So cloud computing lets us share computer/online resources with minimum efforts.? It also lets us store information. In computer repair, we get inquires of cloud computing all the time. Since 2006, tech companies saw this and ran with it. However, now, tech companies team up with Hollywood, for the cloud.
First of all, Google announced they’re building a cloud region in Los Angeles. They did this to better focus on video streaming and IT support for designers and artists. Then there is Microsoft, who already had a cloud region there. Not only that, but they’re chasing after the Hollywood entertainment venues. They compete for the industry’s business at a time when many consumers turn to streaming services like Netflix and You Tube Red.
This is a crazy time for Hollywood. Content is becoming more diverse. Consumers are becoming more demanding and sophisticated. And people want their entertainment fix five minutes ago. This is where cloud comes in. Maybe this is why tech giants are trying to either buy up or team up with Hollywood companies. For example, Microsoft got Avere Systems, a top cloud tech firm. Around the same time, Google got Anvato, a rising media platform. Both Microsoft and Google did this to lure Hollywood to their side.
On the surface, this looks more like more corporate takeover. And part of it is. But then again, that’s the way of our world today, whether we like or not. So this time, let me look at the good this can offer. For us, tech companies team up with Hollywood could give us more diversity in entertainment. Thus, we can all watch something we can enjoy. It could also mean good news for entertainers and leaders. These clouds can open up more jobs for actors and others. It can open up more jobs for other markets too, from writers to make-up artists to caterers. What other good can this do?
So in New York City, Google calls a small meeting. It’s just a few Google leaders and journalists at a Manhattan Thai restaurant. The meeting may be small and private, but this meeting affects us all. Google Duplex conference: How will consumers react?
The Google Duplex is a new system you can use to make reservations. Maybe I shouldn’t say new because it’s still in the making. They’re telling people just enough to hopefully wet their appetite. First, they played an example of Google Duplex playing a joke by making a hair salon appointment. That joke got a few laughs, but it caught journalists’ attention. This is real.
The Google Duplex Conference also studied it’s language. It looked at the way it says phrases like ‘um’ and ‘mh-hm’. For example, a person makes a dinner reservation for a party of five. The AI could say, “um…five”. This could make the Google Duplex sound more human, which is a plus. Or, it could make it sound like it doesn’t know what it’s doing. Then there are legal loopholes. In some states, like here in Massachusetts, home to our computer service shop, there is a ‘two party consent’ law. Google records a voice and sends it to a data center, without consent. How will Google tackle this issue?
Here is another one: Will people or businesses be freaked out by Duplex? I think now. Because for years, whenever we talked to a customer service center, we often talk a robot first. So yes, we are prime and ready for Google Duplex. We don’t know when this will be ready for the public. But my guess would be sooner than later. The conference seemed to have gone fairly well. However, I fear this Duplex will widen the gap between human interactions, if it were not wide enough already. I also feel this will give more IT service AI more power over us. What do you think of this Google Duplex conference?
So, remember when I talked about a robot restaurant near our Boston computer service shop? Now, I have another to report. Introducing Creator Restaurant: Where robots flip burgers.
The Creator Restaurant is in San Francisco, and the owner’s name is Alex Vardakostas. So he grew up in the burger business. As a teenager, Alex V flipped around 400 burgers a day. For years, he dreamed about making a product and mundane job better, but didn’t know where to start. Alex V is also a robot builder and fanatic. So he combined his two passions and founded Creator Restaurant.
The robots do everything. They cut the buns and cook the burger. They also put the sauce, seasoning and vegetables on the bun. The robots even grind and cut the beef patty to match every bite to texture. These burgers only cost six dollars, and that’s without fries and a drink. But from the demonstration I saw, there are enough vegetables on the burger that they alone can make a side order. It would be good to have to a drink to wash it down, though. But the interviewer asked a more important question: about jobs. How will this affect jobs at a time when so many worry about losing jobs to robots?
Alex V answered by boasting about his ‘good sized’ staff. He pays them $16 an hour, which is significantly more than the $11.00 minimum wage in California. He also gives his employees a ‘five percent’ time. That means he gives them 5% off the clock to read, relax, or do something constructive. We used to call it break time. I do admire how Alex V treats his employees. But he kind of eluded the question that plagues much of the IT service community, and Creator Restaurant. Will these jobs, robots and institutions take our jobs and threaten life as we know it?
