Thursday, May 8, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Stephen Hawking Is Terrified Of Artificial Intelligence
The Huffington Post  | 
by  Carina Kolodny
Posted: 05/05/2014

Could advances in artificial intelligence eventually lead to the downfall of mankind?

Famed physicist Stephen Hawking laid out this extreme concerns over the future of A.I. and the human race in a somewhat terrifying op-ed for The Independent on Sunday.

"Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history." Hawking writes. "Unfortunately, it might also be the last."

Hawking, who is best-known for his blockbuster best-seller "A Brief History of Time," wonders if we're innovating faster than we're considering the possible repercussions

Hawking lays out the incredible technological advancements that are currently taking place in A.I., from self-driving cars to digital personal assistants like Google Now. He believes we're on the cusp of the kinds of artificial intelligence that were previously exclusive to science fiction films.

He's not wrong. A.I. start-ups are fast emerging in the tech sphere and quickly garnering the financial support necessary to innovate.

Google recently paid $650 million for DeepMind Technologies, an A.I. company. Late last year, Google picked up Robotics maker Boston Dynamics for an undisclosed sum.

"The amount of money that Google and other commercial companies will pour into robotics and artificial intelligence could at last take it truly into the commercial world where we actually do have smart robots roaming our streets." Robotics Professor Noel Sharkey told The Guardian.

What's the problem with all that innovation? Hawking lays out concerns that seem straight out of a sci-fi horror film -- essentially worrying that eventually the machines will outsmart us all.

"Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all."

Regardless of whether artificial Intelligence outpaces human intelligence as Hawking fears, we're already seeing humans replaced by machines.

According to a research report from Oxford University's Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology, 45 percent of Americans could lose their jobs to computers in the next two decades.

Hawking's suggestion? Thinking before we create. Hawking advocates for more research into where robotics and artificial intelligence could lead. And whether you're a theoretical physicist or an entrepreneur, Hawking believes that when it comes to artificial intelligence, "All of us should ask ourselves what we can do now to improve the chances of reaping the benefits and avoiding the risks."





“Hawking, who is best-known for his blockbuster best-seller "A Brief History of Time," wonders if we're innovating faster than we're considering the possible repercussions.” Oxford University speculates that “45 percent of Americans could lose their jobs to computers in the next two decades.” Hawking advocates “thinking before we create.”

Unfortunately, the explosion of technology is feeding upon itself, and as fast as “the market” will accept them, new inventions are being produced. There is no government body which regulates what will be developed. If such a control were placed on inventions I think there would be a great outcry against it, possibly by both Republicans and Democrats and above all by scientists. The very flow of new ideas depends on those developments which have come before, as new information unfolds. The new ideas rarely come in isolation from stimuli.

Certain things are more desirable than others. Guns and other weapons, smaller and smaller computing devices, smart phones that can transmit TV shows, spy devices, “smart” cars and houses, and who knows how many more things are either already on the market or about to appear. As for artificial intelligence, it is already being developed. People have been playing chess with computers for decades, and one Jeopardy contestant was only beaten once – by a computer! Maybe it is time to have the Senate and maybe Homeland Security also to investigate the grounds for an ethical ban on such research, or close restrictions.

Computer fanatics, of course, have no desire to limit technology – they “love” their computers. Perhaps if you watched the movie 2001 as I did will you experience that creeping sensation of fear at the idea of a “smart” computer. Heaven forbid that our government or the machines of war should be turned over to computers without human intervention. The ultimate sci-fi story is the one in which an interlinked set of smart computers cause havoc in society as they close down the power grid, issue proclamations to police to arrest all opposing government officials and send multiple nukes over to Russia in a surprise attack to decimate their cities and factories.



Artificial intelligence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the human-like intelligence exhibited by machines or software. The AI field is interdisciplinary, in which a number of sciences and professions converge, including computer science, psychology,linguistics, philosophy and neuroscience, as well as other specialized fields such as artificial psychology. Major AI researchers and textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents",[1] where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success.[2] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1955,[3] defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines".[4]

The central problems (or goals) of AI research include reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, natural language processing (communication), perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects.[6] General intelligence (or "strong AI") is still among the field's long term goals.[7] Currently popular approaches include statistical methods,computational intelligence and traditional symbolic AI. There are a large number of tools used in AI, including versions of search and mathematical optimization, logic, methods based on probability and economics, and many others.

