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Predictive Analytics
The Three Breakthroughs That Have Finally Unleashed AI on the World
November 6, 2014
A few months ago I made the trek to the sylvan campus of the IBM research labs in Yorktown Heights, New York, to catch an early glimpse of the fast-arriving, long-overdue future of artificial intelligence. This was the home of Watson, the electronic genius that conquered Jeopardy! in 2011. The original Watson is still here—it's about the size of a bedroom, with 10 upright, refrigerator-shaped machines forming the four walls. The tiny interior cavity gives technicians access to the jumble of wires...
November 6, 2014
A few months ago I made the trek to the sylvan campus of the IBM research labs in Yorktown Heights, New York, to catch an early glimpse of the fast-arriving, long-overdue future of artificial intelligence. This was the home of Watson, the electronic genius that conquered Jeopardy! in 2011. The original Watson is still here—it's about the size of a bedroom, with 10 upright, refrigerator-shaped machines forming the four walls. The tiny interior cavity gives technicians access to the jumble of wires...
How Disruptive Technologies Will Transform the Role of Lawyers
November 1, 2014
I just finished reading an important new piece, The Great Disruption: How Machines Will Transform the Role of Lawyers in the Delivery of Legal Services, by Northwestern Law's John McGinnis and Fordham Law's Russell Pearce, that has implications for both lawyers and also for legal educators. Here is how the piece starts: "Law is an information technology—a code that regulates social life. In our age, the machinery of information technology is growing exponentially in power, not only in hardware,...
November 1, 2014
I just finished reading an important new piece, The Great Disruption: How Machines Will Transform the Role of Lawyers in the Delivery of Legal Services, by Northwestern Law's John McGinnis and Fordham Law's Russell Pearce, that has implications for both lawyers and also for legal educators. Here is how the piece starts: "Law is an information technology—a code that regulates social life. In our age, the machinery of information technology is growing exponentially in power, not only in hardware,...
Google Tests Waters for Potential Ultra-Fast Wireless Service
November 1, 2014
Google Inc is preparing to test new technology that may provide the foundation for a wireless version of its high-speed "Fiber" Internet service, according to telecommunication experts who scrutinized the company's regulatory filings. In a public but little-noticed application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Monday, Google asked the agency for permission to conduct tests in California across different wireless spectrums, including a rarely-used millimeter-wave frequency capable...
November 1, 2014
Google Inc is preparing to test new technology that may provide the foundation for a wireless version of its high-speed "Fiber" Internet service, according to telecommunication experts who scrutinized the company's regulatory filings. In a public but little-noticed application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Monday, Google asked the agency for permission to conduct tests in California across different wireless spectrums, including a rarely-used millimeter-wave frequency capable...
Google’s New Computer With Human-Like Learning Abilities Will Program Itself
November 1, 2014
The new hybrid device might not need humans at all. In college, it wasn’t rare to hear a verbal battle regarding artificial intelligence erupt between my friends studying neuroscience and my friends studying computer science. One rather outrageous fellow would mention the possibility of a computer takeover, and off they went. The neuroscience-savvy would awe at the potential of such hybrid technology as the CS majors argued we have nothing to fear, as computers will always need a programmer...
November 1, 2014
The new hybrid device might not need humans at all. In college, it wasn’t rare to hear a verbal battle regarding artificial intelligence erupt between my friends studying neuroscience and my friends studying computer science. One rather outrageous fellow would mention the possibility of a computer takeover, and off they went. The neuroscience-savvy would awe at the potential of such hybrid technology as the CS majors argued we have nothing to fear, as computers will always need a programmer...
Flaherty Argues for Analytics at Prague Conference
October 27, 2014
D. Casey Flaherty, corporate counsel for Kia Motors America, told attendees at the LawTech Europe Congress 2014 keynote this morning that corporate legal services are not “credence goods” ("products whose utility impact is difficult or impossible for the consumer to ascertain," according to Wikipedia). Legal service can be measured by sophisticated analytics, he said, but corporate counsel are locked into a dated model of reviewing law firm performance by approaching each case is a special event—a...
