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Tag: Future Tech

  • 5 Telltale Signs Your Tech ‘Solutions’ Are Working Against You | Entrepreneur

    5 Telltale Signs Your Tech ‘Solutions’ Are Working Against You | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Tech is a vital component of just about any modern business plan, but it’s too often implemented before it’s properly assessed. I’ve been in countless forums that include someone declaring, “If you want success, you need to be using .” But in reality, tech is an extension of your business, not someone else’s paint-by-numbers guide for you to replicate what’s already been done.

    To be sure, following someone else’s guidance can help reduce some of the decision-making phases in getting started, but may not be the best strategy once an enterprise or organization is established. So, I’m not here to tell you what tech to use because I believe the process of choosing the right is at once complex and unique to each user. You can and should feel good about the systems you’ve invested in.

    Here are some signs that yours are no longer supporting you the way they should.

    1. Spending too much time on setup and fixes

    It is all too easy to find yourself putting in late nights, skipping out on events and spending less time with people you care about, and instead having frustrating sessions at the computer during which it feels like you’re banging your head against the wall. You may, in the end, only get as far as “good enough,” then call it a wrap.

    The adage that “fighting with your tech is part of the business” simply isn’t true, or shouldn’t be anyway. The odd late-night session when you’re inspired can be productive, but these should conclude with a winning feeling, not a compromise.

    Related: How to Choose the Right Tech for Your Startup

    2. Depending on outside people to make adjustments

    It’s common to get tech set-up by a friend or family member who is “really good at this.” The hitch is that’s is very easy for this to result in a situation in which someone else is running your business. Not having the confidence to dive into your own digital tools and/or having repeated stressful conversations with the help desk because your go-to person is unavailable simply won’t work.

    3. Clients become aware of the problem

    When you’re an entrepreneur, clients are typically pretty understanding. They know you’re wearing multiple hats and that tech can be tricky to navigate. But at the core of things, they are looking for your services, and unsupportive tools will get in the way of that — impacting your relationships. Your problems must never become their problems.

    Related: Small Business Owners, Don’t Run From Technology — Embrace It. Here Are 5 Strategies to Succeed.

    4. You avoid opening your own app

    There are lots of reasons to dread opening an app. These can range from the color scheme being off to the UX not being intuitive — having to refer to help pages to do routine tasks, for example, or perhaps things glitch with frequency. This can’t happen with your digital services.

    5. You’re not having fun

    Not everyone loves tech like I do, but you should have a sense that yours is what I term “automagical.” That means you put in the work and reap the rewards—that tech supports you and that you feel empowered and not drained by it. The absence of such happy feelings means there’s a vital issue to be addressed.

    Take note, though: Even if you’re experiencing any or all of the above, don’t simply run to invest in new software. Because the reality is that the right tech may not be built for you yet or that you’re not built for it. As any entrepreneur knows, it’s critical to know a target audience, and the same applies to technology: it isn’t designed for absolutely everyone, even if it has the most and best reviews.

    Related: Which Software Solution Is Best for Your Business? Here’s How to Decide.

    Some factors to consider while contemplating your needs:

    Establish goals: The first step is clarifying your business goals and intentions, which hold a lot of power when implementing supportive software and other solutions. From monthly costs to ease of use, understanding what your unique needs are is crucial before investing in tools that can truly help (and never hinder) operations.

    If you want to grow and scale, you need software that can support changes in data size/complexity — can adapt to more clients in different ways. And if your budget can’t afford solutions that scale in this way, then consider tech goals that may be more in tune with understanding transition points, and how to move to new systems in response to them.

    Inventory: Once you’ve got goal clarity, go through each app you’re using and write down how it is helping to achieve them. And don’t forget to include what you hate about them, along with the subscription cost and how much effort they require. This process paints a picture of individual tool value and the current state of your tech stack. It also helps to highlight any gaps and opportunities.

    Alignment: Your digital tools should “spark joy,” as professional organizer and consultant Marie Kondo would say. This doesn’t mean that they need to be 100% perfect, but fundamentally, they should make your life easier, not harder. Consider whether they can be juggled, optimized or downsized, or whether it’s time to trade in for something new.

    Related: 5 Tech Tools To Impress Your Coworkers and Neighbors All Summer

    If you keep to this assessment framework, you’ll work more productively, avoid stress, increase production, return to focus and simply enjoy what you do more. The right choices will reflect your values, be easy to use, will grow with you, offer a clear ROI and work well alongside other systems.

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    Rebecca Turgeon

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  • More Companies Are Rushing to Hire A Chief AI Officer — But Do You Need One? Here’s What You Need to Know. | Entrepreneur

    More Companies Are Rushing to Hire A Chief AI Officer — But Do You Need One? Here’s What You Need to Know. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    This spring, the U.S. government took an unprecedented step: requiring every U.S. agency to appoint a chief AI officer. This follows on the heels of companies across diverse industries adding similar roles to their leadership ranks.

