For as long as I remember, there's been a film or a book about a revolution by which robots somehow take control of the Earth after developing a deeply rooted hatred of organic life. The story goes that these robots develop enough intelligence to oust humans form our position as the top of the food chain, hunting us down in the streets. This apocalyptic story is only regurgitated in films about a zombie outbreak (ironically, the exact opposite of a robot). But is it plausible? With top scientists and innovators such as Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking warning about the threat of singularity, could what is dismissed today as conspiracy or far-fetched become reality (almost like the saga of Donald Trump)? Gordon Moore theorized that as time progressed (by the year), computing power would exponentially increase. But what is 'computing power'? Most physicists and technicians think that Moore was discussing transistors on a circuit board, essentially the powerhouses and throttlers of a computer (like the mitochondria of a cell). There is definite proof of Moore's law in action in this regard, computers and 'chips' inn general have been getting smaller yet significantly more powerful. When I asked my Dad for a 128GB microSD card, he was baffled that 128GB could even possibly fit on a chip the size of a 1p coin, when in his day floppy disks could take in somewhere around 8MB. The point is, that computers and there transistors have been getting more powerful and more compact, almost in direct accordance with Moore's law. My phone (the Galaxy S7) has a staggering 8-cores. Only 4 years ago, 8-core computers (processors) could only be found on what was then referred to as the 'super-computers'. It was a distant dream that became reality on a mind-blowing scale within barely a couple of years. In the case of robots, some suggest that Moore's law is applicable. After all, Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistants are used in our daily lives even if you touch Siri or not- your search engine is technically a digital assistant too. And these assistants only rack up more, and more data on us. Google announced the 'Google Assistant', a significantly more advanced version of Google's 'Now' AI service, Google Assistant can have off the cuff conversations with you, let it be on Google's new messaging app (Allo) or the latest version of Android Nougat. This is frightening. Just looking at Google it is possible for one see the sheer vastness of the data companies have on us. And its only growing as we become more technologically integrated and AI progresses even more rapidly then ever before- after all, that's what Moore said himself about computers, and AI does compute. What does this mean? It could be two things. Firstly, that we're signing our own death sentences by developing AI. Japanese law firms have recently began laying off employees and replacing them with robots. Law firms. We might become so reliant on a the increasingly sophisticated technology around us that it doesn't need to develop a conscience or hit us with mechanical claws, we're doing that for it. However, there's the second outcome- that Moore's law isn't correct. When Moore found Intel and said that, he had no evidence to quote. Nor any substantial recognition or equation. It was a best guess. WE can't record how accurate Moore was because he was so vague. What is computing 'power'? Is it transistors? Or is it the relative usefulness of the computer? The data it can handle? Or the progression of computing mediums? For all we know, technology (or, more accurately, electronics and specifically AI) might stagnate. Like populations in MEDCs such as the UK or Germany, populations have been leveling off, while in developing countries like India, populations boom because of the lack of development. Whatever happens, I hope that the latter is true. I'd rather not be an involuntarily voluntary slave to my computer.
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Most people would probably all agree that we are currently in the year 2016 and are fast approaching the year of 2017. However, Cesare Emiliani argued that this is an extremely flawed method of evaluating and summarizing human history. And so, in 11,993 (1993) proposed that we add an extra '1' in front of our normal Christian metric. But why?
With the solar-powered plane having successfully finishing its journey around the world in Abu Dhabi, old boundaries of human progress are being pushed past. The pilot completed his adventure with no fuel at all, and any/all energy was solar-powered from the wings- very, very big wings. Now that it has been successfully proven that renewable energies can be utilized in more places than previously, imagined, what could we potentially see in the coming future?
Usually when most Apple customers talk about Android, they often call 'Android' 'Samsung'. Android supporters are quick to reply, noting that other large retailers, such as HTC, LG and Huawei all produce Android phones meaning that the design of the phone isn't constrained by the interests of one company. Because of this confusion (or lack of understanding) I won't be looking at how the physical phone looks, feels or how much it sells as Android has far more backers. Instead I'll be briefly reviewing the upsides and downsides of the software on the phone, such as the user interface (UI) as well as how easy it is to get accustomed to the software and its wider compatibility.
In case you come from region in the world which is not Britain, Canada, the USA, Australia or New Zealand and as such are not fully aware of the latest game by Nintendo, allow me to enlighten you. Pokémon Go is the latest in an old franchise- Pokémon (that part was obvious, no?). But it is unique in that not only is it a mobile app, but allows the player to find and catch various Pokémon (basically little monsters, hence the 'Poké' for pocket and 'mon' for monsters) in real time. No, you don't use a controller or a console to play you use your phone and your actual legs to walk around, find Pokémon in your area and then battle in gyms which are in real world locations like the local park. But it's easy for one to point out that there are fanatics or crazed fans who mindlessly cross roads blindly and die. So, is this game really the next big leap in fitness? Or just another 'text and drive' situation with people putting the screen before safety?
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AuthorHusain Abedi Archives
January 2017
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