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Showing posts from June, 2021

What Is the Next Big Thing?

What is mistakenly accepted as true in our society and enough to believe in a flat earth? With this question, the mind quickly reaches the limits of the conceivable. Something similar happens when you ask yourself what happens when people stop googling or stop flying? Adobe Research Director Sridhar Mahadevan got to the bottom of this very question and wondered what comes after the internet and artificial intelligence. The article is very convincingly written, conceptual and at the same time based on many real examples and experienced references.

Machines Like Me

Machines Like Me is a 2019 novel by British author Ian McEwan. The novel is written ironically and at the same time deeply. It is set in London in the 1980s and offers an "alternative variant" of London. Charlie, a man in his 40s, tries to make ends meet through sporadic, impulse-driven businesses while trying to avoid permanent employment. He is in love with the much younger student Miranda, who lives in the house directly above him. When Charlie's mother dies, he buys "Adam" with the inheritance. Adam is the first man-made, synthetic human. Charlie installed along with Miranda Adam and his personality. A unique relationship develops between the "perfect" humanoid Adam, Charlie and Miranda. As time goes on, they are haunted by a terrible secret from the past. This presents the three with a massive moral dilemma. I found four aspects of this novel particularly entertaining / interesting: 1. Time merging: In the novel, Alan Turing (British computer sci