WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: this list of technology questions for 2022 feels like an answer to the question "what is digital disruption?".

We have reached a moment in time where old technologies - eCommerce or videoconferencing for example - are finally breaking into established industries. And the impact, at scale, cannot be found in technology but rather in every single industry it disrupts.

Very thoughtful piece, very good questions.

WHY IT MATTERS: a very interesting article about a robot taxi system, how it works and its limitations. Fun read to understand what is possible and what is not in self driving tech today. This is important because many of digital transformation use case depend on this for profitability (for example eCommerce delivery cost should reduce drastically when this available).

WHY IT MATTERS: amazing to spend 2 hours prying into the brains of amazing individuals about technology, AI, and the future of self driving cars.

WHY IT MATTERS: impressive to see how ar and wide his impact has been.

WHY IT MATTERS: this very detailed and technical article describes the hardware components that make up the Tesla computer that drives autopilot and that should be powerful enough to enable self-driving in every Tesla today as promised. 

WHY IT MATTERS: great visual explanation of how driverless cars see the world. Applications of this technology are endless in business: self driving wheelbarrows on shop floors or construction sites, worker safety warning systems in dangerous environments, package delivery system in hospitals, etc. Content starts at 7m30s approximately

WHY IT MATTERS: to make digital transformation a reality we required to blend the digital and the real world. In particular it is essential to have high definition maps of the real world and this paper explains why this is important, and why they have made their model opensource for everyone to see and use.

WHY IT MATTERS: I've been reporting on this since 2013 and thought useful to share that Google waymo is now actively self-driving cars in the Phoenix area. Today. Wow. Just follow the links to see what it feels like to ride a self-driving car in 360 degrees.

WHY IT MATTERS: cameras will become ubiquitous and AI systems will analyze those images to provide business services but also track our every move. This reports presents trends in this area.

WHY IT MATTERS: the paper referenced in this blog post explains in great details how neural networks are used to detect moving objects. Fascinating. Also very technical, weak heart should abstain... ;-)

WHY IT MATTERS : the video provides a great review of the state of technology when it comes to robots and robotics today from one of the leading researcher in the field. The talk is peppered with short videos of actual robots so you get a good sense of what's possible today. But remember that we live in an exponential growth era, so things improve very fast.

WHY IT MATTERS: we expected it to happen in the future, a few years from now. Not today, not so soon. Especially not in the USA, the country of frivolous lawsuits. This goes to prove how confident Google must be about its self-driving technology. Anyone planning for digital transformation in its business must consider self-driving cars as something to "trial" in the coming years - not as something to "watch for" anymore. WOW.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

You can now buy hardware to turn your car into a self driving car. Makes me think of the Homebrew project where Jobs and Wozniak created the first Apple computer and started a revolution. Guys at comma.ai and neodriven.com are doing the same and it seems that the technology is there to enable this revolution: 3G/LTE, GPS, mobile phone, universal car interface, AI and image recognition. Interesting years ahead.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

An in depth article about the Castle, Google self-driving car testing facility in a remote area of California. Full of interesting information about what it takes to get a car to drive with confidence on world scenarios.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Google self driving cars rely on human drivers to drive millions of miles and learn the basic driving skills. This story explains how Google has built a self-driving car simulation software called Carcraft to go one step further and use real-world roads into millions of different driving scenarios. 

What is important here is the fact that a machine - here the simulator - can learn from mistakes and improbable driving scenarios and then *instantly* share that knowledge with *all* of the self driving cars in Google's fleet. Humans cannot do that. And this means computers will learn skills - driving, medecine, accounting, law, etc. - extremely fast in the coming years. Be ready to see self driving cars on the road much sooner than you expect.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

AI has huge potential but it appears that for now humans must teach machines. This article and the attached video both show what it takes to crowdsource that learning from thousand of individuals and their computer. Basically using the most basic human functions - vision and object recognition - to tell computers what they should see on an image.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Investment firms tend to be very traditional in their approach. This one appears to be embracing the digital transformation and making very insightful research that - from what they claim - guides their investments. Great idea. Now we'll see if their assumptions prove right and generate more returns than other investment guidance. I have a feeling it will.

Topics covered: 3D printing, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, automation, autonomous taxis, autonomous vehicles, bitcoin, blockchain, CRISPR, cryptocurrency, deep learning, dna sequencing, fintech, genomics, machine learning, mobile, robotics, shared autonomous vehicles

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Automobile tech combines so many of the high tech solutions and technologies - from AI to new batteries - that it makes for a great case study to understand how much transportation will change in the coming years. And with it, the possibility of business transformation from eCommerce delivery to supply chain improvements to employee getting to work with little stress and no traffic jams.

Read the article but you can skip the 7min video. For a better - and more relaxed - discussion, consider watching this 1hr interview full of descriptions of self-driving car insights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zy_07g2IrM

For a more technical speech, view the Berkley presentation, even though there are elements that are redundant it provides additional insights into the technology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxoke1lDJ9w

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

His approach is radically different than others and more "purist" from an artificial intelligence and crowd sourcing and I believe that makes his approach something to consider in other areas.

For more reading on the subject, this bloomberg paper also brings good insights: http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-george-hotz-self-driving-car/

Moreover it appears that Google lead is slowly shrinking: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-12/google-car-project-loses-leaders-and-advantage-as-rivals-gain 

Companion post to my previous one here: http://sco.lt/7c2fS5