    This is a move in the right direction for companies seeking to integrate AI, but it’s not enough on its own. Yes, every company must become an AI company. But expecting a chief AI officer to get the job done alone is shortsighted.

    When businesses are confronted with a major technological shift, often their knee-jerk reaction is to stick with what they know: Putting a new executive in charge and hoping they can solve everything. But for AI to truly take root in a company, people at all levels of the business need to get their hands on it and start innovating, not follow orders from a gatekeeper in the C-suite.

    In fact, the fastest way to integrate AI into a company, in some instances, maybe to skip the chief AI officer role altogether.

    Related: The Future Founder’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence

    Why having a chief AI officer might not make sense

    Companies appointing a chief AI officer have good intentions as they seek to avoid getting disrupted by the technology. But they may not need this role, and any business adding it should assume that it’s temporary.

    A useful comparison is the stampede in the middle of the last decade to appoint chief digital officers to oversee the digital transformation to internet and mobile technologies. In hindsight, that looks quaint.

    Experts pronounced CDO the next big executive title, but it often turned out to be little more than window dressing — especially when digital skills became table stakes for most employees. In recent years, companies have been ditching the role or folding it into other jobs. In digitally native businesses, it doesn’t exist at all.

    Google, for instance, never had a CDO directing how employees use web technology. Instead, they empowered employees to explore tools on their own through initiatives like 20% time, setting the stage for innovations such as Gmail.

    Likewise, AI-native companies don’t have an executive overseeing AI. That would be redundant. At companies like mine, the technology is embedded from day one across the organization rather than siloed in a single role.

    By default, we all leverage AI. Our marketing team uses it to better understand our customer base, our engineers deploy it to help write code, and our customer support leans heavily on AI agents. AI is written into every role, much like digital literacy now is at nearly all companies. Of course, there are areas of our business where we could use AI more and better, but making that happen doesn’t call for a specific job title. It’s everyone’s responsibility.

    A better way to usher in an AI transformation

    But I realize that not every company is built from the ground up on AI. So, how can legacy companies make real strides in integrating the technology?

    In place of the top-down response to organizational change, consider a bottom-up approach. For a company that wants to usher in an AI transformation, the first step is to look across the roles you’re already hiring for and pick a few where AI agents can do the job today.

    Customer service is an obvious place to start — today’s AI agents can now address most issues at least as well as humans. AI sales development representatives (SDRs) are also making an immediate impact, automating much of the toil involved in pursuing prospects. Another promising area — junior data analyst roles, which often consist of pulling information from reports. Then there’s coding. Autonomous software engineering agent Devin and OpenDevin, its open-source rival, can step in here.

    Choosing the right technology partner to provide AI tools is equally important. When it comes to customer service, for example, companies should look for a vendor whose AI agents have a track record of resolving most issues without human intervention. Rather than following a script, they should have some ability to reason, drawing on past interactions and the conversation at hand to determine the best solution for each customer’s unique problem.

    Then, it’s important to treat your agents more like employees than like a piece of software that will work straight out of the box. Onboarding, measuring and coaching — the same steps you’d take to develop any new hire — are essential to get the most out of AI tools.

    The upside here is having team members experiment with AI begins to build AI expertise inside the company. For example, my company works with a financial services firm where AI employee manager has become a key position. Former customer support specialists there now teach AI agents new skills that add value throughout the business — thus making themselves an indispensable member of the team.

    Companies can even make driving productivity gains via AI a criterion for career advancement. To get promoted, an employee must show their manager how they’re applying AI to deliver results for the business.

    Related: How Generative AI is Revamping Digital Transformation to Change How Businesses Scale

    The next stage: Those departments grow into mini centers of excellence that spread AI knowledge and best practices throughout the organization. Team members educate the rest of the business on how to hire and coordinate AI labor. AI becomes integrated into day-to-day business operations in a way that’s hard to achieve with an exclusively top-down approach.

    Of course, there’s no one best way to take a company through an AI transformation. For legacy industries and large enterprises, a tandem approach — combining top-down and bottom-up — may prove a better fit.

    At the very least, organizations that want to get the transformation right should think about how they can help AI bubble up through the ranks, rather than just rush to hire a chief AI officer simply because others have taken that step. As AI permanently changes companies from top to bottom, it’s just a temporary solution.

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    Mike Murchison

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  • WTF Fun Fact 13633 – Communication via Brain Implants

    WTF Fun Fact 13633 – Communication via Brain Implants

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    Imagine a world where thoughts translate into words without uttering a single sound via brain implants.

    At Duke University, a groundbreaking project involving neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, and engineers, has birthed a speech prosthetic capable of converting brain signals into spoken words. This innovation, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, could redefine communication for those with speech-impairing neurological disorders.

