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Ingenious: The Unintended Consequences of Human Innovation

By Sir Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson As humans evolved, we developed technologies to modify our environment, yet these innovations are increasingly affecting our behaviour, biology, and society. Now we must figure out how to function in the world we’ve created. Over thousands of years, humans have invented ingenious ways to gain mastery over our environment. The ability to communicate, accumulate knowledge collectively, and build on previous innovations has enabled us to change nature. Innovation has allowed us to thrive. The trouble with innovation is that we can seldom go back and undo it. We invent, embrace, and exploit new technologies to modify our environment. Then we modify those technologies to cope with the resulting impacts. Gluckman and Hanson explore what happens when we innovate in a way that leads nature to bite back. To provide nourishment for a growing population, humans developed methods to process and preserve food; but easy access to these energy-dense foods results in obesity. To protect ourselves from dangerous pathogens we embraced cleanliness and invented antibiotics, which has led to rising rates of autoimmune diseases and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. More recently, our growing dependence on the internet and social media has been linked to mental health concerns and declining social cohesion. And we are only at the beginning of the digital transformation that will influence every part of our existence. Our ingenuity has not only changed our world–it has changed us. Focusing on immediate benefits, we rarely pause to consider the longer-term costs of innovation. Yet we are now starting to see how our choices affect the way our brains develop and our bodies function. The implications are profound. Ingenious opens our eyes to the dangers we face and offers solutions we cannot ignore.

AI can’t solve everything

The hysteria about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. There seems to be no shortage of sensationalist news about how AI could cure diseases, accelerate human innovation and improve human creativity. Just looking at the media headlines, you might think that we are already living in a future where AI has infiltrated every aspect of society. While it is undeniable that AI has opened up a wealth of promising opportunities, it has also led to the emergence of a mindset that can be best described as “AI solutionism”. This is the philosophy that, given enough data, machine learning algorithms can solve all of humanity’s problems. But there’s a big problem with this idea. Instead of supporting AI progress, it jeopardises the value of machine intelligence by disregarding important AI safety principles and setting unrealistic expectations about what AI can really do for humanity. AI solutionism In only a few years, AI solutionism has made its way from the technology evangelists’ mouths in Silicon Valley to the minds of government officials and policymakers around the world. The pendulum has swung from the dystopian notion that AI will destroy humanity to the utopian belief that our algorithmic saviour is here. We are now seeing governments pledge support to national AI initiatives and compete in a technological and rhetorical arms race to dominate the burgeoning machine learning sector. For example, the UK government has vowed to invest £300m in AI research to position itself as a leader in the field. Enamoured with the transformative potential of AI, the French president Emmanuel Macron committed to turn France into a global AI hub. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is increasing its AI prowess with a national plan to create a Chinese AI industry worth US$150 billion by 2030. AI solutionism is on the rise and it is here to stay. Neural networks – easier said than done While many political manifestos […]

Miniaturised “warehouse robots” for biotechnology applications

UCLA engineers have developed minuscule warehouse logistics robots that could help expedite and automate medical diagnostic technologies and other applications that move and manipulate tiny drops of fluid. The robots are disc-shaped magnets about 2 millimetres in diameter, designed to work together to move and manipulate droplets of blood or other fluids, with precision. For example, the robots can cleave one large droplet of fluid into smaller drops that are equal in volume for consistent testing. They can also move droplets into preloaded testing trays to check for signs of disease. The research team calls these robots “ferrobots” because they are powered by magnetism. The ferrobots can be programmed to perform massively parallelised and sequential fluidic operations at small-length scales in a collaborative manner. To control the robots’ motion, electromagnetic tiles in the chip pull the ferrobots along desired paths, much like using magnets to move metal chess pieces from underneath a chess board. “We were inspired by the transformational impact of networked mobile robot systems on manufacturing, storage and distribution industries, such as those used to efficiently sort and transport packages at Amazon warehouses,” said Sam Emaminejad, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and the study’s corresponding senior author. “So, we set out to implement the same level of automation and mobility in a microfluidic setting. But our ‘factory floor’ is much smaller, about the size of your palm, and our goods, the fluid droplets, are as small as a few tenths of a millimetre.” The “factory floor” is an index card-sized chip, designed by the researchers, with internal structures that help manipulate fluid droplets transported by the robots. In the same way that mobile and cross-collaborative Amazon robots transformed the logistics-based industries, this technology could transform various biotech-related industries, including medical diagnostics, drug development, genomics, and […]

