replacement is close, humans

[space otter]

again i am glad to be old and retired..wonder what they do if you don't have any social media activity..?
probably think you're a bot..hahahahahahah
hey i'm a bot now..

vid at link...sorry can't seem to move to here

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/science/didnt-get-the-job-robots-may-not-have-liked-your-social-media-activity/vi-BBRAINP

The Wall Street Journal.
Didn't get the job? Robots may not have liked your social media activity
Duration: 04:44 12/30/2018

DeepSense, based in San Francisco and New Delhi, uses artificial intelligence to assess job candidates' personalities based on their social media accounts. WSJ's Jason Bellini tested the tool.

[space otter]

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49004004

Elon Musk reveals brain-hacking plans
By Jane Wakefield
Technology reporter
7 hours ago

NeuraLink, a company set up by Elon Musk to explore ways to connect the human brain to a computer interface, has applied to US regulators to start trialling its device on humans.

The system has been tested on a monkey that was able to control a computer with its brain, according to Mr Musk.

The firm said it wanted to focus on patients with severe neurological conditions.

But ultimately Mr Musk envisions a future of "superhuman cognition".

Merging with AI
The device the firm has developed consists of a tiny probe containing more than 3,000 electrodes attached to flexible threads - thinner than a human hair - which can then monitor the activity of 1,000 neurons.

The advantage of this system, according to the firm, is that it would be able to target very specific areas of the brain, which would make it surgically safer. It would also be able to analyse recordings using machine learning, which would then work out what type of stimulation to give a patient.

NeuraLink did not explain how the system translated brain activity or how the device was able to stimulate brain cells.

"It's not like suddenly we will have this incredible neural lace and will take over people's brains," Mr Musk said during his presentation. "It will take a long time."

But he said, for those who choose it, the system would ultimately allow for "symbiosis with artificial intelligence".

Elon Musk creates Neuralink brain electrode firm

Previously Mr Musk has suggested that AI could destroy the human race.

"Even in a benign AI scenario, we will be left behind," he said.

"With a high bandwidth brain machine interface, we can go along for the ride and effectively have the option of merging with AI."

Connecting the brain to an interface would create a new layer of "superintelligence" in the human brain, he added, something people "already have via their phones".

Later, during a question and answer session, he revealed that the device NeuraLink is working on has been tested on monkeys, with the animal able to control a computer with its brain, according to Mr Musk.

Now the firm is putting together a submission to start human testing, which will need to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Mr Musk is also looking to recruit more scientists to the firm, which currently has about 100 employees.

NeuraLink released a paper to coincide with the announcement, but it has not been peer-reviewed, something that is generally seen as a crucial part of any new scientific breakthrough.

Krittika D'Silva, an AI researcher at the Frontier Development Lab, a partnership with Nasa attended the event, and said: "The technology described by NeuraLink is exciting because it is significantly less invasive than prior work in this field.

"The plans they describe will require many years of work to deal with technical and ethical challenges, but the technology could be a big step in working to alleviate certain serious medical conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson's."

The Kording Lab Twitter account, for scientists from the University of Pennsylvania's neuroscience department, tweeted that there was "nothing revolutionary but a range of really creative ideas" which seemed to suggest the firm was "on a great track".

Skip Twitter post by @KordingLab

KordingLab
@KordingLab
So, it looks like @elonmusk @neuralink have quickly caught up with the incumbents (e.g. blackrock). There is nothing revolutionary but a range of really creative ideas (love the guide tube like needle idea). I need to see more data but they seem to be on a great track. https://twitter.com/aryelipman/status/1151354908563529728 ...

Arye Lipman
@aryelipman
... and here's the @neuralink white paper #neuralink https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6204648-Neuralink-White-Paper.html ...

56
1:09 AM - Jul 17, 2019
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End of Twitter post by @KordingLab
Andrew Hires. assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Southern California, tweeted that the company had "pushed forward" the best of existing lab technology.

