Category Archives: Artificial Intelligence
The Father of Siri Has Grown Wary of the Artificial Intelligence He Helped Create – Willamette Week
As a psychologist, Tom Gruber is in awe of Facebook. As a computer scientist and citizen of the earth, it scares the crap out of him.
Facebook runs experiments on human behavior that psychologists can only dream about, Gruber says. The trials are done on millions of people, a sample size that's impossible in academia. Dozens of times a day, Mark Zuckerberg tweaks his artificial intelligence to see what will keep his 2.5 billion subscribers scrolling through Facebook, and to make them confuse advertising with news so they click on the ads, Gruber says.
"They have the world's largest psychology experiment at their disposal every single day," Gruber says. "They can do experiments that science can't do, at scale."
Gruber, who speaks at TechfestNW this April, is hardly a bomb-thrower. He is a pioneer in artificial intelligence and the co-inventor of Siri, the digital assistant on the iPhone that uses AI and speech recognition to answer billions of questions each year.
Since selling Siri to Apple in 2010, though, Gruber has become one of a small group of technologists who have grown wary of the AI they helped create. He plans to talk about the dangerand promiseof artificial intelligence at TechfestNW.
Facebook and YouTube have more than 2 billion users each, making them as big as the world's two biggest religions, Christianity and Islam, Gruber says.
"And I would add that even the people who pray to Mecca five times a day, only do it five times a day," Gruber says. "Our millennials check their phones 150 times a day."
Gruber has deep roots in techdom. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and psychology from Loyola University in New Orleans, got his Ph.D. in computer and information science from the University of Massachusetts, then did research at Stanford University for five years.
Siri grew out of a Stanford spinoff called SRI International. Gruber consulted at SRI in 2007, and, soon after, he and two others, Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, spun off newer digital-assistant technology that went beyond the DARPA work. They named the new company Siri, which means "beautiful woman who leads you to victory."
Siri is actually a collection of powerful neural networks: mathematical formulas running on computers that analyze huge amounts of data and learn the patterns within them. Turn a neural net loose on a million samples of spoken language, and it will start to recognize words and their meaning. No longer do programmers have to tell computers what to do, logic step by logic step.
Steve Jobs persuaded Gruber and his partners to sell to Apple in 2010 for some $200 million, according to Wired magazine.
Gruber retired from Apple in 2018 and founded Humanistic AI, a firm that helps companies use machine intelligence to collaborate with humans, not replaceor terrorizethem.
Unlike some AI doomsayers, including Tesla inventor Elon Musk and podcasting neuroscientist Sam Harris, Gruber thinks AI can be tamed. Right now, it's a science experiment gone wrong. Frankenstein never meant for his monster to become a killer, and Zuckerberg, he says, never intended Facebook to set us at each other's throats, over politics or anything else.
"My argument is that this is an unintended consequence," Gruber says. "We'll give them a pass on being evil geniuses. Maybe some of them are. But let's assume good intentions."
When it comes to Zuckerberg, assuming good intentions is controversial. In July, Facebook agreed to pay a record $5 billion fine to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that it abused users' personal information.
So call Gruber an optimist. He thinks the same algorithms that prey on our bad habits can be used to encourage good ones.
Tech companies make excuses for why they can't police their networks, and most involve money. So far, humans are better at sorting lies from truth, and hate from news. That means you have to hire a lot of humans, which is anathema to the tech monopolies. Gruber says they need to suck it up.
"It's like when the auto industry said, 'Air bags are going to put us out of business, so don't impose this onerous thing on us,'" Gruber says. "It's all bullshit."
And there's more. Why not run all these vast experiments on human behavior to improve human life, instead of wrecking it? Why not use AI to change the habits that lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and suicide?
"We have weak theories about what makes people tick, and what to do to help them do better things," Gruber says. "But AI has shown that if you want to get 2 billion people addicted to something that's not good for them, you can do it."
AI doesn't know if it's operating for good or evil, Gruber says. Someday it may, but for now, it's up to humans to direct it.
So far, we've been crappy shepherds.
GO: TechfestNW is at Portland State University's Viking Pavilion, 930 SW Hall St., techfestnw.com. Thursday-Friday, April 2-3. Visit the website for tickets.
