Amazing Technology?

[Pamela Galli]

Technology is evolving so fast now I am in a constant state of amazement. Don't get me started on new car safety features -- it is practically impossible to run into anything, and if someone totals your car, the passenger area is likely to be untouched. Soon, self-driving cars will all but eliminate accidents. And probably solve a lot of traffic problems.

Another example: My supermarket was out of my favorite Halo Top ice cream flavor (Birthday Cake). So I put in an order with Amazon's Prime Now, and within two hours it was delivered to my door, all nicely packaged to keep it from melting. No delivery charge, but a tip was suggested. And the ice cream was cheaper than the supermarket. And I got to apply a $5 credit I had from Amazon for choosing the not-fastest shipping time on a previous order. I did have to order enough to meet the minimum order, $20. Oh and if I wanted to monitor the progress of the delivery, I could do so on a map. 

What technology amazes you? 

[Madelaine McMasters]

35 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

What technology amazes you? 

As a technologist, I think I'm less amazed by technology than I am by our general ignorance of what's possible and what's coming.

I learned long ago not to ask customers what they wanted in the products (medical instrumentation) that I designed. They simply had no idea what could be done, and were often amazed when they saw what we made. They, of course, had better things to do than follow the technologies that we used to make our products. It's easy for me to forget that, hence my amazement at their ignorance.

Okay, so on second thought, what amazes me is that there are things that amaze me.

The point you make about technology "evolving so fast now" is a terribly important one. I think it's responsible for a good bit of the political unrest we're all feeling. Jobs are being displaced at an alarming rate. Think of all the NY cab drivers who paid a quarter million dollars for their badge, only to see customers picked up by Uber drivers in cars that'll soon pick up customers without them.

I've an acquaintance who barely kept his helicopter license current by taking photographers aloft. That little business has dried up because people like me are using drones to supply imagery to what were once his customers. My imagery is better, as I'm able to fly into vantage points that would have lost him his license... which is no longer current because he can't afford the hobby now.

The question is whether or not these new technologies, particularly AI in concert with big data, will ultimately prove helpful to humanity. I'm hopeful, but concerned.

[arton Rotaru]

Self-driving cars will take quite a while. Because they only work safely when all the traffic is automated. So, no pedestrians, bycicles, motorcycles, no non self-driving cars etc. I don't see that coming anytime soon, especially not in New York City.

I'm amazed by my smartphone, because I can use it as a remote control for my Television set.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

To my mind, one of the major obstacles to the widespread adoption of self-driving cars in populated areas is the whole question of legal liability.  

When a self-driving car is involved in an accident (or, even worse, when two of them are), who is responsible?    In particular, what is the extent of the liability of whoever wrote the software that's supposed to avoid accidents?   That's a potentially huge viability. 

[Pamela Galli]

19 minutes ago, Innula Zenovka said:

To my mind, one of the major obstacles to the widespread adoption of self-driving cars in populated areas is the whole question of legal liability.  

When a self-driving car is involved in an accident (or, even worse, when two of them are), who is responsible?    In particular, what is the extent of the liability of whoever wrote the software that's supposed to avoid accidents?   That's a potentially huge viability. 

This articles mentions liability, says it will likely be on the manufacturer.

http://safer-america.com/safe-self-driving-cars/

[MoiraKathleen]

I don't think I would want to be one of the developers for the software for self-driving cars.   One of the other things about self-driving cars that was mentioned in an article I was reading awhile ago, had to do with what decision should a car make when the situation is to either hit a person, or hit something else which might injure/kill the driver (and would people be happy with cars that might injure them in order to not injure another person).

I think the thing that amazes me the most, although I haven't seen it in person, only read about it, is 3-D printing.  What amazes me is that it can actually make things that are usable.  

[Pamela Galli]

1 hour ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

As a technologist, I think I'm less amazed by technology than I am by our general ignorance of what's possible and what's coming.