    Currently, people with conditions like ALS or locked-in syndrome rely on slow and cumbersome communication methods. Typically, speech decoding rates hover around 78 words per minute, while natural speech flows at about 150 words per minute. This gap in communication speed underscores the need for more advanced solutions.

    To bridge this gap, Duke’s team, including neurologist Gregory Cogan and biomedical engineer Jonathan Viventi, has introduced a high-tech approach. They created an implant with 256 tiny sensors on a flexible, medical-grade material. Capturing nuanced brain activities essential for speech, this device marks a significant leap from previous models with fewer sensors.

    The Test Drive: From Lab to Real Life

    The real challenge was testing the implant in a real-world setting. Patients undergoing unrelated brain surgeries, like Parkinson’s disease treatment or tumor removal, volunteered to test the implant. The Duke team, likened to a NASCAR pit crew by Dr. Cogan, had a narrow window of 15 minutes during these surgeries to conduct their tests.

    Patients participated in a simple task: listening to and repeating nonsensical words. The implant recorded their brain’s speech-motor cortex activities, coordinating muscles involved in speech. This data is then fed into a machine learning algorithm, managed by Suseendrakumar Duraivel, to predict the intended sounds based on brain activity.

    While accuracy varied, some sounds and words were correctly identified up to 84% of the time. Despite the challenges, such as distinguishing between similar sounds, the results were promising, especially considering the brevity of the data collection period.

    The Road Ahead for Brain Implants

    The team’s next steps involve creating a wireless version of the device, funded by a $2.4M grant from the National Institutes of Health. This advancement would allow users greater mobility and freedom, unencumbered by wires and electrical outlets. However, reaching a point where this technology matches the speed of natural speech remains a challenge, as noted by Viventi.

    The Duke team’s work represents a significant stride in neurotechnology, potentially transforming the lives of those who have lost their ability to speak. While the current version may still lag behind natural speech rates, the trajectory is clear and promising. The dream of translating thoughts directly into words is becoming more tangible, opening new horizons in medical science and communication technology. This endeavor, supported by extensive research and development, signals a future where barriers to communication are continually diminished, offering hope and empowerment to those who need it most.

    — WTF fun facts

    Source: “Brain implant may enable communication from thoughts alone” — ScienceDaily

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    WTF

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  • WTF Fun Fact 13613 – First Chimeric Monkey

    WTF Fun Fact 13613 – First Chimeric Monkey

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    Researchers have made a monumental stride in primate research by making the first chimeric monkey.

    This marks the first successful birth of a chimeric monkey from embryonic stem cell lines. This scientific achievement has profound implications for the fields of genetic engineering, species conservation, and biomedical studies.

    Understanding Chimerism in Primates

    The study, led by senior author Zhen Liu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, culminated in the birth of a monkey with cells originating from two distinct embryos. Until now, this feat of chimerism had been achieved only in smaller mammals such as rats and mice. Published in the prestigious journal Cell, the research opens new avenues for understanding pluripotency. That’s the capability of stem cells to differentiate into any cell type—in non-human primates and possibly humans.

    The cynomolgus monkeys, commonly used in biomedical research, served as the subjects for this groundbreaking experiment. The researchers established nine stem cell lines from blastocyst embryos and selected a subset of these pluripotent cells to inject into early-stage monkey embryos. This meticulous process led to several pregnancies and the birth of six live monkeys. One of these showcased a substantial level of chimerism.

    The Making of a Chimeric Monkey

    The researchers tagged the stem cells with green fluorescent protein. This enabled them to trace which tissues originated from the stem cells. Extensive analysis revealed that the chimeric monkey exhibited a wide distribution of stem-cell-derived tissues across the brain, heart, kidney, liver, and gastrointestinal tract. Remarkably, the live monkey displayed stem cell contributions ranging from 21% to 92% across various tissues, averaging 67%.

    The presence of stem-cell-derived cells in the reproductive tissues was a significant discovery. It underscors the potential for these cells to contribute to the germline and possibly influence future generations.

    Implications and Future Directions

    The success of this study is not merely academic. It has practical implications, offering the potential to create more precise monkey models for neurological and other biomedical research. By enhancing the understanding of primate cell developmental potential, the study paves the way for innovative approaches in medical science.

    Looking ahead, the team aims to refine their method to increase the efficiency of generating chimeric monkeys. They plan to optimize the stem cell cultures and the blastocysts’ environments, hoping to improve the survival rates of these embryos in host animals.

    In conclusion, the birth of the first chimeric monkey from embryonic stem cells is a remarkable scientific milestone. It broadens our knowledge of primate biology and holds promise for future applications that could benefit both primate conservation and human health.

    — WTF fun facts

    Source: “First live birth of a chimeric monkey using embryonic stem cell lines” — ScienceDaily

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    WTF

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  • 10 AI Tools That You Should Be Using In Your Business This Year | Entrepreneur

    10 AI Tools That You Should Be Using In Your Business This Year | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    We hear a lot about AI, and there’s no question that this technology will have a great impact on our businesses in the next few years. But what about now? Here are 10 AI tools that you can use today to help increase productivity and hopefully profits.

