Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Friday 30 January 2015

The European Union Times


Posted: 29 Jan 2015 02:05 PM PST


Artificial intelligence poses a real threat to humankind, Bill Gates warns, and he “does not understand” those who are not concerned with this notion. But Microsoft’s head of research, Eric Horvitz, says the fears are exaggerated.
Gates has joined the camp of experts like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk who believe that further development of artificial intelligence could endanger our civilization.
As someone who has been at the cutting edge of technological progress for the last 40 years, Gates was asked on his Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit about “machine superintelligence” posing an “existential threat” to us all.
His answer was as follows:
“I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence. First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that, though, the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don’t understand why some people are not concerned.”
Gates opted not to answer the second part of the question, about whether “full end-to-end encryption for all internet activity can do anything to protect us from that (AI) threat.”
At the opposite end of the AI threat discussion is Microsoft Research’s chief, Eric Horvitz.
In an interview with the BBC, Horvitz said that artificial intelligence could really achieve consciousness, yet such self-awareness structures would not threaten humankind.
“I fundamentally don’t think that’s going to happen,” Horvitz said. “In the end, we’ll be able to get incredible benefits from machine intelligence in all realms of life, from science to education to economics to daily life.”
Horvitz, who leads a team of over 1,000 scientists and engineers, revealed that more than one-quarter of his unit’s resources are dedicated to artificial intelligence research.


A number of distinguished scientists and tech experts have spoken out on the danger posed by AI, warning against developing artificial intelligence beyond the capacity of the human brain.
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking told the BBC he believes future developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to eradicate mankind.
Billionaire entrepreneur and inventor Elon Musk has warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence, and has donated $10 million towards a global research program to ensure AI remains beneficial to humanity.
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Posted: 29 Jan 2015 09:11 AM PST


The Mexican government says it is certain that the 43 students who went missing while at the hands of the local police force in the town of Iguala four months ago are dead. Despite only having definitive forensic proof of one of the students’ remains, authorities confirmed that all students were murdered, their bodies were burned and then dumped in a river close to the town where they disappeared.
The announcement is thought to be a reaction to mass protests in Mexico City on Monday night, when over fifty thousand people took to the streets to demand definitive action over the case.
The relatives and friends of the missing students continue to search the Guerrero State for the missing young people.
They claim that the government’s handling of the case has only worsened the situation, and that they have lost their confidence in authorities.
The confirmation by Mexican authorities that the 43 students were murdered is the first official statement acknowledging the violence.
The case has been disastrous for the government and only time will tell if the announcement by President Peña Nieto’s administration will put an end to the ongoing protests.
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Posted: 29 Jan 2015 08:36 AM PST


Billionaire claims world government “badly needed” to save the earth.
Billionaire Bill Gates called for “a kind of global government” this week, arguing that the creation of such a system would be needed to combat major issues such as “climate change.”
Speaking with Germany’s “Süddeutsche Zeitung” newspaper Tuesday, Gates decried the fact that a proper United Nations system has failed to materialize as planned.
“You can make fun of it, but in truth it was sad how the conference in Copenhagen is run, how individual who behave like the UN system failed,” Gates said according to an English translation in the Huffington Post.
Gates went on to stress his position further, stating that a global government was “badly needed” in order to combat an array of issues ailing the planet.
“Take the UN, it has been created especially for the security in the world. We are ready for war, because we have taken every precaution. We have NATO, we have divisions, jeeps, trained people,” Gates said. “But what is with epidemics? How many doctors do we have as much planes, tents, what scientists? If there were such a thing as a world government, we would be better prepared.”
The billionaire made headlines last week after introducing a plan to implement a cashless system in multiple third-world countries, a program that would undoubtedly give financial elites total control over monetary systems.
Despite the media’s constant glowing portrayal of Gates, which is rooted in his funding of major news outlets, a look at many of the so-called philanthropist’s pet projects reveals his true nature.
Aside from his founding of computing giant Microsoft, a corporation which has worked hand in hand with the NSA to eviscerate privacy, Gates’ role in the destruction of health worldwide is made obvious by the companies he invests in.
A breakdown of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2012 tax return by Mother Jones reveals billions in funding to corporations such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Other groups receiving major cash include private prison company the GEO Group Inc., military contractor Dyncorp, a major player in human trafficking, and nearly every top oil company.
A major focus of the Gates Foundation has also been invested in vaccination campaigns, although Western media has completely ignored major ethical issues brought up by medical experts in countries such as India, where more than 47,500 children were paralyzed shortly after one of Gates’ campaigns.
Just last year, India’s Supreme Court began investigating Gates involvement in a vaccine trial that resulted in the deaths of several young girls.
Everything from gun control, Common Core and geoengineering, the practice of spraying toxic particles into the stratosphere to block the sun’s rays, has received millions in funding from Gates.
Gates has also taken heat for investing millions into biotech giant Monsanto, a corporation currently flooding foreign countries with genetically engineered crops.
In reality, the call for global government by Gates and other wealthy elitists has nothing to do with lifting up impoverished nations. Such a government would instead guarantee global surveillance, global wealth inequality and a world run by the exact corrupt interests currently consolidating wealth and power worldwide.
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Posted: 29 Jan 2015 07:59 AM PST


