The rapidly evolving and expanding use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is outpacing regulatory and policy efforts to guide its ethical use.
In a Policy Forum, Cason Schmit and colleagues propose a new approach to AI regulation, which involves leveraging two existing legal tools used to manage intellectual property (IP) rights – copyleft licensing and patent trolling.
They call their approach CAITE (Copyleft AI with Trusted Enforcement). The swift development and widespread adoption of AI technology have consistently outpaced regulatory oversight, which has largely resulted in insufficient policy.
However, given AI’s potential impact on nearly every aspect of daily life, regulation ensuring its appropriate and ethical use is sorely needed. To address this need, Schmit et al. propose adapting legal frameworks and mechanisms borrowed from IP law to produce a new and nuanced system of enforcement of ethics in AI applications and training datasets.
By combining “copyleft licensing,” which is traditionally used to enable widespread sharing of created content, and the “patent troll” model, which is often criticized for stifling technological development, Schmit et al. develop the CAITE governance model for ethical AI. Under the CAITE model, AI products and any derivatives based upon them would be bound by a set of ethical terms and conditions. Enforcement of Ethical Use Licenses would be assigned to a central trusted entity, which ideally would be led by a community-designated, nongovernment group of AI developers and users. According to the authors, the CAITE system both incentivizes and enforces ethical AI practices in a way that is flexible and community-driven, which could provide soft law support for traditional government oversight.
As a supplement to the Policy Forum, Schmit asked ChatGPT (an AI chatbot) to provide insights into how ethical AI use should be governed. While the output provided a reasonable summary of important considerations, the AI glossed over the more difficult questions, like how governance should be implemented.
Eye tracking is a sensor technology that can detect a person’s presence and follow what they are looking at in real-time. The technology converts eye movements into a data stream that contains information such as pupil position, the gaze vector for each eye, and gaze point. Essentially, the technology decodes eye movements and translates them into insights that can be used in a wide range of applications or as an additional input modality.
How eye tracking works
Typically, an eye tracking system comprises one or more cameras, some light sources, and computing capabilities. Algorithms translate the camera feed into data points with the help of machine learning and advanced image processing.
How the human brain is capable of sorting through an avalanche of external stimuli—most of which never reach the human consciousness—to create a sense of awareness of the individual's surroundings.
UsIing a combination of artificial intelligence, mathematics, and a close examination of the eye movements of individuals as they were shown images of people's faces, researchers found that important clues are revealed in the eyes.
When people were shown clear images, their eye movements showed a distinct pattern that indicates they were aware of their surroundings. However, as the subjects were presented with progressively dimmer images of faces, the pattern of eye movement changed. Tracking these changes allowed researchers to discern whether the subjects actually perceived the face or not without asking them.
How the human brain is capable of sorting through an avalanche of external stimuli—most of which never reach the human consciousness—to create a sense of awareness of the individual's surroundings.
UsIing a combination of artificial intelligence, mathematics, and a close examination of the eye movements of individuals as they were shown images of people's faces, researchers found that important clues are revealed in the eyes.
When people were shown clear images, their eye movements showed a distinct pattern that indicates they were aware of their surroundings. However, as the subjects were presented with progressively dimmer images of faces, the pattern of eye movement changed. Tracking these changes allowed researchers to discern whether the subjects actually perceived the face or not without asking them.
The eye-tracking tool allowed researchers to explore the amorphous dividing line between consciousness and unconsciousness, a state most obvious as we awake from sleep. People become progressively more aware of their surroundings as slumber recedes, a process that is controlled in a region of the brain known as the thalamus.
They found that when people awake the thalamus discharges a brief pulse which jumpstarts the transition to consciousness. However, this activity is only a first step in a series of actions throughout the brain that leads to full awareness, they found. For instance, that initial pulse from the thalamus may fail to activate other neural networks, keeping the individual unconscious of most surrounding stimuli. However, the pulse can also activate neurons involved in processing visual cues in the frontal cortex, which in turn amplifies circuits involved in arousal and attention. At the same time, signals irrelevant to the event are turned off. tool allowed researchers to explore the amorphous dividing line between consciousness and unconsciousness, a state most obvious as we awake from sleep. People become progressively more aware of their surroundings as slumber recedes, a process that is controlled in a region of the brain known as the thalamus.
They found that when people awake the thalamus discharges a brief pulse which jumpstarts the transition to consciousness. However, this activity is only a first step in a series of actions throughout the brain that leads to full awareness, they found. For instance, that initial pulse from the thalamus may fail to activate other neural networks, keeping the individual unconscious of most surrounding stimuli. However, the pulse can also activate neurons involved in processing visual cues in the frontal cortex, which in turn amplifies circuits involved in arousal and attention. At the same time, signals irrelevant to the event are turned off.