Link:
The Father of Siri Has Grown Wary of the Artificial Intelligence He Helped Create - Willamette Week
This Travis Scott-Type Song Was Created by Artificial Intelligence – Complex
Is there room in theworld for two Travis Scotts?
Digital agency Space150 recently created a completely AI-generated song with lyrics and melodies designed with Scotts music in mind, purely for his unique style, Adweek reports. After fueling a text generator model with lyrics for two weeks, the company ended up with a track titled Jack Park Canny Dope Man." It also came with a strange videorapped by a deepfake of Scott named Travisbott, which you can view above.
The song even includesScotts trademark ad-libs, and has extremely Auto-Tuned vocals and absurd rhymes, such as:
I aint got the surfers 'cause I know Im not that hardBut I got all my old bitches mad by the barsThinkin at the Grammys, in the family, I got starsTry to put in the plane, but the blame be on the cars
Space150s executive creative director, Ned Lampert told Adweekthe project wasnt created for any specific client. We were sort of fascinated with like, What if we tried to make a songlike an actual good songby using AI and basically creative directing AI? he said. And so we chose Travis Scott just because he is just such a unique artist and he has a unique sound and everything sort of has an aesthetic to it, both audibly and visually.
Lampert explained that the bot kept producing lyrics about eating, while still figuring out how to imitate Scotts musical style. There was one line like, I dont want to fuck your party food, he said.
It came up with things that we would never come up with, Lampert continued. I love the beautiful mistakes that we make all the time that get turned into work or [situations] where someone says something ridiculous and then we end up doing it. And there were some of those types of behaviors within this process.
Read the rest here:
This Travis Scott-Type Song Was Created by Artificial Intelligence - Complex
Trump Policy Tactics that Target Foreigners Put America’s Artificial Intelligence at Risk – The National Interest Online
When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), America is still on top. A major reason for that? America is quite good at recruiting AI students from around the world and retaining them after they graduate from school. But if certain plans proposed by the White House come to fruition, then that could all change very quickly.
Americas increasingly convoluted and unwelcoming immigration system has put the countrys front-runner status in jeopardy, according to a landmark report from Georgetown Universitys Center for Security and Technology (CSET). And, if the Trump administration moves forward with its plan to rescind the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, then Americas. leadership position in AI will become even more vulnerable.
Rescinding OPT, which allows thousands of international students to work in the United States after graduation, notably undermines President Donald Trumps own plan to protect Americas AI advantage. More than two hundred thousand people are brought into the American workforce each year through the OPT program. Roughly two-thirds of them hold the sorely-needed advanced graduate and Ph.D. degrees that AI relies on.
If theyre gone, then Americas workforce has a problem. After all, domestic interest in these fields remains woefully insufficient to meet the spike in employer demand for AI workers.
These kinds of labor shortages cant be taken lightly, given the beneficial impact AI has on American lives. AI is improving a vast and diverse range of industries including healthcare, entertainment, auto manufacturing, social media, finance, and many, many more, Matthew Feeney, the Cato Institutes Director of Emerging Technologies, told me. In fact, the OPT program helps ameliorate talent gaps that may otherwise see that crucial progress grind to a halt.
Right now, OPT offers graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) the chance to work in the United States for up to three years after graduation. Theres no limit to the number of people who can participate in the program, and, while working, many of these folks hope to nab an H-1B visa, which can give them an additional six years of U.S. employment. Firms can also sponsor their H-1B workers for green cards, making it one of the few viable ways that foreign students can gain permanent residency.
But the H-1B visa is subject to strict numerical limits. In fact, for every year since 2015, the number of H-1B applications the U.S. government received was more than double that of the eighty-five thousand visas available. The executive branch has dealt with this excess in applications by awarding visas through a lottery system. Since an applicant may not get an H-1B visa on their first try, the OPT program allows them to re-apply for a second and third year while they maintain their authorization to work in the United States.
As such, the OPT program is treated as a waiting room of sorts for immigrant hopefuls. An applicant may not get an H-1B visa on their first try, but OPT allows STEM graduates, including those in AI-related fields, to keep working in the United States as they reapply the next year and, if theyre still unlucky, the year after.
