Category Archives: Ai

Everybody knows (or should know) by now that machine learning (which is what most current artificial intelligence actually amounts to) is subject to bias. Last week, the New York Times had the idea of asking three prominent experts in the field to talk about the bias problem, in particular the ways that social bias can be reflected and amplified in dangerous ways by the technology to discriminate against, or otherwise damage, certain social groups.

At first sight, the resulting article looked like a run-of-the-mill review of what has become a common topic except for one thing: the three experts were all women. One, Daphne Koller, is a co-founder of the online education company Coursera; another, Olga Russakovsky, is a Princeton professor who is working to reduce bias in ImageNet, the data set that powered the current machine-learning boom; the third, Timnit Gebru, is a research scientist at Google in the companys ethical AI team.

Reading the observations of these three women brought to the surface a thought thats been lurking at the back of my mind for years. It is that the most trenchant and perceptive critiques of digital technology and particularly of the ways in which it has been exploited by tech companies have come from female commentators. The thought originated ages ago as a vague impression, then morphed into an intuitive correlation and eventually surfaced as a conjecture that could be examined.

Perhaps female acuity towards tech might be a reflection of the fact that toys for boys have less attraction for women

So I spent a few hours going through a decades-worth of electronic records reprints, notes and links. What I found is an impressive history of female commentary and a gallery of more than 20 formidable critics. In alphabetical order, they are Emily Bell, danah boyd, Joy Buolamwini, Robyn Caplan, Kate Crawford, Renee DiResta, Joan Donovan, Rana Foroohar, Megan E Garcia, Seda Grses, Mireille Hildebrandt, Alice E Marwick, Helen Nissenbaum, Cathy ONeil, Julia Powles, Margaret Roberts, Sarah T Roberts, Kara Swisher, Astra Taylor, Zeynep Tufekci, Sherry Turkle, Judy Wajcman, Meredith Whittaker, and Shoshana Zuboff. If any of them are new to you, any good search engine will find them and their work.

I make no claims for the statistical representativeness of this sample. It might simply be the result of confirmation bias. Because of this column, I read more tech commentary than is good for anyone and it could be that the stuff that sticks in my memory happens to resonate with my views.

It also goes without saying that there are plenty of trenchant male critics out there too: one thinks of Franklin Foer, Farhad Manjoo and Nicholas Carr, to name just three. In recent times, we have seen prominent industry males such as Sean Parker and Roger McNamee suffering from investors remorse and confessing their horror at how things have turned out. And new organisations such as the Center for Humane Technology have appeared, dedicated to using the technology to create a world where technology supports our shared wellbeing, sense-making, democracy, and ability to tackle complex global challenges rather than undermining them.

Suppose for a moment, though, that my hunch is correct that the most powerful critiques of the technology, and of the industry based on it, come from female commentators. Why might that be? Could it be, for example, a reflection of the fact that that industry is demographically skewed and pathologically male-dominated and that its products, services and executives tend to reflect that?

It may also be no accident that in one area of digital technology machine learning women are likely to be more critical than men.

AI researchers are primarily people who are male, observed Olga Russakovsky in the New York Times piece, who come from certain racial demographics, who grew up in high socioeconomic areas, primarily people without disabilities so its a challenge to think broadly about world issues. There are a lot of opportunities to diversify this pool and as diversity grows, the AI systems themselves will become less biased. Yeah, maybe.

Or perhaps female acuity towards technology might be a reflection of the fact that toys for boys have less attraction for women.

Years ago, Dave Barry, the great Miami Herald columnist, was lent a new Humvee when the vehicle was launched. He took his wife out for a spin. What can this thing do? she asked. Barry replied smugly that it could do cool stuff like inflating or deflating the tyres while going along at 70mph. She looked at him, open-mouthed, and then asked why in the name of God anyone would want to do that. Er, he replied, stumped.

Which only goes to show that there are no such things as awkward questions, only awkward answers. And, currently, those are the only kind machine learning evangelists have.

Look back to the futureDoes human history move in predictable cycles? The subject of a fascinating Guardian long read by Laura Spinney.

Lost in a mental fogWhats the cognitive impact of air pollution? Read the results of an alarming survey by Patrick Collison, co-founder of online payments platform Stripe and perhaps the most cerebral techie in Silicon Valley.

Dark age 2.0In 2029, the internet will make us act like medieval peasants. The title of a lovely acerbic essay in New York magazine by Max Read on what technology is doing to us.