An illustration of several plots of the same data with curves fitted to the points, paired with conclusions that you might draw about the person who made them. These data, when plotted on an X/Y graph, appear to have a general upward trend, but the data is far too noisy, with too few data points, to clearly suggest any specific growth pattern. In such a case, many different mathematical and statistical models could be presented as roughly fitting the data, but none of them fits well enough to compellingly represent the data.
When modeling such a problem statistically, much of the work of a data scientist or statistician is knowing which fitting method is most appropriate for the data in question. Here we see various hypothetical scientists or statisticians each applying their own interpretations to the exact same data, and the comic mocks each of them for their various personal biases or other assorted excuses. In general, the researcher will specify the form of an equation for the line to be drawn, and an algorithm will produce the actual line.
Information Theory is one of the few scientific fields fortunate enough to have an identifiable beginning - Claude Shannon's 1948 paper. The story of the evolution of how it progressed from a single theoretical paper to a broad field that has redefined our world is a fascinating one. It provides the opportunity to study the social, political, and technological interactions that have helped guide its development and define its trajectory, and gives us insight into how a new field evolves.
We often hear Claude Shannon called the father of the Digital Age. In the beginning of his paper Shannon acknowledges the work done before him, by such pioneers as Harry Nyquist and RVL. Hartley at Bell Labs in the 1920s. Though their influence was profound, the work of those early pioneers was limited and focussed on their own particular applications. It was Shannon’s unifying vision that revolutionized communication, and spawned a multitude of communication research that we now define as the field of Information Theory. One of those key concepts was his definition of the limit for channel capacity. Similar to Moore’s Law, the Shannon limit can be considered a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is a benchmark that tells people what can be done, and what remains to be done – compelling them to achieve it.
"What made possible, what induced the development of coding as a theory, and the development of very complicated codes, was Shannon's Theorem: he told you that it could be done, so people tried to do it. [Interview with Fano, R. 2001]
Quantum information science is a young field, its
underpinnings still being laid by a large number of researchers [see
"Rules for a Complex Quantum World," by Michael A. Nielsen;
Scientific American, November 2002]. Classical information science, by contrast,
sprang forth about 50 years ago, from the work of one remarkable man: Claude E.
Shannon. In a landmark paper written at Bell Labs in 1948, Shannon defined in
mathematical terms what information is and how it can be transmitted in the
face of noise. What had been viewed as quite distinct modes of
communication--the telegraph, telephone, radio and television--were unified in
a single framework.
Shannon was born in 1916 in Petoskey, Michigan, the son of a
judge and a teacher. Among other inventive endeavors, as a youth he built a
telegraph from his house to a friend's out of fencing wire. He graduated from
the University of Michigan with degrees in electrical engineering and
mathematics in 1936 and went to M.I.T., where he worked under computer pioneer
Vannevar Bush on an analog computer called the differential analyzer.
Shannon's M.I.T. master's thesis in electrical engineering
has been called the most important of the 20th century: in it the 22-year-old
Shannon showed how the logical algebra of 19th-century mathematician George
Boole could be implemented using electronic circuits of relays and switches.
This most fundamental feature of digital computers' design--the representation
of "true" and "false" and "0" and "1"
as open or closed switches, and the use of electronic logic gates to make
decisions and to carry out arithmetic--can be traced back to the insights in
Shannon's thesis.
In 1941, with a Ph.D. in mathematics under his belt, Shannon
went to Bell Labs, where he worked on war-related matters, including
cryptography. Unknown to those around him, he was also working on the theory
behind information and communications. In 1948 this work emerged in a
celebrated paper published in two parts in Bell Labs's research journal.
Quantifying Information
Shannon defined the quantity of information produced by a
source--for example, the quantity in a message--by a formula similar to the
equation that defines thermodynamic entropy in physics. In its most basic
terms, Shannon's informational entropy is the number of binary digits required
to encode a message. Today that sounds like a simple, even obvious way to
define how much information is in a message. In 1948, at the very dawn of the
information age, this digitizing of information of any sort was a revolutionary
step. His paper may have been the first to use the word "bit," short
for binary digit.
As well as defining information, Shannon analyzed the
ability to send information through a communications channel. He found that a
channel had a certain maximum transmission rate that could not be exceeded.
Today we call that the bandwidth of the channel. Shannon demonstrated
mathematically that even in a noisy channel with a low bandwidth, essentially
perfect, error-free communication could be achieved by keeping the transmission
rate within the channel's bandwidth and by using error-correcting schemes: the
transmission of additional bits that would enable the data to be extracted from
the noise-ridden signal.
Today everything from modems to music CDs rely on
error-correction to function. A major accomplishment of quantum-information
scientists has been the development of techniques to correct errors introduced
in quantum information and to determine just how much can be done with a noisy
quantum communications channel or with entangled quantum bits (qubits) whose
entanglement has been partially degraded by noise.
