NYTimes: “The 21st-century tech industry has accomplished a lot of cool things, but among the most remarkable may be a trick of language: It managed to make the word “smart” feel repulsive and the word “dumb” sound appealing… The smart things are paining us. The dumb ones are blessedly quiet — which, at this point, can feel like the more intelligent option.”
Bloomberg: “A brain-computer interface, or BCI, connects the brain directly to an electronic device, such as a computer, bypassing the rest of the body. The interface is designed to detect brain activity — for example, the electrical signals generated by neurons — and translate it into commands that can control machines. BCIs offer hope to people who’ve suffered damage to the nerves between their brain and various muscles. The interfaces could help them communicate if they’re unable to speak, or allow them to use their minds to control external devices if they’re paralyzed. This could improve the quality of life for stroke patients and individuals with debilitating neurological conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease). BCIs can also stimulate the brain with information from the outside world. This could allow people with vision loss to see or those with hearing loss to hear.”
WSJ: “Data centers on the ground feature racks of servers in cavernous, temperature-controlled buildings. Orbital data centers will feature swarms of satellites laden with AI chips. They will need solar arrays to produce electricity to run the AI computing systems. The satellites are expected to fly in an orbit that roughly travels over Earth’s poles to maximize their exposure to sunlight.”
Arnold Kling: “The future should not be accessing a bank web site and looking at menus. The future should be that I can say what kind of transaction I want, and the bank software either tells me that it is not feasible or walks me through how to get it done. The future should not be looking at an airline’s web site to find a flight. The future should be that I can say where I am going and when I would like to go. Relevant airlines respond with proposals for flight times, prices, and terms. The future should not be professors trying to figure out “courseware.” The future should be that the university has data that connects students/courses/professors and you can get at that data through an English-language query.”