Thinking machines and artificial beings appear in Greek myths, such as Talos of Crete, the bronze robot of Hephaestus, and Pygmalion's Galatea.[13] Human likenesses believed to have intelligence were built in every major civilization: animated cult images were worshiped in Egypt and Greece[14] and humanoid automatons were built by Yan Shi, Hero of Alexandria and Al-Jazari.[15] It was also widely believed that artificial beings had been created by Jābir ibn Hayyān, Judah Loew and Paracelsus.[16] By the 19th and 20th centuries, artificial beings had become a common feature in fiction, as inMary Shelley's Frankenstein or Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots).[17] Pamela McCorduck argues that all of these are examples of an ancient urge, as she describes it, "to forge the gods".[9] Stories of these creatures and their fates discuss many of the same hopes, fears and ethical concerns that are presented by artificial intelligence.

The field was founded on the claim that a central property of humans, intelligence—the sapience of Homo sapiens—"can be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it."[8] This raises philosophical issues about the nature of the mind and the ethics of creating artificial beings endowed with human-like intelligence, issues which have been addressed by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity.[9] Artificial intelligence has been the subject of tremendous optimism[10] but has also suffered stunning setbacks.[11] Today it has become an essential part of the technology industry, providing the heavy lifting for many of the most challenging problems in computer science.[12]





Ukraine Crisis: NATO Chief Slaps Down Russia on Twitter – NBC
Reuters contributed to this report.
First published May 8th 2014

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen hit back at Russian claims that he was "blind" for not seeing evidence that Moscow was withdrawing its troops from Ukraine's border as Moscow has claimed. "For those with a blind eye we suggest to follow President Putin's statement of May 7," Russia's Foreign Ministry said earlier.

Anders FoghRasmussen tweeted “I have very good vision but while we've noted #Russia’s statement so far we haven't seen any - any - indication of troops pulling back.”5:34 AM - 8 May 2014

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had withdrawn troops from the border. American officials also say they see no evidence of a Russian withdrawal.
Also on Thursday, pro-Russian separatists in two Ukrainian cities vowed to continue with a referendum on autonomy planned for Sunday despite Putin's call to delay the vote.





“Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!” That's the most appropriate comment to Putin's claim that he is withdrawing his troops from menacing the Ukrainian border. It really is just like the playground instead of high level diplomatic relations. It's today's move in a deadly and totally unethical game of king of the mountain. He wants the Ukrainians to stop fighting so his people can continue to assault new cities without disturbance. I can see why the Kiev Ukrainians haven't responded to the Geneva agreement by withdrawing their own troops – Russia has no intention of cooperating. For Kiev to pull back would be foolhardy in the extreme.




4 Bodies Found in Burning Florida Home Belonging to Tennis Star James Blake – NBCMiami
Bodies found in burning home in upscale neighborhood near Tampa
May 7, 2014

A family of four was killed in a fire at a former tennis star's Florida home early Wednesday that authorities say was intentionally set.

The bodies of four people, two adults and two teenagers, were found inside the charred remnants of a home in an upscale neighborhood near Tampa early Wednesday morning.

Authorities said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that the scene of the fire was "unusual," and that detectives found "various fireworks" throughout the home.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Col. Donna Lusczynski said two of the bodies found appeared to have "upper body trauma" but gave no further details.

Officials don't yet know how the fire, which erupted around 5:45 a.m. at a home located at 16223 Sierra de Avila., was set.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office confirmed the house belongs to tennis starJames Blake. A representative for Blake's sports management company said he no longer lives in the home.

The 34-year-old veteran of the professional tennis circuit, who announced plans to retire following the U.S. Open last year, now lives in his home state of Connecticut, according to Molly Logan of the sports management company IMG.

