AI

Forget killer robots – it’s humans you should be worrying about instead

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When it comes to understanding artificial intelligence, is science fiction just a pesky distraction from the real dangers out there? Microsoft’s authority on all things AI seems to think so, reports Jihee Junn. “With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon,” declared Elon Musk back in 2014. “In all those stories where there’s the guy … Read more

Here’s a real-life Wall-E who has come to replace our pets

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Calum Henderson reviews this year’s pretender to the Hatchimals throne, a cool-but-rude robot called Cozmo. In the future robots will do just about everything. They’ll provide us with healthcare and drive our cars, they’ll do the washing up and if the movie RoboCop proves an accurate prophecy, keep our city streets safe from crime. Eventually robots will … Read more

‘Right now, we are all Truman’: how robots are changing the way humans talk

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Humans susceptibility to group pressure extends to pressure from a group consisting solely of robots, according to new research conducted by Dr Christoph Bartneck. Robots are changing the way we talk, and so the way we think. Don Rowe talks to Dr Bartneck and asks the question on everyone’s lips: is it time to freak … Read more

Why do NZ’s best tech startups still have to go overseas for funding?

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The robots are coming to take our jobs – so what should we be doing for work (and our workers) when they arrive? Rod Snodgrass, director of The Exponential Agency, says it’s time for New Zealand business to start preparing for the digital future. I read a brilliant Guardian article recently that pondered life after … Read more

The world’s most famous scientist on why we shouldn’t fear the robots

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Don Rowe speaks to Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson, the leading science communicator of our age, about climate change, celebratory ignorance and the rise (or not) of artificial intelligence.   Stoners worship him, nerds want to be him, the average person wishes they had just a tenth of his IQ – Neil deGrasse Tyson is the … Read more

Rage against the machine: how the rise of the robots is creating class warfare

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“Machines will eventually take 100% of our jobs, so we can all relax, a little,” wrote Oliver Carlé on The Spinoff last week. James Robins, for one, is not placated. The scene is a humble neighbourhood supermarket at dusk. Between the searing light above and the linoleum sheen below, you stand holding a desultory wine … Read more

The humans are dead: how robots are coming for us all and there’s nothing we can do about it

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Time to face facts – artificial intelligence will transform our world. Oliver Carlé, for one, is ready to welcome our new robot overlords. A month ago the NZ Herald ran the hair-raising headline “The robots are coming, should we be worried?” Under it were some alarming stats, like an Oxford University study suggesting 47% of … Read more