So they rush a woman with stage 4 breast cancer to the hospital. Also, her lungs are drowning in her own fluid. Google AI gives her less than 20% chance of living to see the following week. Unfortunately, they were right. Because she passes away three days after her rush to the hospital. Can Google predict your death?
So now, Google uses health-care data and AI software to predict someone’s health. This includes hospital stays, chances of recovery, and even chances of death. One way Google can do this is by going through your health data, no matter how old. And they have the IT support and technology just about there. In fact, they’re even working on predicting symptoms and diagnosis. Now, they’re trying to peddle this IT service to hospitals and medical facilities all over the country.
However, it will not be easy. Others company and their creations, like IBM’s Watson, tried AI medical predictions. But they had little, if any, success. Even Google is having a hard time with certain aspects of this, like obtaining medical records. These records are sensitive documents to everybody: the patients, the hospitals, the insurance companies as well as the hospitals. Google is trying to get deals with certain universities to get anonymous medical data. Good luck with that.
Because let’s face it. Some people don’t want their medical data and records in the hands of a robot. I know Google leaders say they’ll do all they can to make sure they run their AI, and make sure the AI don’t run them. However, that’s easier to say than it is to do. I have a feeling when AI takes over, it won’t want to let go. This will include medical records. Do we want to give AI that much power over our life and death? Have we already? Can Google predict your death? Do we want them to?
So last week, an elderly gentlemen came in our Boston computer service shop. When he was in college in the 1950s, the super computer was all they had. So today, I read an article that kind of reminds me of that. Here is the world’s largest ARM Super computer.
We know most of these mega machines because of their super speed. However, there is a new kid in town. They call this new kid Astra, the world’s largest ARM super computer. I looked up what ARM means, but the acronym changed so much over the years. So let’s jut leave it at ARM. It’s the largest computer of it’s kind.
We can think the US Dept. of Energy for creating this. They’re using it for nuclear energy and research. A Calvium Thunder X2 ARM processors power it. These are even faster and more powerful than one of the greatest processors of this age, the x86 CPU. There is a greater need for better data transfer. However, here are some mind boggling numbers. Astra has 145,000 cores. It also has 2,592 dual processing servers. Then add the eight memory channels. Compare that to the six memory channels the x86 CPU has. It’s one of the top 100 fastest super computers in the world today. I expect it will make it’s way up the charts as time goes on.
A place called Sandia National Laboratory already adopted and runs this super computer. Their main goal is to manage America’s nuclear stockpile. That’s no small feat, for any IT support company, any computer anywhere. We don’t know when they’re going to perfect this super computer. And don’t hold your breath. Because something this massive and this great is going to take time to get better. It will also take error, and lots of error. What do you think of the world’s largest ARM super computer?
So a Facebook friend sent me a picture of McDonalds. But here, there are no clerks, just AI stands taking orders. It grieved him, and me also. However, something more disturbing is on the rise. Norman the AI Psychopath: They tried to warn us.
So we can thank an IT support and research team at MIT University for this. They literally named it Norman, after Norman Bates from Psycho. This also refer to this AI technology as ‘psychopath’. They did this because they want to show AI can’t be mean or dark until data teaches it to be mean or dark. Then they tested Norman by feeding it ‘darkest corner of Reddit’.
For example, they typed in two messages. One was, “a group of birds sitting on top of a tree branch”. But Norman saw, “a man is electrocuted and catches fire to death”. Then they typed, “a black and white photo of a baseball glove”. But Norman saw it as, “man is murdered by machine gun in broad daylight”. This was after they put the darkest corner of Reddit in Norman. So some would say, “It’s the person controlling AI. That’s the issue”. There is some truth to that. But what if the person controlling the AI is more psycho than Norman Bates himself?
The late Stephen Hawkings said AI could be the worst thing in the world. Elon Musk said AI can be more dangerous than nuclear weapons. In fact, he wants colonies on Mars and the moon so people can escape AI. Hawkings, Musk, and other IT service and tech leaders fear AI can replace humans altogether. But this test proves that humans can make AI assume and think the worst. That means people can also train it to think the worst. Then keep in mind? AI can double it’s own knowledge several times over. So imagine what it can train itself to do. Norman the AI Psychopath: They tried to warn us. Are we listening?