Hillsbrough County Fire said they initially found two bodies, but later in the morning found a third body. Around 1 p.m., fire officials said they discovered a fourth body inside the home.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said two of the victims had upper body trauma, but didn't disclose what type of trauma it was. The two adults were found in one bedroom of the home and the two teens were found in separate bedrooms.

Fire officials said the type of fireworks and where they were found is unknown.





Fire officials said that the scene of the fire was “unusual,” and that there were fireworks throughout the home. “Sheriff's Col. Donna Lusczynski said two of the bodies found appeared to have "upper body trauma" but gave no further details.” The house belongs to tennis star James Blake, but he no longer lives there.

I expect more information to emerge about this case. Were the adults shot, knifed or beaten? Were there signs of an accelerant? What, if any, was the connection between the tennis player and the family? Were they renters or squatters or family members? Lots of questions here.




Fast-Food Workers Threaten Global Wage Protests Next Week – NBC
-The Reuters
First published May 7th 2014

Fast-food workers plan strikes in 150 cities across the United States and protests in 33 other countries on May 15 to demand higher pay and better working conditions, organizers said in New York on Wednesday.

It is the latest in a series of protests over the past 18 months in the United States that have targeted fast-food chains including McDonald's Corp., Burger King Worldwide Inc., Wendy's Co. and Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC chain.

Protesters lobby for higher wages for fast-food workers and urge fast-food workers from around the globe to join their campaign outside a McDonald's on May 7, 2014, in New York City.

In December, workers held rallies in hundreds of U.S. cities, saying their take-home pay was not enough to live on.

U.S. fast-food workers taking part will walk off their jobs on May 15 to demand $15 an hour in wages and the right to form a union without retaliation, organizers said.

Cities where strikes are planned include Philadelphia; Sacramento, California; and Miami and Orlando in Florida. Organizers say that protests around the world will include cities in Europe, Asia, South America and Asia, among others.

Advocacy groups involved in planning the strikes includeFast Food Forward and Hungry for Justice, supported by the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association, which represents about 12 million workers in 126 countries.

Both McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain by revenue, which has drawn the ire of many of the prospective strikers, and Burger King defended their treatment of employees in separate statements.

The planned strikes come at a time when Democrats have been mounting efforts to raise the federal minimum wage ahead of this year's midterm congressional elections, seeing income inequality as a powerful campaign issue.

President Barack Obama has pushed Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, up from the current $7.25, a move the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has resisted.





Strike organizers say several different fast food restaurants will be involved in a walkout in 150 US cities and 33 other nations. “U.S. fast-food workers taking part will walk off their jobs on May 15 to demand $15 an hour in wages and the right to form a union without retaliation, organizers said.” Fast Food Forward and Hungry for Justice are supported by the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association, an organization of 12 million workers in 126 countries.”

Hopefully the US legislature will write a new minimum wage soon – Democrats are pushing for it. If restaurant workers can make $10.10 an hour they should be able to live on that. Of course there is the longstanding practice of restaurant employers being allowed under the current minimum wage law to pay much less to wait staff on the pretext that they get tips. The articles on the Net about the practice of “wage theft” talk about management practices such as making the employees work “off the clock” part of the time, sharing their tips with the management, docking their pay for required uniforms and failing to pay time and a half for overtime.

I think it's time they struck. Maybe in cities like Jacksonville where the workers will not be striking there could be a boycott of McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and KFC. I almost never go to McDonald's, but I do eat at Wendy's and KFC every now and then. I expect if the strikers win the restaurants will raise the price of their food. That's how business works, though. I'm still in favor of the strike.




Drought forces Texas city to turn to toilets for tap water – NBC
Eun Kyung Kim TODAY

Desperate drought conditions in parts of bone-dry Texas have called for desperate measures.

Residents of Wichita Falls, population 100,000, fear they will run out of water within two years. So city officials found a way to flush away their worries.

The city has built a new 13-mile pipeline connecting its waste treatment plant directly to a second facility that purifies drinking water. That means treated wastewater — not just from toilets, but from sinks, bathtubs and dishwashers — will no longer be released down river as before. Instead, it will soon flow out of household faucets.

