Technology

Technology & Democracy Project

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Is Contact Tracing a Simple Answer to COVID Lockdowns?

The conventional science fiction fear of a superintelligent AI taking over the planet and ridding it of pesky humans distracts our attention from a much more realistic threat: Artificial intelligence (AI) makes both government and corporate surveillance much easier, cheaper, and more useful—whether it is in average citizens’ interests or not. If we are lucky, this will be the decade when we address the implications of that fact.

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Coronavirus: Is Data Mining Failing Its First Really Big Test?

If Alphabet’s Deep Mind or Microsoft had successfully data mined the 29,000 papers and found useful coronavirus information, that would be pretty impressive. But they appear to be giving others a chance to try instead, raising issues once again about the value of data mining in medicine. Read More ›
closeup of a wireless router and a man using smartphone on living room at home ofiice , Concepts wifi connect .
closeup of a wireless router and a man using smartphone on living room at home ofiice , Concepts wifi connect .

A Home Run For Better WiFi

There is a phenomenally better WiFi experience on the immediate horizon for those of us who may be working from home, consulting with our doctors from home or studying from home as a result of COVID-19. Read More ›
Photo by Gabriel Benois
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Online Conferences: Conference Technology

The COVID-19 response has plunged many people who have never used online meeting software into the world of virtual meetings. One challenge that comes up is running an entire conference online. This three-part series covers 1) Conference Technology (below), 2) Conference Personnel, and 3) Conference Documents and Technology Tests. Read More ›
Group Friends Video Chat Connection Concept
Group Friends Video Chat Connection Concept

We Will Never Go Back to the Pre-COVID-19 Workplace

While many people (myself included) have railed against the excesses of technology and its tendency to weaken community spirit and understanding, it turns out that, in the present crisis, it is having the opposite effect. We are all stuck in our houses for the next several weeks. However, thanks to our new digital infrastructure, we aren’t really alone in the same way any more. Read More ›
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Discovery Founding Chairman Receives Lifetime Achievement Award From Seattle Business Magazine

Discovery Institute founding board chair Tom Alberg, who served on the board from 1991 to 2004, has been given a lifetime achievement award by Seattle Business Magazine for what they call his “uncanny knack for anticipating tech’s next blockbuster hit.” In addition to his tech senses, he also has a deep understanding of transportation and mobility challenges in the Puget Read More ›

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The Case for Killer Robots

Artificial intelligence expert Robert J. Marks investigates the potential military use of lethal AI and examines the practical and ethical challenges. Marks provocatively argues that the development of lethal AI is not only appropriate in today’s society — it is unavoidable. Read More ›
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Jaffa Harbor, Israel
Jaffa Harbor, Israel
Photo by Shai Pal at Unsplash

Isolating the Biggest Problems in Israel

We all are beginning to understand what is right about Israel. It is at the pinnacle of human accomplishment in technology, innovation, culture and wealth. Amid a global slump, it is still growing at an annual rate near 5%. In startups, IPOs, and venture capital, it leads the world by any per-capita standard and in some ways by absolute metrics. Read More ›

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The Restoration of Man

C. S. Lewis is best known for his Narnia tales and Christian apologetics, works that have sold more than 100 million copies. But Lewis was also a trained philosopher and a professor at Cambridge and Oxford. An intellectual giant, he fiercely and extensively critiqued the fashionable dogma known as scientism — the idea that science is the only path to Read More ›

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COSM 2019

The COSM Conference is a premier national summit on the converging future of technology. Held in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, COSM highlights the interplay between global innovations and the pullulating Seattle scene of some of the world’s leading tech companies confronting the fastest moving opportunities. Focusing on the “systems of the world” competing to shape our economy and society, the mission of the conference Read More ›