Music, Movies & Madness?


This week we will be looking at the issues arising from the impact of technology including the Internet and World Wide Web upon some established intellectual property based industries.
Location: Nottingham, UK

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Super-intelligence and eternal life: transhumanism's faithful follow it blindly into a future for the elite

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Super-intelligence and eternal life: transhumanism's faithful follow it blindly into a future for the elite Distant Earth. Alexander Thomas , University of East London The rapid development of so-called NBIC technologies – nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science – are giving rise to possibilities that have long been the domain of science fiction. Disease, ageing and even death are all human realities that these technologies seek to end. They may enable us to enjoy greater “morphological freedom” – we could take on new forms through prosthetics or genetic engineering. Or advance our cognitive capacities. We could use brain-computer interfaces to link us to advanced artificial intelligence (AI). Nanobots could roam our bloodstream to monitor our health and enhance our emotional propensities for joy, love or other emotions. Advances in one area often raise new possibilities in others, and this “co...
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Robots are coming and the fallout will largely harm marginalized communities

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Robots are coming and the fallout will largely harm marginalized communities Those who are most affected in the labour market by robots are those who tend to already be marginalized. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) Constantine Gidaris , McMaster University COVID-19 has brought about numerous, devastating changes to people’s lives globally. With the number of cases rising across Canada and globally , we are also witnessing the development and use of robots to perform jobs in some workplaces that are deemed unsafe for humans. There are cases of robots being used to disinfect health-care facilities, deliver drugs to patients and perform temperature checks . In April 2020, doctors at a Boston hospital used Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robot called Spot to reduce health-care workers exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 . By equipping Spot with an iPad and a two-way radio, doctors and patients could communicate in real-time. ...
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How facial recognition technology aids police

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How facial recognition technology aids police Technology can only do so much – it still needs human input. Arten Oleshko/Shutterstock Bethan Davies , Cardiff University ; Andrew Dawson , Cardiff University , and Martin Innes , Cardiff University Police officers’ ability to recognise and locate individuals with a history of committing crime is vital to their work. In fact, it is so important that officers believe possessing it is fundamental to the craft of effective street policing, crime prevention and investigation. However, with the total police workforce falling by almost 20% since 2010 and recorded crime rising , police forces are turning to new technological solutions to help enhance their capability and capacity to monitor and track individuals about whom they have concerns. One such technology is Automated Facial Recognition (known as AFR). This works by analysing key facial features, generating a mathematical representation of ...
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