Notes From The Electronic Cottage

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

AI is part of our world now/ As with many new technologies, it is wise to pay attention to claims of new wonders since some may turn out to be little more than “snake oil”, even when they come form usually reliable sources. Here are a few examples.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

As we continue our series on Artificial Intelligence, we begin in this segment to look at some of the possible implications of the potential arrival of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), or even Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), on us humans.

Link for Vernor Vinge’s 1993 presentation on “The Coming Technological Singularity” mentioned today.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Today in our series on Artificial Intelligence, we’ll look at Machine Learning and at the difference between Supervised and Unsupervised learning. Unsupervised learning is the method that computers use to beat the greatest chess masters in the world, or to suggest the next movie you may want to watch online, or to read your chest X-ray, and a lot more.

An online introduction to the Elements of AI that requires no tech background.
Understanding the difference between Supervised and Unsupervised Machine Learning, a bit more techie but not much more.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

In this second episode in our series on Understanding AI, we’ll begin to take a look at how AI actually works in the many applications we see all around us today.
For those interested in learning more about how AI works, this free online course requires no previous technical knowledge.
For those who might be interested in reading or signing the open letter calling for a pause in training AI, follow this link.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Artificial Intelligence is all over the news these days, but what the heck is it, how does it work, and, importantly, what might it mean for us humans in the future? Important questions, and we’ll take a shot at providing an overall answer to those questions on a series of Electronic Cottage episodes that start today.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Ever heard of “negative option marketing?” While you may not recognize the term but we all run into it every day on the web. Same for Dark Patterns. The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has certainly heard of practice and they don’t like it at all. Here’s why.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

There have been a lot of headlines in the popular press of late about Artificial Intelligence. On today’s edition, let’s look at a few headlines that may not have made it into the popular press yet.

Here are links for the materials mentioned in today’s edition:

AI artwork can’t be copyrighted rules the US Copyright Office
Robots let ChatGPT touch the real world thanks to Microsoft
NYC AI Hiring Law
Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

News of dramatic developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been all over the web and the news of late yet there seems to be no legislation making its way through Congress to protect us from the harms that AI can cause in our everyday lives. Why is that, and what can we do about it? Here are a few thoughts.

Here is a link to the “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights”

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download