The Unbreakable Code
A year after he founded and launched information theory,
Shannon published a paper that proved that unbreakable cryptography was
possible. (He did this work in 1945, but at that time it was classified.) The
scheme is called the one-time pad or the Vernam cypher, after Gilbert Vernam,
who had invented it near the end of World War I. The idea is to encode the
message with a random series of digits--the key--so that the encoded message is
itself completely random. The catch is that one needs a random key that is as
long as the message to be encoded and one must never use any of the keys twice.
Shannon's contribution was to prove rigorously that this code was unbreakable.
To this day, no other encryption scheme is known to be unbreakable.
The problem with the one-time pad (so-called because an
agent would carry around his copy of a key on a pad and destroy each page of
digits after they were used) is that the two parties to the communication must
each have a copy of the key, and the key must be kept secret from spies or
eavesdroppers. Quantum cryptography solves that problem. More properly called
quantum key distribution, the technique uses quantum mechanics and entanglement
to generate a random key that is identical at each end of the quantum
communications channel. The quantum physics ensures that no one can eavesdrop
and learn anything about the key: any surreptitious measurements would disturb
subtle correlations that can be checked, similar to error-correction checks of
data transmitted on a noisy communications line.
Encryption based on the Vernam cypher and quantum key
distribution is perfectly secure: quantum physics guarantees security of the
key and Shannon's theorem proves that the encryption method is unbreakable.
[For Scientific American articles on quantum cryptography and other
developments of quantum information science during the past decades, please
click here.]
A Unique, Unicycling Genius
Shannon fit the stereotype of the eccentric genius to a T.
At Bell Labs (and later M.I.T., where he returned in 1958 until his retirement
in 1978) he was known for riding in the halls on a unicycle, sometimes juggling
as well [see "Profile: Claude E. Shannon," by John Horgan; Scientific
American, January 1990]. At other times he hopped along the hallways on a pogo
stick. He was always a lover of gadgets and among other things built a robotic
mouse that solved mazes and a computer called the Throbac ("THrifty
ROman-numeral BAckward-looking Computer") that computed in roman numerals.
In 1950 he wrote an article for Scientific American on the principles of
programming computers to play chess [see "A Chess-Playing Machine,"
by Claude E. Shannon; Scientific American, February 1950].
In the 1990s, in one of life's tragic ironies, Shannon came
down with Alzheimer's disease, which could be described as the insidious loss
of information in the brain. The communications channel to one's
memories--one's past and one's very personality--is progressively degraded
until every effort at error correction is overwhelmed and no meaningful signal
can pass through. The bandwidth falls to zero. The extraordinary pattern of
information processing that was Claude Shannon finally succumbed to the
depredations of thermodynamic entropy in February 2001. But some of the signal
generated by Shannon lives on, expressed in the information technology in which
our own lives are now immersed.
"Since SprayableTech is so flexible in its application, you can imagine using this type of system beyond walls and surfaces to power larger-scale entities like interactive smart cities and interactive architecture in public places. We view this as a tool that will allow humans to interact with and use their environment in newfound ways.”"
Cecile G. Tamura
For example, if you have a brown couch and want to use the couch itself as a remote for a television, you’d spray the conductive ink in a transparent color to embed it with connected sensors. A microcontroller is then attached to the interface and to the board that runs the code for sensing the visual output.
This way you can swipe your hand over the arm of the couch to change the channel, turn up the volume, or do whatever you’d like.
A QR code on a business card can contain an electronic version of the contact information. Scan the code and the reader application adds the contact to your address list.
A QR code can contain event information. Scan the code on a poster for a concert and the app automatically adds its name, date and location to the agenda on your smartphone or PC.
A QR code can contain an SMS with a phone number and text. Scan the code and the scanning app lets you automatically participate in some contest to win fabulous prices.
A QR code can contain an e-mail message with a subject and message text. That message can be a request for information so that in return you might get a reply email with additional information and attached files.
A QR code can contain a geographical location. Scan the code on a poster advertising for a restaurant and its location becomes available to your navigation software, informing you how to get to that place.
A QR code can contain WIFI configuration data. Scan the code and your Android device automatically configures itself to use the wireless access at the hotel.
There are still more ways in which QR codes can be used. The above list only summarizes the main applications. You can see examples of the creative use of quick response codes. Originally this technology was created for tracking parts in manufacturing processes. In the printing industry, there is finishing equipment that uses such 2d bar codes.
Description of Quick Response bar codes
The Japanese corporation Denso-Wave created the QR matrix code in 1994. It is an open standard for which no license fee has to be paid. The physical encoding of QR codes is nowadays in the hands of various standards bodies, including JIS and ISO (e.g. the ISO/IEC 18004:2006 standard). The standard for encoding URLs was established by NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese telecom company.
