Monday 8 October 2018

Week 1 [08-14.10.18]

Choose an article or a video at https://www.bbc.com/news/technology
and present it to us. Discuss it with your colleagues.

30 comments:

  1. I have a question. How to create a new topic to present chosen article?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Present it here. Do not create a new post please.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Government Accountability Office found faults in weapons systems that are easy to hack with basic tools.
    The team of people who studied the faults guessed the password in just nine seconds and another team could use it within an hour to full control over the weapon system.
    The Pentagon does not comment in detail.


    source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45823180


    Can similar errors occur in defense systems of other countries?
    Can excessive digitization threaten humanity?
    Why such a rich country can not take care of security?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course it can. Technology has faults, it is inevitable. I am sincerely concerned how technology affect and will affect the humanity. It can be fire box in hands of little girl.
      And answering your last question - no amount of money can erase failures.

      Delete
    2. There's always some kind of whole that can lead hackers to system possesion, it doesn't matter if it's defence system or chatting application. The thing that has to be done is to create bug bounty programs for "white hat" hackers that will get paid for finding those wholes.

      Delete
    3. All systems are made by people. Man is always the weakest point, especially when we talk about security. This year on hackers conference in Las Vegas a girl hacked a copy of government sites in 10 mminutes and changed election result on it. I agree with Paweł, that no amount of money can prevent failures.

      Delete
  4. Boston Dynamics is a company that tries to change our idea of what robots can do. Their latest rescue robot can even learn parkour, jump over logs and move almost like a real person. You can watch it here: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-45841771/humanoid-rescue-robot-learns-parkour

    Moreover the company have created a machine that looks and walk like a dog. Personally I find it even more impressive that the humanoid machine from the article above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtU9p1VYtcQ

    Do you think that those machines are just tech tidbits or someday they might be useful in our daily life?
    Would you like to live in a society full of autonomous machines?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think they are far more than just tidbits. The most probable scenario is that the robots will be part of our lifes just like an internet is today. I do not know if I would like to live in such a society because I am afraid how it could look like, I am afraid it can go out of control. But if it was not, then it would be curious experience.

      Delete
    2. Living in a society that uses robots to help them is a step forward in my opinion, there's thousand of things that needs to be done in your life and could be done easily by robots, that you don't really like or doesn't want to waste time on it. It means that you could have more free time for yourself, which is always good.

      Delete
    3. @Adrian, yes, I also hope that one day we can delegate all mundane tasks to machines. But I don't expect this to happen in my lifetime since the cost of production for this robots are still too high.

      Delete
  5. It was already spoken here about robots, but there is a lot more to tell about the topic. Robots are fascinating subject although today already there are some stories told about robots getting out of control, f.ex. game 'Mass Effect' or movie 'The Matrix'. Nonetheless robots can be very useful as robot Moxi shown in this short video:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-43716309/could-a-robot-pip-people-picking-peppers
    Adding this: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-44319044/the-robots-taking-on-your-housework
    robots can be very similar to humans in some aspects and can help them perform everyday work.
    And if we add yet this:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-44959462/the-robot-controlled-by-your-thoughts
    then we have amazing view at the robotics technology which we have available today already. If we can communicate with robots by our thoughts, if robots can walk among us, if already have virtual world called internet, then our world isn't as it was before yet not much time ago.

    Do you think in a future we will be forced to merge our biological structure with technology and became robot or so called cyborgs ourselves?
    Do you think robots will gain consciousness? And if yes, will they declare a war to the humanity?
    Do you afraid of AI?
    Can we do something to make it stable and safe?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's already a group of people that is putting magnets under their skin, to be more like cyborgs, which is really stupid in my opinion, but having somekind of exo-skeleton that will help you lift really heavy stuff could be fun.
      Basic rules of creating robots is that robot can't make any hurt to a human, if everybody will stick to that rule we should be safe. The AI became a really big word, but still programmers have a lot to tell about what's beign put into neural networks for this robots so we have a lot of control about it still.

      Really interesting thing about robots are the moral choices. Should driver-less car switch to left and kill driver and passenger or kill the pedestrians?

      Delete
  6. Everyone probably knows the game fifa. As you know, a new part has recently come out FIFA 19.
    I would like to discuss with users who have already played in FIFA 19 but not only with them.
    Below, I am inserting the article:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-45642620

    1. Basic question: Have you played this game yet?
    2. What do you think about her? Is it better than the previous
    version? (I know that they are divided).
    3. Would you like to have this game? Justify why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, i've not played this game yet. But i've played FIFA 18 few times with my friends and i had a lot fun. If it's as good as previous games from this series, i would like to have this game. It is great entertainment.

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Classic programming means that you write the algorithm which can convert your input into output you want. All artificial intelligence right now works on a generalized algorithm which creates algorithm for the specific use case by learning from matching inputs and outputs. Actually, many people say they are doing AI but in fact it’s just data mining. Data mining is still classic programming. AI is not precise and is good where you have a lot of data, but is hard to make algorithm. So for now, I am not afraid because we are a long way away from algorithm really thinking by itself.

    By the way. I hope, the days like story in 'I, Robot' never comes. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(film)

    Have you heard something about some big impovement in AI lately?
    Have you watched the film I mentioned? What do you think about the story?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I found the information about latest data breach in Facebook interesting and how they stated after the attack. In overall when companies finds that they become victim of an attack, they try to help their clients to recover after it. And also it's interesting in case of whole discussion about GDPR and identity protection, administering.