By the end of August, that could all come to a crashing halt. The Trump administration is slated to curtail the programeven possibly dismantling it altogether.
Even if Trump chooses not to do so, the program still faces challenges in court. In Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et. al, a union of U.S. tech workers have argued that OPT harms Americans by forcing them to compete with foreigners for the same employment opportunities.
Extensive research on the program, however, shows that this simply isnt the case. According to a study by Jeremy Neufeld of the Niskanen Center, for every ten OPT workers in a given locality, American wages increase by an average of at least $2and five patents get added to that area. OPT recipients are highly educated and motivated by the desire to prove themselves, says Neufeld. They even make the people around them and the teams theyre on more productive, increasing innovation and raising the earnings of similarly educated natives.
The OPT program is under fire from both the executive and legislative branches, so its up to Congress to make certain that America continues to be an attractive place for AI graduates to build their futures. For starters, lawmakers could consider codifying OPT into law, so that the programs fate no longer rests on executive discretion. Congress should also examine solutions such as extending the H-1B cap exemptions that many nonprofit and governmental organizations already enjoyand ending green card restrictions that would keep some applicants waiting in line for over one hundred years.
The OPT program has been one of the many Band-Aids holding together an immigration system that hasnt been updated since the early 1990s before the internet became the world economys major driver. The Trump administration is moving to eliminate this crucial but imperfect fix. But Congress can use this opportunity to make lasting changesreforms that recognize Americas desperate need to increase and keep the AI talent Trump said he wanted.
Sam Peak is a Tech and Innovation Fellow for Young Voices and a policy associate at Americans for Prosperity. The views expressed in this column dont necessarily reflect those of the organizations with which the author is affiliated.
See the original post here:
Trump Policy Tactics that Target Foreigners Put America's Artificial Intelligence at Risk - The National Interest Online
Webinar: From computer to clinic: The challenges of implementing artificial intelligence in practice – STAT
Its one thing to train an algorithm to produce headline-grabbing results on paper. Its quite another to train it to improve care for patients in practice. STAT reporter Casey Ross explores the challenges health systems must address to close that crucial gap in the field of artificial intelligence, where the science of validating algorithms is still a work in progress.
It is work that involves accounting for impacts on costs, clinician routines, and the innumerable variables presented by patients needs and experiences. Ultimately it requires definitively answering the core question that most people in medicine are still asking: Will AI really help people once it is unleashed into a world much more complicated than the carefully curated data sets on which it was trained?
Download the slides (PDF) and view the webinar recording below.
advertisement
To view past webinars, visit our archive.
Go here to read the rest:
Webinar: From computer to clinic: The challenges of implementing artificial intelligence in practice - STAT
Biased Artificial Intelligence has Sinister Consequences for Marginalized Communities, Argue Panelists – BroadbandBreakfast.com
WASHINGTON, February 13, 2020 Biased artificial intelligence poses obstacles for marginalized communities when trying to access financial services like applying for a mortgage loan, said panelists speaking before the House Committee on Financial Services.
In a statement before the committee on Wednesday, privacy and AI advisor Br A. Williams wrote, Data sets in financial services are used to determine home ownership and mortgage, savings and student loan rates; the outcomes of credit card and loan applications; credit scores and credit worthiness, and insurance policy terms.
In practice, biased AI could mean that black homeowners were confined to specific areas of a city and that their credit worthiness led to higher interest rates, Williams said.
Rayid Ghani, of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon Universitys Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, said that it is not enough to create an equitable AI. Rather, there needs to be equity across the entire decision-making process.
Machine bias is not inevitable, nor is it final, concurred Brookings Institution Fellow Makada Henry-Nickie.
This bias though, is not benign. AI has enormous consequences for racial, gender, and sexual minorities, said Henry-Nickie.
University of Pennsylvania Professor Michael Kearns said biased AI is generally not the result of human malfeasance, such as racist or incompetent software developers.
However, Williams argued that if AI is being fed historical data, its already biased.