I learned long ago not to ask customers what they wanted in the products (medical instrumentation) that I designed. They simply had no idea what could be done, and were often amazed when they saw what we made. They, of course, had better things to do than follow the technologies that we used to make our products. It's easy for me to forget that, hence my amazement at their ignorance.

Okay, so on second thought, what amazes me is that there are things that amaze me.

The point you make about technology "evolving so fast now" is a terribly important one. I think it's responsible for a good bit of the political unrest we're all feeling. Jobs are being displaced at an alarming rate. Think of all the NY cab drivers who paid a quarter million dollars for their badge, only to see customers picked up by Uber drivers in cars that'll soon pick up customers without them.

I've an acquaintance who barely kept his helicopter license current by taking photographers aloft. That little business has dried up because people like me are using drones to supply imagery to what were once his customers. My imagery is better, as I'm able to fly into vantage points that would have lost him his license... which is no longer current because he can't afford the hobby now.

The question is whether or not these new technologies, particularly AI in concert with big data, will ultimately prove helpful to humanity. I'm hopeful, but concerned.

Yes, any job that can be done by a robot will be. 

Also: Lots of brick stores are closing, along with the jobs they provide. That will accelerate.

[Pamela Galli]

1 minute ago, moirakathleen said:

I don't think I would want to be one of the developers for the software for self-driving cars.   One of the other things about self-driving cars that was mentioned in an article I was reading awhile ago, had to do with what decision should a car make when the situation is to either hit a person, or hit something else which might injure/kill the driver (and would people be happy with cars that might injure them in order to not injure another person).

I think the thing that amazes me the most, although I haven't seen it in person, only read about it, is 3-D printing.  What amazes me is that it can actually make things that are usable.  

I see now they are printing buildings, in addition to structural components of all kinds. 

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

I'm amazed by how a furniture purchase can now be instant gratification. Decide I need a new bookcase, have a look online, and it's at my door a few hours later for about the same delivery price as bus fare to the shop. There is something very wrong about this, especially the way the delivery systems exploit the drivers.

[LittleMe Jewell]

8 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

This articles mentions liability, says it will likely be on the manufacturer.

http://safer-america.com/safe-self-driving-cars/

While this will likely drive up the price of the cars quite a bit due to the insurance they'll have to maintain (sort of like malpractice insurance), it should reduce my need for personal auto insurance down to just comprehensive.  Unfortunately, my personal reduction won't offset how much more I'll have to pay for the car though.

[LittleMe Jewell]

11 minutes ago, moirakathleen said:

I think the thing that amazes me the most, although I haven't seen it in person, only read about it, is 3-D printing.  What amazes me is that it can actually make things that are usable.  

The 3-D printing combined with advances in medical technology.

[Ceka Cianci]

8 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

I see now they are printing buildings, in addition to structural components of all kinds. 

They are actually making cartilage now with 3-d printers..I seen a thread about it in another forum the other day..

here is the link to the article they posted.

Scientists hit milestone in 3D printing human cartilage

[Madelaine McMasters]

18 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

Yes, any job that can be done by a robot will be. 

From my home state: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/us/politics/sent-to-prison-by-a-software-programs-secret-algorithms.html?_r=0

25 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

Also: Lots of brick stores are closing, along with the jobs they provide. That will accelerate.

Yep. I miss teasing/being teased by the local shopkeepers (Kevin at the hardware store in particular) as I eagerly grab boxes off my porch. I imagine people had similar concerns when mass production and distribution afforded them washing machines and ended congregating with friends at the riverbank to wash clothes. Dave, my UPS man, is very good looking, but not yet comfortable with teasing me. I'm patient, it's not all doom and gloom.

It'll be more than embarrassing if this new wave of technology is the one finally worth being worried about.

[Rhonda Huntress]

3D printing is still a technology in its infancy.  Human prosthetic is incredible. Rocket exhaust cones are printed because the percision is higher than can be achieved with standard machine tooling.  There are even printed bridges and houses.

