Technology
4 Legal Tech Trends To Watch For In 2016
December 25, 2015
As 2015 comes to a close, it’s only natural to peek ahead to see what’s in store for 2016. As a whole, legal technology is still just a baby of an industry which pales in comparison to the technology revolution going on in the financial industry. It remains an open question whether legal-tech startups will be attractive targets for early stage venture capital companies. But 2015 began to show some serious promise with some of the biggest Silicon Valley VCs placing bets on legal tech. If you want...
December 25, 2015
As 2015 comes to a close, it’s only natural to peek ahead to see what’s in store for 2016. As a whole, legal technology is still just a baby of an industry which pales in comparison to the technology revolution going on in the financial industry. It remains an open question whether legal-tech startups will be attractive targets for early stage venture capital companies. But 2015 began to show some serious promise with some of the biggest Silicon Valley VCs placing bets on legal tech. If you want...
Money Soothes Bad Blood Between Taylor Swift, Apple
December 25, 2015
It looks like Apple may be Taylor Swift’s new BFF. Swift signed a deal that will give the Cupertino-based company exclusive rights to her “1989” concert video set to debut on Dec. 20, according to Re/code. She will also promote Apple Music with a large marketing campaign. “Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. I have a little surprise for you. #1989WorldTourLIVE @applemusic,” the pop star wrote on Twitter on Sunday. So what tempered the bad blood between Swift and Apple?...
December 25, 2015
It looks like Apple may be Taylor Swift’s new BFF. Swift signed a deal that will give the Cupertino-based company exclusive rights to her “1989” concert video set to debut on Dec. 20, according to Re/code. She will also promote Apple Music with a large marketing campaign. “Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. I have a little surprise for you. #1989WorldTourLIVE @applemusic,” the pop star wrote on Twitter on Sunday. So what tempered the bad blood between Swift and Apple?...
Robots Are After Your Boss’ Job
December 24, 2015
Managers spend much of their day working on tasks that robots will do better in the future, according to a survey released Wednesday by Accenture Strategy, the strategy arm of the global professional services company. More than 8 in 10 managers say they spend a significant part of their day planning and coordinating work, 65% solving problems and related tasks, 52% monitoring and reporting performance and 45% analyzing and sharing information, according to the survey, which questioned 1,700 managers...
December 24, 2015
Managers spend much of their day working on tasks that robots will do better in the future, according to a survey released Wednesday by Accenture Strategy, the strategy arm of the global professional services company. More than 8 in 10 managers say they spend a significant part of their day planning and coordinating work, 65% solving problems and related tasks, 52% monitoring and reporting performance and 45% analyzing and sharing information, according to the survey, which questioned 1,700 managers...
How Many of Your Daily Tasks Could Be Automated?
December 22, 2015
A sea of ink and hours of video have been dedicated to the looming battle between humans and machines, often concluding that the machines win and human workers lose. It is a nearly irresistible narrative, which has been captured in books such as Martin Ford’s Rise of the Robots and The Second Machine Age, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. It has also has inspired scholarship by academics such as Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne of Oxford University, who estimate that 47% of occupations...
December 22, 2015
A sea of ink and hours of video have been dedicated to the looming battle between humans and machines, often concluding that the machines win and human workers lose. It is a nearly irresistible narrative, which has been captured in books such as Martin Ford’s Rise of the Robots and The Second Machine Age, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. It has also has inspired scholarship by academics such as Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne of Oxford University, who estimate that 47% of occupations...
Robots Aren’t Going to Replace Us, But Enhance Us
December 22, 2015
This is the coming world of augmented humans, where technology gifts people senses, skills, and strengths never before available. The swallowable robot is only one scenario that researchers in Bristol in the west of England are working to make a reality, as part of research that seeks to use bots to enhance, rather than replace, people. Other projects include work to allow surgeons to operate on people located miles away with superhuman precision, and managers to split their day between offices...
December 22, 2015
This is the coming world of augmented humans, where technology gifts people senses, skills, and strengths never before available. The swallowable robot is only one scenario that researchers in Bristol in the west of England are working to make a reality, as part of research that seeks to use bots to enhance, rather than replace, people. Other projects include work to allow surgeons to operate on people located miles away with superhuman precision, and managers to split their day between offices...
Uber Rewrites Driver Contract to Force Arbitration
December 21, 2015
Uber is taking a new approach in its fight to keep its drivers out of court and classified as independent contractors. The company appears undeterred by a federal court ruling earlier this week that rejected its arbitration agreement and expanded a class of drivers seeking employee status and benefits. On Friday, Uber Technologies Inc. released a new driver contract that purports to fix problems that U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of the Northern District of California said made arbitration requirements...
December 21, 2015
Uber is taking a new approach in its fight to keep its drivers out of court and classified as independent contractors. The company appears undeterred by a federal court ruling earlier this week that rejected its arbitration agreement and expanded a class of drivers seeking employee status and benefits. On Friday, Uber Technologies Inc. released a new driver contract that purports to fix problems that U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of the Northern District of California said made arbitration requirements...
Artificial intelligence critic Elon Musk Launches $1B Non-Profit AI Research Company
December 20, 2015
Elon Musk, who has warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence, unveiled a non-profit AI research company Friday called OpenAI. OpenAI will be co-chaired by Musk and Y Combinator President Sam Altman, according to a blog post. "Since our research is free from financial obligations, we can better focus on a positive human impact," the post said. "We believe AI should be an extension of individual human wills and, in the spirit of liberty, as broadly and evenly distributed as is possible...
December 20, 2015
Elon Musk, who has warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence, unveiled a non-profit AI research company Friday called OpenAI. OpenAI will be co-chaired by Musk and Y Combinator President Sam Altman, according to a blog post. "Since our research is free from financial obligations, we can better focus on a positive human impact," the post said. "We believe AI should be an extension of individual human wills and, in the spirit of liberty, as broadly and evenly distributed as is possible...
A.I.: Researchers Find Quicker Way To Teach Computer
December 20, 2015
Researchers say they’ve developed an algorithm that can teach a new concept to a computer using just one example, rather than the thousands of examples that are traditionally required for machine learning. The algorithm takes advantage of a probabilistic approach the researchers call “Bayesian Program Learning,” or BPL. Essentially, the computer generates its own additional examples, and then determines which ones fit the pattern best. The researchers behind BPL say they’re trying to reproduce...
December 20, 2015
Researchers say they’ve developed an algorithm that can teach a new concept to a computer using just one example, rather than the thousands of examples that are traditionally required for machine learning. The algorithm takes advantage of a probabilistic approach the researchers call “Bayesian Program Learning,” or BPL. Essentially, the computer generates its own additional examples, and then determines which ones fit the pattern best. The researchers behind BPL say they’re trying to reproduce...
The End of Work?
December 19, 2015
Welcome to the era of AI-human hybrid intelligence, where people and artificial intelligence systems work together seamlessly. Picture the scene from the 1986 movie “Aliens,” where Sigourney Weaver slips into a humanoid, semi-robotic weight-lifting unit to fight the alien queen — that’s about where we are today. (A number of companies around the world are developing versions of such devices for industrial and medical use, with some already on the market.) * * * But history shows that...
December 19, 2015
Welcome to the era of AI-human hybrid intelligence, where people and artificial intelligence systems work together seamlessly. Picture the scene from the 1986 movie “Aliens,” where Sigourney Weaver slips into a humanoid, semi-robotic weight-lifting unit to fight the alien queen — that’s about where we are today. (A number of companies around the world are developing versions of such devices for industrial and medical use, with some already on the market.) * * * But history shows that...