In order to create an equal AI system, Ghani included steps to an equitable process in the actual construction of AI. Ghani suggested:
Follow this link:
Biased Artificial Intelligence has Sinister Consequences for Marginalized Communities, Argue Panelists - BroadbandBreakfast.com
This Travis Scott Song Was Created By Artificial Intelligence – Highsnobiety
Digital agency space150 created a deepfake version ofTravis Scottnamed Travisbott,a machine that hasproduced and released the new song Jack Park Canny Dope Man,composed throughartificial intelligence.
Theentirely AI-generated song features lyrics and melodies modeled afterScotts music.While the lyrics are absolutely nonsensical, the auto-tuned melodies and backing instrumentals do bearan uncanny resemblance to his sound.
The song was achieved byfeeding Scotts entire discographyinto a text generator modelover atwo week period. In turn, the model was able to mimic the cadence and rhyme schemes that were native and re-occurring in hismusic.
The track comes complete with Scotts signature its lit and straight-up ad-libs, with lines that sometimes feel as if they were penned by La Flame himself: I got all my old bitches mad by the bars /Thinkin at the Grammys, in the family, I got stars /Try to put in the plane, but the blame be on the cars.
Speaking on the incredible feat, Ned Lampert, executive creative director at space150, told AdWeek,We were sort of fascinated with like, What if we tried to make a songlike an actual good songby using AI and basically creative directing AI?And so we chose Travis Scott just because he is just such a unique artist and he has a unique sound and everything sort of has an aesthetic to it, both audibly and visually.
Watch the unsettling video for Jack Park Canny Dope Man below.
Read Full Article
See the rest here:
This Travis Scott Song Was Created By Artificial Intelligence - Highsnobiety
FDA Clears Cardiac Ultrasound Software With Artificial Intelligence to Guide User – Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology
February 13, 2020 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared software to assist medical professionals in the acquisition of cardiac ultrasound, or echocardiography, images. The software, called Caption Guidance, is an accessory to compatible diagnostic ultrasound systems and uses artificial intelligence to help the user capture images of a patients heart that are of acceptable diagnostic quality. It is aimed at point of care ultrasound (POCUS) exams, where users may not be regular sonographers.
The FDA granted marketing authorization of the Caption Guidance software to Caption Health Inc.
The Caption Guidance software is indicated for use in two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2-D TTE), for adult patients, specifically in the acquisition of standard views of the heart from different angles. These views are typically used in the diagnosis of various cardiac conditions.
Echocardiograms are one of the most widely-used diagnostic tools in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, said Robert Ochs, Ph.D., deputy director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health in the FDAs Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Todays marketing authorization enables medical professionals who may not be experts in ultrasonography, such as a registered nurse in a family care clinic or others, to use this tool. This is especially important because it demonstrates the potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to increase access to safe and effective cardiac diagnostics that can be life-saving for patients.
Caption Guidance will initially be deployed in acute point-of-care settings, including emergency and anesthesiology departments and critical care units, with plans to expand to additional departments. These settings serve a high volume of patients; emergency rooms alone are visited by one in five U.S. adults at least once per year.[1] In these environments, ultrasound can be used to triage, monitor, and assess patients who have chest pain, shortness of breath, cardiac arrest, and many other conditions, as well as for the detection of heart disease.
"Point-of-care ultrasound has been demonstrated to expedite time to diagnosis, reduce the need for more costly testing, and decrease complications from invasive procedures," said John Bailitz, M.D., system point of care ultrasound education director, Northwestern Medicine. "Caption Guidance can unlock these benefits by addressing one of the largest barriers to ultrasound adoption: the ability to acquire diagnostic quality images quickly."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing one out of every four people, or approximately 647,000 Americans each year. The term heart disease refers to several types of heart conditions. The most common type is coronary artery disease, which can cause heart attack. Other kinds of heart disease may involve the valves in the heart, or the heart may not pump well and cause heart failure.
TheCaption Guidance software artificial intelligence shows a diagram of the patient and where to moved the ultrasound transducer to get standard echocardiography views and where to find the acustic windows. It is designed to help image diagnostic quality cardiac ultrasound images in a point of care ultrasound (POCUS) setting.
Cardiac diagnostic tests are necessary to identify heart conditions. Among them are electrocardiograms (EKG or ECG), Holter monitors and cardiac ultrasound examinations. The software authorized today is the first software authorized to guide users through cardiac ultrasound image acquisition.
