AI in the world of work? AI Experts Day, Year II

What is the impact of AI in the world of Work?

IA dans le monde du Travail? AI Expert Days 2019, Campus Biotech, Genève

On 8 October last, the 2nd edition of the AI Expert Days Conference, organised by the ImpactIA Foundation, took place in Geneva. But the days started long before that. A group of interdisciplinary experts, the Foundation’s Advisory Board, meet for long hours on the premises of the Brocher Foundation. Its premises are located on the shores of Lake Geneva. There they asked themselves the question: What is the impact of AI in the world of work? And, from the outset, they have done what could be called “micro-brainstorming”: multiple small group meetings, with variations in the composition of these groups, pooling, etc. All this to prepare the workshops for the conference.

IA dans le monde du Travail? AI Expert Days 2019, Campus Biotech, Genève

It took place in the auditorium of the Biotech Campus and its adjoining rooms, from 2pm to 7.30pm. Each conference participant had the opportunity to attend the welcome address, two workshops, to be chosen from six options, and the final conference activity, which was a round table with public participation. And then to close the deal, a little relaxing networking, with a drink and treats, which were served in the inner patio of the Biotech Campus.

Only a year has passed since the first edition and yet many things have begun to change in society, by the hand of Artificial Intelligence. In fact, it is gradually becoming part of our daily lives. For example, many new smartphone models have begun to improve their performance with this new technology.

Concerns, threats, challenges

In any case, although this innovative tool can be used to significantly improve our quality of life, concerns about its potential threats continue to emerge. This is the case for Laura Nolan, a former Google engineer, who left the multinational for ethical reasons. She told The Guardian on September 15 that robots have the potential to do “calamitous things for which they were not originally programmed”.

That was the view expressed by Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk. According to him, and he said so last year, Artificial Intelligence would nowadays involve a higher risk than nuclear weapons. He then used regulation.

On the other hand, according to the press agency Pressenza, 75 countries in the world are using AI for surveillance tasks. They would use American and Chinese technologies in particular.

Real applications of AI

But let’s be positive. Regarding AI in the Working Environment, which remains the main goal of AI Expert Days, the world has also begun to change. AI is entering the research community.

For example, in the TU Delft, Netherlands, where the materials scientist Miguel Bessa has succeeded in creating a new material that is both super-compressible and strong. He actually gave the AI a computer simulation. From this simulation and by learning by doing, AI finally allowed researchers to come up with a solution. This avoided a long and costly phase of laboratory experimentation.

On the other hand, and in the legal world, the DoNotPay startup offers its services free of charge through a smartphone app.

It has already been used in particular to contest parking tickets but, recently, it has also made it possible to conduct small trials. Its site offers to make claims against large corporations at no cost to the plaintiff. For the moment, it is only available in Great Britain and the United States.

In the field of medicine, Microsoft, in partnership with Nuance, is developing an intelligent consultation room that would allow your specialist to focus on you, your state of mind, etc. Basically, more humane consultations.

AI and Human Resources

And what about the HR software Amazon launched at the end of last year, which started making decisions based on gender bias? Prejudices that would have been introduced into the software by humans. Humans with prejudices, of course.

Nevertheless, the use of AI in HR seems promising. The French-speaking Swiss startup Into Flow, is working on an AI application that would detect burnout indicators, well before it occurs and by detecting the employee engagement rate. This would allow companies to make their workforce more profitable, while ensuring the well-being of their employees. Only “win-win” what.

The new professions of AI

But, is the AI going to take my job? This is one of the questions that everything and everyone asks. And the members of the ImpactIA Advisory Board have offered to work on this subject in depth. Their answer, which they develop in the 2019 AI Expert Days Papers, is a list of more than fifteen new professions, whose AI has already caused the emergence. Specialties that are already in demand in the real world today!

In any case, new jobs are not the only topic discussed in the Cahiers. These make it possible, in fact, to be up to date on everything concerning the relationship between AI and the world of Work, with an emphasis on the human and ethical parts of the equation.

