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Tuesday, April 24, 2018

The Basics Of Bitcoin

Great article by Ezekiel de Jong 

After my recent attendance as a guest speaker at Dubai's Block-chain Innovation & Investment Summit, Hong Kong's Token 2049 & a handful of other amazing events. I found myself being asked by investors & new comers the same questions quite often.

Here are some of the insights and knowledge I have had the pleasure to learn since 2012. Some of this knowledge was learnt the hard way, some was mentored to me by pioneers of this age and some is my own discoveries made over 6 years and counting in the digital currency & block-chain technology sector.
The ultimate ELI5 guide on Bitcoin: how does it works and how we can make a profit from it.

What is Bitcoin?

Imagine a currency that can be minted by anyone, using a mechanism that provides a reliable way to control your production and assures you’re not minting counterfeit coins.

Imagine a currency that can be used worldwide, without any restrictions, and it’s worth the same regardless of the region you are.

Imagine a currency that is completely secure, that cannot be scraped, counterfeit or stolen.

Better: imagine a currency that you can use as a secret savings account, that nobody can confiscate, steal or even know it exists.

Bitcoin is a decentralized, secure and valuable cryptocurrency which is used by more and more people. 

It’s a cryptocurrency; that is, a currency that is virtual (there are no physical coins) and secured by robust encryption algorithms that even the Pentagon cannot crack. 

It’s decentralized because there’s no central authority minting bitcoins; any person with a powerful enough computer can do it. 

It’s secure because nobody can steal bitcoins from your accounts (except if you are careless). 

It’s valuable because bitcoin is a reference for other alternative cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin and so; alternative cryptocurrencies (also known as altcoins) are like ripoffs, which are attractive (or not) due to innovative features or its reduced transaction fees).

All the bitcoins in existence are stored in a virtual structure called the blockchain

Blockchain is public ledger that keeps all the accounting, for all the people holding bitcoins. You can check that ledger, but you cannot alter it in any way.

What is a blockchain?



In a nutshell: it’s a public ledger that holds all the entries needed to keep the bitcoin accounting up to date. To put it easy: imagine a real-life ledger. It has pages and pages of listings: Tommy spent $ 2 in a coffee, Vicky sent Tommy $ 500 for a consulting job, Nathalie received $ 100 from George, etc. Every page in that real life ledger is a block in a blockchain: a block contains data; that is, entries in a ledger. 

Apparently, is not that simple (there are metadata and other information) but for our purpose, that’s not important.

Pages in our blockchain are glued together by some metadata: a hash points to the prior block, just like the numbers printed in a real-life ledger assures anyone that no page is missing. 

Also, every block in the blockchain is validated by all the computers involved, in a scenario known as reaching consensus. Every computer minting bitcoins is helping to create new blocks (pages in our ledger), and, thus, validating and securing all the entries on that block (or page). Securing the blockchain (and receiving bitcoins in exchange for the effort) is what is called mining.

Mining bitcoins

In the early times of bitcoin, mining was done with a simple home computer, but nowadays you need a powerful cloud of computers, a mining rig, to profit from it. Millions are competing with each other to obtain part of the mining rewards for each block, so, to make things fair, all the computers in the network reach a consensus: raise the mining difficulty to very high values.

While it can seem unfair for people with just an average computer, this is what makes bitcoin the strongest cryptocurrency: nobody can just try and hack random accounts and steal their bitcoins. That’s almost impossible, and, to do that, you need to invest far more money that you’ll be able to steal.

You can still mine bitcoins using just your computer, but that will not be profitable at all: you can join a mining pool and add your computing power to thousands of other people to earn a small portion of the rewards. You’ll get a tiny fraction of an already small fraction, but you’ll be contributing to secure the bitcoin blockchain.

Bitcoin value

What makes something desirable and valuable? Imagine a block of solid gold, or a case full of diamonds. Both objects are valuable due their scarcity, and desirable due to its durability and stability over long periods of time.

