Tag Archives: microsoft

Microsoft’s New Direction Is Not Surprising

Leave a comment

Together with its new CEO, the software giant is embracing the inevitable: transforming its users into a data product. Google is, arguably, the company that has done this with the greatest degree of success. Jealous, Microsoft ran the “Scroogled”^ smear campaign against its competitor. It dropped it in 2014, probably when somebody decided that, after all, Google’s strategy is more in tune with the times.

Two years later and Windows 10 is phoning home hundreds of time every day, even when told not to^. The company said it will provide a “fix” for this, but as the article I linked cleverly points out: as operating systems start to increasingly rely on their companies’ cloud infrastructure, especially when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, we will be forced into all sorts of privacy trade-offs.

But what worries me the most is the fact that Microsoft is moving towards transforming Windows into a closed ecosystem, emulating the model established by Apple and, later, Google. For better or for worse, Windows’ popularity has ensured that developers have a popular platform that they can deliver products on, with few intermediaries.

However, with the upcoming Universal Windows Platform, Microsoft is taking its first steps into placing itself as a leech between developers and customers, charging not only for the operating system but also taking a profit share from producers – just like pretty much all other “app stores”. If this comes to pass, it will be particularly harmful for game developers, with games being one of the most profitable products sold in the Microsoft ecosystem.

No wonder Tim Sweeney of Epic Games is upset (while Gabe Newell of Valve started a long time ago to heavily invest in the Linux ecosystem):

http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/4/11160104/tim-sweeney-microsoft-walled-garden-criticism^

In all fairness, Microsoft is making the right moves to stay profitable. Each year, there’s fewer people willing to renew their Windows licenses, so it’s no wonder that the company ponders offering updates to Windows 10 for free, while in the same time devising new ways to turn a profit. The App Store model has been implemented successfully by many companies, why should Microsoft remain behind?

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/00465-MicrosoftNewDirectionNotSurprising-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Microsoft's New Direction Is Not Surprising’ desc=’Together with its new CEO, the software giant is embracing the inevitable: transforming its users into a data product.’]

Big Corporations Go After Artificial Intelligence

2 Comments

The word “Go” in the title is not coincidental. Much earlier than expected, an AI program managed to defeat a human Go champion. Artificial Intelligence has had the upper hand in the game of Chess for more than a decade already. However, defeating humans at the game of Go requires a different kind of intelligence than it is the case with Chess.

Here’s the news report about Google having reached this important milestone in AI development: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/546066/googles-ai-masters-the-game-of-go-a-decade-earlier-than-expected/^

IBM, Google, Microsoft, FaceBook, Amazon and Apple are all pouring billions of dollars into this sort of research. So do other companies and, less advertised, so do many governments. Not to mention universities and even hobbyists. The jury is still out regarding whether strong (true) Artificial Intelligence is even achievable.

My worry is that once a corporation or government manages to succeed in this venture, the result might offer that entity an unimaginable economic and strategic advantage. Such an advantage will make nuclear weapons seem like a wet firecracker in comparison.

Some have said that AI will be our last invention, for better or for worse. That is because AI might overtake us in intelligence to such an extent that it could invent things that we cannot even begin to imagine. So the risk lies not only in the birth of true AI, but also in whatever new beings such intelligence might give birth to as it grows and learns how to play with its intelligence. All this may very well lead us to immortality or to extinction.

If you’d like to learn more about the topic, I recommend you to read this excellent two part article explaining what it’s all about. It’s quite long but it’s an interesting and pleasant read. At least skip through it, because a life-changing Artificial Intelligence development may be closer than you think.

Part 1:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html^

Part 2

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html^

I also find it quite interesting that some corporations are open sourcing their AI frameworks and tools. I have a fair amount of trust that a large economic entity or a scientific organization will be at least a bit careful about how they program the ethical aspects of an AI, if nothing else then for self-preservation purposes. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about hobbyists who might not even give a priority to such a vital concern.

Microsoft Open Sources Artificial Intelligence Toolkit:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2498435,00.asp^

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/00191-BigCorporationsGoAfterAI-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Big Corporations Go After Artificial Intelligence’ desc=’The word "Go" in the title is not coincidental. Much earlier than expected, an AI program managed to defeat a human Go champion.’]