Skip Twitter post by @AndrewHires

Andrew Hires
@AndrewHires
Replying to @AndrewHires and 2 others
Summary: Neuralink picked the best of existing lab technology and pushed it forward in a number of important dimensions, and most impressively has an integrated implantable product that goes beyond the current state of the art.

Q&A time:  My Q, Can we buy it for mice?

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End of Twitter post by @AndrewHires
NeuraLink is not the only firm building neural interfaces. Kernel, set up by tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, is attempting similar things to "radically improve and expand human cognition".

Many of Mr Musk's ventures push at the boundaries of what is currently possible. Space X is exploring missions to Mars, while his Boring Company is looking to build tunnels underneath Los Angeles, and his Hyperloop project aims to reinvent travel.

View comments417

[space otter]

a friend sent me this

Watch Elon Musk's Neuralink presentation

[space otter]

and now...baseball, man..who woulda thunk it..?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/robot-umpires-atlantic-league-is-testing-ground-for-mlbs-future/ar-AAG15Dp?li=BBnb7Kz


short vid at link
USA TODAY SPORTS
Robot umpires: Atlantic League is testing ground for MLB's future
Gabe Lacques  1 hr ago 


WALDORF, Md. – In its quest for a more efficient, error-free and hopefully optimized game experience, Major League Baseball's transformation of the Atlantic League from the game's last-chance motel into its test lab has largely been a rousing success.

An automated strike zone that converts the home-plate umpire from arbiter to mere messenger is right far more often than it is wrong. A ban on mound visits and relief specialists undeniably speeds the game's pace.

And rules changes aimed to encourage balls in play and runners in motion – Thou shalt not shift defensively, but you may "steal" first base – gives hitters options beyond launching balls over a vexing alignment of fielders.

Yet as its experiment with a "robotic" strike zone and other nuances enters its second month, the formal partnership between MLB and the Atlantic League illustrates the upsides and consequences of optimization.

Umpire-player conflicts may be few. That doesn't mean players, managers and umpires don't feel somewhat conflicted about their roles as pioneers when the outcome may eventually marginalize their respective crafts.

"I think it's really cool to be around this," says Kent Blackstone, the shortstop for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, "because if they can get it right, I see this being in Major League Baseball in three to five years.

"For us to be the first ones to use it, if I want to get into the operations of baseball, I can say I was there during all this. I try to shift it to the positive."

ATLANTIC LEAGUE RULES:Stealing first base and all the other MLB tests

Spend an August day in the Atlantic League, and you get the overwhelming sense it's only a matter of when, not if, the radical experiments bubble up to the big leagues. When MLB officials descended on the Blue Crabs' training camp in Lakeland, Florida, to discuss this most unusual season to come, momentum was palpable.

"There's a lot of people who say, 'This will never be passed at the major league level,' " says Stan Cliburn, the Blue Crabs' 62-year-old manager. "Well, people better look back and see that baseball's about change, life's about change.

"Is it the direction Major League Baseball is going? They're certainly taking a hard look at it."

That will certainly delight fans who chafe at every blown ball-strike call, screen-shotting the injustice in a bid for social media glory. Yet the "robot ump" path from the sun-baked fields of independent ball to the big leagues will have its detours.

The greater dilemma might revolve around what's lost on the way.

'You have to adapt'
Creature comforts in the Atlantic League – with franchises in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and suburban Houston – are few. A sack of Egg McMuffins might constitute the morning clubhouse spread, and the Blue Crabs' unofficial motto – "If you don't like it, play better" – reflects the players' collective hope to latch on with an MLB-affiliated club.

An ominous device affixed to the stadium façade, however, goes a long way toward making them feel like big-leaguers.

TrackMan is, for now, the device that powers MLB's Statcast, producing a trove of statistics that are increasingly mainstream: exit velocity, launch angle, pitch movement, sprint speed and so on. Without the MLB partnership, Atlantic League clubs would not have that data and, several players note, it will now be easily accessible for major league organizations that might have an interest in signing them.