October 27, 2014
D. Casey Flaherty, corporate counsel for Kia Motors America, told attendees at the LawTech Europe Congress 2014 keynote this morning that corporate legal services are not “credence goods” ("products whose utility impact is difficult or impossible for the consumer to ascertain," according to Wikipedia). Legal service can be measured by sophisticated analytics, he said, but corporate counsel are locked into a dated model of reviewing law firm performance by approaching each case is a special event—a...
Berners-Lee: ‘Computers Are Getting Smarter. We’re Not’
October 26, 2014
“Companies,” says web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, “are increasingly going to be run by computers. And computers are getting smarter and we are not.” The only solution, he argues, is for people to embrace new technology, and accept that some jobs will simply disappear. Sir Tim is, as he puts it, “in London to think about the future”. Today he will speak at IP Expo, last month he addressed senior technology executives at a dinner organised by digital agency SapientNitro, but the over-riding...
October 26, 2014
“Companies,” says web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, “are increasingly going to be run by computers. And computers are getting smarter and we are not.” The only solution, he argues, is for people to embrace new technology, and accept that some jobs will simply disappear. Sir Tim is, as he puts it, “in London to think about the future”. Today he will speak at IP Expo, last month he addressed senior technology executives at a dinner organised by digital agency SapientNitro, but the over-riding...
Google Trial Lets You Chat With Doctors When You Search for Symptoms
October 24, 2014
Searching the web for symptoms of illness can be dangerous -- you could identify a real condition, but you also risk scaring yourself for no reason through a misdiagnosis. Google might have a solution that puts your mind at ease, though. The company has confirmed to Engadget that it's testing a Helpouts-style feature which offers video chats with doctors when you search for symptoms. While there aren't many details of how this works in practice, the search card mentions that Google is covering the costs...
October 24, 2014
Searching the web for symptoms of illness can be dangerous -- you could identify a real condition, but you also risk scaring yourself for no reason through a misdiagnosis. Google might have a solution that puts your mind at ease, though. The company has confirmed to Engadget that it's testing a Helpouts-style feature which offers video chats with doctors when you search for symptoms. While there aren't many details of how this works in practice, the search card mentions that Google is covering the costs...
Fewer Patent Litigation Filings So Far in 2014
October 23, 2014
After reaching record highs earlier in the year, patent case filings over the last few months have trailed off significantly,...
October 23, 2014
After reaching record highs earlier in the year, patent case filings over the last few months have trailed off significantly,...
Gartner’s Crystal Ball Foresees an Emerging ‘Super Class’ of Technologies
October 22, 2014
Gartner sees things like robots and drones replacing a third of all workers by 2025, and whether you want to believe it or not, is entirely your business. Smart machines are an emerging "super class" of technologies that perform a wide variety of work, both the physical and the intellectual kind, said Sondergaard. Machines, for instance, have been grading multiple choice for years, but now they are grading essays and unstructured text. This cognitive capability in software will extend to other...
October 22, 2014
Gartner sees things like robots and drones replacing a third of all workers by 2025, and whether you want to believe it or not, is entirely your business. Smart machines are an emerging "super class" of technologies that perform a wide variety of work, both the physical and the intellectual kind, said Sondergaard. Machines, for instance, have been grading multiple choice for years, but now they are grading essays and unstructured text. This cognitive capability in software will extend to other...
Is Data Influencing C-suite Decision Making?
October 22, 2014
Is it the time right to enter a new market? To downsize? To collaborate with competitors? These are the types of decisions companies face that data analytics could help them make. An Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers explains that business leaders are using data and analytics to some degree in their decision-making processes, but could do a lot more to leverage data for smarter choices. The 2014 Global Data and Analytics Survey report, titled “Gut & Gigabytes:...
October 22, 2014
Is it the time right to enter a new market? To downsize? To collaborate with competitors? These are the types of decisions companies face that data analytics could help them make. An Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers explains that business leaders are using data and analytics to some degree in their decision-making processes, but could do a lot more to leverage data for smarter choices. The 2014 Global Data and Analytics Survey report, titled “Gut & Gigabytes:...