The Caption Guidance software was developed using machine learning to train the software to differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable image quality. This knowledge formed the basis of an interactive AI user interface that provides prescriptive guidance to users on how to maneuver the ultrasound probe to acquire standard echocardiographic images and video clips of diagnostic quality. The AI interface provides real-time feedback on potential image quality, can auto-capture video clips, and automatically saves the best video clip acquired from a particular view. Importantly, the cardiologist still reviews the images for a final assessment of the images and videos for patient evaluation.
The Caption Guidance software currently can be used with a specific FDA-cleared diagnostic ultrasound system produced by Teratech Corp., with the potential to be used with other ultrasound imaging systems that have technical specifications consistent with the range of ultrasound systems used as part of the development and testing.
In its review of this device application, the FDA evaluated data from two independent studies. In one study, 50 trained sonographers scanned patients, with and without the assistance of the Caption Guidance software. The sonographers were able to capture comparable diagnostic quality images in both settings. The other study involved training eight registered nurses who are not experts in sonography to use the Caption Guidance software and asking them to capture standard echocardiography images, followed by five cardiologists assessing the quality of the images acquired. The results showed that the Caption Guidance software enabled the registered nurses to acquire echocardiography images and videos of diagnostic quality.
The FDA said is dedicated to ensuring medical device regulation keeps pace with technological advancements, such as this marketing authorization. In February 2020, the FDA is hosting a public workshop titled Evolving Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Radiological Imaging and seeks to discuss emerging applications of AI in radiological imaging, including AI devices intended to automate the diagnostic radiology workflow, as well as guided image acquisition. Discussions will also focus on best practices for the validation of AI-automated radiological imaging software and image acquisition devices, which is critical to assess safety and effectiveness.
The FDA reviewed the device through the De Novo premarket review pathway, a regulatory pathway for low- to moderate-risk devices of a new type. Along with this authorization, the FDA is establishing special controls for devices of this type, including requirements related to labeling and performance testing. When met, the special controls, along with general controls, provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness for devices of this type. This action creates a new regulatory classification, which means that subsequent devices of the same type with the same intended use may go through FDAs 510(k) premarket process, whereby devices can obtain marketing authorization by demonstrating substantial equivalence to a predicate device.
Watch a short video showing the system in use.
Caption Guidance successfully met all four primary endpoints, meeting the pre-specified criteria for study success by acquiring images of sufficient quality for specific clinical assessments. Namely, the RNs successfully acquired limited echo exams for qualitative visual assessments of left ventricular size: 98.8%, 95% CI [96.7, 100]; left ventricular function: 98.8% [96.7, 100]; right ventricular size: 92.5% [88.1, 96.9]; and pericardial effusion: 98.8% [96.7, 100].
In 2018, the FDA granted Breakthrough Device designation to Caption Guidance. To qualify for such designation, a device must provide for more effective treatment or diagnosis of a life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating disease or condition, and meet additional criteria including being a breakthrough technology with no approved alternatives and offers significant advantages over existing alternatives.
Reference:
1. CDC National Health Statistics Report, 2016.
See the original post here:
FDA Clears Cardiac Ultrasound Software With Artificial Intelligence to Guide User - Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology
OSE Immunotherapeutics Announces Artificial Intelligence Antibody Drug Development Collaboration with MAbSilico – Yahoo Finance
Regulatory News:
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200212005609/en/
OSE Immunotherapeutics (Paris:OSE) (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnmo: OSE), today announced a new collaboration agreement with deep technology innovative start-up MAbSilico, located in Tours, France, to use artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions for therapeutic antibody drug development.
OSE Immunotherapeutics plans to incorporate innovative problem-solving solutions like AI for the development of new monoclonal antibodies. MAbSilico solutions have already been tested and validated by OSE Immunotherapeutics and will be used for six antibody programs, including novel bispecific antibodies. AI and numerical simulation can guide therapeutic antibody discovery, help reduce the risk of failure and accelerate the pre-clinical development process of these drug candidates before clinical tests.