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To secure a safer future for AI, we need the benefit of a female perspective - The Guardian

Goal of Ensuring Ultimate Microchips Reliability

GBT Technologies Inc., a company specializing in the development of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled networking and tracking technologies, including its GopherInsight wireless mesh network technology platform and its Avant! AI, for both mobile and fixed solutions, announced that it is implementing its Avant! AI technology within Epsilon EDA (Electronic Design Automation) program with the goal of achieving increased reliability for microchips.

Read More: New IDC Spending Guide Sees Consumer Spending on Technology Reaching $1.69 Trillion in 2019

Avant! AI will be trained with IC (Integrated Circuit) reliability models, based on physics-of-failure mechanisms. These models will be classified for a wide variety of microchips types, among them microcontrollers, microprocessors, memories, power ICs and others. The system will read the microchips specifications and define reliability analysis to be automatically tested by Epsilon. As the design moves forward and a more physical layout is produced, the system will adapt to identify weak spots, predicting potential reliability failures due to physics phenomena like Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI), Electromigration (EM), Hot Carrier Injection (HCI) and Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB). The system is targeting a chips reliability prediction to be addressed during early design stages, making correction easier. It is the goal that Epsilon will be able to provide a wide range of reliability predictions, ensuring reliable operation and efficient power consumption. Epsilon will predict, test and validate signals at risk. When potential failuresare identified, Epsilon will perform an Auto-Correct to resolve the issue. It is the goal of Epsilon to ensure that microchips will not overheat and fail due to excessive power consumption or faulty design. GBT believes that its reliability predictions, early addressing and auto-correction will become a key player when designing modern chips, especially for high reliability demand fields like military, aviation/space and medicine.

Read More: Microsoft Taps Canadian Start-up Mover.io to Ease Cloud File Migration to Microsoft 365

We identified the EDA field, a modern domain used to design integrated circuits (ICs), that we believe can significantly benefit from our AI technology, stated Danny Rittman, GBTs CTO. One of the major problems with our todays advanced chips, is their reliability. If a chip is not going through accurate electrical design for reliability, it can overheat, perform poorly or fail. We are now focused on enabling our analysis and auto-correction program, Epsilon, with the capability of predicting potential inner-chip nets that may overheat, cause poor performance or failure over time. Using our Avant! AI deep learning technology within Epsilon, the program will constantly monitor the chips design as it evolves, alerting about potential risks. Furthermore, by user permission, Epsilon will be able to perform Auto-Correction for the at-risk signals, creating a Correct-By-Construction chip design environment. Avant! will perform an over-time analysis prediction to indicate how long failure(s) may take for critical nets. This will enable IC design houses to work more efficiently with customer budgets, knowing a chips life span. Using Avant! AI for the IC reliability domain will ensure high reliability and performance ICs which are particularly crucial for areas like aviation, space exploration, military and medicine, where human lives depend on integrated circuits operation.

Read More: AI Does Not Have to Be a Zero-Sum Game

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GBT - AI Technology To Be Implemented Within Epsilon Program - AiThority

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Japanese researchers have used machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify 143 new Nazca Lines, also called geoglyphs, in Peru. Among the numerous new glyphs was one that was discovered entirely by AI, the first time to happen in the world. The New York Times reports that the team of researchers used satellite photography, 3D imaging, and AI to find the ancient geoglyphs that were impressed into the ground in a desert plain around 100 B.C. by Nazcas.

A press release from Yamagata University explains that the team used IBMs Power Systems servers in an aim to understand Nazca Lines as a whole. Researchers also utilized AI tech from the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York to test whether or not AI could find new Nazca Lines.

And it worked. The team configured a machine learning program with an AI model which found a new glyph depicting a 16-foot tall humanoid figure standing on two feet." In their effort to examine whether or not the AI could discover new Nazca Lines, the research team shares that they introduced the capability to process large volumes of data with AI, which included hi-res aerial images at high speeds.

Sakai et al.

The Nazca people lived near Peru's southern coast over 2,000 years ago. While the creation of the Nazca Lines has been this the Nazca's claim to fame, this pre-Inca culture was also known for its pottery and textiles.

The Nazca lines themselves have caused speculation about what exactly they are and what purpose they serve. While some fictional works suggest that Nazca Lines might have been landing strips for alien aircraft, archaeologists suggest that they were ritual sites, a form of irrigation, or some form of ancient cosmic maps.