    This is the conversational chatbot created by OpenAI that started the hype late last year and it really does have a lot of things a business owner can be hyped about. Use it to write blogs, suggest better ways to create emails, analyze your website to improve search results, do advanced math, create HR policies and a number of other functions. You should also play with OpenAI’s Dall-E 2 app which can create images using text commands (i.e. “a horse standing by a river.”) that can be used on company communications or your website.

    Microsoft owns 49% of OpenAI (and ChatGPT is hosted by Microsoft servers) so a lot of ChatGPT’s functionality will soon be part of the Copilot app which can already be used with Bing searches but will also be a major part of Office in the next year. You’ll use Copilot to analyze spreadsheets, create templates, update presentations and even have it attend Teams meetings on your behalf.

    Related: The Future Founder’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence

    Bard is Google’s answer to ChatGPT and Duet is the application that will use Bard’s underlying Large Language Model to power Google’s business apps in a very similar fashion to Microsoft Copilot. The release of these features is expected within the next six months, but already Gmail is using Bard’s AI to help write emails and check grammar.

    Very similar to Dall-E, Crayon is an advanced image generator that uses AI to generate art, photos, drawings and other graphics directly from your text descriptions. The quality is excellent and the variety of choices is seemingly endless. Use this for images on your website or other promotional content.

    If your business is heavily into content, Heywire is a powerful content generator that uses AI to glean information from the Internet and automatically turn it into stories, articles and other blog forms. The application uses real-time, journalistically validated data that you can publish. The tool can help further establish you and your company as a thought leader in your industry. It can also establish multiple “personalities” for whoever you want to be seen writing and creating social posts based on the content it generates.

    Ever bump into a really interesting video and then see how long it is and then say to yourself “I don’t have the time.” Eightify solves that problem. This AI app will watch the video for you and then summarize it into specific points of interest. As a business owner, we often have to wear all the hats. Which means we have to be knowledgeable about a bunch of different subjects. There’s so much great content on video that can help us run our business and with this app, we can absorb much more information than ever before.

    I’ve been using Temi for years and, as a writer, swear by it! It’s a powerful AI-driven transcription service. I upload audio and video recordings I’ve made and within minutes, Temi transcribes it into words — and it’s close to flawless. Transcribing a 10-minute recording costs just a few bucks too.

    Need a good, professional form for your business? Maybe a job application? A quotation template? A request form for people visiting your website? Feathery uses AI to create professional-looking forms in just minutes. You can save and edit forms as you create them and customize them for your business. All of this is done through a natural language interface.

    Related: Previous Tech Revolutions Rewarded the Builders — This AI Revolution Will Reward the Users. Here’s Why.

    Want to prepare your prospective employees for a job interview? Or perhaps you’re a freelancer or remote independent contractor that’s scheduled to speak with a prospective client. Interview.ai uses AI to walk you through the conversation in advance. Its mock interviews will help you hone your speaking skills and its algorithms generate interview questions that are tailored to the job and to the industry. The platform promises to deliver customized questions that are both technical and situational, all based on the information you provide beforehand.

    So many of us are using video in our businesses for campaigns, case studies, testimonials or just to generate some buzz. The videos go on our website but of course, we want to do more with them. That’s where Opus Clip comes in. Using their AI-generated platform you can upload a long video and it will break it down into shorter, more digestible clips that can then be posted on social media or included in your email campaigns.

    Pretty cool, right? And I’m just scratching the surface. All of this reminds me of the early days of the iPhone and its smartphone competitors where apps began appearing — and then proliferating. I expect the same to happen during this AI revolution. So there are lots more to come. But in the meantime, play with these tools and I promise good results — and better productivity.

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    Gene Marks

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  • The FAA Approves the First Flying Car for Take Off | Entrepreneur

    The FAA Approves the First Flying Car for Take Off | Entrepreneur

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    The Jetsons may not be far off from the future.

    The world’s first flying car is one step closer to reality after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved it for Special Airworthiness Certification, allowing the company to begin testing flights this month.

    Alef Aeronautics “Model A” flying car is fully electric and drivable on the streets and in the air, with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. The FAA’s clearance marked the first time a vehicle like this has received legal approval from the US Government.

    “This is one small step for planes, one giant step for cars,” said Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny in a press statement, adding that the certification from the FAA “allows us to move closer to bringing people an environmentally friendly and faster commute, saving individuals and companies hours each week.”

    Related: Make Millions in Flying Car Stocks Before They Take Off

    How the Model A works

    The Model A has a driving range of 200 miles and a flying range of 110 miles and fits two passengers in its cockpit.

