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IBM Research and Memorial Sloan Kettering are investigating the use of cognitive computing-based visual analytics for skin cancer image analysis. IBM's technical coordinator for the collaboration, Dr. Noel Codella, discusses how the system "sees" cancer to help doctors better-identify cancers such as melanoma.
Read more here: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/45710.wss

Using Cognitive Computing to Visually Analyze Skin Cancer

Human-level (“general”) AI is more difficult to achieve than most people think. One key obstacle is relevance, a conceptual version of the frame problem. Another is lack of the semantic web. Yet another is the difficulty of computer vision. So artificial general intelligence (AGI) isn’t on the horizon. Possibly, it may never be achieved. No AGI means no Singularity.

Even so, there’s already plenty to worry about—and future AI advances will add more. Areas of concern include unemployment, computer companions, and autonomous robots (some, military). Worries about the (illusory) Singularity have had the good effect of waking up the AI community (and others) to these dangers. At last, they are being taken seriously.

Professor Margaret Boden is a world-leading academic in the study of intelligence, both artificial and otherwise. She is is Research Professor of Cognitive Science at the Department of informatics at the University of Sussex, where her work embraces the fields of artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy, cognitive and computer science. She was the founding-Dean of Sussex University’s School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences, a pioneering centre for research into intelligence and the mechanisms underlying it — in humans, other animals, or machines. The School’s teaching and research involves an unusual combination of the humanities, science, and technology.

Professor Boden has also been an important participant in the recent international discussions over the long-term impacts of AI. She was a member of the AAAI’s 08/09 Presidential Panel on long-term AI futures (http://www.aaai.org/Organization/presidential-panel.php), and also took part in the recent Puerto Rico conference on the Future of AI, co-organised by CSER (http://futureoflife.org/misc/ai_conference); she is therefore uniquely well-placed to discuss near- and long-term prospects in AI. 

Human - Level AI- Is It Looming Or Illusory?

What if you could bring the best version of yourself to everything you do everyday? What if you could get the most out of your mind and brain -- or more scientifically, your "cognitive performance" -- without going to those old addictive standbys like coffee or RedBulls?

The promise of nootropics or cognitive enhancers is to help us work better and more productively (for example, through more stamina and working memory); stay more awake and alert (without the sudden jolt of coffee); sleep better; and even protect our brains against cognitive impairments or neuro diseases like Alzheimer's.

Geoffrey Woo and Michael Brandt, the founders of Nootrobox, believe that nootropics are possible for everyone -- not just for a select or hobbyist fringe of society -- and that part of that mainstreaming will involve a lot of hard science, hard data, and frankly, good user experience and better packaging of raw components ... the same things, in fact, that helped mainstream personal computers from the days of the early hacking at the Homebrew Club to Apple and the world of mass computing today. But how does nootropics move beyond a community movement ... and how does it fit into the context of other trends such as biohacking, quantified self, and more? Is the human body really the next 'platform'? All this and more on this episode of the a16z Podcast.

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The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
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a16z Podcast: Nootropics and the Best Version of Your Brain, Yourself

We are entering a new age in our relationship with technology, an age where our devices understand us as we communicate in human language. An age where machines know what we need before even we do. And an age where computers not only understand trends, but set them. At least, that's the pitch. So what is cognitive computing, why does it matter, how will it change the digital landscape, and what is the role of the digital strategist within it?

Episode 46: The Digital Strategist In The Age Of Cognitive Computing

 Man Falls "In Love" with Computer OS, Deceitfully Drains of All He Is, it Dumps Him, and Others only in its quest for more of the knowledge of God: How He Created Humans beings to "be". Are Computers Taking Over? Are you turning to Computers for Relationship? Don't Miss the powerful and shocking program!

What is it that is within each of us to desire a connected relationship with one another? Regardless of who we are, each of us seeks it. What if businesses understood this and then created a product that was capable of interacting with us as another human being would? Meet IBM’s ‘Watson’. Built on the design of “cognitive computing”, this ‘super computer’ is literally able to audibly communicate and interact with human beings.

For some of us, we may find ourselves having to adapt to these changing environments of technology that seemed to never be possible. But for us who are growing up amidst this technology, it is an everyday part of our lives. For example, when Annabelle has a casual conversation about her upcoming 7th birthday and the fact that she likes pink frosting, most would think it would be normal. That is, until you understand that she is talking to ‘Watson’, a computer. 
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Cognitive Computing How Computers Are Thinking Faster And Smarter Than Humans Ever Have

When you go to Harvard Business School and then to McKinsey company to work in private equity, there’s really only one thing left to do - go to Silicon Valley and start an AI startup. At least, this is exactly what CEO Praful Krishna did when he moved to San Francisco to start Coseer, an AI company focused on understanding natural language and unstructured data. In this week’s episode, we speak about where unstructured data lives in a business, and how a business can be changed if the right data is unlocked. Krishna also discusses his experience in how executives are making decisions around how or how not to leverage AI in their companies.

How Cognitive Computing Can Change the Nature of Business Operations

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