Nicolas Poirier, Chief Scientific Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, stated: "We are delighted with this collaboration, we constantly strive to introduce innovative technologies to develop first-in-class products in immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases. Due to the devastating nature of these diseases, our development strategies need to be accelerated and artificial intelligence solutions for drug discovery offered by MAbSilico can be a great asset to achieve this goal."
While all MAbSilicos commercialized solutions are included in this three-year agreement, OSE Immunotherapeutics also gains early access to MAbSilicos SaaS (Software as a Service) and technologies in development including those for the conception of therapeutic antibodies optimized for bioproduction. OSE provides internal data to MAbSilico in order to feed their algorithms in development and deliver new technology faster.
Vincent Puard, Chief Executive Officer of MAbSilico, stated: "It is a pleasure to start this collaboration with one of the top French Biotech. This partnership demonstrates the need to fasten new AI-based solutions for antibody drug discovery. We believe that with the trust and collaboration of OSE, we will accelerate the release of our software and new technologies."
ABOUT OSE ImmunotherapeuticsOSE Immunotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and partnering therapies to control the immune system for immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases. The company has a diversified first-in-class clinical portfolio consisting of several scientific and technological platforms including neoepitopes and agonist or antagonist monoclonal antibodies, all ideally positioned to fight cancer and autoimmune diseases. The most advanced therapeutic-candidate Tedopi, is a proprietary combination of 10 neo-epitopes aimed at stimulating T-lymphocytes and is currently in Phase 3 development in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients in failure after checkpoint inhibitor treatment (anti PD-1 and anti PD-L1) and in Phase 2 testing in pancreatic cancer in combination with checkpoint inhibitor Opdivo. BI 765063 (OSE-172) (anti-SIRPa monoclonal antibody) is under a license and collaboration agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim; this checkpoint inhibitor is currently under Phase 1 clinical trial in advanced solid tumors. BiCKI is a bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component anti-PD-1 (OSE-279) and targeting innovative targets. FR104 (an anti-CD28 mAb) has successfully completed Phase 1 testing and has potential to treat autoimmune diseases. OSE-127 (monoclonal antibody targeting the CD127 receptor, the alpha chain of the interleukin-7 receptor) is partnered with Servier under an option agreement up to the completion of a Phase 2 clinical trial planned in autoimmune bowel diseases; in parallel, Servier plans a development in the Sjgren syndrome. The Phase 1 clinical phase of OSE-127 is completed and has shown positive results; planned Phase 2 studies in ulcerative colitis and Sjgrens syndrome to start in 2020.For more information: https://ose-immuno.com/en/ Click and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn
About MAbSilicoMAbSilico is a deeptech company, founded in September 2017, which implements computational solutions for the development of therapeutic antibodies, bio-drugs used in an increasing number of pathologies, including oncology.MAbSilicos objective is to propose a software suite that creates a formal approach of antibody development, reducing the risks of failure and the duration of pre-clinical steps, as well as strengthening intellectual protection. Conventional approaches for the discovery and pre-clinical development take two to three years, MAbSilico technologies allow shrinking this time to a few weeks.The technology developed by MAbSilico is the result of more than twenty years of French scientific research, in laboratories affiliated to INRA and CNRS. It is based on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and has partly been funded by the Loire-Valley Region and the MAbImprove Labex. MAbSilico tools have been the subjects of more than ten scientific publications and are covered by an international patent.The MAbSilico team consists in five persons, including three co-founders and co-inventors of the methods. It is located on the INRA Loire-Valley site.Since 2018, MAbSilico has been commercializing its tools in France, Europe and USA, with more than 20 clients: academics, startups and biotechs.MAbSilico is looking forward to extend its commercial effort in Europe and to hire ten persons in Tours for positions in software development, data science, bioinformatics, biology and business development. The implementation of our solutions will be made in close link with our clients to best meet their needs.More information at http://www.mabsilico.com Click and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn
Story continues
Forward-looking statementsThis press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate.These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "target", "plan", or "estimate", their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 26 April 2019, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2018, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200212005609/en/
Contacts
OSE Immunotherapeutics Sylvie DtrySylvie.detry@ose-immuno.com +33 153 198 757
French Media: FP2COM Florence Portejoiefportejoie@fp2com.fr +33 607 768 283
U.S. Media: LifeSci Public Relations Darren Opland, Ph.D.darren@lifescipublicrelations.com +1 646 627 8387
U.S. and European Investors Chris Maggoschris@lifesciadvisors.com +41 79 367 6254