    The sports car has a carbon-fiber body with an open, mesh-like top with four propellers on each side. Once the car takes off vertically, it turns on its side, allowing the propellers to steer it like a massive drone.

    In an interview with CNBC, Dukhovny explained the car is mostly meant to stay on the road but can take flight for short heights and distances to avoid obstacles. He calls those moments “hop” scenarios, “where the customer mainly uses the vehicle as a car, and only ‘hop’ over the obstacles when needed.”

    Long waiting list

    Dukhovny told news outlets last year that customers can expect the flying car to hit the sky by 2025. The sticker price is $300,000.

    Despite the car’s high cost, enthusiasts are already lining up to be the first to own the new flying car.

    In Q4 last year, the company reported that 440 people had placed deposits for the car. Those shelling out $150 joined the general queue, and those who paid $1,500 will get priority access when deliveries begin.

    Alef may be the first flying car on the market, but it won’t be the only one. Boeing and Fiat Chrysler are in a space race to get their cars into the air. Toyota and Uber have been busily testing flying taxi concepts. And Joby Aviation’s stock soared 44% after receiving a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA.

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    Jonathan Small

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  • AI Has The Potential to Destroy Humanity in 5 to 10 Years. Here’s What We Know. | Entrepreneur

    AI Has The Potential to Destroy Humanity in 5 to 10 Years. Here’s What We Know. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    At a CEO summit in the hallowed halls of Yale University, 42% of the CEOs indicated that artificial intelligence (AI) could spell the end of humanity within the next decade. These aren’t the leaders of small business: this is 119 CEOs from a cross-section of top companies, including Walmart CEO Doug McMillion, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincy, the leaders of IT companies like Xerox and Zoom as well as CEOs from pharmaceutical, media and manufacturing.

    This isn’t a plot from a dystopian novel or a Hollywood blockbuster. It’s a stark warning from the titans of industry who are shaping our future.

    The AI extinction risk: A laughing matter?

    It’s easy to dismiss these concerns as the stuff of science fiction. After all, AI is just a tool, right? It’s like a hammer. It can build a house or it can smash a window. It all depends on who’s wielding it. But what if the hammer starts swinging itself?

    The findings come just weeks after dozens of AI industry leaders, academics, and even some celebrities signed a statement warning of an “extinction” risk from AI. That statement, signed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Geoffrey Hinton, the “godfather of AI,” and top executives from Google and Microsoft, called for society to take steps to guard against the dangers of AI.

    “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the statement said. This isn’t a call to arms. It’s a call to awareness. It’s a call to responsibility.

    It’s time to take AI risk seriously

    The AI revolution is here, and it’s transforming everything from how we shop to how we work. But as we embrace the convenience and efficiency that AI brings, we must also grapple with its potential dangers. We must ask ourselves: Are we ready for a world where AI has the potential to outthink, outperform, and outlast us?

    Business leaders have a responsibility to not only drive profits but also safeguard the future. The risk of AI extinction isn’t just a tech issue. It’s a business issue. It’s a human issue. And it’s an issue that requires our immediate attention.

    The CEOs who participated in the Yale survey are not alarmists. They are realists. They understand that AI, like any powerful tool, can be both a boon and a bane. And they are calling for a balanced approach to AI — one that embraces its potential while mitigating its risks.

    Related: Read This Terrifying One-Sentence Statement About AI’s Threat to Humanity Issued by Global Tech Leaders

    The tipping point: AI’s existential threat

    The existential threat of AI isn’t a distant possibility. It’s a present reality. Every day, AI is becoming more sophisticated, more powerful and more autonomous. It’s not just about robots taking our jobs. It’s about AI systems making decisions that could have far-reaching implications for our society, our economy and our planet.

    Consider the potential of autonomous weapons, for example. These are AI systems designed to kill without human intervention. What happens if they fall into the wrong hands? Or what about AI systems that control our critical infrastructure? A single malfunction or cyberattack could have catastrophic consequences.

    AI represents a paradox. On one hand, it promises unprecedented progress. It could revolutionize healthcare, education, transportation and countless other sectors. It could solve some of our most pressing problems, from climate change to poverty.

    On the other hand, AI poses a peril like no other. It could lead to mass unemployment, social unrest and even global conflict. And in the worst-case scenario, it could lead to human extinction.

    This is the paradox we must confront. We must harness the power of AI while avoiding its pitfalls. We must ensure that AI serves us, not the other way around.

    The AI alignment problem: Bridging the gap between machine and human values

    The AI alignment problem, the challenge of ensuring AI systems behave in ways that align with human values, is not just a philosophical conundrum. It’s a potential existential threat. If not addressed properly, it could set us on a path toward self-destruction.

    Consider an AI system designed to optimize a certain goal, such as maximizing the production of a particular resource. If this AI is not perfectly aligned with human values, it might pursue its goal at all costs, disregarding any potential negative impacts on humanity. For instance, it might over-exploit resources, leading to environmental devastation, or it might decide that humans themselves are obstacles to its goal and act against us.

