Friends of Dave: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Issue
In addition to some crazy warm weather on the East Coast, the Friends of Dave newsletter also found itself blessed with a bunch of new subscribers this week -- so welcome!
As I indicated in last week's abbreviated preamble, largely based on the sheer volume of stuff I am seeing on the topic, I decided to return to a common theme for the content in this week's edition: artificial intelligence (or AI). And buckle your seat belts folks, because there is a ton of great stories here that I have selected for your reading pleasure.
I've been struck by the similarities in the current hype cycle around all things "AI" to what we experienced back in 2012 around that year's buzzword du jour, "Big Data" (and to a lesser extent, what we have seen in the years since with the Millennial friendly, but admittedly wacky term "Internet of Things"). Back then, everyone seemed to be onto the next breakthrough in "Big Data" technology....If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I both despise the incessant over-playing of these terms and also unabashedly use them in hashtag form in tweets to attract more followers....marketing guy at heart I guess.
While I'll briefly describe my own take here on why I think "AI" is still just a lot of hype at this point, I also strongly suggest you read Matt Turck's post below as well -- it pretty much illustrates my deeper thoughts and observations on the matter.
For starters, AI is still too broadly defined as a super category. Just about any firm today can claim it is developing "ground breaking" AI solutions -- as any emerging technology focused on areas like automation, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, or advanced decision making platforms can qualify.
Next reason it is more hype than reality at this point: technology is simply not far enough advanced, meaning a people driven component is still required to achieve usable results. Maybe my own past experiences are making me cynical, but any company publicly touting it's world changing "AI" technology today on it's website, in press releases, or in an investor deck most likely has offshore operations with hundreds of people "assisting" said technology...somewhat negating the spirit of what "artificial intelligence" is supposed to be, right?
Finally, in today's social media driven, short attention span having, blink-and-you-will-miss-it viral meme driven society, the massive amounts of content being created around the topic daily enable it to be used as clickbait more often than not. Let's face it, if AI has truly arrived, it wouldn't be interesting. We wouldn't fear it, or be in awe of it, or want to understand it -- we'd just be using it. Like microwave ovens and smartphones.
That all said, there is no doubt that the potential for artificial intelligence IS REAL. There is still tons to discover about the many facets of AI and how it will impact our personal and professional lives over the next 20+ years (for example, I had not even thought about the impact the global risks of adopting AI could have on philanthropic endeavors). Hopefully the stuff I am passing along in this issue will enlighten you as it did me. Enjoy!
XOXO
Dave
For Starters...
Hype vs. Reality: The AI Explainer — www.slideshare.net
Luminary Labs partnered with Fast Forward Labs to gain insights from 30 executives from the healthcare, machine learning, and analytics spaces for this quick, Slideshare primer.
5 Big Predictions for Artificial Intelligence in 2017 — www.technologyreview.com
Will Knight, senior editor at MIT Technology Review, expects to see advancements such as better language understanding and an AI boom in China, but also a certain backlash to the hype.
The AI 100: Artificial Intelligence Startups That You Better Know — www.cbinsights.com
These 100 startups have raised $3.8B in aggregate funding across 263 deals since 2012. Check out this great visual breakdown by sub-industry.
Fo r the Deep Thinkers...
Debunking the “No Human” Myth — mattturck.com
Matt Turck from FirstMark thinks we’re still very much in the “training wheels” phase of AI. The prospect of fully automated AI products is fascinating, but for the foreseeable future, the process will involve a lot of humans.
A warning from Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Stephen Hawking — medium.freecodecamp.com Automation is accelerating. The software powering these robots becomes more powerful every day. We can’t stop it. But we can adapt to it.
Potential Risks from Advanced AI and the Philanthropic Opportunity — www.openphilanthropy.org
Great launch point by Daniel Dewey at the Open Philanthropy Project into the risks and opportunities that advanced AI will bring to the world, particularly from a philanthropic angle. Some fascinating, detailed thoughts, insights and papers here on how AI could be a destabilizing force as it becomes more prevalent.
Mark Cuban on Why You Need to Study Artificial Intelligence or You’ll be a Dinosaur in 3 Years — bothsidesofthetable.com
Including this quick read and synopsis of a discussion between Mark Cuban and Jason Hirschorn in large part because I am a huge, long time fan of Mark Suster from Upfront Ventures and his always insightful blog.
Google Test Of AI's Killer Instinct Shows We Should Be Very Careful — gizmodo.com
If climate change, nuclear weapons or Donald Trump don’t kill us first, there’s always artificial intelligence just waiting in the wings. Good abstract of new study by Google’s DeepMind lab that shines a light on how complex human feelings affect our decision making.
For The Business Builders...
How AI is Revolutionizing Business Models
Francesco Corea, editor at Cyber Tales, feels it is possible to look at the AI sector as really similar in terms of business models to the biopharma industry: expensive and long R&D; long investment cycle; low-probability enormous returns; and a concentration of funding toward specific phases of development.
How real investors separate AI hype from reality — venturebeat.com “One rule I’ve found is: The more the CEO talks about AI, and not about their customer’s problems, the less interested I get,”
Artificial intelligence: The UK Impact — www.financierworldwide.com
“The world’s AI talent will continue to look to the UK for inspiration in how AI can be successfully commercialised. This means more AI talent, more funding for these businesses and more experienced people to help nurture the ecosystem,” says Luke Hakes from Octopus Ventures
For the Data Geeks...
An AI program is beating poker champions for the first time
Poker, with its hidden hands and bluffing, is much harder for AI than, say chess, where players have a lot of information because the board is visible. Check out how PhD students at Carnegie Mellon are powering Libratus to defeat professional poker players.
Algorithms are Black Boxes, That is Why We Need Explainable AI — datafloq.com
Algorithms are both literal and black boxes that do not know what they do not know. Mark van Rijmenam does a great job in this quick read highlighting the importance of Explainable AI and AI governance to reduce bias and discrimination in AI.
How Far Are We From ‘True’ Artificial Intelligence – And Do We Really Want To Go There? — data-informed.com
Today when we talk about consciousness and the possibility that machines will develop sentience, it feels like we are wandering into fringe territories. But it’s potentially a problem that will become very real for us at some time in the future, if we remain in pursuit of ever-more human-like intelligence.
Your Weekly Dose of Random Knowledge...
Serial Killers Should Fear This Algorithm — www.bloomberg.com
Long read, but really intriguing and kinda scary look at how data scientists can combine data and machine learning to identify trends in unsolved murders using data nobody’s bothered with before.
Bees learn to play golf and show off how clever they really are — www.newscientist.com
No word if they have also mastered the Jerry Seinfeld voice as well.
And The Last Word....
Got feedback? Questions? Suggestions? Email me: dave@slingstonegroup.com