In 1994, the Nazca Lines were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, but that hasn't stopped people from defacing them. In 2014, Greenpeace activists left their footprints near the hummingbird glyph as they unveiled a sign calling for the use of renewable resources. Then, in 2018, a trucker intentionally drove his rig off-road and over some of the lines leaving behind three damaged "straight-line geoglyphs."

Masato Sakai, a professor of cultural anthropology who led the research effort, is concerned with the preservation of the Lines and hopes that these new discoveries will help protect them.

The most important point is not the discovery itself...If [the lines] become clearly visible, they will be protected as important cultural heritages says Sakai. The University says it will work with UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture in Peru to help preserve these newly discovered sites.

Source: The New York Times

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AI Discovered Nazca Lines That've Been Lost for 2,000 Years - Popular Mechanics

AI is already a significant part of journalism today, but as it stands now the technology is unevenly distributed. Newsroom activities based on technology including search, complex algorithms drawing upon deep learning to create text or videos, all fall under the innovative umbrella of AI.

AI in journalism is developing at a fast pace while bringing about radical changes in media production and its business models. Although its futuristic impact is uncertain yet it has the potential for wide-ranging and profound influence on how journalism is done and spread.

The technology is a part of this sector since the newsrooms have gone digital. The adoption of social media as a source, production tool, and as a distribution and engagement medium is one of the major drivers of this digital trend. Moreover, AI possesses the potential to accelerate journalism throughout the process in significant ways which may have creative structural effects in the coming years. However, it has been discovered in a report, that the use of AI in this field is as additional, supplementary and catalytic factor rather than completely being a transformational driver.

In such an advanced world, there is a range of approaches to AI adoption. Artificial Intelligence should be aimed at providing more direct, meaningful, and engaging experiences in its main services. It should be employed to empower journalists in their news reporting and storytelling. The industry needs to create new methods and tools to better understand journalism and the world around it. AI can be employed to increase the capability for investigations by looking at big data sets, to be faster in finding news and to improve fact-checking / fight disinformation.

The media industry today not only sees AI as a tech-benefactor but also consider it beneficial in the economic context. The rising new organizations are fighting for attention and revenue with everything else online. Here AI is placed as a potential catalyst for renewal and to avoid being left behind or staying irrelevant in the news market.

As the industry is undergoing a crisis, AI facilitates every measure that might provide a competitive advantage to various organizations. In todays digital era, it is difficult for news to survive without technology.

As technology has transformed many industries, in the same way, spreadsheets, databases, and mapping programs have ventured into the newsroom. Also, ML methods are becoming more accessible to motivated journalists and enabling them to use that power for their reporting into stories that would otherwise be difficult or even impossible. This significantly marks the upsurge of next-gen data journalism.

Below are the 10 ways in which AI can reshape the newsroom and journalism as a whole:

Several media professionals strongly believe that AI is there to make journalists more efficient and to increase capacity for firstly, to free up journalists to work, with or without AI, on creating better journalism at a time when the news industry is struggling for economic sustainability and public trust and relevance; secondly, to help the public deal with a world of news overload and misinformation and to connect them in a convenient way to credible source and content that is relevant, useful and stimulating for their lives.

It is high time that media organizations should adopt AI strategy, change their workflows, systems and recruitment process. They cant go alone in this race. They need to embrace AI as the technology is shaping the information ecosystem for new generations of citizens. The news-organizations need to find ways to tap into the resources and expertise of others while encouraging the healthy development of this media industry with this technology.

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Smriti is a Content Analyst at Analytics Insight. She writes Tech/Business articles for Analytics Insight. Her creative work can be confirmed @analyticsinsight.net. She adores crushing over books, crafts, creative works and people, movies and music from eternity!!

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Relevance of AI in Accelerating Journalism and Newsroom Workflow - Analytics Insight

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ClearDATA, the leader in healthcare public cloud security and compliance, today announced a new agreement with Independence Health Group, Inc. (Independence) in Philadelphia. Independence desires to transform and improve member engagement by leveraging Amazon Web Services AI Cloud Services technology, such as Amazon Comprehend Medical and Amazon Transcribe. Under the agreement, Independence receives not only the Amazon Web Services technology, but also ClearDATAs enhanced security offerings, including ClearDATAs Business Associate Agreement (BAA). This arrangement supports Independences goal of delivering improved quality of service to members, via a short-term analysis by AI Cloud Services, while at the same time utilizing ClearDATAs additional monitoring services that enhance the security protections offered for these products. This solution will support the Independence service team in improving first call resolution in their call center, increasing engagement, and identifying trends or issues members might experience with the Independence part of their health care journey.