Google présente Android 10 Go Edition
https://www.lesmobiles.com/actualite/27014-google-presente-android-10-go-edition.html

HUAWEI P20’S AI camera: Let Artificial Intelligence Do the Heavy Lifting
https://consumer.huawei.com/en/press/media-coverage/2018/huawei-p20-ai-camera-let-artificial-intelligence-do-the-heavy-lifting/

Ex-Google worker fears ‘killer robots’ could cause mass atrocities
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/15/ex-google-worker-fears-killer-robots-cause-mass-atrocities

Laura Nolan: Ex-Google Engineer Warns AI ‘Killer Robots’ Could Cause Catastrophes
https://observer.com/2019/09/killer-ai-robots-consequences-laura-nolan-google/

Artificial Intelligence used for mass surveillance in 75 countries
https://www.pressenza.com/2019/09/artificial-intelligence-used-for-mass-surveillance-in-75-countries/

TU Delft researchers design new material by using Artificial Intelligence only
https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2019/tu-delft/tu-delft-researchers-design-new-material-by-using-artificial-intelligence-only/

The world first robot lawyer
https://donotpay.com/

MED : Microsoft, Nuance partner to develop ‘exam room of the future’ with the help of AI
https://blogs.microsoft.com/ai/nuance-exam-room-of-the-future/
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/artificial-intelligence/microsoft-nuance-partner-to-develop-exam-room-of-the-future-with-the-help-of-ai.html

AMAZON RH
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/10/amazon-hiring-ai-gender-bias-recruiting-engine

Into Flow : The People Gardeners’ Assistant: Good Management, Good Life!
http://intoflow.org/

Les partenaires des AI Expert Days 2019 :

Espace Entreprise https://edu.ge.ch/site/espaceentreprise
Canton de Genève https://www.ge.ch/
Campus Biotech https://www.campusbiotech.ch/
.ICON https://icon.ngo/
FormationS.ch https://formations.ch/
Loyco https://www.loyco.ch/
Infologo https://infologo.ch
OIT https://www.ilo.org/global/lang–en/index.htm
Microsoft https://www.microsoft.com/fr-ch/
Bilan https://www.bilan.ch/

Data Privacy War?

Are we heading towards a Data Privacy War between Tech Companies?

Nasdaq Apple, Google & Facebook stocks, end of november 2018

Source: Nasdaq.com

If you haven’t already done so, it may be interesting to hear Tim Cook’s, Apple’s CEO, speech on October 24th at the European Parliament. He took the opportunity to do his little marketing, of course. But, beyond his goals as a multinational company executive, what is interesting in his speech is the way he fiercely defends data privacy.

We discover a new characteristic of this businessman: aggressiveness. Indeed, we were used to a rather cautious Tim Cook, a conservative man, from a business point of view, someone who conveyed confidence precisely because of his moderation. Someone who could even become boring, especially in facing the inevitable comparison with his predecessor, mythic Steve Jobs. To what can we attribute this new approach?

During the last three months until yesterday, Apple lost 21% of its stock market value, for 11% of Google and 22% of Facebook. Nevertheless, the descent seems to have corrected since mid-November, after, let us not forget, the Black Friday campaign, that has existed in the United States since the 1960s and where it has traditionally had a huge impact. Is this a new trend or a slight fluctuation? To be followed up.

In any case, the corporation from Cupertino, since Steve Jobs’ era, has always promoted data protection as one of its core values. This despite the fact it has endured suspicions about it. For example, in 2010, in the United States, a users group filed a complaint against the company for selling user data to third parties. Some iPad and iPhone applications would be concerned.

In any case, without naming them directly, Mr. Cook talks about

“data industrial complex”

by referring most probably, among others, to Alphabet (Google, Youtube, Android…) and Facebook (Instagram, Whatsapp,…)

“Your profile is then run through algorithms that can serve up increasingly extreme content, pounding our harmless preferences into hardened convictions”

Would the wolf have decided to put the lamb’s skin on? Or is this a genuine defense of the right to privacy?
And he added, categorically:

“This is surveillance. And these stockpiles of personal data serve only to enrich the companies that collect them”

Mr. Cook probably chooses his words very thoroughly. And the word surveillance goes far beyond the usual vocabulary of corporate Big Data: surveillance is no longer a marketing word, but something else. Should we understand that Mr. Cook is trying to warn us of a danger that goes beyond the realm of business and that would squarely fit into the one of politics, or even the one of the police?