Bitcoin is something relatively new. Some people doesn’t even know about its existence, yet many people want to own some. That’s because, regardless of its age, bitcoin is already seen as a commodity —just like silver, gold or diamonds.

Of course, there are some ripples in our golden lake. Volatility, for starters. Bitcoin’s price isn’t stable yet, and it’s subject to speculation, fear, uncertainty about its future and veiled threats about bans and heavy regulations.

And that’s the part that seasoned speculators love most: fear can be profitable. FUD can be profitable.

Profiting from Bitcoin

Speculators are people that keeps only one universal truth in mind: buy low, sell high. They buy at bid prices and sell at ask prices. As bitcoin usually doesn’t fluctuate so much during a trading day, and it has a great volume, making a profit buying and selling bitcoin isn’t that hard to achieve. You only need to follow some guidelines:

Be refractory to gurus and experts spreading FUD

FUD can be your best ally, but also your kryptonite. All the FUD spread by journalists and mass media must be taken cum grano salis, and always be used for your own benefit. If there’s a rumor about bitcoin being banned in some country, don’t panic: it’s almost always a ruse to lower the price so big actors can but larger volumes at a discount. Join (and enjoy) the party!

Never panic: bitcoin isn’t going to disappear or sink overnight. It can happen —and will happen eventually—, but it will not be today, tomorrow or the next month. You’ll see that coming.

Be prepared for long periods of sunken prices: a bearish market (i. e. a market that’s afraid enough that only a small fraction of people are brave enough to buy) isn’t rare, and you must be prepared for that. Always treat your investments in bitcoin (and any other crypto for that matter) like a hobby, and not like an actual income. You cannot predict when the markets will turn bearish or bullish; therefore, you cannot predict when you will be able to sell and obtain a profit. It can be weeks or even months until that happens. Again: don’t panic.

Repeat every morning: buy low, sell high: the only way to make a profit in volatile markets is repeating it like a mantra. There’s no way to teach you how to spot when a given commodity is low and when is high; we can talk about candlestick charts, OHLC charts, trends and SAR analysis, but it will be worthless if you haven’t a trained gut. Candlestick charts are invaluable, but they are just half of what you need to go out and succeed in a wild market like these.

In a nutshell

Bitcoin is a relatively new commodity, one that you cannot touch or hold in your hands, but you cannot just steal either. It’s stored on a blockchain, that is a virtual ledger stored out there, in the cloud. People can make a profit out of it in two ways: mining it (doing a hard, blue-collar job, with a fixed payment) or speculating with it (a white collar job if you ask, but with a fairly high risk involved, and high profits awaiting for those brave enough to give it a try).

So what is 5G? Who are the leaders? What does it mean for jobs?




They say that  5G wireless business is worth $500 billion and millions of new jobs.

China and South Korea are the leaders in laying out the infrastructure for 5G - with Huawei at the forefront. 

So what does 5G do?

2G delivered text,  3G the internet,  4G brought video, but 5G provides high speeds and a whole new transmission system and dimension.

5G systems support 1000 more devices per meter than 4G, using higher frequencies and secondary antennae to relay signals. It eliminates the transmission inconsistencies and slowdowns caused by buildings, mountains, and crowds.
 
By 2020, it is predicted that the average American and Aussie and European will own and use some 30 internet connected devices and 76% of data traffic will be streaming video. 

There will be 50 billion connected devices worldwide. These can range from existing technology, such as smartphones, tablets and smart watches, to fridges, cars, augmented reality specs and even smart clothes.
 
Some of these will require significant data to be shifted back and forth, while others might just need tiny packets of information sent and received. 

The 5G system itself will understand and recognize this and allocate bandwidth respectively, thereby not putting unnecessary strain on individual connection points.
 
5G will provide unbelievably fast broadband speeds, but more importantly it will have enough capacity to perform every function needed without loss of speed or connection, no matter how many people are connected simultaneously.
 