With the increasing importance of analytics and data management, a cloud-enabled mentality allows health insurers to streamline operations and optimize costs while delivering innovative approaches to improve member interaction. According to a 2018 survey by research firm IDC, consumer engagement and the move toward optimal health is driving cloud adoption by health insurers. Yet many payers remain unsure of how to appropriately monitor security risks and configure their environment to best protect their data assets on the cloud.

Over the last few years, health insurance companies of all sizes have been under increasing pressure to meet the expectations of todays digital consumer, but they are challenged by regulations, rising costs and lack of security preparedness for mobile apps and cloud based technologies, said Scott Whyte, Chief Strategy Officer at ClearDATA. Our agreement with Independence demonstrates healthcares desire for solutions that make it easier to limit risk, manage compliance and still use powerful, native cloud-based products to improve member services.

By utilizing cloud services and leveraging ClearDATAs deep compliance and cloud technology expertise, Independence joins the ranks of health insurance organizations including multiple Blue Cross Blue Shield licensees across the nation leveraging public cloud solutions through ClearDATA. The continued growth of ClearDATAs payer customer base is further proof of the industrys desire to use cloud products for increased efficiency and enhanced interoperability allowing for improved member experience, while managing industry privacy, security and compliance needs as well.

ClearDATA will be in attendance at AWS re:Invent 2019 in Las Vegas from Dec. 2-6. To schedule onsite interviews with Scott Whyte for further discussion of healthcare innovation in the cloud and the influence of emerging technologies like machine learning on payers, contact media representative Sanah Sadaruddin at sanah@growswyft.com. To learn more about how ClearDATA is making healthcare better every single day, visit https://www.cleardata.com.

About ClearDATA

Healthcare professionals across the globe trust the ClearDATA HITRUST-certified cloud to safeguard their sensitive data and power their critical applications available across the major public cloud platforms. For healthcare organizations, customers receive one of the most comprehensive Business Associate Agreements (BAA) in the industry, combined with market-leading healthcare-exclusive security and compliance solutions, and multi-cloud expertise. ClearDATAs innovative platform of solutions and services helps customers to protect against data privacy risks, improve their data management, and scale their healthcare IT infrastructure, enabling the industry to focus on making healthcare better by improving healthcare delivery, every single day.

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Independence Health Group, Inc. Sources Advanced AI Cloud Services through ClearDATA to Bolster Healthcare Security Compliance - Business Wire

NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Growing number of cross-industry collaborations and partnerships and the need to control drug discovery & development costs and reduce the overall time taken in this process are the key factors driving the AI in the drug discovery market.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05828730/?utm_source=PRN

The global AI in the drug discovery market is projected to reach USD 1,434 million by 2024 from USD 259 million in 2019, at a CAGR of 40.8% during the forecast period. Growth in this market is mainly driven by growing number of cross-industry collaborations and partnerships, the need to control drug discovery & development costs and reduce the overall time taken in this process, the rising adoption of cloud-based applications & services, and the impending patent expiry of blockbuster drugs. On the other hand, a lack of data sets in the field of drug discovery and the inadequate availability of skilled labor are some of the factors challenging the growth of the market.

The immuno-oncology segment accounted for the largest share in 2019.Based on application, the artificial intelligence in the drug discovery market is segmented into neurodegenerative diseases, immuno-oncology, cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases, and other applications. The immuno-oncology segment accounted for the largest share of 44.6% of the AI in the drug discovery market in 2018, owing to the increasing demand for effective cancer drugs. Neurodegenerative diseases form the fastest-growing application segment, with a CAGR of 42.9% during the forecast period. The ability of AI to discover drugs for complex diseases and the emphasis of market players on providing AI-based platforms for neurological diseases are responsible for the fast growth of this application segment.

The Research centers and academic & government institutes segment to register the highest growth rate in the forecast period.Based on end-user, the AI in the drug discovery market is segmented into pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, and research centers and academic, & government institutes.In 2018, the pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment accounted for the largest share in the AI in the drug discovery market.

AI and machine learning to allow pharmaceutical companies to operate more efficiently and substantially improve success rates at the early stages of drug development.This is one of the major factors driving the growth of this market.

