News — At The Edge — 7/15
In addition to a disconcerting thought-provoking article, there is a set of political articles and a set of technology videos this week.
Inasmuch as republicans are training their hostility toward college education, the thought provoking article is an ominous sign on many levels.
Aside from the intriguing political issues surrounding sex-bots, the other political articles raise existential issues we seem doomed to pursue.
There are two worthwhile technology videos about the future of technology and an intriguing medical science article about what is called the “transcriptome.”
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Thought Provoking Issue –
The new culture war targeting American universities appears to be working -
“Since 2015, as attention has been focused by conservative media on tensions at universities, views of higher education as an institution have plummeted among Republicans.…
Pew Research [says] more than half of Republicans [believe]…colleges and universities have a negative effect on our culture….Among younger Republicans…higher education sank by 21 points since 2015, though among every subset of that population, views dropped by at least 10 points…[as] critique of left-wing culture…such as objections to scheduled speakers.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/07/10/the-new-culture-war-targeting-american-universities-appears-to-be-working/?utm_term=.c9aa1f7563d0
Political Issues –
A Treaty Is Reached to Ban Nuclear Arms. Now Comes the Hard Part. –
“[After] seven-decade effort…a global treaty has been negotiated that [could]…lead to the destruction of all nuclear weapons and forever prohibit their use….[called] Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons…[and goes] into legal force 90 days after being ratified by 50 countries….
[T]he world’s nine nuclear-armed countries…boycotted the negotiations [saying]…cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance…international peace and security.’
Disarmament groups and others…[hope] treaty’s widespread acceptance…will eventually increase the public pressure and stigma…of unspeakable destruction, and make holdouts reconsider their positions….
Treaties that banned biological and chemical arms, land mines and cluster bombs have shown how weapons once…acceptable are now widely, if not universally, reviled….
[T]he doctrine of deterrence…[claims] the only way to prevent an attack is to assure the destruction of the attacker….Besides the United States and Russia…Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea all have nuclear bombs….[North Korea illustrates] the fallacy that the deterrence theory could keep the peace. ‘The theory only works if you are ready to use nuclear weapons…[and] that leaders are rational and sane’….
[T]he new treaty is ‘an expression of the deep concern about the enormous risks…and the growing frustration with the failure of the nuclear-armed states to fulfill their nuclear disarmament commitments’…[and] would outlaw nuclear weapons use, threat of use, testing, development, production, possession, transfer and stationing in a different country….
The basic premise…’the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons’…[so] complete elimination ‘remains the only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons are never used again under any circumstances.’” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/world/americas/united-nations-nuclear-weapons-prohibition-destruction-global-treaty.html
How Software Is Eating The Military And What That Means For The Future Of War -
“’The first shots of the next actual war will likely be fired in cyberspace…with devastating effect’…[as] software come to have a deeper and deeper impact on almost every aspect of conflict…and it may just determine [winner]….
New technologies have always shaped the ways we go to war. From gunpowder in the 16th century to nuclear weapons in the 1940s to drones…[now] everything from autonomous aircraft to tricorder-like battlefield apps, self-aiming rifles, augmented reality visors, intelligence-mining algorithms, and…more are currently in development or deployed ‘in theater’….
[But] questions are being raised [about]…what constitutes a weapon and what constitutes an attack…and the doctrine of war….
[The] real differentiator will be the capacity to bring information and computing capacity to bear, and to understand how tactics will need to shift to best take advantage of the new tools and techniques…[with] rapid integration and introduction of new capabilities built into a software framework…[for] highly automated prosecution of really complex tasks against an adversary who’s moving rapidly against you….
[So] military leaders and policymakers will need to think hard…about how to defend against such attack [and]…right way to carry them out….
[T]he Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (aka Project Maven)…will ‘develop, acquire, and/or modify algorithms’ to detect and classify various objects, and generate alerts based on the results…to ‘reduce the human factors burden of…analysis, increase actionable intelligence, and enhance military decision-making’….
[Already] machine learning algorithms…help identify couriers working for militant organizations…[and soon] decision as to whether or not to attack them….
[S]o far, artificial intelligence systems haven’t been used to autonomously choose the targets of deadly force–at least, not…that’s been publicly disclosed…[but] autonomous weapons systems can determine for themselves how to carry out their orders….