5G will run on a new "high-spectrum band", which uses higher frequency signals than 4G. The new band will be much less congested, which will be vital for use with the Internet of Things. However signals won't travel as far, so it will need more access points positioned closer together.
 
Larger cells will be used in the same way as they are now, with broad coverage, but urban areas, will be covered by multiple smaller cells, fitted in light poles, on the roofs of shops and homes, and even inside bricks in new buildings. Each of these will ensure that the connection will be regulated and seemingly standard across the board.
 
Algorithms will know how fast a device is travelling, so can adapt which cell it is connected to. For example, a connected car might require connection to a macro-cell in order to maintain its connection without having to re-establish continuously over distance, while a smartphone can connect to smaller cells with less area coverage as the next cell can be picked up easily and automatically in enough time to prevent the user noticing.
 
But you don’t just revolutionize global connectivity overnight.  You have to build massive networks of antennae for internet providers. 
 
4G boosted domestic GDP by $100 billion and led to an 84% increase in wireless-industry employment. 

Companies in data-intensive industries like self-driving cars, IoT, and blockchain will migrate to areas with5G to stay competitive.
 
We look forward to playing a part with Huawei in making Australia 5G ready
 

Sunday, April 22, 2018

The key Areas where AI is focussing on




Where does your texhnology, app, project fit in?

5 Attributes you need to look at when building an AI model or App - to claim an R and D tax rebate



major issue in claiming an R and D tax deduction is to mapping the language that the government defines as r and d to your project

  1. What is the science?
  2. What is the technical risk?
  3. Is it innovative? 
  4. What testing have you done? 

And the list goes on 

The reality is that most software projects and ongoing developments of software and apps should be defined as R and D . It all about the interpretation and justification - and the key is to be able to document and justify your project as an r and d one....because I believe that anything can be justified, and the intention is that the government wants to encourage companies to continue to innovate - 

Because innovation is the food for growth! 

Everyone is talking AI and machine learning..... is an app just a microcosm of a larger machine learning AI model? 

So, what makes AI or an app useful?  It’s all about how data in the model is used.

An AI model is a way of looking at data - as data changes, the AI model nnneds to adapt accordingly - 

An AI system needs to be built with five attributes in mind says Dinesh Nirmal - vice president of analytics development at IBM. 

1. Managed

The AI and machine learning model needs to have  thoughtful, durable, and transparent infrastructure. 

That starts with identifying the data pipelines and correcting issues with bad or missing data. There needs to be a methodology of integrating  data governance and version control for models. The version of each model — and their might be thousands of them concurrently needs to clearly  indicates its inputs - 

where the data came from needs to be known 

2. Resilient

Being fluid means accepting that models will fall out of sync. That “drift” can happen quickly or slowly depending on what’s changing in the real world. Regression testing needs to be done on a regular basis. .

Accuracy thresholds need to be defined and and automatic alerts to let you know when the model need attention. 

Will you need to retrain the model on old data, acquire new data, or re-engineer your features from scratch? The answer depends on the data and the model.

Before trying to find the problem, one needs to look at defining the problem.

3. Performance 

The AI model needs to compute the transactions in milliseconds, not minutes, to gain a competitive advantage and make the system work. 

Optimum performance is key 

The AI model needs to run fast and error-free regardless of where you deploy it on premises , or in the cloud.

4. Measurable

The results and outputs need to be clearly measured and have adequate reports. 

When starting the project , visualize how you are going to report what you’re learning and how it changes.

What you can measure you can manage - think about how you can easily report on short , medium and long term goals 

Some Kpis 

  1. improvements in data access and data volume,
  2. improvements in model accuracy, and ultimately
  3. improvements to the bottom line.

5. Continuous

The AI model needs to change and continuously learn as the world changes. The Ai model needs to be continuously evaluated and retrained to adapt to a changing world. 

