Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Artificial intelligence is here and now and bloody dangerous!

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China Is Building a Fleet of Autonomous AI-Powered Submarines. Here Are the Details

Aug 15, 2018

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A fleet of autonomous, AI-powered submarines is headed into hotly-contested Asian waterways. The vehicles will belong to the Chinese armed forces, and their mission capabilities are likely to raise concerned eyebrows in surrounding countries.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the submarines will be able to carry out “[…] a wide range of missions, from reconnaissance to mine placement to even suicide attacks against enemy vessels.”

If all goes to plan, the first submarines will launch in 2020.

New Non-Nuclear Threat

While details of the project remain sparse, one unnamed scientist told the SCMP that the submarines “will not be nuclear-armed.”

The onboard AI systems will be tasked with making decisions on course and depth to avoid detection as well as identifying any craft they come across. One area that has caused some concern is whether the submarines’ AI systems are being designed to not seek input during the course of a mission. In other words, if they will be left to make decisions such as whom to attack.

While there is some light to be had trying to find a name for the submarines’ capabilities (self-swimming?), China’s neighbors will likely be anything but amused by the news. The subs will likely patrol areas in the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Both are contested waters where China and countries like Japan andVietnam disagree as to who holds the rights to various resource-rich areas and islands. Recently, the Chinese military created artificial islands in the area to use as military bases.

The country’s robotic submarines could be seen as a further escalation of the situation.

Regional unease may be intensified by the fact that AI vessels would be able to learn from similar craft. In other words, the submarines would be able to engage in continuous strategic adjustment and development, should they come to be deployed in a conflict.

The Robot Sea Battle

This is not the only military project involving autonomous vessels at sea. Lin Yang, marine technology equipment director at the Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the SCMP that the Chinese development project had been launched in part because of similar measures undertaken by the US.

Earlier this year, DARPA handed the ASWACTUW (short for Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel) experimental craft over to the US Navy. Once fully developed, the “Sea Hunter,” as it’s (thankfully) also known, will be able to carry out autonomous missions for up to three months at a time.

The video below shows a bit more about the project (Warning: soundtrack may confuse and make you think you’re watching a Transformers movie).

The US is also working with major defense contractors on two prototype autonomous submarine systems, coincidentally set to be ready by 2020: Lockheed Martin’s Orca system and Boeing’s Echo Voyager.

The Murky Waters Of AI Warfare

These developments add further fuel to the fiery debate surrounding the use of AI-driven weapons systems. In the case of the submarines, questions include what would happen if they were to potentially go rogue or become compromised, leading them to attach to the wrong goals.

As Jim Mattis put it in an interview about the use of AI and drones in warfare, “If we ever get to the point where it is completely on automatic pilot, we are all spectators. That is no longer serving a political purpose. And conflict is a social problem that needs social solutions, people—human solutions.”

Many echo such sentiments, and fear humans may be getting subtracted out of this particular equation. It is a worry that resounds within the AI industry, with dozens of CEOS—including Elon Musk—signing an open letter to the UN urging a ban on AI-powered weapons.

“Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare. Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend. These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways. We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close,” the letter warns.

Image Credit: FOTOGRIN / Shutterstock.com

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Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Gerry...have you been mandering again?

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It’s a new era of Conservative gerrymandering, and we need to fight back

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Rick Smith, Broadbent Institute

<info@broadbentinstitute.ca>

Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 3:40 PM

To: Nelson Raglione <human4usbillions@gmail.com>

Dear Nelson,

There was a time when all participants in the political process – whether from the left or right – disagreed about the best approach to issues, but did so with a respect for their opponents and our democratic process.

This is not one of those times.

Moments ago, in the Ontario legislature, Doug Ford’s Conservatives rammed through Bill 5: an unprecedented new law that alters the City of Toronto’s election rules, gerrymandering ward boundaries and cutting the number of Council seats by almost half; over the strenuous objections of the city and in the middle of the election itself.