 

3D printing today is like computers in the pre-PC era.  One device running one program at a time.  What happens when this scales into hundreds or thousands of robotic devices running in concert?  For one, robots will design and build robots ...

It is exciting.  And scary.  There is a utopia on the other side but the transition will probably be bloody.

[Madelaine McMasters]

31 minutes ago, arton Rotaru said:

Self-driving cars will take quite a while. Because they only work safely when all the traffic is automated. So, no pedestrians, bycicles, motorcycles, no non self-driving cars etc. I don't see that coming anytime soon, especially not in New York City.

I'm amazed by my smartphone, because I can use it as a remote control for my Television set.

 

Humans are actually getting worse at driving, almost entirely because of the smartphone that amazes you. And the technology that makes them increasingly amazing is the same as that going into the cars. I believe the gap will widen faster than most think.

[Ceka Cianci]

 

No more 4x4 black box,hold my beer and the rest of you just hang on tight,stories?

awe man....

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

2 hours ago, Pamela Galli said:

Yes, any job that can be done by a robot will be.

tries to decide if I would like a robot that can do my Blendering for me....

[Innula Zenovka]

3 hours ago, Pamela Galli said:

This articles mentions liability, says it will likely be on the manufacturer.

http://safer-america.com/safe-self-driving-cars/

That certainly makes sense, but it means both the manufacturer's shareholders and insurers have to be very sure indeed of the product.    In particular, if I'm an insurer, then essentially I'm betting that the self-driving cars won't be involved in accidents for which people who buy my policies are liable.   That's a completely unknown quantity, at least at first, so I'm probably going to want to charge pretty high premiums -- same as I would do for recently-qualified drivers -- to justify the unknown risk I'm taking on.   Or I'll decide to play it safe, and stick to insuring only human drivers for the time being, until I have a better handle on the risks.

What would scare me is that if I'm selling insurance policies to human drivers, I'm worrying about how well or badly individuals are going to drive, and I can set one bad driver off against thousands of my customers whose driving doesn't cost me anything.   If, however, I'm writing insurance policies for self-driving cars, I've got to worry that every single one of a particular model sold with a particular iteration of the software might turn out to be an expensive liability in particular conditions.

[AnnistynSL]

My laptop, most amazing technology. It still doesn't complain when I start SL 

[Pamela Galli]

2 hours ago, Bitsy Buccaneer said:

tries to decide if I would like a robot that can do my Blendering for me....

Pretty much here. There is an app that turns any object or room into a 3D object that can be printed.

[Madelaine McMasters]

5 minutes ago, Pamela Galli said:

Pretty much here. There is an app that turns any object or room into a 3D object that can be printed.

AR, unlike VR, depends on real-time understanding of unfamiliar surroundings. And AR is where the real money is (VR is a niche). Get ready for a wave of object recognition/reconstruction technology.

[arton Rotaru]

4 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Humans are actually getting worse at driving, almost entirely because of the smartphone that amazes you. And the technology that makes them increasingly amazing is the same as that going into the cars. I believe the gap will widen faster than most think.

In my country the usage of mobile phones while driving, even when the the car is standing, but the engine is running, is prohibited.

[Pamela Galli]

New cars have everything on the steering wheel. Your iPhone apps like iMessage show up on the car screen, and you answer the phone by clicking a button on your steering wheel, eyes on the road. Texts are read to you, and convert your response to text. Radio buttons controlled on steering wheel. Everything is about eyes on the road.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Pamela Galli

[arton Rotaru]

Hand-free car kits are allowed indeed.

[Madelaine McMasters]

11 minutes ago, arton Rotaru said:

In my country the usage of mobile phones while driving, even when the the car is standing, but the engine is running, is prohibited.

In my country, speeding and murder are prohibited. Still happens.

;-).

ETA: I get your point, but laws will have less effect on distracted driving than the "eyes on the road" technologies Pamela mentioned.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Madelaine McMasters