Jupyter and Zeppelin notebooks that can plug into processes for scheduling evaluations and retrain models are useful tools to use 

You will gain an understanding of absorbing  the advantages and limitations of the algorithms, languages, datasets, and tools that are being used. 

Fluid AI demands continuous improvement for data, tools, and systems, but also continuous improvement from the team. 

Data science is a journey. Pay attention to these five attributes and you’ll bring focus to each moment and force yourself to find clarity about the future.

The data will never sit still, but would you really want it any other way?


Monday, April 16, 2018

Facial recognition to track citizens. A MUST read!

The Bob Pritchard Column

In just 2 years, there will be 570 million surveillance cameras — that's nearly one camera for every two citizens.  At the same time, China is a building a national database that will recognize any citizen within three seconds. Thanks to a large population and minimum privacy laws, police and private companies have led the way in developing surveillance technology that is now being used to track travel, shopping, crime, and even toilet paper usage.
 
 
These are some of the ways people's faces are being used for surveillance:
  • One of the most common facial recognition programs is Face++ which is used to manage entry everywhere from Beijing's train stations to Alibaba's office building.
  • Alibaba has also developed its own systems that will soon be used in Shanghai's metro to identify commuters via their face and voice
  • Facial recognition cameras are installed at intersections to take pictures of people crossing roads or offending traffic rules.
  • Railway police already use facial recognition sunglasses that can identify travelers within 100 milliseconds. Since their introduction earlier this year, they've been used to identify a number of criminals.
  • A number of provinces photograph jaywalkers and, after its matched to a police database, post the photo, ID number and home address on public screens. Offenders can spend 20 minutes helping a traffic officer or pay a $3 fine to have the image removed.
  • College entrance exams across the country use facial and fingerprint recognition to ensure test takers are the real students.
  • After a spate of kidnappings, some childcare centers only unlock doors to faces registered in its system. One kindergarten has more than 200 security cameras as well as a police station on campus.
  • Even toilet paper dispensers use the technology, limiting each person to 2 feet of paper every nine minutes. Apparently a number of patrons kept stealing from public bathrooms.
  • KFC store uses "Smile to Pay" technology.
  • Customers can also use facial recognition to pay for purchases at unmanned convenience stores
  • Alibaba has a chain of cashless stores called Hema. Shoppers use their face and phone number to approve payments from their Alipay account.
  • Customers of China Merchants Bank scan their faces instead of their bank cards at some 1,000 ATMs.
  • Xiaozhu, the Airbnb of China, has smart locks that open after scanning renters' faces
  • A car vending machine by Alibaba's Tmall even uses state-of-the-art recognition technology.
  • Insurance firm Taikang verifies the identities of customers by their face
  • Police in Chongqing use surveillance software and in the first 40 days, it identified 69 criminals
  • SenseTime's software tracks customers as they move around a department store.
  • Xinjiang has more than 40,000 surveillance cameras used to track and monitor the Uyghur ethnic minority.
  • To enter the Hotan bazaar in Xinjiang, shoppers must have their face scanned and cross-referenced to their national identification card.
  • Even petrol stations in Xinjiang require drivers be identified by facial recognition cameras before filling up.
  • In other areas of China, police use hand-held systems to recognize faces.
  • Police in Kashgar now have smartphones that scan faces and match with IDs
  • China’s Police have an SUV with a 360-degree camera that can scan every face within 200 feet while driving up to 75mph. The driver is alerted to any database match.
Anyone still think we are winning the technology race?

AI device for diabetic eye problems approved by FDA


IDx-DR can diagnose diabetic retinopathy, the most common cause of vision loss among the more than 30 million Americans living with diabetes  
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved an artificial intelligence diagnostic device that doesn’t need a specialized doctor to interpret the results. The software program, called IDx-DR, detects a form of eye disease called diabetic retinopathy by looking at photos of the retina.

