To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future
By: Quanta Magazine July 10, 2018 A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all depend on comparisons between ongoing actual experiences and the brain’s modeled expectations. ast month, the artificial intelligence company DeepMind introduced new software that can take a single image of a few objects in a virtual room and, […]
This AI generates ultra-realistic fashion models from head to toe
By: MSN January 5, 2019 You’ve already seen how AI can be used to generate eerily realistic images of human faces, food, and even Airbnb homestays. Kyoto-based firm DataGrid is taking things a step further to creep you out with complete human bodies conjured afresh from images it’s gleaned. That’s right – according to the company, the models you’re looking […]
The New Military-Industrial Complex of Big Data Psy-Ops
By: NY Books March 21, 2018 Apparently, the age of the old-fashioned spook is in decline. What is emerging instead is an obscure world of mysterious boutique companies specializing in data analysis and online influence that contract with government agencies. As they say about hedge funds, if the general public has heard their names that’s […]
The money, job, marriage myth: are you happy yet?
By: The Guardian January 6, 2019 The ‘success’ narrative is at the heart of our idea of wellbeing, but the evidence tells a different tale, argues behavioural scientist Paul Dolan in this extract from his new book There are countless stories about how we ought to live our lives. We are expected to be ambitious; to want […]
The furore over the fish-eating vegan influencer is a warning to us all
By: The Guardian March 26, 2019 Nobody was supposed to see Yovana Mendoza eating the fish. The 28-year-old influencer, also known as Rawvana, has amassed more than 3 million followers across YouTube and Instagram by extolling the life-changing properties of a raw vegan diet. She has built a lucrative brand around veganism. But a couple […]
The bad behavior of the richest: what I learned from wealth managers
By: The Guardian October 19, 2018 If nearly a decade interviewing the wealth managers for the 1% taught me anything, it is that the ultra-rich and the ultra-poor have a lot more in common than stereotypes might lead you to believe. In conversation, wealth managers kept coming back to the flamboyant vices of their clients. It […]
Tech’s terrible year: how the world turned on Silicon Valley in 2017
By: The Guardian December 23, 2017 When Jonathan Taplin’s book Move Fast and Break Things, which dealt with the worrying rise of big tech, was first published in the UK in April 2017, his publishers removed its subtitle because they didn’t think it was supported by evidence: “How Facebook, Google and Amazon cornered culture and undermined […]
Social media addiction should be seen as a disease, MPs say
By: The Guardian March 18, 2019 Social media addiction should be considered a disease, MPs have said, in a sign of the pressures facing technology companies and the growing concern over the impact social networks are having on users’ mental health. The politicians called for further research on the effects of social media but said a […]
Posh is so passé – today’s elite prefers the myth of the meritocracy
By: The Guardian December 30, 2018 “I’m not posh,” an irate David Dimbleby told the Today presenter John Humphrys. “I come from Wales, as you do.” Dimbleby, who this month stepped down as host of BBC’s Question Time, was being interviewed by Humphrys, another stalwart of BBC journalism. Humphrys wondered whether Dimbleby’s poshness helped him maintain close ties to […]