The death of Argentina’s Federal Prosecutor Alberto Nisman who had accused the country’s President Cristina Kirchner of attempting to cover-up the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center back in 1994, stirred up a new dispute with the United States after Buenos Aires decided to carry out an independent investigation into the death and rejected the US Republicans’ demands to sever diplomatic ties with Iran whom they hold accountable for the attack despite evidence proved otherwise. The prosecutor who had been investigating the bombing since a decade ago was found dead at his home on Sunday.
Senator Marco Rubio, who had a close relationship with Nisman, along with other republican congressmen, announced plans for pushing a bill to impose sanctions against Argentina ranging from diplomatic visa cancellation to federal assets freezing if the country decides to continue its cooperation with Iran.
Senator Marco Rubio had invited Nisman last year for a hearing at the US Congress, which was called off by the Argentine president. Last December, the AMIA case defense attorney Juan Gabriel Labaké accused Nisman of an act of treason against the country.
Some US media outlets such as “The Washington Times” joined the campaign launched by Senator Rubio and alleged that Argentina doesn’t have a moral stand to carry out an independent investigation and called for a joint international task force to do so.
The death of the Federal Prosecutor Nisman is another controversy in the turbulent and, at times, tense ties between the Washington and Buenos Aires. Argentinean lawmakers say any US congress sanction will erode the already ailing bilateral relationship.
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Posted: 29 Jan 2015 07:56 AM PST


The Pentagon has expressed deep concern about the US eventually losing its military technological superiority over rivals such as China and Russia, and is urging NATO states to develop innovative weapons in close cooperation to optimize military spending.
“I am very concerned about the increasing risk of loss of US military technological superiority,” Pentagon arms buyer Frank Kendall told a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “We’re at risk and the situation is getting worse,” he warned, specifying that his concerns lay with the heavy investments into weapons design being done by China and Russia.
Kendall noted that development of aircraft carriers and satellite technologies by China and Russia was targeting “critical” US military capabilities, Reuters reported.
In a separate hearing at the House Armed Services Committee, US Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work announced Wednesday that “bold action” was needed to keep the US’s lead in technology as China, Russia and other countries are rapidly developing weapon systems of their own.
The US must “increase collaboration” equally with NATO members, and allies in Asia and other areas when investing into new weapons.
“We must coordinate and collaborate, avoid duplication, leverage niche capabilities, and push our establishments to innovate in technology, concepts, experimentation and wargaming,” Work told a conference hosted by the Center for a New American Security.
Work also called on representatives of NATO members to keep their promise given last year and spend 2 percent of GDP on defense.
Extensive collaboration with allies worldwide is a part of America’s new plan, dubbed “Defense Innovation Initiative” (DII), which aims to ensure US decisive technical military superiority against potential enemies.
Leading manufacturers in America’s defense industry, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, have repeatedly urged the Pentagon to allocate more investments into developing new technologies.
In response, the Pentagon unveiled its Defense Innovation Initiative program.
The plan was presented in November 2014 by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
“It will put resources behind innovations,” Hagel said on November 15 at a national defense conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in Simi Valley, California. The budget for the new initiative was not publicly specified.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work was appointed to lead a group of senior Pentagon officials to lead on the DII plan.
Two months later, speaking at the House Armed Services Committee, Work has also not revealed the budget behind the DII plan. He said the investments are going to be “significant” and into multiple means of military hardware, from nuclear weapons, space control capabilities, missile defense and cyber warfare, together with high-speed strike weapons, unmanned undersea vehicles, advanced sensors, and high-energy lasers and railgun technology.
In turn, Kendall revealed that DoD has allocated special-purpose funding for designing of a new “next-generation X-plane” to eventually succeed the F-35 fighter jet, as well as a new engine for it.
Work mentioned that a number of key technologies, such as robotics and autonomous operations, are going to be elaborated by commercial companies in various regions.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 10:17