Diabetic retinopathy (although rare)  is the most common vision complication for more than 30 million Americans living  with diabetes 

Photos are taken by a retinal camera of the patient’s retina are uploaded to IDx-DR  and an algorithm analyzes the images to determine whether the patient has the disease , where too much blood sugar damages the blood vessels in the back of the eye. 

In one clinical trial that used more than 900 images, IDx-DR correctly detected retinopathy about 87 percent of the time, and could correctly identify those who didn’t have the disease about 90 percent of the time. 

The software is unique because it’s autonomous and there’s “not a specialist looking over the shoulder of [this] algorithm,”

 IDx-DR founder Michael Abràmoff told Science News. “It makes the clinical decision on its own.” This means that the technology can be used by a nurse or doctor who’s not an eye specialist, making diagnosis more accessible. 

The benefit..... over 30 million patients wouldn’t need to wait for an eye specialist to be available to get a diagnosis...

There will always be a need for a specialist to check and be responsible when the diagnosis is wrong - but that specialist can be a technician that can check lots - creating other jobs 

Now that the FDA has cleared IDx-DR, it might lead the way to a new slew of autonomous diagnostic tests and the trade-offs they bring. Such as Googles  DeepMind which is using  AI to spot eye disease


Thursday, April 12, 2018

Cities launching their own Cryptos

The Bob Pritchard Column


Seoul, the capital city of South Korea will soon use a city-funded cryptocurrency called S-Coin for everything from subway rides to kids’ allowances. This is part of a master plan to create a comprehensive blockchain bureaucracy in Seoul.
 
As recently as a couple of months ago, South Korea vocally opposed blockchain for a number of reasons, not the least of which was a fear that North Korea would hack it, and they went  as far as considering taxing crypto-speculation and banning crypto accounts for minors.
 
 
But South Koreans are the biggest crypto-consumers after Japanese and Americans, and Korean crypto-startups raise $89m a month. So as coin-trading hysteria subsided, Seoul hired Samsung’s enterprise IT consultancy in November 2017 to coin their crypto dreams a reality. 
 
As Seoul is the world's leading city in the field of information and communications, they are studying new technologies such as blockchains. S-Coin will be very useful as a payment means in the Korean capital which will help in the funding of public welfare programs or even for compensation of private contractors.
 
The initiative is part of the city’s Blockchain master plan which will help the city publish regulatory guidelines on digital currencies and also devote public resources towards the growing blockchain development sector. On implementation, Seoul will become the largest city to adopt its own digital currency.  The city will be following footsteps of Dubai which is already developing a blockchain digital currency known as emCash which will act as a legal tender for both private and public debts.
 
Other cities which have also floated the aim of using their own digital currencies include Berkeley and CA which are aimed at tokenizing municipal bonds.  The move to join the growing cryptocurrency market has also seen several governments come in like the case with Venezuela which developed its own cryptocurrency called Petro. More to that the Islands of Antigua and Barbuda are already working towards developing their own cryptocurrency exchange platform. In general, many governments are working towards using blockchain to digitize their own fiat currencies.
 
Many countries are preferring digital currencies to reduce their reliance on the US dollar with Marshal Islands developing their own cryptocurrency to avoid the reliance on the dollar.
 In the meantime - here is a map of current landscape



Solve this and win a Nobel Prize



How do the trillions of cells that make up your body stay in touch? Apparently The same way we used to: 


sending notes through the post.


Learning how to read and write “letters” and post them through our intra-body postal system running through our blood, could give us early warning about cancer and Alzheimer’s and potentially finding a cure!!


What we need to do is to work out how to read the mail,  says University of Sydney associate professor Wojciech Chrzanowski, and understand our bodies at a cellular level.


This is how the Prof says it works :- 


All the cells in our body are constantly producing tiny bubbles which the body (or something) fills with a cocktail of DNA and other molecules and are sent into the bloodstream. 


These cells are called extracellular vesicles 




These Cells have special receptors to read the data in the bubbles. The data lets cells send messages to each other. 