TrackMan also provides the brainpower behind the automated ball-strike system, peering down on home plate. Though inanimate, it nonetheless pops up in conversations in manners like, "Well, TrackMan missed that one," or, "I think the TrackMan went out for a bit."

And TrackMan certainly has its quirks. For one, do not lie to TrackMan.

Blackstone found this out the hard way. Since he has not played affiliated ball, the 25-year-old shortstop had no previous data – such as height or batting stance – in the TrackMan system. Like many athletes of a certain height, Blackstone gifted himself an extra inch in submitting his player information, because who wouldn't prefer a 6-foot shortstop over a 5-11 shortstop?

Trouble was, the generous height was entered in the system to establish his strike zone. And so in his first few games with the auto strike zone, several very high strikes were called against him.

"I always say I'm 6 foot," says Blackstone. "But that's over, man."

Like anyone associated with baseball, TrackMan prefers sunny skies.

A recent Blue Crabs game at High Point (North Carolina) was delayed by rain and lightning, and when it resumed, Cliburn insists the conditions affected the strike zone. "The game ended," he says, "on a strike that was nowhere close to being a strike. And I think the weather had something to do with it."

And therein lie the bugs. While the strike zone is intended to be uniform, in any stadium, members of the Blue Crabs and Long Island Ducks pointed out parks with obvious variances. High Point likes the high strike. Lancaster (Pennsylvania) was missing the low strike, the true pitcher's pitch.

Overall, the system received high marks for its lateral work, nailing pitches on either edge of the plate. Vertically? Not so much.

"If a ball hits that bottom of the box on TrackMan, it's a strike. But that ball might hit the ground. To me, that doesn't look good," says Blue Crabs right-hander Daryl Thompson, a 2003 draftee of the Montreal Expos. "I feel like they need to tweak it a little bit more to get it to adjust to every hitter that gets in the box. If we can't do that, it's not going to be any use."

Says Blackstone: "There have been times where the ball hits the ground and they're calling it a strike. Textbook-wise, it might be a strike. We all would like to not get hosed on a strike three on a ball at our ankles. But you have to adapt."

Or develop a foolproof system.

TrackMan is just one of many pitch tracking systems available, though many of the best are on-field devices and not suitable for live game action. Multiple reports indicate MLB will be shifting from TrackMan to the Hawk-Eye tracking system – best known for its work policing tennis serves – for Statcast and other purposes in 2020.

"There were a couple games where TrackMan malfunctioned," says Thompson. "In the middle of the at-bat, the umpire would be like, 'Hey Stan, this one's going to be on me. TrackMan's broke right now.' That right there to me says this isn't baseball if we're going to be doing that."

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred indicated last month that automated ball-strike systems would get an extended look in affiliated minor league ball before any serious consideration was given toward using them in the majors. "We kind of feel it's incumbent to figure out whether we could make it work," he said, "and that's what we are doing."

And that might put another baseball fixture – the home-plate umpire – on the clock.

Just one four-letter word
After MLB instituted significant replay review for the 2014 season, it was impossible not to notice how much quieter it was on the field, with little for managers to argue. It's even quieter for Atlantic League umps, who now hear only one-four letter word when they work the plate.

Ball.

The call comes straight from the automated ball-strike system to their earpiece, delivered in the same monotone, be it off the plate or a strike.

"You hear the pop," says Atlantic League ump Jerry Martinez of the roughly two seconds it takes for pitch litigation. "And then you hear the voice. Strike, or ball.

"And then you have to render your mechanic. If it's a strike, you call it a strike."

Martinez's crew mate, Scott Hart, was recently summoned to work games in the Class AA Eastern League, where he was besieged with questions from fellow umpires perhaps wondering where their next meal might come from.

"Before, it was kind of a mental battle," says Hart. "You're focused. The catcher's trying to get a pitch from you. You're reading the catch. That's taken that out the window."

But the auto-ump can't totally replace the human element – unless it somehow develops a sense of humor.