MAbSilico Vincent Puardvincent.puard@mabsilico.com
Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain are the Future of Retirement. – 401kTV
Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain are the Future of Retirement
Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are going to play a more significant role in retirement planning in the coming years. According to Lew Minsky, President and CEO of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and Tim Rouse, SPARK Institute, Executive Director cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and developments in technology are all likely to become of paramount importance in the coming decade. These industry leaders observed that financial services firms are eagerly investigating and implementing new technology solutions meant to address some of the age-old challenges of the advisory and investment services industriesand to address mounting competition and fee pressures, as noted in a recent planadviser article.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to catch on in the financial services space, especially among registered investment advisers (RIAs). A survey from Nationwide Advisory Solutions quoted by planadviser found that a third of RIAs and fee-based advisers were already using artificial intelligence in some capacity as of last year. Among those using artificial intelligence, 37% expected their profits to grow significantly over the next few years. In addition, recordkeepers and investment managers are tailoring retirement plan participants experience using analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to help them make better decisions to improve retirement readiness, planadviser noted.
Nonetheless, artificial intelligence in the investment management space is still in its relative infancy. Already, firms are using artificial intelligence to perform basic tasks such as chat bots or robotic automation where repeatable, nonjudgmental functions can be enhanced by a computer. Using artificial intelligence, advisors are positioned to perform in minutes, an analysis that used to consume hours permitting astute advisors to reallocate resources. The reallocated resources could be financial savings driven, operational efficiencies or time saving practices that enable an advisor to properly prepare for client meetings. An increasing number of firms are using artificial intelligence to analyze emails, texts and notes to learn about client sentiment and better anticipate client needs.
DCIIA observed that both recordkeepers and plan sponsors have an interest in artificial intelligence, but they are focusing on different things. Recordkeepers want to use artificial intelligence to improve operational efficiencies, whereas plan sponsors are more concerned with investments and fraud risks. planadviser pointed out, when asked about how AI might be of most help to the retirement plan industry, plan sponsors and recordkeepers both selected to address participant retirement planning and readiness and to address holistic financial wellness as their top two choices. Retirement readiness and financial wellness go hand-in-hand, and as such, they are chief concerns that plan sponsors and recordkeepers need to proactively address. Its likely that artificial intelligence can play a critical role in helping them do so.
DCIIA and SPARK Institute plan to devote significant resources to artificial intelligence in the coming year and beyond. Blockchain is another area of focus for these organizations. According to planadviser, a blockchain is a series of digital records of data that, in basic terms, cannot be retroactively modified and it is managed across many distributed computers of independent entities. Each of these blocks of data is secured and bound to the others using advanced cryptographic principles, in theory making blockchain records both highly secure and transparent without requiring a centralized clearinghouse to manage the whole process. The retirement planning industry has shown significant interest in blockchain technology due to its security and potential to help workers save more for retirement by reducing leakage from workplace retirement plans.
Interest in artificial intelligence is growing quickly while gathering broader acceptance and uses; however, caution is the watchword when it comes to blockchain. DCIIA and SPARK continue to learn more about blockchains potential. Depending on how its adopted, blockchain could supplant many legacy systems, and possibly compromise financial paradigms.
The rise in the acceptance of technology like artificial intelligence and blockchain in the retirement planning and investment management industries is worth monitoring for future developments. Change is on the horizon. Plan sponsors and recordkeepers, should keep their eyes wide open, monitor risk and be ready to advance or react when the time is right.
Steff C. Chalk is Executive Director of The Retirement Advisor University, a collaboration with UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Education. Steff also serves as Executive Director of The Plan Sponsor University and is current faculty of The Retirement Adviser University.
Here is the original post:
Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain are the Future of Retirement. - 401kTV
Robots and artificial intelligence can benefit workers instead of hurting them if we address inequality today [Opinion] – Houston Chronicle
These are the jobs that robots are taking over. Robots take retail. Headlines such as these have become so common, theyre practically accepted as fact. While many are quick to blame advancing technology such as artificial intelligence, the real problem is how that technology is deployed in the workplace along with who stands to benefit from it.
