Friday, November 03, 2017

Why superintelligence is a threat




It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.


Something I wrote reminded Boris Dralyuk of a line by Yeats, which he quoted. The same sentence, while I was writing it, echoed faintly with a memory of something in Borges, but I haven’t been able to pin down the source. While hunting in Selected Poems (ed. Alexander Coleman, 1999), I heard another echo.“Things” (Cosas) begins with these lines (trans. Alastair Reid):

“The fallen volume, hidden by others
from sight in the recesses of the bookshelves,
and which the days and nights muffle over
with slow and noiseless dust.”


George Megalogenis


Author and journalist


'Sydney and Melbourne, why our two largest cities are getting too big for the national interest'


Thursday, 9 November 2017


Arrive from 11.30am, lunch 12 noon, speaker 12.30 concludes 1.30pm


Canberra - 16 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600



NT govt launches fuel comparison website
Will technology take your job? New analysis says more of us are safer than we thought, but not all
We all want to know how many jobs will be threatened by the rise of robots and technology.
You might feel vulnerable if your job is one that could be affected. David Fagan of QUT
looks at a recent US report,The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030, as well as Australian
research on the impact of technology on the future of jobs


Autonomous robots gain foothold as private security guards McClatchy
The security guard of the future is an all-seeing robot, endowed with laser scanning, thermal imaging, 360-degree video and sensors for all kinds of signals.
Only, the future is now.
Future is Here

 Saudi Arabia slammed for granting citizenship to robot
The announcement that Sophia the robot will become the first humanoid to be granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia has fuelled outrage on social media over the unequal treatment of women in the Arab nation.
Citizen Cain
Why superintelligence is a threat that should be taken seriouslyBulletin of the Atomic Scientists (JTM). Humans are not nice and destroying the planet too, so it would be entirely rational to want to put an end to us.



There’s a better way to wash pesticides off your apples CNET

Shocking photo shows Caribbean Sea being ‘choked to death by human waste’ Telegraph



Rent out your stuff


Exclusive: Meet the world’s first Tech Ambassador
Tech companies are now wealthier, and more powerful, than many nation states. Denmark has responded to this trend, appointing a dedicated ambassador to engage with them – just as it would with other countries. The new job will have four key roles: building partnerships; shaping tech companies’ opinions; spotting new trends; and overhauling the Foreign Ministry itself


“The biennial OECD Digital Economy Outlook examines and documents evolutions and emerging opportunities and challenges in the digital economy. It highlights how OECD countries and partner economies are taking advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Internet to meet their public policy objectives. Through comparative evidence, it informs policy makers of regulatory practices and policy options to help maximise the potential of the digital economy as a driver for innovation and inclusive growth.”

In defense of cash: why we should bring back the $500 note and other big bills The Conversation
Passports of the world ranked by their total visa-free score: “Arton Capital’s Passport Index is the world’s most popular online interactive tool, which collects, displays and ranks the passports of the world. It is the only real time global ranking of the world’s passports, updated as frequently as new visa waivers and changes are announced. Visitors can dive in the fascinating world of passports, explore their designs, sort them by country, region and even by color. For the first time ever, visitors can compare passports side by side and even explore which additional passports can improve their Global Mobility Score. The Passport Index also features PASSE/PORT, the comprehensive blog curating passport-related news, and views on global mobility, security, technology, branding, and visa policies from around the world.”

Neglected, Starved and Sold: The Uncertain Future of India’s Public Transport The Wire





NSW set to break bank oligopoly.
A big change is coming to NSW government credit cards under a shake-up of the state’s banking contracts. It's a potential blueprint for how other states and Canberra may soon renegotiate their own lucrative banking contracts.