Research centers and academic & government institutes are expected to show the highest growth of 43.6%.during the forecast period. The growth of the CROs segment is tied to that of pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, as the rise in research and production activity will ensure sustained demand for contract services.

North America to be the largest and the fastest-growing regional market.

North America, which comprises the US, Canada, and Mexico, forms the largest market for AI in drug discovery.These countries have been early adopters of AI technology in drug discovery and development.

In the North American market, the US is a significant contributor.Also, prominent AI technology providers, such as IBM, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Intel, are headquartered in the US; their strong presence is a key contributor to market growth.

Other drivers include the well-established pharmaceutical industry, high focus on R&D & substantial investment, and the presence of globally leading pharmaceutical companies. These are some of the major factors responsible for the large share and high growth rate of this market.

The primary interviews conducted for this report can be categorized as follows: By Company Type: Tier 1 (28%), Tier 2 (42%), and Tier 3 (30%) By Designation: C-level (30%), D-level (34%), and Others (36%) By Region: North America (46%), Europe (25%), Asia (18%), and the RoW (11%)

List of Companies Profiled in the Report IBM Corporation (US) Microsoft (US), Google (US) NVIDIA Corporation (US) Atomwise, Inc. (US) Deep Genomics (Canada) Cloud Pharmaceuticals (US) Insilico Medicine (US) Benevolent AI (UK) Exscientia (UK) Cyclica (Canada) BIOAGE (US) Numerate (US) Numedii (US) Envisagenics (US) twoXAR (US) OWKIN, Inc. (US) XtalPi (US) Verge Genomics (US) Berg LLC (US)

Research Coverage:This report provides a study of the AI in the drug discovery market.It aims at estimating the size and future growth potential of the market across different segments, such as offering, technology, application, end-user, and region.

The report also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key market players, along with their company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies.

Key Benefits of Buying the Report:The report will help market leaders/new entrants by providing them with the closest approximations of revenue numbers for the overall AI in drug discovery market and its subsegments.This report will also help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape, and gain insights to better position their business and make suitable go-to-market strategies.

It will also enable stakeholders to understand the pulse of the market and provide them with information on the key market drivers, challenges, and opportunities.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05828730/?utm_source=PRN

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The global AI in the drug discovery market is projected to reach USD 1,434 million by 2024 from USD 259 million in 2019, at a CAGR of 40.8% -...

Humans have enlisted nearly 100 AI-powered robots in North American to come to the rescue for something humans are terrible at: recycling.

Even when we try to do it right, we're often making things worse; About one out of every four of the things people throw into the recycling bin aren't recyclable at all.

All those misplaced greasy pizza boxes (not recyclable) and clamshell containers tossed in with the plastics, have imperiled an industry that was never really that effective in the first place.

Only a small fraction of the over 2.1 billion tons of the garbage the world produces each year gets recycled about 16%.

And even that small sliver has gotten smaller over the past year.

For decades, the US sold more than half of its recyclables to China mostly plastics to be melted into pellets, the raw material for making more plastic.

But in March of 2018, China said, "No More."

"They started shipping more and more stuff to China, often contaminated dirty plastics or mixed too many mixed goods," said Kate O'Neill, a UC Berkeley professor and author of "Waste."

Around a quarter of the shipments China received had to be hand-processed, buried in landfills, or incinerated.

So the Chinese government declared that bales could contain only up to half a percent of things that contaminated them, like food wrappers or a dirty jar of peanut butter. US consumers and recycling centers couldn't keep up.

"I think people in the wealthy countries had gotten complacent, never bothering to build more recycling facilities domestically," O'Neill added.

Today, a handful of start-ups are testing out new technology to make recycling sustainable.

AMP Robotics is an artificial intelligence and robotics company that aims to change the way we recycle.

Founder of AMP Robotics, Matanya Horowitz said "the situation with the Chinese export markets have actually been good for [the company]."

Robots use artificial intelligence to sort through recyclables. BHS

AMP Robotics is rolling out its latest model: a "Cortex Robot" that uses optical sensors to take in what rolls by, and a "brain" to figure out what his "hands" should do with something even if it looks different to anything he's seen before.

"A lot of these recycling facilities are structured with the primary task of basically dealing with contamination that's not supposed to be there," said Horotwiz. ""What we see is a lot of recycling facilities are investing in automation to help improve their operations."

At least four companies are rolling out similar models, in the hopes of turning a profit from the US' growing piles of hard-to-sort recyclables.