He also had a few words for Artificial Intelligence:

“For Artificial Intelligence to be truly smart, it must respect human values, including privacy. If we get this wrong, the dangers are profound. We can achieve both: great Artificial Intelligence and great privacy standards. It is not only a possibility, it is a responsibility.
In the pursuit of Artificial Intelligence we should not sacrifice the humanity, creativity, ingenuity that defined human intelligence”

By addressing the representatives of the European Union and concerning their new Data Protection Regulation:

“Thank you for your work, to your commitment to the possibility of human centered technology”

This clearly shows that Apple is strategically positioning itself on the side of the European Union and is head-on against other tech companies. Its goal here seems to be to regain the top of the smartphone market in relation to Android (Alphabet, Google, Youtube,…) A market, the smartphone market, that is beginning to show clear signs of maturity. And, at the same time, he would try to get rid of the suffocating pressure of an actual octopus of social networks, such as Facebook (Instagram, Watsapp). In this sense, it will also be interesting to see Microsoft’s position (Linkedin, Skype, Bing,…)

However, it is difficult to believe that there is only one large multinational company in the world that does not collect and trade data from its users. Since the 1950s, customer profiling has been constantly mentioned in marketing manuals. But this could vary depending on the case. For example, for Google and Facebook it could be an almost exclusive activity, while for companies like Apple or Microsoft it is not the case, because their diversification is huge.

Apparently, Apple’s new strategic direction would aim to relentlessly attack companies that are highly dependent on the data market. This would be for two reasons: one, to defeat them as competitors. The second reason for this strategy could be the wish for self-cleaning, regarding the respect towards user’s privacy.

This would achieve two goals: on one hand, to increase its market share in relation to competitors and, on the other hand, to achieve almost blind trust on the part of its users, who would therefore have no hesitation in sharing their private data over the networks, whether on iTunes or other online platforms.

The fact that Apple applauds the work of the European Union in defending data protection is very positive. But we must not forget that this corporation is huge, it has pretty much unlimited resources and, in the case of an investigation, the relationship between it and the public authorities would be comparable to the one between Goliath and David. Advantage Apple, of course. This could pose enormous difficulties for public authorities to detect potential breaches of the Data Protection Regulation.

In addition to that, the tech sector is already highly concentrated and this new Apple move, brought to its latest consequences, could lead to even higher concentration. We would actually be approaching “corporate government” in contrast to “democratic government” in a market, the tech one, which has shown a growing tendency to swallow up all the others. We can see that, for instance, in Amazon’s extraordinary expansion in all directions over the past three years.

EXTERNAL LINKS :
The Week in Tech: Apple Goes on the Attack – By Jack Nicas
New York Times

Apple Is Worth $1,000,000,000,000. Two Decades Ago, It Was Almost Bankrupt
New York Times

What is Black Friday ?
The BlackFriday.com

Les 5 choses à savoir sur le Black Friday, qui se déroule ce vendredi (20.11.2018)
Le Nouvelliste

The Betrayal of Adam Smith – When Corporations Rule the World
by David C. Korten

David Korten
Official Website

THE PRICE OF CIVILIZATION – By Jeffrey D. Sachs
Editor’s Website

Amazon, une multinationale à laquelle rien ne résiste
Le Temps

Apple Inc. litigation
Wikipedia

Digital Day – Switzerland

Digital Day – Suisse 2018 Digital Day Switzerland 2018 Activities are planned in:
  • Zurich
  • Geneva
  • Lugano
  • Basel
  • Berne
  • Chur
  • Fribourg
  • Lausanne
  • Lucerne
  • Yverdon-les-Bains
  • Sion
  • St. Gallen
  • Vaduz

Forum ArtTech 2018 – Geneva, Switzerland

  • Forum ArtTech , second edition
  • from 11 to 12 October 2018
  • in partnership with HEAD – Geneva, Haute école d’art et de design.

