Four short links: 9 December 2016
Automating the Middle Class, Voiced Penetration, Drone Fish, and On Assumptions
- What Robots Are Doing to the Middle Class (Common Dreams) — Paul Buchheit lays it out: the bifurcation of jobs, the reinforcement of privilege, and…A final relevant consideration was hinted at by The Economist, in talking about technological revolutions of the past: “It took several decades before economic growth was reflected in significant wage gains for workers—a delay known as Engels’ pause.” (via Cory Doctorow)
- Voice Control Security Holes — “His neighbor, who was coming by to borrow some flour, was able to let himself in by shouting, ‘Hey Siri, unlock the front door.'”
- Using a Robotic Dummy Fish to Study Social Behaviours — Ultimately, the experiments showed that the electric signal played a crucial role as a key stimulus in inducing “following behavior,” while there was no significant effect of motion pattern on attractiveness of the dummy. I feel vindicated in my decision to eschew dance classes in favour of an EMP generator.
- On Assumptions (Adrian Colyer) — The safety questions are the ones we’re trained to ask (although we often forget). But it’s the opportunity questions that can unlock some really interesting lines of inquiry and discovery.