    1. What's your opinion on Facebook policy?
    2. Have you checked if your account is affected by the attack?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The breach is a normal thing and happened for a lot of big companies. What is really bad about them is that they gathered phone numbers that were used for two-way authenication that should let you secure your account in a better way, were used for marketings purposes. There's already a petition from Mozilla to stop doing that. Finding this fact made me really angry at them.

      Delete
    2. Link to the article: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45845431

      Delete
  10. I think there is no one in this course that wouldn't face the problem with our National Health Service in Poland. In Rwanda a AI powered medical chatbot is being tested with over 2 million registered users. Surprisingly this Bot is even more effective in examining patients than real doctors. This is kind of scary and exciting at the same moment.

    source: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-44795307/could-artificial-intelligence-replace-doctors

    1. In the future, which option do you find more suitable? Going to the real doctor or being examined by the Chatbot?
    2. Do you think it is possible to have the doctor's profession totally disappear?

    Mateusz Jędrzejewski

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that doctors profession should be supported by technology that will help them in recongnizing disease and methods of healing for patients, but having it completly disappear for now is impossible as who would be responsible for computer faults: programmer, company that created application or someone else?

      Delete
    2. I would prefer to visit a real doctor who is equipped with AI or another suitable technology. At this point I still wouldn't trust in computers as much as a qualified profesional. And I also don't expect doctor's profession to disappear.

      Delete
  11. Facebook revealed their new product, called Portal that is a camera that will let you talk on a video conference with other users of that device or people using their app called Messanger. What makes it different from other devices is that it follows your body.

    source: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-45788582/facebook-portal-hands-on-with-new-video-gadget

    Would you trust facebook to use their devices knowing that they were even using your phone number for advertisement that you entered for account security?
    Do you think that kind of device is needed in your home?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I don't see any need for this device. There is little to none benefits of using it while the trade-off is remains of our privacy.

      Delete
    2. Big corporations gain our personal information in a way which we even cannot imagine. For example there are technologies, that enable to get some information about our health just from the voice and nobody ask us if we agree or not. I don't trust that such devices are only for our convenience.
      I don't need this device, I don't need facebook at all.

      Delete
  12. Tesla has created the world's biggest lithum-ion battery plant in Australia. It is made from 12500 smaller battery pods connected to eachother. Is is powered by the nearby wind turbines. The purpose of this battery is to give energy security and prevent power blackouts. It has enough power to power 30000 houses for an hour.

    Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-45648303/world-s-biggest-battery-a-look-around-tesla-project

    Do you think that such batteries farms are needed?
    How do you think will future power grids look like?

    ReplyDelete
  13. This one is hilarious.

    I have come across an article that talks about the menace of "rogue" drones and the battle against them.

    A rogue drone is any drone that is misused to perform illegal deeds. Examples quoted in the text range from accidental venture into a non-fly zone, to smuggling drugs and other contraband into UK prisons (yep, you read that correctly). Within the wide spectrum we have the occasional spying, or illegally recording sports events / concerts.

    Apparently, the number of incidents involving drones and other users of air space (air crafts) grew nine-fold since 2014 to 92 in 2017. This is less fun, as there is a real danger of a collision which in turn may lead to tragic deaths in a plane accident.

    The fun part starts where it usually starts, with human creativity! Multiple companies are looking to enter into a market of drone-fighters and many have a pretty novel idea how to do it. The coolest thing I've seen is a shoulder mounted gun that shoots a net to capture a rogue drone. It looks like a huge Nerf gun and I am pretty sure is a blast to handle. Other companies are thinking more along the lines of jamming the communication between the drone and the operator, or deploying your own "fighter" drones that would pray on the rogue ones.

    The real question though, from my perspective is this:
    1. Do we really need drones in our lives?
    2. If we do, what can we seriously do to ensure that their presence is safe and respectful to everyone around
    3. How long would it be, before we actually have a commercial use for the drones?

    Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45824096

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  14. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45798523

    I myself didn't thought about that before. All this data we use needs to be powered up with electricity. Like watching youtube, netflix or listening to spotify. Every action we take uses energy and this way demand on energy grows. So modern way of life, which keeps us online all the time makes us contribute to climate change.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Did You know that 5 millions of downloads and sreams od Despaciot song consumed as much electricity as Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic put together in a single year !?!? Watching and downloading movies from the internet influence on climat changes and our environment. The article show some tips how to use portals like Netflix or Facebook to be environment-friendly.

    Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45798523

    How many hours do you spend every week on watching/downloading videos from YouTube, Netflix or Facebook ?
    Have you ever thought how watching videos online affect on climate changes ?
    Do you think that we should change our habits to protect the environment ?

    ReplyDelete
  16. As a 'Petrolhead' I'm similar to any-vehicle-topic for almost my entire life and that's why I would like to present one of the BBC's article about cars in the near future.

    According to many analysts we've reached another breaking point in communication and era of internal combustion engine, or even owning a car is close to the end. The idea is to create a Uber-style network of intelligent vehicles that allow us to resign of owning and driving nowdays cars. Author of the article brings the XIX century car revolution and it replacement to the horses as a context that changes might become reality faster than we thought. First step to getting drivers from the steering wheel is switching internal combustion engine with electric motors, which already happened. It also brings topic of environment improvement and possible savings that it could provide for users. Also fully drivers-banned roads- according to the Author- should be much safer.

    My personal thoughts on this subject are:
    1. Will you feel comfortable enough to drive fully autonomic car?
    2. Do you think that in real world is even possible to avoid using fossil fuels according to impact on economics?
    3. What's terrified you most about such solution?

    Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45786690

    Feel free to comment,
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete