Awesome, not awesome.

#Awesome

“A machine squirts sauce onto pizza dough, and a robot arm spreads it into near-perfect circles. Next, a pivoting robot shelf transfers sauced pies into 800-degree ovens. They’ll finish baking inside delivery trucks, where individual ovens sync baking times with each pizza’s destination. Zume Pizza plans to automate its pizza process… and will eventually only need humans to develop recipes and prepare fresh ingredients.” — Sarah Kessler, Writer. Learn More on Quartz >

#Not Awesome

“Since winning the U.S. presidency in November, Donald Trump has tweeted frequently about job loss… He’s been unalterably opposed to both outsourcing and big trade deals because of the U.S. job losses they might engender. Automation, however, does not seem to be on his mind at all. Yet economists, including the MIT labor economist David Autor, argue that automation is a much greater factor in manufacturing job loss than outsourcing or trade deals is.” — Thomas Davenport, Babson Professor. Learn More on Harvard Business Review >

“What else are you working on besides Machine Learnings?” Usejournal.com

What we’re reading.

1/ In his farewell to the nation, President Obama points to automation and the inequality it causes as one of the biggest problems the US faces. Learn More on The New York Times >

2/ Eric Schmidt, Alphabet’s Executive Chairman, believes in the rosier side of machine learning and its ability to help us “see magic” if we can create an environment for innovation to thrive. Learn More on Newsweek >

3/ Facebook is dumping its top resources into AI research to build a horde of personalized intelligent assistants that will predict and answer your questions. Learn More on Ars Technica >

4/ The biggest players in the Auto Industry are scrambling to re-design their organizations so they’re ready for any changes that automated cars may bring. Learn More on Wired >

5/ Your main interaction with computers will change from typing and touching to talking and listening because of Machine Learning. Learn More on 500ish Words >

6/ McKinsey published a study on the future of work that predicts automation will raise global productivity growth globally between 0.8 to 1.4 percent annually. Learn More on McKinsey Global Institute >

7/ To prove the intellectual might of its new AI system, two Carnegie Mellon researchers entered it into a no-limit Texas Hold ’Em tournament against a few of the world’s greatest poker players. Learn More on Wired >

Links from the community.

“Teaching Machines to See Beyond The Hashtag” submitted by Ryan Dawidjan (@ryandawidjan). Learn More on Medium >

“A 6 Minute Intro to AI” submitted by Mike Smith (@MrMikeSmith). Learn More on Snips >

“The Google Brain Team — Looking Back on 2016” submitted by Avi Eisenberger (@aeisenberger). Learn More on Google Research Blog >

“Robots Will Take Jobs, but Not as Fast as Some Fear, New Report Says” submitted by Carl. Learn More on The New York Times >

Jump into the conversation.

It seems like it’s only a matter of time before Carnegie Mellon builds an AI that beats the Poker world’s top talent. If you’ve ever played poker before (or are looking for a chance to nerd out) here’s an interesting conversation on Hacker News all about why it’s taken so long for a computer to master the game. 🎲🤖♥️♦️

Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are having a huge impact on our lives. We help people make sense of how AI & ML will impact their lives by curating and creating AI content that is accessible and just plain interesting.