As the popularity of ChatGPT and other conversational AI technologies continue to grow, Google's Vint Cerf, known as the "father of the internet," warns executives to think twice before investing in them. During a recent conference in Mountain View, California, Vint Cerf cautioned attendees against hastily investing in conversational AI technology simply because it's a trending topic. Cerf explained that there's an ethical issue at hand, one that requires thoughtful consideration. While ChatGPT and other AI technologies have gained popularity, they don't always work as intended. The pressure to stay competitive in the conversational AI space has become a growing concern for tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft.

Vinton G. Cerf wonders "whether there is any possibility of establishing'watcher networks'" in his October 2022 Communications "Cerf's Up" column. I must point out to all who have the same concern about "who will watch the watchers" that Philip K. Dick describes this problem in his story The Minority Report (see wikipedia https://bit.ly/2XlQcSA) It works often, but not always. So the question arises: How much authority are we willing to provide for AI and is the concept of three AIs working independently on the same problem a feasible solution. I agree with Cerf that we need to come up with a solution before the problem overwhelms us. In the December 2022 Communications, there is a compelling column by Vinton G. Cerf, "On Truth and Belief," which exemplifies the growing worry about agreement, polarization, and the nature of truth.

One of the earliest images in Natalia Almada's virtuoso documentary Users is of an infant, tightly wrapped and strapped to a Snoo smart crib, robotically being rocked to sleep to the sound of manufactured white noise. By recreating many of the sensations of being in the womb, the Snoo has become a popular gadget for new parents who need help tucking their little ones in. In many ways, it's the pinnacle of a smart gadget: Developed by Dr. Harvey Karp, with product design by the renowned Yves Behar, the Snoo solves a problem that parents have faced for millennia. But what do we lose if a robot can automatically soothe a crying baby, effectively replacing a nurturing parent. That's the question at the heart of Users, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week.

As algorithms become entrenched into society, the debate about their effects rages on. In essence, algorithms are sequences of instructions used to solve problems and perform functions in computer programming. As mathematical expressions, algorithms existed long before modern computers. While they vary in application, all algorithms have three things in common: clearly-defined beginning and ending points, discrete sets of "steps," and design meant to address a specific type of problem. On the one hand, algorithms play the role of prime suspect -- responsible for the recent UK pound's Brexit-induced flash crash, used for political and informational manipulation on social networks, and part of what Harvard Professor Shoshanna Zuboff calls "surveillance capitalism".

The following keynote speakers have been confirmed for IEEE GLOBECOM 2019. Abstract: We are well into the "Internet of Things" era for the Internet. Billions of devices are expected and it is not uncommon to find a dozen or even a score of Internet-enabled devices in residences and offices around the world. These systems run on software - some of which has not been well tested for safety and security. We need to introduce and promote an ethic of software safety and extended maintenance to protect the users of these devices.

Deepfakes are video manipulations that can make people say seemingly strange things. Barack Obama and Nicolas Cage have been featured in these videos. You probably feel pretty comfortable navigating the internet. You might even be among the 1 in 5 people who created a website. Or maybe you're part of the 48% with "make a website" on their to-do list.

High-tech chips implanted in the brain could soon give humans an intelligence boost. Researchers have been working to develop minimally invasive methods to hack the human brain and squeeze out more of its potential. Recent technological advancements could make this possible within the next five years, Northwestern University neuroscientist Dr. Moran Cerf told CBS – but, he warns the move could also create new forms of social inequality. High-tech chips implanted in the brain could soon give humans an intelligence boost. Researchers have been working to develop minimally invasive methods to hack the human brain and squeeze out more of its potential.

We may remember 2018 as the year when technology's dystopian potential became clear, from Facebook's role enabling the harvesting of our personal data for election interference to a seemingly unending series of revelations about the dark side of Silicon Valley's connect-everything ethos. It's been enough to exhaust even the most imaginative sci-fi visionaries. "It doesn't so much feel like we're living in the future now, as that we're living in a retro-future," novelist William Gibson wrote this month on Twitter. More awaits us in 2019, as surveillance and data-collection efforts ramp up and artificial intelligence systems start sounding more human, reading facial expressions and generating fake video images so realistic that it will be harder to detect malicious distortions of the truth. But there are also countermeasures afoot in Congress and state government -- and even among tech-firm employees who are more active about ensuring their work is put to positive ends.

His concern is warranted and will require us to strike a balance between protecting the democratic and egalitarian values that made the Internet great to begin with while ensuring those values are used for good. The fundamental issue, then, in creating a 21st-century Internet becomes what changes are warranted and who will be responsible for defining and administering them. On the technology dimension, computer scientists and engineers must develop smarter systems for detecting, addressing, and preventing malicious content on the Web. Cerf's argument on behalf of user training is helpful but will not ultimately solve the problem of an untrustworthy, ungovernable, potentially malicious network. I myself recently fell for a phishing attack, which only proves that today's attacks can fool even savvy, experienced users.

A week and a half ago I was in Berlin for the hub conference. I had the opportunity to speak on a panel about cybersecurity (no surprise there) and shared my views on how countries and corporate entities can work together. I touched on the need for better channels of communication between the aforementioned. This generated a fair amount of discussion after the panel and all of it was positive. The next day I was off to the airport to head home.