"Every once in a while," Martinez says of the voice in his earpiece, "it will tell you, 'Hey, clean the plate.' "

Really?

"Nah, I'm only kidding."

Backstop blues
So let's tally the casualties of baseball's enacted and proposed rule changes:

Instant replay killed most of the game's arguments. An automatic strike zone would marginalize the home-plate umpire. A three-batter minimum for relievers – in place in the Atlantic League and slated for enactment in the 2020 MLB season – would render the lefty relief specialist virtually extinct.

And in an automated era of balls and strikes, the catcher would be rendered almost irrelevant.

The most important position on the field – a virtual breeding ground for future major league managers – would be reduced to the mere act of catching the ball, destroying the art of pitch-framing at a time advanced metrics have quantified the skill better than ever.

Mike Falsetti is training the next generation of receivers how to receive. Now, he's not sure what to think.

The 28-year-old Blue Crabs catcher is no Crash Davis – he has six home runs and a .188 average in five years of independent ball – but his measured vibe and cerebral nature make him a dead ringer for any major league backup catcher.

In the offseason, he trains catchers at a Chicago-area facility and will even meet up with pupils on the road in the Atlantic League. And every pitch whose ball-strike fate is determined before it meets his glove feels like another dig at his livelihood.

"The changes it makes to the position are drastic," he says. "I've always thought every single pitch that's received, the catcher has to earn the strike call. TrackMan rewards the lazy catcher, the bad receiver, and devalues the good receivers, and that's a big part of the game."

No more, at least not here.

Falsetti says the catcher-ump relationship – one of baseball's deepest connections – remains, but it's more a commiseration of their shared fate, and an occasional ask of whether the pitch would have been a strike if the ump had an actual say in the matter.

"I know they just want to get it right," says Falsetti. "And it has been right, for the most part. It's going to take a lot for the (TrackMan zone) to get to the big leagues. And I just hope that process sheds light on just how important that good-receiving catcher is.

"There's a lot that goes into every single pitch: It's the hitter's mind-set, it's the bickering between teams, it's a lot. And you lose a feel for the game."

It will be up to Manfred, or perhaps his successor, and the players' association to determine that cost. In the meantime, the self-proclaimed guinea pigs of the Atlantic League will play on, realizing it's futile to rail against agents of change, automated or human.

"You can't yell at that machine up there," says Cliburn. "He's not gonna listen."

Follow Gabe Lacques on Twitter: @GabeLacques

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Robot umpires: Atlantic League is testing ground for MLB's future

Microsoft may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.

[ArMaP]

I suppose this is the best place for this:

"AI Used For Social Engineering. Fraudsters Mimic CEO's Voice in Unusual Cybercrime Case | WSJ"

Catherine Stupp at the Wall Street Journal reported on something we have predicted would happen in this blog. The article started out with:

"Criminals used artificial intelligence-based software to impersonate a chief executive's voice and demand a fraudulent transfer of €220,000 ($243,000) in March in what cybercrime experts described as an unusual case of artificial intelligence being used in hacking.

"The CEO of a U.K.-based energy firm thought he was speaking on the phone with his boss, the chief executive of the firm's German parent company, who asked him to send the funds to a Hungarian supplier. The caller said the request was urgent, directing the executive to pay within an hour, according to the company's insurance firm, Euler Hermes Group SA. Euler Hermes declined to name the victim companies.

Now scammers are getting into AI too, so next time you get a phone call you better confirm its authenticity. it could be AI pretending to be your spouse telling you to buy pizza .

Source

[The Seeker]

I suppose this is the best place for this:

"AI Used For Social Engineering. Fraudsters Mimic CEO's Voice in Unusual Cybercrime Case | WSJ"

Now scammers are getting into AI too, so next time you get a phone call you better confirm its authenticity. it could be AI pretending to be your spouse telling you to buy pizza .

Source

It just isn't looking good, is it? Before long, unless you are in physical contact, face to face, how are you going to be able to tell who or what you are talking to?