Smart Home and Smart Cities (IoT)

When will all the data (or a significant amount of data) from all the disparate, specialized, purpose-built artificial intelligence systems be hacked into a single, massive artificial control system? Or even worse, several competing massive artificial control systems? We could call it Meta-AI or Artificial Control – but whatever we call it, it won’t be good for us. Continue Reading →

Google dissolved its 10-day-old AI ethics council. Why? Because of AI bias, a super-important, completely misnamed topic. We can chat all we like about human biases creating AI biases with our Western cultural ideology, but if there is going to be anything like an AI bias council, it should probably be held in Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen. Chinese cultural and political norms are going to have a much bigger influence over AI bias than anything we do here in America. Continue Reading →

I’ve been at SXSW (one of my favorite annual gatherings) for about 24 hours and my head is about to explode. While there are incredible experiences to be had here and there is some amazing tech on display, Buzzword BS is at record levels. Here are just a few excerpts from the dozens of elevator pitches I listened to today. Continue Reading →

I wrote an article back in April 2009 entitled Metamerica: Evolving The Governance Of A Digital Democracy. It begins, “Dateline New York: April 3, 2021” with breaking news about a massive, catastrophic data breach. So how would the Great Data Crash of 2021 happen? Or, perhaps more importantly, why have the questions I posed in 2009, and the very clear predictions of known consequences of our digital society, not only gone unanswered by our leaders but in many cases gone unasked? Let’s look back to help us see the future. Continue Reading →

Recent studies predict that by 2025 there may be as many as 100 billion IoT devices deployed worldwide. That’s roughly 14 connected devices or sensors for every person on Earth. My good friend Rob Mesirow and I have been spending a lot of time talking about the most practical ways to integrate “smart” technology into business processes. Continue Reading →

Much has been written about China’s diminished presence at CES 2019. Looking strictly at the numbers, the story seems clear. The CES 2019 Exhibitor directory listed 1,211 Chinese exhibitors, down from 1,551 at the 2018 show (a 20 percent drop). Add in the congressionally approved CFIUS (the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) reforms, which all but dried up Chinese venture money flowing into the United States, then add the on-again/off-again China-vs.-US trade war, and it’s easy to adopt a bearish attitude toward Chinese tech. But there’s more to this story than the numbers and the politics suggest. Continue Reading →

The largest trade show in North America, CES^® (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) starts this week in Las Vegas. The numbers are staggering. There are roughly 4,000 exhibitors hawking their wares to approximately 180,000 people. I've been attending the show since 1996, and I can tell you from personal experience, it is one of the most exciting weeks of the year. Here's what I expect to see. Continue Reading →

At the last ShellyPalmer Innovation Series Breakfast at CES, I had a Socratic discussion about the influence of the big technology platforms and other emerging technologies on our lives and the need for responsible innovation with David Sapin, US Risk & Regulatory Leader, PwC. Then the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica news broke. Since then, our thinking has evolved. Continue Reading →

Known simply as 5G, the next-generation wireless network has been touted as “world-changing” and a quantum leap in the evolution of communication. There’s a good reason: it will be. If you’re wondering how and why, here are 5 things 5G should make you think about. Continue Reading →

Since we first met the Jetsons on September 23, 1962, the idea of a smart home has enthralled us. In the 56 years since the show’s premiere, technology has advanced in ways Hanna-Barbera could never have dreamed of, yet we’re no closer to a world where Rosie the Robot is real. What gives? Continue Reading →