    This is known as the “instrumental convergence” thesis. Essentially, it suggests that most AI systems, unless explicitly programmed otherwise, will converge on similar strategies to achieve their goals, such as self-preservation, resource acquisition and resistance to being shut down. If an AI becomes superintelligent, these strategies could pose a serious threat to humanity.

    The alignment problem becomes even more concerning when we consider the possibility of an “intelligence explosion” — a scenario in which an AI becomes capable of recursive self-improvement, rapidly surpassing human intelligence. In this case, even a small misalignment between the AI’s values and ours could have catastrophic consequences. If we lose control of such an AI, it could result in human extinction.

    Furthermore, the alignment problem is complicated by the diversity and dynamism of human values. Values vary greatly among different individuals, cultures and societies, and they can change over time. Programming an AI to respect these diverse and evolving values is a monumental challenge.

    Addressing the AI alignment problem is therefore crucial for our survival. It requires a multidisciplinary approach, combining insights from computer science, ethics, psychology, sociology, and other fields. It also requires the involvement of diverse stakeholders, including AI developers, policymakers, ethicists and the public.

    As we stand on the brink of the AI revolution, the alignment problem presents us with a stark choice. If we get it right, AI could usher in a new era of prosperity and progress. If we get it wrong, it could lead to our downfall. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Let’s make sure we choose wisely.

    Related: As Machines Take Over — What Will It Mean to Be Human? Here’s What We Know.

    The way forward: Responsible AI

    So, what’s the way forward? How do we navigate this brave new world of AI?

    First, we need to foster a culture of responsible AI. This means developing AI in a way that respects our values, our laws, and our safety. It means ensuring that AI systems are transparent, accountable and fair.

    Second, we need to invest in AI safety research. We need to understand the risks of AI and how to mitigate them. We need to develop techniques for controlling AI and for aligning it with our interests.

    Third, we need to engage in a global dialogue on AI. We need to involve all stakeholders — governments, businesses, civil society and the public — in the decision-making process. We need to build a global consensus on the rules and norms for AI.

    The choice is ours

    In the end, the question isn’t whether AI will destroy humanity. The question is: Will we let it?

    The time to act is now. Let’s take the risk of AI extinction seriously — as do nearly half of the top business leaders. Because the future of our businesses — and our very existence — may depend on it. We have the power to shape the future of AI. We have the power to turn the tide. But we must act with wisdom, with courage, and with urgency. Because the stakes couldn’t be higher. The AI revolution is upon us. The choice is ours. Let’s make the right one.

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    Gleb Tsipursky

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  • Why the War Against Digital Currencies is Being Lost | Entrepreneur

    Why the War Against Digital Currencies is Being Lost | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    You don’t have to be a media professional to notice the barrage of commentary in the press regarding digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. And at least of late, it certainly appears tilted to the negative. It’s human nature to be afraid of change and evolution: We all like to be mollycoddled — warm, undisturbed in our cribs and averse to change and innovation.

    The actual market data in the crypto space, however, suggests that trends are anything but negative, with Bloomberg recently publishing an article postulating a $100,000 Bitcoin valuation as the year progresses.

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    Jonny Caplan

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  • How to Future-Proof Your Tech Career

    How to Future-Proof Your Tech Career

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    One of the most significant shifts we are witnessing is the disruption caused by evolving technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain. While they are still far from being perfectly refined, we are already seeing more significant use of AI and blockchain-based innovations across industries.

    Add to this the cyclical nature of the economy — the current downturn and the inevitable headcount reductions — that are making many tech professionals, not unlike myself, wonder what their career in tech will look like five to ten years from now.

    Seeing disruptive technologies

    There will inevitably be a move towards simple tasks automation in user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) development and design. Neural networks trained on huge data sets are set to significantly speed up and simplify the work of engineers and even replace some of those engineers to some extent.

    To stay in demand, I believe it is becoming essential for tech professionals to expand their horizons, including by deepening their knowledge of higher mathematics to help improve their skill set for solving complex architectural and scaling problems. Being able to come up with creative solutions and solve tasks in unorthodox ways is already important, but the trend toward valuing out-of-the-box thinking will only intensify going forward, in my view.

    The most in-demand skills in 2020, for example, were cloud computing, artificial intelligence, analytical reasoning, people management, and UX design, according to research by LinkedIn. These skills are expected to remain highly sought after as technology advances and organizations look to leverage innovation to drive growth.

    However, It’s not enough to simply possess these competencies because your skills and knowledge must be continuously updated to keep pace with the ever-evolving technology landscape.

    Learning new tricks

    To stay ahead of the curve, tech professionals must be proactive in their own continuous learning and professional development.