Make no mistake: We haven’t seen anything like Bill 5 before in recent Canadian history and this stealthy attack on municipal government will have national implications.

Doug Ford didn’t campaign on a promise to unilaterally change Toronto’s election rules. He didn’t submit the hair-brained scheme to public consultation. And he refused to allow it to be studied – as is customary – by a legislative committee.

The aim of Bill 5 is undemocratic, and the manner in which it was enacted mirrors this single-minded arrogance.

In fact, one of Doug Ford’s staunchest allies admitted that Bill 5 was in response to the realization that progressives would pick up more seats in the coming Toronto municipal election. So the conservatives changed the rules to make it impossible for them to do so.

Though it pains me to say, and Bill 5 will no doubt be challenged in the courts, I am sure we will shortly see Bill 5-type provincial attacks on progressive municipal governments become a standard Conservative tactic in other provinces. If the Ontario government can trample on the rights of the largest city in the country, with nearly 3 million citizens, then every municipality is vulnerable to something similar.

Conservatives like to share and replicate bad ideas. Bill 5 is a continuation of the Harper government’s attacks on democracy, which isn’t surprising when you consider that some of Harper’s key aides are now working for Doug Ford. The Harper government tried to make it harder for vulnerable groups like students and the poor to vote, and waged a campaign of persecution against trade unions and progressive charities.

Bill 5 is the next step in the intensifying Conservative attempt to subvert any democratic process that doesn’t slavishly bend to their will.

But across the country, at every level, people are fighting back.

Conservatives prefer a US-style “anything goes” approach to campaign donations. Thankfully, they’ve been systematically losing this argument. Virtually every province– and the federal level – have now banned big corporate and union donations in politics, and progressive activists in Saskatchewan, despite vehement opposition from Conservative Premier Scott Moe, are fighting hard to follow suit.

In a couple of months time, we will see Conservatives try to head off British Columbia’s attempts to bring in Proportional Representation (PR), a more modern electoral system that exists in most countries to ensure that every vote counts and to stop political parties from winning a majority of the power with a minority of the support. If PR had been in place in Ontario, Doug Ford wouldn’t have had the power in the legislature to pass Bill 5.

We can’t afford to lose these fights.

Tommy Douglas said that “The greatest way to defend democracy is to make it work”. You have our commitment that the Broadbent Institute will be working tirelessly across this great country to ensure that the voice of the Canadian people – as opposed to the vested interests of the rich and powerful – are heard loud and clear.

Whether pushing back against Bill 5 in Toronto, ensuring Saskatchewan follows the rest of the country in banning big money in politics, or winning PR in BC, the Broadbent Institute will be re-doubling its efforts to defend and expand Canadian democracy.

See you on the campaign trail!

With determination,

Rick
--
Rick Smith
Executive Director
Broadbent Institute

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Broadbent Institute · Canada
This email was sent to human4usbillions@gmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here.
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Monday, August 13, 2018

I knew it! We are finally going to eat WEEDS!

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Lambsquarter: Why This Weed Deserves to Be in Your Garden

Jonathon Engels

August 13, 2018

When we gardeners become too obsessed with weeding, we forget that plants are plants, without any motivation for making our lives difficult. It’s humans who deem one plant a weed and another a delicacy. Sometimes we appear to get that very wrong. Lambsquarter (sometimes seen as lamb’s quarter or lambs quarter) is definitely one of those cases.

Lambsquarter (Chenopodium album) is a very common weed that is actually so tasty and nutrient-rich that shrewd gardeners are going out of their way to cultivate it. It’s actually a member of the amaranth family that grows well in all soil conditions but is particularly adept at revitalizing the nutrients of poor soils. Found throughout the United States and on all continents, its leaves, shoots, flowers, and seeds are edible.

But, the really great thing about lambsquarter is that, unlike many wild edibles, it tastes great: a creamy texture with a somewhat salty flavor slightly smacking of spinach.

