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Technology
Willingness to Pay to Use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and More: A National Survey
July 28, 2018
There has been a great deal of discussion of the welfare effects of digital goods, including social media. The discussion...
July 28, 2018
There has been a great deal of discussion of the welfare effects of digital goods, including social media. The discussion...
Impact of Driverless Cars on Insurance Not as Dire as Predicted
July 28, 2018
“We do not expect revenues for auto insurance companies to experience a sudden decline as a result of autonomous vehicles,” Alejandro Zamorano, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, wrote Thursday in a report. “Instead we expect a gradual shift in the type of auto insurance products as well as new revenue sources for insurance companies.” That assessment contrasts with previous dire predictions for the industry. A Morgan Stanley report in 2016, entitled “Are Auto Insurers on the Road...
July 28, 2018
“We do not expect revenues for auto insurance companies to experience a sudden decline as a result of autonomous vehicles,” Alejandro Zamorano, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, wrote Thursday in a report. “Instead we expect a gradual shift in the type of auto insurance products as well as new revenue sources for insurance companies.” That assessment contrasts with previous dire predictions for the industry. A Morgan Stanley report in 2016, entitled “Are Auto Insurers on the Road...
Pasquale on Jeffersonian & Hamiltonian Visions of Tech Platforms
July 22, 2018
Frank A. Pasquale (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law) has posted Tech Platforms and the Knowledge Problem (American Affairs, Summer 2018, at 3) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Jeffersonians call for a new era of antitrust enforcement to break up giant firms. These populist and localist critics of leading technology platforms, megabanks, and health care behemoths are decentralizers. They believe that, in a just society, power must be widely dispersed. They promote strong...
July 22, 2018
Frank A. Pasquale (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law) has posted Tech Platforms and the Knowledge Problem (American Affairs, Summer 2018, at 3) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Jeffersonians call for a new era of antitrust enforcement to break up giant firms. These populist and localist critics of leading technology platforms, megabanks, and health care behemoths are decentralizers. They believe that, in a just society, power must be widely dispersed. They promote strong...
Your Next Desk Lamp: A Plant That Glows?
July 4, 2018
The glow emanating from the leaves of this watercress is the result of plant nanobionics, in which live plants are given unusual characteristics through the introduction of microscopic nanoparticles. It’s a new area of research pioneered by Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. To turn leaves into a light source, Strano uses luciferase, the enzyme responsible for a firefly’s glow. A total of three compounds (luciferase,...
July 4, 2018
The glow emanating from the leaves of this watercress is the result of plant nanobionics, in which live plants are given unusual characteristics through the introduction of microscopic nanoparticles. It’s a new area of research pioneered by Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. To turn leaves into a light source, Strano uses luciferase, the enzyme responsible for a firefly’s glow. A total of three compounds (luciferase,...
Short of Workers, Fast-Food Restaurants Turn to Robots
June 30, 2018
Experts have warned for years that robots will replace humans in restaurants. Instead, a twist on that prediction is unfolding. Amid the lowest unemployment in years, fast-food restaurants are turning to machines—not to get rid of workers, but because they can’t find enough. If businesses were just using machines to replace workers, you would see high unemployment in the industry, said Donald Grimes, a labor economist at the University of Michigan. “But you’re not seeing that...
June 30, 2018
Experts have warned for years that robots will replace humans in restaurants. Instead, a twist on that prediction is unfolding. Amid the lowest unemployment in years, fast-food restaurants are turning to machines—not to get rid of workers, but because they can’t find enough. If businesses were just using machines to replace workers, you would see high unemployment in the industry, said Donald Grimes, a labor economist at the University of Michigan. “But you’re not seeing that...
How Robots Are Making Better Drugs, Faster
June 30, 2018
The scientist hunched over beakers, conducting drug research by hand, may soon be a memory. Companies like Eli Lilly & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC are investing in automation with the hope of transforming drug discovery from an enterprise where humans do manual experiments to one where robots handle thousands of samples around the clock. This automation will be key to developing better therapies more efficiently, drug companies say, as research and development becomes more labor intensive...
June 30, 2018
The scientist hunched over beakers, conducting drug research by hand, may soon be a memory. Companies like Eli Lilly & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC are investing in automation with the hope of transforming drug discovery from an enterprise where humans do manual experiments to one where robots handle thousands of samples around the clock. This automation will be key to developing better therapies more efficiently, drug companies say, as research and development becomes more labor intensive...
Now Cropping Up: Robo-Farming
June 24, 2018
The bright red, driverless tractor drags the tiller in a perfect line in a south Indian field, makes a turn at the edge of the property, encounters a test dummy and then stalls, not knowing what to do. India’s Mahindra & Mahindra , one of the biggest suppliers of smaller tractors to the U.S., and other manufacturers are racing to develop what they see as the future of farming: robo-tractors and other farming equipment to help produce more food, more sustainably at a lower cost. John...
June 24, 2018
The bright red, driverless tractor drags the tiller in a perfect line in a south Indian field, makes a turn at the edge of the property, encounters a test dummy and then stalls, not knowing what to do. India’s Mahindra & Mahindra , one of the biggest suppliers of smaller tractors to the U.S., and other manufacturers are racing to develop what they see as the future of farming: robo-tractors and other farming equipment to help produce more food, more sustainably at a lower cost. John...
Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real-World Tasks Over the Phone
June 2, 2018
A long-standing goal of human-computer interaction has been to enable people to have a natural conversation with computers,...
June 2, 2018
A long-standing goal of human-computer interaction has been to enable people to have a natural conversation with computers,...
Disrupting Work Law: Arbitration in the Gig Economy
May 17, 2018
Charlotte Garden, Co-Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Associate Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law, has authored an interesting paper titled “Disrupting Work Law: Arbitration in the Gig Economy,” 2017 University of Chicago Legal Forum 205 (2018). In her publication, Associate Dean Garden discusses individual arbitration clauses in the context of gig economy workers. The abstract states: It is presently in style to speculate...
May 17, 2018
Charlotte Garden, Co-Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Associate Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law, has authored an interesting paper titled “Disrupting Work Law: Arbitration in the Gig Economy,” 2017 University of Chicago Legal Forum 205 (2018). In her publication, Associate Dean Garden discusses individual arbitration clauses in the context of gig economy workers. The abstract states: It is presently in style to speculate...
What Tennis Can Teach Us About Technology
May 13, 2018
We live in a time of relentless technological change. These case studies help explain why such change is so unsettling. Our inventions aren’t just altering the competitive landscape—they are doing so in completely unpredictable ways. Those older tennis players probably thought the oversize racket would help them compete with younger players, compensating for their slight decline in athleticism and speed. They were wrong. And the cascade of unexpected consequences never stops; when it comes...
May 13, 2018
We live in a time of relentless technological change. These case studies help explain why such change is so unsettling. Our inventions aren’t just altering the competitive landscape—they are doing so in completely unpredictable ways. Those older tennis players probably thought the oversize racket would help them compete with younger players, compensating for their slight decline in athleticism and speed. They were wrong. And the cascade of unexpected consequences never stops; when it comes...
