Database
The article posted on Tech Daily discuses new technology in
the use of database networks. As of now, there are database systems that have
come close to being full functioning without humans. However, the “Data Science
Machine”, created by MIT engineers, is in the process of testing something that
may replace the need for human association with database networks. They believe
the key to finding a solution for this lies in the testing against actual
humans, and therefore entered their design into three competitions. The results
showed that the Data Science Machine could predict algorithms in a fraction of
the time it normally takes humans. The Data Science Machine even goes as far as
having the ability to analyze data within each table, and generate data across
tables. Overall, it is exciting to see a group of individuals not only come up
with an idea that will solve problems in database systems, but show proof that
the idea is making progress.
Network
The Internet, which is considered the largest computer
network in the world, is a global network that links everyone’s computers.
Because of this, it is impossible to keep anything private if it is something
that is connected to the Internet network. However, about 30 years ago a man
named David Chaum came up with ideas to create privacy on the Internet. Chaum first
came up with something called a “Mix Network”, which made messages anonymous
via encryption. For this idea, you would have intermediate computers that could
decrypt the encryption message from the previous computer, and then pass it
onto the receiving computer. Later in his life, Chaum teamed up with partners
from various colleges to design what they called “PrivaTegrity”. Once again,
this would allow people to communicate with one another on the Internet with
full privacy. As of now, David Chaum has not yet released the final prototype
of his design, however, this could someday be the breakthrough needed for
complete anonymity on a global network.
Sociology
The article “5 Consumer Trends for 2016” is a prediction by
the makers of Trend Watching of what
we should expect, as consumers, in the upcoming year. The 5 trends are as
follows: status tests, contextual omnipresence, insider trading, beneficial
intelligence, and perspective shifts. The two that stood out most to me were
status tests and beneficial intelligence. Status tests are intriguing because
they are already happening now, to me in particular, and I never noticed or
thought about what the underlying meaning of them are. For example, I tried a
free month of Netflix before beginning a subscription. If you think about it,
this was a status test on me to see if I was actually committed to Netflix
before they allowed me to just start my subscription. Beneficial intelligence
was interesting in that it explained AI, a topic we briefly touched on in the
first class, as a potential, positive enhancement to our every day life. Many
companies are starting to hop on the AI bandwagon, and many will continue to do
so in the upcoming year. This article made me think that rather than considering
AI as something causing humans to lose control, maybe we should think about it
as a way to perform many tasks humans are physically unable to perform.
Future
The “Smart Home” is a concept that has been talked about,
changed, and enhanced for many years, but what does the future hold for home
technology? Will there be a global smart home design, or will the concepts of
them just continue to be used separately in typical homes? This article, “Rosie
or Jarvis: The Future of the Smart Home is Still in the Air”, claims that it is
our fault, as consumers, that there hasn’t been any real decision on what the
smart home should be. There are so many home technologies out there that people
have access to, so, they buy them separately and create a custom home with
technologies that they feel they need. Not everyone sees smart homes the same.
Therefore, some companies have decided to just focus on devices to manage all
of the different products, rather than combine them into a “Smart Home”. The
other thing that needs to be finalized in order to create the Jetson-ideal
smart home is a robot. When many people think about the future of homes, they
think back to Rosie from the TV show The
Jetsons, where the robot performed all household chores, plus many other
tasks for the family. This website predicts that although we aren’t quite there
yet, we are definitely getting close to not only a finalized robot, but a
global smart home design as well.
Comments:
Mohammed Alqallaf
Al-Hajri
Mohammed Alqallaf
Al-Hajri
Laura-
ReplyDeleteYour post presented some very good examples of the future intelligent buildings. The paragraph about "Data Science Machine" was interesting because it made me wonder about a database like that in a building and the almost real time response to heating/cooling changes that it could provide. The part about global smart homes is interesting too. It makes you realize that while we might still view a "smart" house as one shown in The Jetsons, we have made great strides toward a global smart homes design and may be closer to having robots in our homes than we think.