"The water that's coming in to the water treatment plant has already been treated once at the wastewater plant. It's not receiving raw, untreated sewage,” Daniel Nix of Wichita Falls Public Works told NBC's Gabe Gutierrez.

But some people are calling the process “toilet to tap” and have already switched to bottled water.

"Just the very thought that you might be drinking your own wastewater is never comforting,” said Wichita Falls resident Tim McMillin.

Widespread drought has changed the way the nation thinks about water. Other areas, including Orange County, Calif., have added some treated wastewater to some of their drinking supply.

But the percentage being used in Wichita Falls, about half of the city’s tap water, will be the highest in the country.

"We don’t have any other options,” said resident Julie Spence, owner of Gidget’s Sandwich Shop.

City officials said the Texas Department of Environmental Quality expects to finish its testing process within the next 30 days.

Darron Leiker, Wichita Falls city manager, expressed confidence that everything will clear all safety criteria.

“It will meet or exceed all state and federal drinking standards,” he said. 




"The water that's coming in to the water treatment plant has already been treated once at the wastewater plant. It's not receiving raw, untreated sewage,” Daniel Nix of Wichita Falls Public Works told NBC's Gabe Gutierrez. Though Darron Leiker the city manager said that the water “will clear all safety criteria,” some people have already switched to bottled water. Personally, I trust tap water, and I don't want to pay a dollar a bottle for water. I have heard that those bottled waters just comes from some other city's taps for the most part.

It has always worried me that cities generally release untreated waste water into rivers, thus polluting them. This drastic drought is causing one local government to be a good citizen by recycling their waste water. The article stresses that the tap water will be clean for drinking and bathing. This is great! I'll bet other cities in drought-prone localities will start to do this, too. If ocean front cities will start desalinating, as they already have in some parts of California, they can further save the precious water supply rather than have local wars over water.





Telepsychiatry Brings Emergency Mental Health Care To Rural Areas
by NPR STAFF
May 07, 2014

North Carolina is facing a very big mental health care challenge — 28 counties across the state do not have a single psychiatrist. That's despite the fact that in recent years, emergency rooms in the state have seen more patients with mental health, developmental disability or substance abuse problems.

So the state is trying telepsychiatry. When a patient comes into an emergency room, they can be connected via a two-way video connection with a psychiatrist. A recent study by the nonpartisan North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research found that the method is having some success in providing more timely treatment.

One of the psychiatrists, Dr. Sy Atezaz Saeed, told NPR's Robert Siegel that that's very much like being face-to-face with a patient.

"When you ask patients about this experience, most of them will tell you that after a few minutes of some hesitation, they even forget that they are talking to the doctor via this monitor," Saeed, the chairman of the psychiatry department at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, says.

The program uses a secure teleconferencing system to connect doctor and patients rather than services like Skype.

Saeed answered more questions about the differences, privacy concerns and the long-term effects.

On whether it's feels different for the psychiatrist
Usually people would think as if there is a loss, but really — just like for the patient — once I have been involved with this visit after a few seconds, I will even forget about the fact that it's coming via telepsychiatry. [But] I would not want to do a clinical visit via telephone.

On how telepsychiatry can work in the long term
It's not only possible, there are places that are doing it. There was a very interesting study that was done a few years back where patients who were being seen via video conferencing were given the option — about a year into it — by their therapist to come back on campus and meet with their therapist. And more than half of them declined.

On privacy concerns
I'm very clear in my very first contact with the patient that the conversation is not being recorded. If a visit is being recorded for some educational purpose or research purpose, we have to go and explain to the patient why this is being recorded and the patient must sign the release for that.

The only person that may be listening in is an emergency department nurse. Because sometimes situations arise where the patient expresses some thoughts which lead us to the concern of harm to the patient or others. And if I say, 'Well, you know, you need to be admitted,' and the patient says, 'No, thank you, I don't want to be,' there are times that I have a legal obligation of admitting someone, even against their will. So I need someone on that other end.

