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Submission + - The Ironies of Artificial Intelligence (tandfonline.com)

Submitted by rezoG
rezoG writes: Over 40 years ago, Lisanne Bainbridge pointed out some paradoxical results that AI adoption could bring, with automation (more generally) conceivably resulting in more work for humans.

Lisanne Bainbridge's 1983 paper, the Ironies of Automation (Bainbridge 1983), was a telling and prescient summary of the many challenges that arise from automation. She pointed out the ways in which automation, paradoxically, make the human's job more crucial and more difficult, rather than easier and less essential as so many engineers believe. Not only does automation introduce new design errors into the control of systems, but it creates very different jobs that have many new problems, with the result that people may be less able to perform when needed. They need to be more skilled to understand and operate the automation, while simultaneously the automation leads to skill atrophy. Additional system complexity is introduced as well as vigilance problems that interfere with peoples' ability to oversee the automation. And while manual workload may be decreased much of the time, cognitive workload is often increased at critical times.

"After 40 years, Bainbridge's keen observations continue to hold true as the use of automation has increased across many domains, including aviation, air traffic control, automated process control, drilling, and transportation systems."

Comment fx-82 (Score 1) 220

by itsme (#59457428) Attached to: How Texas Instruments Monopolized Math Class

I was surprised that my son's school required almost the same calculator i used in high school about 35 years ago, then the Casio FX-82, now the FX-82MS, a approximately 10 euro calculator with all scientific functions. btw, the school also requires a chromebook ( around 350 euro )
Power

Fuel Cell Marvel "Bloom Box" Gaining Momentum 562

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the new-hotboxing dept.
Many sources are continuing to excitedly report on the latest in a long line of startups chasing the holy grail of power sources. This incarnation, the "Bloom Box" from Bloom Energy, promises a power-plant-in-a-box that you can literally put in your backyard, and has received backing from companies like eBay, Google, Staples, FedEx, and Walmart. CBS recently aired an exclusive interview with K.R. Sridhar about his shiny new box. "So what is a Bloom Box exactly? Well, $700,000 to $800,000 will buy you a 'corporate sized' unit. Inside the box are a unique kind of fuel cell consisting of ceramic disks coated with green and black 'inks.' The inks somehow transform a stream of methane (or other hydrocarbons) and oxygen into power, when the box heats up to its operating temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius. To get a view of the cost and benefits, eBay installed 5 of the boxes nine months ago. It says it has saved $100,000 USD on energy since."
The Media

Print News Fading, Still Source of Much News 140

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the fact-checking-the-next-media-casualty dept.
CNet's Dan Farber took a look, not only at the popular news of how print media is dying a slow death, but also what contribution to the news print journalists are still making. According to research quoted, while the physical publications are quickly becoming a thing of the past much of the news that makes its way into circulation via blogs and other means still originates from the hard work of those print journalists. (We discussed a similar perspective on the news a week back.) "While the Internet is growing as the place where people go for news, the revenue simply isn't catching up fast enough. The less obvious part of the Internet overtaking newspapers as the main source for national and international news is that much of the seed content--the original reporting that breaks national and international news and is subsequently refactored by legions of bloggers--comes from the reporters and editors working at the financially strapped newspapers and national and local television outlets. [...] As the financial pressures mount--the outlook for 2009 is dismal--and the cost cutting continues, we can only hope that the original news reporting by top-flight journalists is not a major casualty."

Comment Re:Mathamatically speaking.... (Score 1) 392

by itsme (#23438240) Attached to: Fermilab Calls For Code Crackers
did you notice there is a little dot 7 spaces separated from the last tick?

then assuming each line is 47 bits. ... lines 4,5,6 are a bit unclear bits 5 and 6 from the right end.

then you get 361 bits, which fit in a 19x19 square.
not sure if that gets us anywhere, but it looks nice.

Comment Change hands and get her to a physio (Score 2, Informative) 415

by SorciereGrise (#15717557) Attached to: Input Solutions for Repetitive Stress Victims?
Let her change hands. I did it myself and am now better in using my 'off' hand. I played stupid games like Minesweeper to train it.
Then do something about the pain and damage. Physical therapy worked fine for me. Physical therapists know a lot more about muscles and joints than your average medical practitioner.
Also, do something about the underlying causes. Probably the physical therapist can advise her best, otherwise get a ergonomist.
But get her to do something about the complaints! Just providing her with another way of input is not enough.

Comment How fast is "quickly" though? (Score 1) 101

by Reinoud (#1954935) Attached to: Scratching MP3s with a real turntable
It *IS* fast enough. The first version of this software was beta tested on a 2000 people party last year by an experienced DJ. (it now is a lot better than that version)
No one in the audience heard the difference. The only noticable difference was that the DJ entered the building carrying only 2 vinyl records instead of his usual 4 heavy boxes :-)

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