And investors are taking notice. In November 2019, AMP Robotics announced a $16 million Series A investment from Sequoia Capital.

But what about helping humans get better at choosing what to put in their recycling bins in the first place?

New policies in Shanghai are one of the first steps in China's push to solve its waste problems.

This past summer, citizens will face fines and what are called "social penalties" if they don't sort things properly.

One trash sorting volunteer said, Shanghai started the test run on June 24. "It was very hard for us at the beginning. Everyone was busy, people didn't know how to sort," the volunteer who requested to be unidentified said.

"At first we had some hard times," said Shanghai citizen Zhaoju Zhang. "The most difficult part was how to differentiate between dry and wet trash. It was so complicated that we all got confused."

Almost immediately, hundreds of AI-enabled apps sprouted up in order to assist everyday sorting.

"If it's something that is confusing whether it's dry or wet trash, we can just scan the item and get the answer," Zhang said.

Shanghai citizens are now required to sort recyclables properly from their trash. Yuan Ye

But not everyone has access to AI to help parse the new rules, and many complain that complying is tough, and punishments are too harsh.

Kate O'Neill said the new laws are having a "massive cultural impact" and there are "some concerns about how draconian it is, but it's too early to really tell the results. But it certainly has seems to be a massive culture shift."

This kind of cultural shift in how we throw things away would be challenging in the US, where the average person produces twice as much trash as a Chinese citizen.

But experts warn that rethinking the way we deal with garbage is essential, and AI technology offers a promising way forward.

It's even possible for it to identify who created a piece of trash in the first place.

Horowitz explained that robots are able to learn the features of materials. They are able to sparse whether a material is cloudy or opaque. AI robots may even be able to identify symbols of specific brands. All of these abilities help the robots like Max narrow down the source of contamination and what to do with it.

Last year, over 250 companies signed a MacArthur Foundation agreement pledging that 100% of plastic packaging will be easily and safely reused, recycled, or composted by 2025.

CEO of SC Johnson, Fisk Johnson, said in an interview, "We're a family company, and we have a very long-term view, and business has to be part of the solution."

Whether or not they make good on this pledge, AI will be quietly watching, and gathering data on the packaging these brands continue to use.

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Most plastic is not getting recycled, and AI robots could be a solution - Business Insider

Data security and automation are the top IT projects for 2020, while artificial intelligence projects are not in the top 10 for IT professionals, according to Netwrix.

The online survey asked 1045 IT professionals worldwide to name their top five IT projects for the next year; they could pick from a predefined list or specify their own descriptions. The survey found no dramatic difference in IT priorities among organizations based on size or vertical.

Not surprisingly, data security is a top priority for the majority of organizations. There are several factors that go into a successful data security process. The first is automating current processes to free up time for data security projects. Another is to research and deploy a data security solution.

Be sure your solution offers automated data classification, because it is the optimal way to enhance data security and reduce your attack surface without additional effort by the IT team, said Steve Dickson, CEO of Netwrix.

Infrastructure, operations, networking and security are the foundation upon which the technology-enabled world is built. It must deliver value at each layer as it ultimately supports people.

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Data security and automation top IT projects for 2020, AI not a priority - Help Net Security

Steph is used to starting over. She and her mother have been on the run from her father for as long as she can remember, moving from town to town and school to school, always leaving when it seems like there's a chance he could find them. The only thing that remains consistent in her life is the close connection she's made with a chat group on a website called CatNet. They upload photos of cute animals, they talk about being teenagers, they encourage each other all from a safe, anonymous distance.

But one member of CatNet has a secret. CheshireCat isn't a teenager at all, but a sentient AI with a love for cat photos and an intense interest in the inner workings of humans. That's why they created CatNet in the first place. But they didn't consider what would happen if they came to care for the humans they interacted with, let alone what they would do if one of those humans was in danger.

Danger does indeed come for Steph. As she tries to settle into yet another new school, she chafes against the restraints of her life and begins to take the kinds of risks that would make her mother load the van and speed out of town. It seems almost like a game, but one choice compounds the next, secrets begin to unravel, and soon Steph finds herself in the kind of trouble that will require a miracle to get out of or the help of an all-powerful AI.

This book is an engaging blend of tech thriller, mystery, and teen drama that kept me up reading way later into the night than was strictly wise.