QR codes contain information in both the horizontal and vertical axis. Compared to ‘regular’ barcodes, this allows for much larger amounts of raw data to be embedded. These can be numeric, alphanumeric or binary data – of which up to 2953 bytes can be stored. Only a part of each QR bar code contains actual data, including error correction information. Below you see the above QR code with the URL data stripped away. As you can see quite a large area of the bar code is used for defining the data format and version as well as for positioning, alignment and timing purposes.
Positioning, alignment,… data in a QR code
The more data need to be embedded, the larger the barcode becomes. Below is the QR code for this page. Since the URL is longer than that of the home page, the bar code has also grown. The barcode after it doesn’t contain a URL but the first 5 sentences of this page.
QR barcode pointing to this page
QR barcode with five lines of text in it
The smallest square dot or pixel element of a QR code is called a module. Like with other types of bar codes, it is recommended to have an empty area around the graphic, which makes it easier for devices to read the bar code. This quiet area is ideally 4 modules wide.
The minimum dimensions of a QR code depend upon the resolving power of the cameras that are used to scan the code. According to a Kaywa white paper, it is recommended to use a minimum size of 32 × 32 mm or 1.25 × 1.25 inches, excluding quiet zone, for QR codes that contain a URL. This guarantees that all camera phones on the market can properly read the bar code. Changing the size to a width and height of 26 × 26 mm or roughly 1 square inch still covers 90% of the phones on the market. The latest camera models, which have improved macro capabilities, can however already deal with QR codes that are less than 10 mm (0.4″) wide and high.
The above rule applies to perfectly printed codes that the user has direct access to. Things change when using QR codes on a poster or billboard. The general consensus is that there is a direct relationship between the physical dimensions of a QR code and its scanning distance. That ratio is around 1/10, so if the reader is 50 centimetres removed from the code, the size of the QR code should be at least 5 centimetres. For a billboard viewable from 10 meters, the height of the code should be at least 1 meter.
For good reader accuracy, good contrast between the background and the bar colour itself is very important. The bar code should have a dark colour on a light background. You cannot go wrong by treating the QR code as line art, using black on white. If the background needs to be in colour, make sure that it is a solid colour, not a screened tint. Avoid using cyan or magenta but a 100% yellow background should work fine. Very light Pantone colours might also work, as long as the contrast with the bar code is high enough.
How to read a QR code
To read a hard link or physical world hyperlink, a smartphone or computer equipped with a webcam needs to have the correct reader software. It will interpret the scanned image and launch a browser to visit the programmed URL. Do a web search using the keywords “QR reader” and the make of your phone to find such applications.QR codes in China aren’t just used to pay, but to easily gain access to information, products, services and even meet people with ascan.
Think about how often we re-enter info. about ourselves, swipe cards, etc.
1) Tech evolves fast in China -- most of these products were nonexistent 3 years ago.
2) These examples are by no means ‘magical’ in China; they are the norm.
QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed in 1994 for the automotive industry in Japan.
A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached. In practice, QR codes often contain data for a locator, identifier, or tracker that points to a website or application.
A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to store data efficiently; extensions may also be used.
The Quick Response system became popular outside the automotive industry due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes.
Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general marketing.
China’s mobile payment ecosystem, the largest in the world, is built upon QR codes. But that technology extends far beyond shopping to ease friction throughout daily life.
It’s no coincidence that QR codes were popularized in China, where many consumers leapfrogged the PC and bought a smartphone as their first computer. As a result, many of China’s products are built first and foremost for mobile
CHINESE have developed the "world's first"
mind-reading chip that they claim enables people to control
computers using just brain signals. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are devices that have been designed to
create simple communication between the human brain and computers.
A collaboration between Tianjin University and the
state-owned China Electronics Corporation led to the recent unveiling of “Brain
Talker,” a computer chip designed specifically for use in BCIs.
“The signals transmitted and processed by the brain are
submerged in the background noise,” Tianjin University researcher Ming Dong
said in a press release. “This BC3 [Brain-Computer Codec Chip] has the ability
to discriminate minor neural electrical signals and decode their information
efficiently, which can greatly enhance the speed and accuracy of brain-computer
interfaces.”
Ming believes the chip could help bring BCIs out of labs and
into the mainstream. "The Brain Talker chip advances BCI technology allowing it to become
more portable, wearable, and accessible to the general public."
In future, this technology could be used for a variety of purposes,
such as imparting education to disabled people, gaming, or creating
medical devices for people that have problems with body movements, for
example, those suffering from motor neurone disease. The researchers have not yet revealed whether Brain Talker will be worn outside the body or embedded in the user's brain.