Those messages can tell our body what to do.


Professor Chrzanowski is particularly interested in the Stem cells that heal damaged tissue – without physically touching the damage. 


He theorises they are sending out tiny bubbles filled with DNA. When the damaged cell receives the bubble, it follows the DNA instructions and heals itself.


Professor Chrzanowski and teams at the CSIRO are trying to decipher and potentially write or code those messages. 

Imagining being able to inject these regenerating cells into patients with cancer or autoimmune conditions.


It’s like force-feeding the body a message that says: heal thyself.


Want to win a Nobel prize? 

All we need to do is work out how to read the mail.

“You could envisage this cellular system as a post office system – a letter is sent from one cell to another. And the letters contain programs for the cells to run,” says University of Sydney associate professor Wojciech Chrzanowski.

We still don’t quite know how the system works – “If we can figure that out, we’ll probably win a Nobel, to be honest,” says Professor Chrzanowski – but here’s how the leading theory goes

HOw we are trying to solve the puzzle 

This is how Professor Chrzanowski and doctoral candidate Sally Yunsun Kimthey have been learning to read these letters .....


The pair warmed a group of extracellular vesicles with a laser, and then measured their vibrations using a tiny needle about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Hot molecules vibrate at different rates depending on what they are made of. By measuring the vibration, the team could tell exactly what was in each bubble.

It was like reading someone else’s mail without ever opening it.


“This is going to be a pretty important development,” says Professor Andrew Hill, president of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles.




Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Zuckerberg goes head to head with Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and says he agrees with regulation - but the right regulation!


He says “my people will speak to your people !


Graham cut to the chase and asked if Zuckerberg thought Facebook was a monopoly.


“It certainly doesn’t feel like that to me,” Zuckerberg replied, as laughter rippled through the room.




https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/10/17220934/facebook-monopoly-competitor-mark-zuckerberg-senate-hearing-lindsey-graham?utm_campaign=theverge&utm_content=entry&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter via @Verge

Bitcoin banned in India



MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday barred banks and financial institutions from dealing with virtual currencies including Bitcoins and said that it was time and again warning users of virtual currencies regarding the risks associated with it. 


What do you think ?


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/india-shuts-down-bitcoins-other-virtual-currencies-prohibits-any-dealing-with-banks/articleshow/63627611.cms


Monday, April 9, 2018

The Future Of Work - Skills for the 21st Century

The right Skills will be needed in the new economy - and globalisation and technological change (the so-called “New Machine Age/4th Industrial Revolution”) is making skills that we used to have redundant - FAST!! 


We will need to have the necessary skills needed to cope with this massive change.... 


How  will we be able to upskill ourselves when the necessary skills required are changing so fast?


An OECD survey identified some of the issues that need to be addressed:- 

  • The Transition from School to Work 
  • Return to Skills 
  • Skill Mismatch 
  • Skill Use at the Workplace 
  • Changing Comparative Advantage and Global Value Chains (GVCs) 
  • The Fourth Industrial Revolution - major impact on the demands and the supply of skills 
  • Lifelong Learning - this is key 
  • Ageing-skills-productivity-wages 
  • Inequality
  • Wellbeing - Life Balance  

 

A detailed white paper can be found here https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/skills-for-the-21st-century_96e69229-en#page10

 

My big take on this, is that for you to survive and thrive in the modern economy, you need to learn how to learn! 


We were priviliged to host a brilliant mastermind lunch with world leading innovators and disruptors Heather McGowan and Chris Shipley 


What do you want to be when you grow up?

  • 65% of jobs on the market don’t exist yet
  • 47% of current jobs will be automated
  • Only 27% of students will work in their major 
  • And most jobs will only exist in 5 industries! 


In the past, you would do a degree, learn your trade, and ou were qualified. That does not cut it any more. Because things are changing so fast, what you learnt a few years ago will be redundant, and if you do not learnt “new way” of doing things, you will be left behind. 