Nutrient Profile of Lambsquarter

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Lambsquarter has distinctive white leaves near the top of its center, and they are an indication of just how mineral-rich the plant is. The white dust covering the leaves is actually mineral salt that lambsquarter has mined from the soil. The flavor of salt is strong enough that the plant can be dried and used as seasoning, substituting for table salt.

A cup of lambsquarter greens, easily gathered from a single mature plant, delivers a huge dose of Vitamins A and C, as well as several B vitamins. It’s also a good source of calcium and manganese and provides notable amounts of potassium, iron, and copper. Like many other greens, it’s a good secondary source of protein and fiber to boot.

Medicinal Uses of Lambsquarter

As with the majority of plants, lambsquarter has several medicinal qualities that can be used as home remedies. The leaves can be chewed into a poultice to soothe bites and small abrasions, as well as sunburns. The same poultice can provide some relief when applied topically to arthritic pains and joint inflammation. Tea made from the leaves can ease stomach problems, and eaten raw, they can help with anemic blood issues.

The tender greens from young leaves are often used in green juices to help with cleansing the body of toxins. With mature leaves, it’s important to taste them prior to harvesting a lot, as they may become too astringent in flavor, and when drinking green juices, our body doesn’t have time to warn us of too much of a good thing.

Even the roots can be useful. They have saponin, a soapy element found in plants, which can be used as a cleaning agent. The same root can also be boiled into a tea for a cleansing laxative that’ll remove problematic excesses from the body.

Harvesting Lambsquarter

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While lambsquarter can grow in many places, it tends to pop up in disturbed soils, such as those in gardens and beside roads or paths. The plant is sometimes called goosefoot because it has leaves that resemble a goose’s foot. They get up to about four inches long. As said before, they also have a unique white coating from mineral salts, particularly on the underside of the leaves. The plant, which is mostly foliage, grows to about four feet tall.

Its flowers, forming in the summer, are small and green and appear in tight clusters. They, too, are edible. Each lambsquarter specimen can also produce roughly 75,000 seeds, which are available in the fall. They can be sprouted for a highly nutritional component to meals.

It’s important to positively identify wild plants before eating or even tasting them. While this one is easy to identify, it’s absolutely necessary to take caution to be 100 percent sure.

Eating Lambsquarter

Lambsquarter, also referred to as wild spinach, is delicious both raw and cooked. The young leaves especially can be added to salads as a mixed green. It works well with other foraged greens like garlic mustard and dandelion. It is, however, important to remember that it has oxalic acid, like spinach, so it should be limited as a raw component. In terms of cooking, it can be used in place of spinach in recipes.

Less commonly, lambsquarter seeds are sprouted, as would be the case with any other sprouted seed, or they can be grown as microgreens. The leaves can also be dehydrated and ground into powder to use as a seasoning and nutritional additive to soups and stews in the winter when vitamins and minerals are in shorter supply.

This is an easy identified, highly nutritional weed that is available in abundance for free to many of us. It bursts up of its own volition in the garden, and gardeners should definitely allow some of it to remain as a crop. Whatever is pulled as a weed will provide a rich boost to the compost heap. The main point is to value lambsquarter in the garden. It’s an amazing plant.

Lead Image Source: Flickr

An AI expert talks about love for excellent reasons!

ttps://www.ted.com/talks/kai_fu_lee_how_ai_can_save_our_humanity/up-next

14:49 minutes · TED2018

AI is massively transforming our world, but there's one thing it cannot do: love. In a visionary talk, computer scientist Kai-Fu Lee details how the US and China are driving a deep learning revolution -- and shares a blueprint for how humans can thrive in the age of AI by harnessing compassion and creativity. "AI is serendipity," Lee says. "It is here to liberate us from routine jobs, and it is here to remind us what it is that makes us human."

Watch now »

THE WORLD FRIENDLY HUMANITARIAN PEACE AND ECOLOGY MOVEMENT.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Artificial intelligence is here and now and bloody dangerous!