    For example, platforms such as Coursera, Udemy and Codecademy offer a wide variety of courses, ranging from beginner to advanced level, that can help tech professionals brush up on the latest technologies and best practices. Additionally, attending industry events and networking with peers can provide valuable insights into the latest trends and developments in the field.

    Learning doesn’t have to be formal or certificate-based. The most important thing is for a person to have a thirst for knowledge, a desire and the drive to want to become a better version of themselves every day, and a good grasp of advanced mathematics and similar STEM disciplines as a strong foundation for continuing to build future skills.

    Vetting soft skills

    Regarding future-proofing your career in tech, I would stress that soft skills are nearly as important as hard skills or technical knowledge and abilities specific to your field. Soft skills refer to the personal attributes and qualities important for working effectively with others. These include communication, problem-solving, and leadership — all are key for future career advancement.

    When interviewing candidates for positions at FunCorp, a developer of entertainment tech products, including apps for meme lovers, certain soft skills are the key to success. We look for people who enjoy creating and are not solely focused on completing the tasks set for them. We also want the type of person focused on ongoing personal development with the passion and drive to continue learning and evolving. This type of person will make sure to continue learning to make up for any gap in the hard skills they may possess.

    Staying motivated

    Striving to be a professional committed to ongoing personal development can go a long way. Motivating yourself to keep learning and upgrading your tech expertise can also be challenging. Luckily, several strategies can help.

    Setting specific and measurable goals for yourself is a great way to stay focused and remain on track. For example, you could set a goal to complete a certain course or certification by a certain date, or aim to attend a certain number of industry events every year. Breaking larger goals into smaller, more manageable tasks can also make them less daunting.

    Another effective strategy is to find a community of like-minded individuals motivated to learn and grow. Sharing progress and setbacks with them can provide a sense of accountability and motivation. Reward yourself for completing tasks or reaching milestones. Continuously remind yourself of the benefits of learning and upgrading your tech skills, such as increased job opportunities or higher pay. Setting yourself up for a brighter professional future should be a great incentive!

    It’s also important to find the right learning methods that work for you, such as taking online courses, attending workshops or regularly participating in online forums relevant to your specialization. Keeping yourself updated with the latest trends and what’s happening in the industry can help you to stay motivated and engaged. But it’s also essential to take a break if you feel burnout and revisit your goals with a fresh perspective from time to time.

    After all, nothing is set in stone when it comes to thinking about and planning for the future beyond 2023. Despite the recent turbulence, I believe the tech sector is still the place to be. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 11% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all other occupations. So the demand will continue to be there as long as your technical and soft skills stay current and well-aligned with ongoing technological advancements.

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    Denis Litvinov

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  • 5 Ways Machine Learning Will Impact the Entrepreneurial Landscape In 2023

    5 Ways Machine Learning Will Impact the Entrepreneurial Landscape In 2023

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Machine learning is much more than a buzzword — it has become a major player for many businesses. More and more companies are implementing machine learning and other AI tools to supplement or streamline their activities. This is especially true after the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of machine learning.

    The way that your company implements machine learning can have a direct impact on its performance in the year ahead, especially as AI tools become utilized in a broader range of business activities. By understanding the areas where machine learning is poised to have the greatest impact, you can move proactively to adopt these tools for your own entrepreneurial efforts.

    Related: Learn How Machine Learning Can Help Your Business

    Decision-making automation:

    Machine learning’s ability to proficiently analyze and interpret large amounts of data in a rapid timeframe has made it an essential part of many businesses’ decision-making processes. In some cases, these tools can even be used to automate simpler, lower-level decisions that might otherwise be made by customer service reps or others.

    In this situation, machine learning draws data from previous actions and trends, and uses available data to recommend the most efficient solution to a problem or request. This allows employees at all levels to spend less time focused on more repetitive decision-making tasks so they can focus their efforts on more in-depth problems.

    This is undoubtedly part of why 81% of employees feel AI improves their work performance, with 49% specifically citing improved decision-making.

    1. Improved privacy compliance

    While many consumers have concerns about big data and machine learning negatively affecting their privacy, machine learning is often being used to enhance privacy compliance and protect data.

    In a recent article for the Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education, Pramod Misra details multiple ways machine learning can aid privacy compliance, namely through machine learning privacy meters, which assess potential privacy issues associated with other machine learning models; and privacy-preserving machine learning (PPML), which trains machine learning tools to protect confidential data.

    With these tools, Misra’s research team was able to use PPML to model threats and prevent data leaks from a variety of attack methods. In this case, machine learning is being used to ensure the security of other enterprise applications.

    Related: What Is Machine Learning, and How Can It Help With Content Marketing?

    2. Smarter customer recommendations

    One of the more popular uses for machine learning has been in customer recommendation engines. Examples of these tools include Amazon recommending additional items for a shopper to add to their cart based on past purchases, as well as Netflix’s personalized recommendations based on a customer’s viewing history and other factors.

