Four short links: 28 March 2018
Business Logic, Digital Forgery, Twitter Demetricator, and ML for Kids
- The Business Logic of Silicon Valley (Cory Doctorow) — Selling hardware does not have exponential growth potential, because people only need so many sex toys, and really successful models are likely to be cloned or imitated, driving down the price. For a “smart” sex toy startup to cash out its investors, it will need to have a second, much more profitable business, and that, inevitably, is private data about sex toy users.
- Commoditization of AI, Digital Forgery, and the End of Trust — Once tools for fabrication become a commodity, the effects will be more dramatic than the current phenomenon of fake news. In the tech circles, the issue are discussed only at a philosophical level; no clear solution is known at present time. This post discusses pros and cons of two classes of potential solutions: digital signatures and learning-based detection systems.
- Twitter Demetricator — a Chrome interface that hides all the gamification numbers in Twitter.
- Machine Learning for Kids — Each project is a stand-alone activity, written to last for a single lesson, and will guide children to create a game or interactive project that demonstrates a real-world use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.