Art Tech Geneva 2018

An international community of researchers, engineers and scientists, representatives of the cultural and economic sectors around conferences and round tables during which more than 40 personalities and speakers will follow one another.

How technology companies – start-ups or large groups – invest in cultural and heritage projects and its technological innovations

Campus Biotech – Geneva, Switzerland

Singularity : Artificial Intelligence and Feelings

Singularity : Artificial Intelligence and Feelings

André Guillen

Normally, we say this boy is intelligent, as a synonymous of him being clever. We used to take for granted that intelligence was an exclusively human peculiarity. And we wouldn’t imagine ourselves saying it about an artificial artifact, whether it is a car or a toy or any other thing: this machine is clever, or would we? Or would we say it when talking about a healthcare software or a computer game? I don’t think so. Not yet, at least. Singularity is not here yet.

But we, our society, our progress, as a surfer would on the top of the wave of his life, we are running and accelerating dramatically towards that point in which intelligence will surpass the human brain and it will also be characteristic of other entities. Should we say other things, other objects, other machines?

Singulari Artificial Intelligence Concept
Maybe, what we call intelligence today, will transform itself into something with it’s own entity. The Cloud may be a prehistory of what that ethereal, omnipresent intelligence could be. All that information, all that data, that amazingly Big Data, concentrated in a few computer farms all over the world and constantly shared with the whole humanity, with the permission of tech companies, of course. That could be the start of it all.
But there is something else to take into consideration. The same way we told the boy he is clever, we tell it to the girl, of course but, in both cases, we are not only telling them that they have a lot of data in their brain, or that they are able to calculate very fast, or that they can read very quickly. There is something else, something that only humans, right now, have. And that is all those things, plus feelings, moods, a certain type of sensitivity that only humans have and maybe other things that we don’t know yet. Animal activists may argue also animals can show these attributes, specially mammals. But let’s just focus, for now, on humans.

The first person to ever put on the table the concept of singularity was the mathematician John von Neumann. In fact, his real name was Neumann János Lajos and he was born in Budapest, at that time, still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From an early age he proved to have an extremely sharp intelligence and he would become one of the most important mathematicians of his time. Among others, his contributions are important in quantum mechanics and the theory of games.

Here is one of the things he said about singularity: “technological progress will become incomprehensibly rapid and complicated” That was in the last century’s fifties.
We could define singularity as the point in which humans and machines mix, melt with each other, so that we cannot tell where one of them begins, neither where the other ends: it’s the point in which artificial intelligence surpasses the biological one. And then, yes, we will probably tell to a thing: you are clever, meaning IT is clever.

More recently specialists also talk about the concept of intelligence explosion to refer to singularity and inventor Ray Kurzweil, would say, in his book The Singularity Is Near, that the specific starting date would be the year 2045. I find a bit difficult to make such an accurate prophecy, but Mr Kurzweil has a reputation of being right in many cases, in many predictions.

Recently I met the young Swiss entrepreneur Alen Arslanagic, nominated by Forbes 30 under 30, that is the 30 most influential persons under 30 years old in their region. He told me, during an interview as part of my work for the impactIA Foundation, that the most plausible answer to the singularity, in order to avoid being ruled by the machines (or maybe the only one) would be to integrate the artificial intelligence as part of our humanity. And he would specifically say, for instance, that we will most probably be permanently connected to the cloud, in order to retrieve and to process data. He also said we would communicate with each other without talking; some tech version of telepathy, I would say. A bit weird, isn’t it? But, at the same time, absolutely fascinating.

But then, if we integrate the artificial intelligence as part of ourselves, if we become hyper-mega intelligent cyborgs, what is the point of wanting to integrate the human feelings into other bodies, like robots, for instance? What for? Because if the prophet has already gone to the mountain, to borrow a biblical image, why would we then even think about moving that mountain? We, humans, could still have feelings in exclusivity and we would enrich our lives exponentially with the integration of artificial intelligence into our own selves. A crucial issue here is still (and more each time) privacy. And another important subject, related to the former, would be who is the owner of data, of the Big Data?

