Wednesday, August 20, 2014

BREAKING NEWS: Artificial Intelligence is Taking Over the World!

The cover of the New York Daily News in 1938

Photo Credit: slate.com


With all the talk about the recent radio show noHold had that opportunity to be a part of, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate one of the great inventions of the late 1800’s…the radio! Today, August 20th, is recognized as National Radio Day. While many don’t know about this ‘unofficial’ holiday, the radio was a huge milestone in technology, and especially for wireless communication. It was a way for World news to be distributed to the masses; and back then, most people believed what was said over the radio without a doubt. (It’s not like they had many sources to fact check). One of the most infamous moments in Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) history was the 1938 War of the Worlds scare.

Orson Welles went on the Mercury Theatre on the Air and acted as if the World was being invaded by Martians (a disclaimer at the beginning confirmed it was not real). While printed press made it seem like millions of people around the World were terrified and believed an invasion was underway, the newspaper industry actually over exaggerated the scare as a ploy to make radio look untrustworthy and dangerous for the public. Sources say that only few were listening and even fewer believed it (The Myth of the War of the Worlds Panic). 

Whether the 'Alien Invasion' scare was true or a fabrication, it is still one of the most talked about radio moments in history and it ties in with something Diego mentioned on the Peggy Smedley Show. He explains that he foresees endless possibilities for the future of Artificial Intelligence, and more and more, we will begin to see A.I. in parts of our daily life. He gave the example about a standard scanner with a small display and a few buttons progressing into an expanded User Interface (UI) through the use of A.I. technology (Virtual Agent applications). In the future, we will be able to have more intuitive human to machine interactions thanks to Artificial Intelligence. If you want to listen to the entire episode, please follow this link to the archived episodes. Note: Diego joins conversation in segment 2, 'Interaction with the Internet of Things.'

What is your opinion on the future of A.I.? Are we going to be 'invaded' by Artificial Intelligence, or do you welcome this kind of disruptive technology? 

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