This book is an engaging blend of tech thriller, mystery, and teen drama that kept me up reading way later into the night than was strictly wise. But I almost didn't read it. The title, Catfishing on CatNet, was nearly a deal-breaker for me. It sounded goofy and awkwardly trendy in a try-hard sort of way. But author Naomi Kritzer won the Hugo and Locus awards for her short story, "Cat Pictures Please," which is based on the same premise, so I decided to take a risk. Now I'm here to tell you that if the title has the same effect on you as it did on me, you should get over it and try it anyway.

Why? Well, the teen drama aspect is heartfelt and relatable, the mystery has enjoyable and sometimes shocking twists and turns, and the trajectory of the thriller plot is quite frankly bonkers. Just when you think it's about to slow down or pull back, instead it goes there and then keeps on going. It doesn't always make the most sense, but when you're talking about impromptu armies of hijacked robots, who even cares? It's bold and absurd and a whole lot of fun.

Steph's life is the stuff of made-for-TV drama, but despite that, she feels deeply relatable and accessible as a character. We meet her at a moment when she realizes that she should be asking more questions about her life and begins throwing rocks at the fence that surrounds her, testing its strength. We also get occasional passages from CheshireCat's point of view, and they manage to be simultaneously alarming and affable, acting with a shocking boldness and then wringing their virtual hands, wondering if they've done the right thing. This story heralds a coming of age for both its human and AI protagonists, and the parallels and differences are illuminating.

Catfishing on CatNet taps lightly on the concept of personhood and the ethics of artificial intelligence, but it doesn't trouble itself profoundly. There's never any question of whether or not we're on board with CheshireCat being a person. They just are.

That said, it does traffic deeply in surveillance and cyber security, and as someone who tries really hard to not think about that aspect of modern life too much, I did find myself genuinely creeped out by the amount of spying and hacking various characters are able to do. I know it's science fiction, but I also know it isn't reaching. And I think that's a message for our current times that is important for readers of all ages to keep in mind: You don't really know who you're talking to on the internet, and you don't know what you're telling them without meaning to. This gritty truth runs beneath Catfishing on CatNet's wild, rollicking ride, and it leaves it mark.

Caitlyn Paxson is a writer and performer. She is a regular reviewer for NPR Books and Quill & Quire.

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Review: Further Adventures Of A Cat-Loving AI In 'Catfishing On CatNet' - NPR

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- HCXI, a blockchain and AI based risk solutions company focused on managing alternative and emerging risks as new asset classes, has appointed former Swiss Re and AIG executive David Bassi to its advisory board. Mr. Bassi will advise HCXI on risk transfer and mitigation product innovation bringing considerable experience in insurance risk management and innovation to the role.

Mr. Bassi joins the HCXI Advisory Board with over 25 years of experience in the global insurance industry having held executive roles in innovation, risk management, and modeling. David most recently served as a Managing Director at Ernst & Young in Boston where he focused on insurance strategy and innovation. Prior to this role, he served as the Head of Innovation and Risk Consulting, Casualty, at AIG and held various risk management roles at leading companies including Swiss Re and General Electric. David is a speaker at industry events on topics such as emerging risks, big data, blockchain and the insurance cycle. He is a contributing author to Insurance Thought Leadership having written on the transformative potential of technology and analytics for the insurance industry.

HCXI is currently developing a smart-contract based risk mitigation and transfer product, vizSaver, to address the negative health outcomes and financial costs ($500+ billion) associated with missed patient appointments. vizSaver aligns the interests of patients, health systems, medical cost payers, and providers addressing delivery inefficiencies, social and financial determinants, and other patient, provider, and health system circumstances.

"We are pleased and excited to welcome David to our Advisory Board at this important stage of HCXI's evolution," stated Cyrus Maaghul, Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "As a highly respected and seasoned international insurance executive with valuable risk management, innovation, and data analytics experience, we look forward to David's advice and insight in guiding our objectives to bring breakthrough risk solutions to industry."

About HCXI

HCXI is an early stage RiskTech innovator developing smart-contracts leveraging mobile technology and machine learning as the basis for new risk mitigation, transfer and financing solutions for industries including healthcare, emerging technologies (AI, Blockchain), and others.

https://www.hcxi.co

Media Contact:Cyrus Maaghul615.310.7944229784@email4pr.com

SOURCE HCXI

https://www.hcxi.co

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Blockchain and AI Risk Management Technology Company, HCXI, Announces the Appointment of Former Swiss Re and AIG Executive to Its Advisory Board -...