Ep. 35 Digital Acceleration News as 2022-10-09

Welcome to Digital Acceleration News. By popular demand, we will comment on recent news related to Digital Transformation: AI, ML, IoT, Cybersecurity, success stories, and Systems Integrators WhitepapersClick on Subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

I. Open Letter from Robotics Manufacturers pledging to the ethical use of their devices.

Remember we talked about Robots and their use and abuse in Episode 19?

Well, this week, there is a beautiful story to share about the safe utilization of Robotics (Ethical Robotics):

IEEE Spectrum commented on a pledge by six leading robotics companies (led by Boston Dynamics) asking the robotics community to ensure their products are used safely and ethically.

Why is this news important?

Even though your area of competence is not directly connected with Robotics, this action affects the high-tech industry.

Think of these: since childhood; we were educated by Science Fiction stories about the potential harm physical devices can do to humans.

These fears, founded or not, will be triggered by the ethical approach robotics manufacturers take.

Other AI players (SW), such as AWS, Google, IBM, and Microsoft -among others- have made clear statements about the ethical use of their technology, but having HW manufacturers making these statements is closing the circle.

I think it is best for a market to self-regulate than to be regulated by legislation.

More to come in the oncoming months. Stay tuned.

Artificial intelligence

I. From Dall-E to open competition in the AI Art generators market.

Remember we talked about AI, Creative Thinking, and Art in Episode12?

From one solution (Dall-E) that won a Creating Drawing contest beating human competitors, now we know of -at least- five solutions providers in the same category, as IEEE Spectrum Magazine commented this week.

Why is this news important?

Using AI algorithms for creative tasks is a game changer. It allows many non-graphical professionals -like me- to express themselves graphically.

Just one example: Imagine that you want to buy/send a personalized greeting card to your beloved one using internet services, but instead of choosing a choice presented by the provider, you load the service with a poem written by you, and you ask the AI-service to create a unique illustration based ON THE POEM… voila! Game changer.

I made a test myself with different AI Services. Look what I got in these two cases:

Case I: I LOVE YOU!

Case II: CAN YOU SEE ME?

Is that important?

Well, imagine you are an Artist: you load the service with your poem and connect the outcome with a Non-Fungible Token, a recorded Blockchain that provides authenticity and ownership to an asset. A sample:

Wayfarer by Antonio Machado.

Wayfarer, there is no path.

Wayfarer, the only way

It is your footprint and no other.

Wayfarer, there is no way.

Make your way by going farther.

By going farther, make your way.

Till looking back at where you’ve wandered,

You look back on that path; You may

not set foot on from now onward.

Wayfarer, there is no way;

Only wake trails on the waters.

(Image created by “DreamStudio,” an AI art generator service)

I think we are on the threshold of an entirely new way to express art and capitalize on artwork.

Bonus news: AI and Cybersecurity.

III.  Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity have a significant intersection area from a business and exposure point of view.

Did you know that Technical Experts project that the global market size in AI and Cybersecurity (intersection) will reach USD 93.75 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 24.3%? (CISION PR Newswire)

Why is this important?

Well, the number is not as significant as understanding why: There are two main reasons:

  • AI is creating new opportunities for hackers to penetrate in Corporate intranet.  Cybersecurity will be an area of periodic revision and improvement in many Enterprise Organizations. They will probably modify their governance rules to create committees responsible for analyzing and upgrading their IT Platforms (network, applications, API, and Services, to name a few) to protect them from new vulnerabilities. In these organizations, security will become a never-ending cycle of continuous improvement.
  • AI applications will require upgraded testing methodologies to detect vulnerabilities. Why? Because AI systems, in many cases, provide new answers to old problems.

So, it will be critical to differentiate false positive and false negative cases: (1) a new response as a valid answer on a system with no vulnerabilities, and (2) A wrong answer based on an application test that is not doing what is expected.

   A big challenge for DevSecOps teams.

More to come. This is an area of continuous improvement.

Ok, good enough; I hope you find this Episode valuable and entertaining

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