Though tech hubs such as San Francisco, Boston and Seattle routinely grab the limelight, Houston too is on the forefront of an innovation that could drastically change the lives of some workers. Starting last year, a robotics company based in Silicon Valley, Nuro, has been using the suburbs of Houston to test its autonomous grocery delivery service.
In this age of driverless cars, were spending less time celebrating the freedom technology brings and more time worried about what it means for those such as the gig economy workers who deliver groceries who will eventually be replaced by autonomous vehicles.
These concerns are legitimate. Just as urgent is the need to grapple with how we can deploy this new technology to benefit workers. In short, the economic benefits of technology should be broadly shared among all of us.
How technological change is implemented, who benefits and who pays a price, will be based on choices that we make as a society. What scholars are learning, unfortunately, is that high economic inequality is confining the benefits of technological progress and accompanying economic growth primarily to the very rich.
Economic inequality the differences between the top 1 percent and the rest of us has been growing in the United States since the 1980s and stands at its highest point in a century. Houston is not immune: In 2015, the Houston metropolitan area ranked seventh among nearly one thousand metropolitan areas in its share of people who reside in the top 1 percent of incomes nationwide, according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute.
Technological progress, while making many workers more productive and adding high-skill jobs to the economy, also reinforces economic and other kinds of inequality, such as by race and gender. Technology has contributed to the rise of independent contractors, franchises and the gig economy. These trends have undermined their bargaining power to obtain wage increases and improved conditions.
Though it might be difficult to predict where technology will take jobs and employment in the decades ahead, we can make policy changes today that address inequality and ensure that workers are treated fairly and can earn their share of the productivity benefits technological advancement provides.
A fundamental step to reducing inequality is to ensure that our economy remains competitive and that the first mover advantage to create new platforms doesnt calcify into monopolies that stifle future innovation and entrepreneurship. Our 21st-century policies must be up to the task of ensuring market competition in the face of new technologies.
We also need to ensure that the gains of growth are shared. We have an easy way to do this: put in place a tax code that does not fossilize wealth into the hands of few. Changes in recent years have mostly benefited the wealthy and corporate interests, not the many. We need a tax code that gives us the capacity to make much-needed investments in our communities and our people that will ensure our economy can be competitive for generations to come. A number of proposals for taxing wealth have been offered; though some go farther than others, any step is a step in the right direction.
And, to directly support the workers who must contend with changing technologies, we need to modernize labor laws and other policies affecting workers to account for the changes taking place in the economy and to reverse actions that have weakened labor unions and worker power. The federal labor standards enacted in the 20th century essentially do not exist for millions of gig workers and others. Those standards for safety, for wages, for working conditions should be updated to meet the needs of todays families by including things like paid leave and extended to all.
In addition, workers voices need to be heard in the workplace. Worker input can lead to greater equity and more efficient production processes. See Harvard Universitys Labor and Worklife Program, which recently issued the Clean Slate for Worker Power, an agenda of policy recommendations that would strengthen the ability of organized labor to rebalance the power between workers and employers.
Luckily Houston has already begun to take action. In 2017, the Mayoral Task Force on Equity produced an in-depth report with a series of recommendations for addressing inequality in Houston. The policies included in Rising Together: A Roadmap to Confront Inequality in Houston ranged from a new jobs program and early childhood education reforms to greater investment in low-income neighborhoods and a more progressive tax system.
Too many conversations about technology and the future of work start from the premise that technology controls us, and not the other way around. If we want to ensure that technology serves all of us and that its benefits are broadly shared then we need to address inequality so that workers are better positioned to weather any challenges the robots might bring.
Boushey is the president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She will be speaking about her book "Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It" at Rice University on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public but registration is recommended. She will also be presenting at a Rice Scientia Conference on Work in the 21st Century: Automation, Workers, and Society Feb 13-14.
Follow this link:
Robots and artificial intelligence can benefit workers instead of hurting them if we address inequality today [Opinion] - Houston Chronicle