Air Force’s ‘Loyal Wingman’ concept envisions the conventionally piloted fighter jets of the future getting one or more autonomous wingmen…[with] the ability to autonomously update its plans based on new threats it encountered along the way, making its own decisions about how to reach and destroy its target without itself being destroyed in the process….
[T]he amount of information being collected and processed by military systems is already far too much for…analysts and decision-makers to synthesize and consume….[so] entirely possible that useful target-selection algorithms will be of a complexity that’s well beyond our capacity to understand and second-guess…[and] gives rise to doomsday scenarios in which Terminator robots walk the earth….
[I]t’s no stretch to wonder how much power we’re ceding to the algorithms we create…[and] will almost certainly continue to increase in pace and in reach in terms of the number of countries and armed forces that are incorporating algorithmic systems into their military functions….
As algorithms make more decisions not just about how to kill, but also who and when….[Concern] is the possibility that [autonomous warfare] systems be used and adopted whole cloth, without thinking through sufficiently the basic legal and other accountability concepts….
[T]he Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, or IBCS…would collect and integrate data from a variety of sensors on the network…to choose from among a variety of weapons systems, prioritize and set targets for them, and launch attacks….
[T]he Distributed Common Ground System, or DCGS…[is] software that should tie together information analysis and distribution across all the armed forces, integrating battlefield reports with ISR data from a variety of sources to give planners and commanders a comprehensive and actionable picture of the ‘battlespace’….
[T]he armed forces are exploring handheld or visor-mounted tactical computers…and bring additional information directly to the front lines….
[Still] all of it can be hacked…and pitfalls and vulnerabilities can arise where you least expect it….Making all these systems work well together is no easy task…[and] maintaining the systems themselves is a task the military struggles with…. In an age when we have the destructive potential to end life on Earth…the difference is not in weapons…[but] the software that supports and underpins those systems.” https://www.fastcompany.com/40436077/how-software-is-eating-the-military-and-what-that-means-for-the-future-of-war
We Need to Talk About Sex, Robot Experts Say -
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is…[creating] a revolution in robotic…sexual gratification with a near-human touch….
[Already] ‘love dolls’ capable of performing 50 automated sexual positions…can be customized down to the nipple shape and pubic hair color [for]…between $5,000 and $15,000….
[There’s] issues that should be considered by policymakers…including whether use…should be encouraged in sexual therapy clinics, for sex offenders, or for people with disabilities…[and] might be helpful in reducing sexual crimes.” https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/07/04/technology/04reuters-science-robots-sex.html?_r=0
Technology and Science Issues –
Journey into future of Data Science — Jan 19, 2017 (15 min. video)
Charlie Rose — Walt Mossberg (23 min video)
Discussing his career as a technology columnist and technology ahead
The Transcriptome -
“I sequenced my genes…[in] a 700 Megabyte text file…[with] approximately 3.3 billion pairs of nucleotides organized in around 24 thousand genes…[yet] (less than 2%)…found in the DNA…[rest] known as non-coding DNA and…[with] 10% to 15% have a biological function…[balance] referred to as ‘junk DNA’…[meaning] not know why it is there nor what it does….
[F]or our DNA to be expressed and produce a specific protein, the code must be ‘copied’ (transcribed) into RNA…called transcripts, and the transcriptome is the collection of all the RNA molecules, or transcripts, present in a cell….
[T]he transcriptome is constantly changing and can reflect in real time, at the molecular level, the physiology of a person depending on many factors, including stage of development and environmental conditions…[and] can tell us when and where each gene is turned on or off in the cells of tissues and organs of an individual. It functions like a dimmer switch…[enabling] fine-tuning of gene expression.
By comparing the transcriptome of different types of cells we can understand what makes a specific cell from a specific organ unique, how does that cell look when working normally and healthy and how its gene activity may reflect or contribute to certain diseases….
There are today two complementary yet different approaches: the replacement or editing of genes within the genome (such as…CRISPR-Cas9 technique) and the inhibition or enhancement of gene expression…[using] vaccination with RNA molecules is a promising and safe approach to let the patient’s body produce its own vaccines. By introducing a specific synthetic RNA, the protein synthesis can be controlled without intervening in the human genome and by letting the cell’s own protein building machinery work….
[This] will unlock a path to…aging prevention, brain functioning and stem cell health…eradication of cancer, hepatitis B, HIV or even high cholesterol…[and] finally enable us to truly start conquering our genetic destiny.” https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27153
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Doc Huston
