, computer: Let's bring text-generating artificial intelligence into the classroom

Title:
OK, computer: Let's bring text-generating artificial intelligence into the classroom

Author:
Grant Jun Otsuki

Published:
Phys.org, 24 January 2020

From the article:
"Artificial intelligence-based (AI) programs are quickly improving at writing convincingly on many topics, for virtually no cost. It's likely in a few years they'll be churning out C-grade worthy essays for students."

To read this article:
https://phys.org/news/2020-01-text-generating-artificial-intelligence-classroom.html

Short Article: Would You Want a Personal AI that Knows Everything About You?

Title:
Would you want a personal AI that knows everything about you?

Author:
Vanessa Bates Ramirez

Published:
SingularityHub, 22 December 2019

Directly quoted from the article:
The AI Foundation, which describes itself as "a non-profit and a for-profit organization working to move the world forward withh AI responsible," is developing a tool that will let anyone build their own AI. Those at the Foundation believe that personalizing and distributing the power of AI, as opposed to having it concentrated and controlled by a select few, will help unleash its full potential. They emphasize that the AIs built using their tool will possess each user's unique values and goals, and will help users overcome limitations we're currently subject to in the non-personal-AI world.

It's a lofty vision and, it seems, a noble one. But what it would actually look like, in practice, for us to have artificially intellent versions of ourselves?

To read full article:
https://singularityhub.com/2019/12/22/would-you-want-a-personal-ai-that-knows-everything-about-you/

TED Talk on Artificial Intelligence (AI): The danger of AI is weirder than you think

Title of first TED Talk:
The danger of AI is weirder than you think

Presenter:
Janelle Shane

Presented:
April 2019 (Posted online October 2019)

Desription:
"The danger of artificiel intelligence isn't that it's going to rebel against us, but that it's going to do exactly what we ask it to do, says AI researcher Janelle Shane. Sharing the weird, sometimes alarming antics of Ai algoritms as they try to solve human problems - like creating new ice cream flavors or recognizing cars on the road - Shane shows wy AI doesn't yet measure up to real brains."

To watch this TED Talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/janelle_shane_the_danger_of_ai_is_weirder_than_you_think

Short Article: New AI Systems are here to Personalize Learning

Title:
New AI systems are here to personalize learning

Author:
Aaron Frank

Published:
SingularityHub, 24 September 2019

Aaron Frank wrote:
"A recent World Economic Forum report noted that some estimates show automation could displace 75 million jobs by 2022, while at the same time creating 133 million new roles. While these estimates predict a net positive for the number of new jobs in the coming decade, displaced workers will need to learn new skills to adapt to the changes. If employees can't be retrained quickly for jobs in the changing economy, society is likely to face some degree of turmoil."

To read this article:
https://singularityhub.com/2019/09/24/new-ai-systems-are-here-to-personalize-learning/

MIT REPORT - The Work of the Future: Shaping Technology and Institutions

Title of report:
The work of the future: shaping technology and institutions

Published by:
MIT's Task Force on the Work of the Future, Fall 2019 Report

From the report:
MIT President Rafael Reif convened the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future in the spring of 2018. Its goals are to understand the relationships between emerging technologies and work, and to explore strategies to enable a future of shared prosperity. The Task Force is co-chaired by Professors David Autor and David Mindell, with Dr Elisabeth Reynolds as Executive Director; its members include more than twenty faculty drawn from twelve departments, as well as a dozen graduate students. The Task Force has also been advised by boards of key stakeholders from industry, academia, education, labor and pilanthropy. For the past year, the Task Force has been working to bring grounded, empirical understanding and insight into the ongoing debate about what is occurring today and what we can expect in the next decade.

Alarmist rhetoric animates today's public conversation about technology and work: Robots are taking our jobs. AI will mean the end of work. Three-fourths of all jobs will be automated. Prepare for mass unemployment. Robots can't take your job if you're retired.

These forecasts may be unduly grim, but they reflect valid underlying concerns. Technological and economic shifts are created social pain in wide swaths of industrialized economies. The last four decades of U.S. history showed that even if technological advances deliver rising productivity, there is no guarantee that the fruits of this bounty will reach the typical worker - and the uncertainty is greater still for women and minorities. These disccouraging facts may help to explain why, despite the tightest U.S. labor market in decades, a substantial majority of people believe that emerging technologies will magnify inequality and make high-paying jobs harder to fnd.

With these uncomfortable truths in mind, MIT's Task Force on the Work of the Future aims to identify a constructive path forward - grounded in evidence of what is happening today, deploying deep expertise in technology and the social sciences, and applying reasonable assumptions and extrapolations to anticipate what might happen tomorrow.

This report will not provide definitive answers, but instead aims to enable decision-makers to ask the right questions. Due to the urgency of the topic, we offer preliminary insights that may help to frame public debate and public policy as Task Force members conduct deeper analyses and deliver a final report.

To read this report:
https://workofthefuture.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2019-09/WorkoftheFuture_Report_Shaping_Technology_and_Institutions.pdf