The reality of change is the norm, and is you are to keep up with the times, you will need to break through your comfort zone of what you know, because what you know will become redundant 


Lifelong learning is key 




Is it relevant for you to learn them now (as in a few years time , they will be different anyway) 

 

In 10 years time, jobs that exist today will be redundant, but there will be more jobs that will be needed , which will be augmented by AI. 


What are the 5 things you need to know to survive and thrive in the new economy?


  • Get comfortable being uncomfortable
  • Know your why (your purpose)
  • Learning agility is the bomb
  • Unbundle work and talent 
  • Reorganisation required reorientation 

 

This is an exciting time for people who are open to change, and are willing to learn how to learn .


We were really priviliged to host a brilliant session by world leading experts, Chris Shipley and Heather McGowan 



Spark published a brilliant article on the future of jobs 

https://issuu.com/bsicomms/docs/spark_mag_jan_final.compressed/c/s4zw7ca



So what do you the skills are that you think will be in demand in 2050?

 

Finalists for World Changing Ideas




AeroFarmsAeroFarms
AidboxAidbox
AI-powered aeroponicsGrowX
Automated cricket farmsAspire Food Group
The Children’s Scrappy News ServiceGoing to School
Classy PassportClassy
The Climate MuseumThe Climate Museum
Deep InfluenceGolden
Dell ocean-bound plastics packaging programDell
A Digital Geneva ConventionMicrosoft
Disaster MapsFacebook
EmpaticoKind Foundation
Equity-Centered Community DesignCreative Reaction Lab
The Fairness ProjectThe Fairness Project
Flow KanaFlow Kana
Generation WV Impact FellowshipGeneration West Virginia
Global Social Network for VotersRe-Invent Democracy
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Career AcademyAspire
The Impak CoinImpak Finance
InvestEGGatorPaso Pacífico
MicrosilkBolt Threads
MissionUMissionU
The Online Hate IndexAnti-Defamation League
Ontario Basic Income PilotGovernment of Ontario
PatreonPatreon
The Pay Equity ExplorerADP
PerspectiveAlphabet’s Jigsaw
Project GigatonWalmart
SlimboxSlimbox
Sustainable Product Optimization ToolL’Oréal
Visa champions a cash-free societyVisa
WellvilleWellville
Your American Dream ScoreGalewill

Which one do you rate?

Why Business needs Artificial Intelligence



What exactly is artificial intelligence and why are people talking so much about it? Put in plain and simple words it is computer doing the job which are now being done by men using their intelligence. 


It could be jobs related to speech recognition, visual perception, translating between languages and decision making just to name a few. 


Hence, AI over a period of time could become extremely essential and even indispensable for almost all types of business. 


We are sharing a few reasons as to why it is important to understand the benefits and advantages associated with artificial intelligence for the overall improvement of efficiency and productivity or organizations.

 




Why Business needs AI for marketing











Why

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Walmart patents the robot bee

Source: inspired from  Chelsea Gohd - World Economic Forum 

Bees land on a flower in Laqlouq village, Lebanon June 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

Walmart has filed a patent for robot bees that will help pollinate in the same way as living bees.
Image: REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

Walmart has just filed a patent for autonomous, robot bees. The patent specifically covers “pollination drones.” These tiny robots could act just like bees, pollinating crops autonomously.

The robot bees would operate using sensors and cameras to help them navigate. Flying around autonomously, these drones could potentially pollinate as effectively as the real thing.

Image: Polynoid/Greenpeace/Vimeo

These bee robots are one of six Walmart patents for farming drones that would do everything from monitor crop damage to spray pesticides. Incorporating autonomous robots into farming could cut costs and increase agriculture efficiency.

Why’s Walmart’s sudden interest in farming drones?

 Well, they  do sell food - and here’s a way of getting involved at the beginning of the supply chain.