In any case, we are obviously today at the verge of an incredible change in human history, a change like we have never seen before. And therefore it is difficult to predict exactly what will and will not happen. A change that has already started and that will speed up every day in the decades to come in a geometrical progression.

John von Neumann

Ray Kurzweil

impactIA Foundation

Alen Arslanagic – Forbes 30 under 30

Hong Kong Electronics Fair – Spring Edition – 2018

  • 3D Printing

  • Audio Visual Products

  • Business of IP

Hong kong

  • Connected Home

  • Digital Imaging

  • Eco-Friendly Products

  • Electronic Accessories

  • Electronic Gaming

  • Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS)

  • Electronic Parts, Components and Production Technology

  • Entertainment World

  • Exhibitor’s Showroom

  • Fitness and Beauty

  • Healthcare Electronics

  • Home Appliances

  • iAccessories

  • Industrial Design & Brand Management Services Zone

  • In-Vehicle Electronics & Navigation Systems

  • Office Automation & Equipment

  • Packaging & Design

  • Personal Electronics

  • Robotics & Unmanned Tech

  • Security Products

  • Startup

  • Telecommunications Products

  • Testing, Certification & Inspection Services

  • Trade Services

  • Virtual Reality

  • Wearable Electronics

Mobile World Congress – Barcelona 2018

  • One-of-a-kind events, seminars and

    experiences designed to help educate and excite your mind

    Mobile Wordl Congress

  • Developed and presented by some of the top organisations in the mobile ecosystem

  • Mobile World Congress 2018 will once again take place at Fira Gran Via with selected events, including 4YFN, taking place at Fira Montjuïc

  • Over 2,300 exhibitors will gather in Barcelona to showcase the newest technologies and most innovative products available. Take your place among the companies that are shaping the connected future

Online Marketing

-Eureka! The Thread that leads to my Goal goes through the Net! -cried the cat, while wagging his tail.

Online Marketing

online_marketing

Shredding this little piece, from the limited imagination of this clumsy editor, we can already begin to unravel the skein of Online Marketing.

-The Goal:

selling and/or promoting a specific product or service or a product line, share my passion for Japanese helicopters, provide information about the weather or the parliament, raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina …

-The Thread:

How to do this?

Where to start?

What means to use?

Who to call?

What language to use?

Who do you want to reach?

-The Cat:

Who am I? Where am I …?;-)

-eureka !: This word has here an encouraging goal. Literally: ‘I found it!’

-The Net:

the working context. More and more each time, we hear that there is no marketing without Online Marketing; or even that Online Marketing is marketing itself, much like Napoleon: ‘Le Marketing, c’est moi!’

Without going so far, we can say that it is perfectly possible to develop a marketing strategy by working on the background of the Net. That said, it would be a shame to overlook the know-how of traditional marketing and the enormous potential of conventional media.

In all cases, we see more and more the Net as the key basis; and the strategy remains the one that has to adapt. So far, and quite logically, it was the other way around: web strategy was adapted to the overall strategy of the project.

However, each project is different and it would be unwise to make generalizations about it.

Good websurfing! 🙂

Japan IT Week Osaka

  • Second edition Cloud Computing Expo (CLOUD Osaka) gathers all kinds of cloud computing products and services.

Cloud Computing

                           Cloud Computing

  • A great number of professionals requiring systems will visit CLOUD Osaka:

    • Information systems managers,

    • Management executives,

    • Sales managers,

    • SaaS providers,

    • System integrators and

    • Managers from divisions.

  • Face-to-face business with exhibitors.

Let’s Get Started!

Once we’ve browsed, searched, bought, we communicated and we have seen the interest of the network, where to start?

Let's get started!

To be on the Internet, it is important to think, first, about a web strategy to achieve our many goals and make good decisions about our online presence.

 

Then we have to create, of course, a website using the available tools: from the simplest and most intuitive to the most complex. To be online is not necessary to know them in detail, but it’s worth knowing what they look like.

 

Once you have an idea of what to do, it’s good to put it in writing, to make a preliminary assessment of the initial investment and fixed costs. We have included tools such as a quiz and a glossary to help you find your way.

 

You can add comments on the blog or contact us directly if necessary. We wish you a nice trip and good business!