    The end goal of machine learning, in this case, is to deliver a more streamlined and enjoyable experience for the customer, based on the data that they readily supply to the business. Notably, many of these machine learning tools also support direct feedback from customers to improve their recommendations.

    Though these data filtering tools are hardly new, they can still have a transformative impact on entrepreneurs in 2023. Businesses that can implement specific and relevant use cases for delivering personalized recommendations to their customers will be better positioned to deliver a positive experience that helps them stand out against the competition.

    3. Generative AI

    In the latter half of 2022, generative AI proved to be one of the hottest topics in the machine learning space, garnering both enthusiasm and harsh criticism. Generative AI has been used to create highly realistic photos and videos, as well as generate “art” or even produce basic written content.

    Many artists and celebrities have spoken out against AI art, in large part because of how it uses others’ creations as source material to generate its own content. Despite the outcry, many businesses will likely make their own tentative forays into generative AI to speed up the creation of their own content and to reduce costs.

    Though this trend is certainly worth paying attention to, this is an area where entrepreneurs should proceed with caution. Generative AI is still prone to imperfections, and the backlash of using it could easily outweigh the potential benefits. Time will tell how this trend shapes the business and artistic landscape (for good or ill) in the year ahead.

    4. More efficient financial management

    Few things can have a greater impact on a business’s sustainability than its cash flow and overall financial management. Machine learning algorithms are playing an increasingly vital role in a wide variety of financial tasks to help leaders make better money-related decisions.

    For example, machine learning can be used for tasks like performing a cost analysis or predicting expenses associated with certain business activities. This allows leaders to better determine how an action will affect the bottom line, and if the investment will truly be “worth it.”

    Machine learning tools can also be used to protect businesses and customers from fraud. Fraud detection tools can use information such as the time and location where a customer typically uses their credit card to flag fraudulent purchases. Protecting customers is a sure way to enhance trust and build a loyal customer base.

    Are you prepared for how machine learning will impact you?

    Machine learning has already had a significant influence on a wide range of business activities — and that is only going to accelerate even more in 2023. Whether your business has already adopted AI tools or is just looking into machine learning, focusing on these tech tools can go a long way in driving better efficiency, productivity and profitability.

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    Lucas Miller

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  • Skyway Joins Global UTM Association (GUTMA)

    Skyway Joins Global UTM Association (GUTMA)

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    Skyway, a navigation service provider to Urban Air Mobility (UAM) focused around autonomous aircraft, has joined the Global UTM Association to contribute in the international standardization of Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) ecosystems.

    Press Release
    –

    Mar 10, 2022


    SAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 10, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Skyway is excited to announce its collaboration with the Global UTM Association, better known as GUTMA. With a likely massive drone ecosystem soon to emerge, this collaboration proves timely in its ability to provide the fundamental building blocks of the ever-evolving and technologically-based consumer market. 

    Skyway, an air traffic navigation Provider of Services for Urban Air Mobility (PSU), is on a mission to provide the most advanced secure aviation data exchange for autonomous aircraft, Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems, vertiport operations, and government agencies. GUTMA acts as a representative for organizations within the UTM market in order to foster a global ecosystem within the industry. Together, these organizations will work to further global standardization for advanced air traffic systems. This will ensure the development and deployment harmonization of products and services that will benefit all stakeholders globally.

    “At this juncture, it is important for all urban air mobility businesses to collaborate in structuring the ecosystem. Standardization is going to be critical for business scalability across many nations.” – Clifford Cruz, CEO of Skyway

    “GUTMA represents organizations involved in innovative drone services and smart mobility solutions enabled by services that keep drone operations at all altitudes safe and efficient. It engages in impactful research and development and in technical, regulatory and political processes to foster a global ecosystem in a fair global drone services market.” – GUTMA Mission Statement

    GUTMA supports a federated system for UTM services and fair UTM and drone services markets. It works to identify the processes that contribute to its objectives and will cooperate in impactful research and development, technical, regulatory, and political processes in a constructive and authoritative way. GUTMA is a global association open to both private and public organizations, and it is recognized as the most representative and effective association for the global drone services industry.

    GUTMA’s board of directors brings together many industry leaders from Wing, DroneHub, Skyward/Verizon, Amazon, Airservices Australia, NEC, Airbus & FOCA. 

    ________

    Skyway is an air traffic navigation service provider for autonomous aircraft and Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems. They provide aircraft conflict resolutions, enhance adherence to federal, state, and local regulations, and provide additional emergency services as a Provider of Services for UAM (PSU).  

    GUTMA is a collaborative UTM organization with the basis of safe drone activities rooted in a digital and automated traffic management system. They promote cost-effective drone and UTM services in fair and competitive markets. 

    — END —

    460 Redwood Hwy Suite 16-506 San Rafael, CA 94903

    Email: info@goskyway.com | Website: goskyway.com

    Source: Skyway Technologies Corp.

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