The mainstream media is giving short shrift to real issues in order to serve their one-track agenda. Despite the passage of 18 months since the election, the barrage of negativity towards the President continues unabated. Everyone who’s anyone in the politically correct crowd is “doing their bit” to trumpet the “truth.” If the pen is mightier than the sword, this is a veritable call to arms. There seems no end in sight.
Meanwhile, “identity politics” continue to play a major role for the left and often serve as the basis for anti-Trump rhetoric pushed by the mainstream media (MSM). This inherently divisive tactic failed to elect Hillary, but succeeded in creating class and racial strife the likes of which we haven’t seen in half a century.
And the Russia collusion claims were—surprise!—a “big nothing burger.” But that hasn’t slowed the assault on the Commander-in-Chief. The latest “scandal” finds Facebook claiming its “largest data breach ever may have effected the 2016 election” as the alleged culprit is a data mining company associated with the Trump campaign. Recall, in 2012, the MSM applauded the Obama campaign’s “game-changer” Facebook data mining for “winning the race for voter data?” Obama used all the mined data right up to voting day in November while Trump used his data only in the primaries!
When this latest “scandal” falls flat, which it will, they’ll move to another. Meanwhile, the world is moving on. And in one area it continues to move very quickly: Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In a recent discussion with my orthopedic surgeon, he detailed the technological advances in total knee replacement surgery. The most important breakthrough, he claimed, is a technique that finds the optimal location and then places the prosthesis perfectly—every time. Enter a robot. This machine’s software uses 3D images and molds of the knee to locate with almost pinpoint accuracy where to cut tendons and the exact degree to place the prosthesis (e.g., human error: +/- 5mm. Robot: +/- ½ mm.)
Later, I reflected on a robot performing surgery and then the self-driving car in which I’d recently ridden. I decided to learn all I could about AI and the advancements in robotics. Though science never interested me, this topic goes beyond hobbies or interests. The enormity of AI’s impact on the economy and our daily lives will dwarf that of the industrial revolution. It’s so important to be fully educated on this technology.
Admittedly, when I think of the trails Texe Marrs has blazed, I do not immediately think of robots. But, I should. Texe authored the world’s first book on personal robots and followed that up with additional books on various aspects of robotics.
In his comprehensive book, Robot Alchemy, Texe brings it all together, delving into the history, culture, military use, and more. All the major topics are covered such as “singularity” wherein computers will match and then surpass human intelligence. Moore’s Law (also discussed), which states computing power doubles every two years, has been accurate for over 50 years and now involves massive leaps in power. (By comparison, were Moore’s law true of car efficiency over the same period, a tank of gas would last the lifetime of the owner.)
Singularity is imminent, but before it arrives, over 1/3 of jobs will be lost to automation and tens of millions of people will have no place to earn a living. And it’s not just retail clerks, grocery store cashiers, truck drivers, and factory workers. Law, accounting, insurance, banking—jobs that are based on review of documents—are especially susceptible. Interestingly, a recent study revealed that those questioned accepted that AI would eliminate millions of jobs, but didn’t believe AI would take their own job.
As you’d expect, AI proponents push all the benefits and see lost jobs as a small price to pay for the “freedom” automation will bring. And, of course, there are enormous benefits to corporations such as no longer paying salaries or any of the “issues” we humans present—such as, we require sleep.
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla, Inc. has voiced genuine concern on numerous occasions regarding our ability to control the AI after singularity. In 2014, Musk told a symposium, “With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water and he’s like... yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon, [but] it doesn’t work out.”
Next month we will look further into post-singularity AI and a Silicon Valley elitist’s new religion which will “develop and promote the realization of a godhead based on artificial intelligence.”
