UPDATED 13:42 EDT / SEPTEMBER 27 2012

NEWS

AI On The Rise: Wozniak’s iPhone 45, Stock Market AI and Todai Robot

Artificial intelligence will give dogs a run for their money as man’s best friend; Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that in about 40 years or so, his iPhone will know more about him than any human. During his speech at the QUT Business Leaders’ Forum in Brisbane, the Silicon Valley icon told press that consumer products are moving towards artificial intelligence functions.

“We’ve made very tiny strides so far in the area of artificial intelligence and yet that really is where the future is,” Woz told QUT attendees during his speech. “In 40 years we will have computers that are conscious, that have feelings, that have personality.”

“A computer is going to be your best friend. You’ll talk to it. It’s going to look at your face and know your expression. It’s going to know your heart and soul better than anything in the world,” Woz continued.

Woz boldly predicted that while we are still not at a stage where we can just instruct the computer to go and solve a problem itself, that day is not too far off. He is foreseeing the birth of conscious machines within the next four decades, and uttered a statement that could be subject of debates over a cup of coffee. The iPhone 45, as he calls it, will carry capabilities that decipher human nature and resolve complex problems.

“A few of us might be replaced by machines and we might have to restructure society. So is my iPhone someday. It’s going to know me so good I won’t want you humans.”

But this is not just something that came out from a theorist or an observer, this was a testimonial by no less than the designer of the world’s first personal computers that have breathed life to one of the biggest and admired brands in the market today.

I have always been fond of reading about Wozniak’s vision, humor and ruthless honesty when he was quoted saying that his good friend late Steve Jobs was always the smartest person in the room but was rude to people. And what he said that about computer programming just got me again: “I knew it was the love of my life, for the rest of my life I was going to love these little ones and zeros.” He then found a match made in heaven with Jobs. As many believed, Woz was the brain of Apple and Jobs was the ultimate strategist and marketing man.

Wozniak was reportedly dropping his U.S. Passport in exchange of an Australian citizenship. This will be the second time that a key tech figure will abandon their American nationality. Earlier this year, controversial Facebook co-founder Eduardo Severin legalized his residency in Singapore and ditched his U.S. passport. Wozniak did not have any regrets leaving Apple and becoming chief scientist of Fusion-io. He is now enjoying philanthropy giving talks and inspiring the young minds while he travels. But do take note that Woz does not donate money to schools, he shares his time and technology to them.

AI in Stock Markets

The stock market is a place where money matters and every move, every second counts. Stock brokers, buyers and sellers make up the game. They trade, they win or heartbreakingly lose. Everything lies with decisions. But what do you say if you gamble on an AI to make crucial choices for you? Danish investment firm Maj Invest has recently launched a proprietary AI system to select long as well as short positions in the US equity market. Dubbed as sinAI or stock market Artificial Intelligence, the sophisticated framework of the system ranks opportunities according to risk-reward profiles.

Carsten Hoegh, head of Investor Relations, Maj Invest says: “We think of sinAI as the second generation of quant models and our inflows are coming from large Danish pension funds that recognise this strategy as an important development in quant investing. As global leaders in hedge fund administration we are delighted to have the support of State Street as our custodian and administrative agent for this fund.”

It is quite promising that State Street Corporation will provide this with custody, transfer agency and Luxemburg fund administration services via sinAI Fund. It has more or less $215 million  in assets management.

AI on Passing College Exams

The fascinating concept of AI also captured one of Asia’s largest tech markets and is now venturing on researches to develop a machine that would pass entrance exams of colleges and universities. How unfair is that when all I had to do before entering tertiary level was to live and breathe books and reviewers?

Boffins at Fujitsu Labs teams up with Japan’s National Institute of Informatics (NII) to build an AI system that will have the ability to pass the entrance exam for the University of Tokyo, one of the most prestigious schools in the country and highly-ranked in Asia. It is still unsure we will see the “Todai” robot in a humanoid form but one thing is certain—it will be created to master Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and can answer questions on foreign languages.

It’s been a busy and interesting week for artificial intelligence. What’s more exciting is that it has becoming a mainstream subject matter and innovations are unfolding right before the public’s eyes.


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