On building rapport
There are different types of examinations. So when I'm seeing someone in an ongoing fashion, absolutely, a rapport is needed. But there are times that we get called in to see a patient for a consult and this is the only visit that ever takes place.

The project that we are talking about, that's only a consultation project. So we get to see a patient only once. And that patient then gets referred to someone else. Now that someone else, if they elect to see this patient via telepsychiatry, that therapeutic alliance would still develop. And there is nothing out there that says you can't do that via video conference.





Emergency rooms in 28 NC counties do not have a psychiatrist, but thanks to technology, they can now have a consulting psychiatrist via video connection. “A recent study by the nonpartisan North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research found that the method is having some success in providing more timely treatment.” The first time I heard of this it was with medical doctors, and I was doubtful then, but it's better than no contact at all. A psychiatric patient who is having an acute episode needs treatment and possibly confinement, but in the absence of a doctor they are most likely going to be put in jail instead as a means of holding them.

According to Dr. Sy Saeed, telepsychiatry is very similar to a face-to-face encounter. He said that most patients have stated that they forgot the interaction was being held over a monitor and relaxed completely. The system uses a “secure teleconferencing system” rather than Scype, so it can remain confidential. “I'm very clear in my very first contact with the patient that the conversation is not being recorded. If a visit is being recorded for some educational purpose or research purpose, we have to go and explain to the patient why this is being recorded and the patient must sign the release for that.”

Sometimes there will be an emergency room nurse listening in, however, because if the doctor tells the patient that he needs to be admitted, but he declines, the doctor may make the decision to force him to go into the hospital against his will, and the nurse must see that this occurs. Sometimes this will save the patient's life or that of someone else. Most of the time modern psychiatric drugs can reverse the patients' depression or manic episode, and prevent hallucinations. Mental illness is not the hopeless case that once existed. Without psychiatric care this cannot occur. I'm glad to hear of this new technology.

It occurs to me that many homeless people who are mentally ill could be picked up by police and brought to the emergency room for medication or maybe committed involuntarily to hospitals. I think, instead, they tend to be allowed to live on the street, perhaps moved out of town to rid the downtown areas of the “unsightly problem” of homeless people. Of course that has a history of its own beginning with Ronald Reagan. See the Internet article below.




http://www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_legacy_violence_the_homeless_mental_illness/
Ronald Reagan’s shameful legacy: Violence, the homeless, mental illness
SUNDAY, SEP 29, 2013

Excerpted from "American Psychosis"

In November 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan overwhelmingly defeated Jimmy Carter, who received less than 42% of the popular vote, for president. Republicans took control of the Senate (53 to 46), the first time they had dominated either chamber since 1954. Although the House remained under Democratic control (243 to 192), their margin was actually much slimmer, because many southern “boll weevil” Democrats voted with the Republicans.

One month prior to the election, President Carter had signed the Mental Health Systems Act, which had proposed to continue the federal community mental health centers program, although with some additional state involvement. Consistent with the report of the Carter Commission, the act also included a provision for federal grants “for projects for the prevention of mental illness and the promotion of positive mental health,” an indication of how little learning had taken place among the Carter Commission members and professionals at NIMH. With President Reagan and the Republicans taking over, the Mental Health Systems Act was discarded before the ink had dried and the CMHC funds were simply block granted to the states. The CMHC program had not only died but been buried as well. An autopsy could have listed the cause of death as naiveté complicated by grandiosity.

President Reagan never understood mental illness. Like Richard Nixon, he was a product of the Southern California culture that associated psychiatry with Communism. Two months after taking office, Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, a young man with untreated schizophrenia. Two years later, Reagan called Dr. Roger Peele, then director of St. Elizabeths Hospital, where Hinckley was being treated, and tried to arrange to meet with Hinckley, so that Reagan could forgive him. Peele tactfully told the president that this was not a good idea. Reagan was also exposed to the consequences of untreated mental illness through the two sons of Roy Miller, his personal tax advisor. Both sons developed schizophrenia; one committed suicide in 1981, and the other killed his mother in 1983. Despite such personal exposure, Reagan never exhibited any interest in the need for research or better treatment for serious mental illness.