The US$600-billion inventor

Materials scientist and physicist Dr Tuomo Suntola, recently won the Millennium Technology Prize 2018 for his invention of atomic layer deposition (ALD). Dr Tuomo Suntola (right) From laptops to smartphones, many of the electronic devices that we take for granted today would not have been possible without the work of Finnish materials scientist and physicist Dr Tuomo Suntola. In the early 1970s, Dr Suntola developed a way of producing ultra-thin films, one atomic layer at a time that can be used to coat the surface of any material. This technique, called atomic layer deposition (ALD), has been used to improve the performance of computer chips, create high-efficiency solar power cells, and even protect coins and telescope mirrors. It also enabled modern nanometre-scale integrated circuits, which are essential components in virtually all-modern computers and smartphones, and many other electronic equipment. Today, the market value of consumer electronics that rely on the technique exceeds US$500 billion (S$684.5 billion). For his far-reaching work, Dr Suntola was awarded the biennial Millennium Technology Prize, considered the Nobel Prize of technology, in 2018. Dr Suntola, who will be a speaker at the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS) 2019, to be held in Singapore from 20 to 25 Jan, said that ALD could also play a key role in creating the next generation of batteries for electric vehicles and other products. “It can also be used for the manufacturing of new materials with as-yet unknown properties,” he said. A serial inventor Even as a child, Dr Suntola was interested in technology. He built wooden miniature replicas of World War II fighter planes, his first transistor radio at the age of 12 when the first transistors became available in Finland, and graduated to constructing radios and audio amplifiers during his teenage years. When Finland entered its second phase […]

New technologies can create huge numbers of meaningful jobs

Augmented reality can play a pivotal role in removing labour inefficiencies. In the US, recent jobs reports have generally been met with enthusiasm and positivity. Unemployment continues to drop to 10-year lows and most economists believe America is approaching “full employment.” Wage growth remains in positive territory. And yet, people are angry. Blue-collar manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Income inequality is increasing, and the once-steadfast middle class is being hollowed out. Their anger arises from a sense of economic insecurity and it is the idea that weaves together Brexit, Trump’s takeover of the Republican party, and Le Pen’s National Front. The acute disconnect is alarming. How can the US be at full employment and yet harbour such profound socioeconomic discontent? The Dignity of Work A reporter for the New York Times recently rode with a number of truck drivers to learn about their job. Truck drivers spoke at length about the low pay and health issues the job entailed. The title of the article was “Alone on the Open Road: Truckers feel like ‘Throwaway People.’” Much has been made of the looming devastation that self-driving technology will have on the 3.5 million truck drivers in the US, as well as how these millions of newly unemployed individuals will add fuel to the populist flames. The concern is misdirected. Digging deeper into the data clarifies this disconnect further. Many are in part-time jobs or are underemployed for their experience and skillset. Only 62% of Americans are even participating in the labour market, and a growing number of people in their prime working years have given up on trying to find a job. The populist language of modern politicians confirms this thesis. Americans are being “left behind.” Workers in the Rust Belt have become a “forgotten people.” People may have jobs, but they’re not the jobs they want. […]

Bringing automation barriers down with end-of-arm tooling

Historically, one of the biggest barriers to automation has been cost and time constraints associated with the production setup. The procedure is usually performed by a team of robotics experts adept in programming languages and advanced engineering, subjects unfamiliar to most. Demand for automation is flourishing from various manufacturing sectors leading to greater innovations in industrial robotics. With this trend, companies are prompted to adapt more and more intelligent tools that can help the production workforce with faster deployment and installation, saving their precious time on planning and strategy. But not many businesses have been able to do so quickly because most are not ready to address collaborative applications with newer technologies. This is due to limited knowledge or resistance to adopting modern end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) with collaborative robots (cobots). Continuous technology transformation and the rise of collaborative applications in industrial automation have made robots easily deployable. Intelligent EOAT devices come with in-built features that can be programmed easily, enabling faster set-up. With EOAT, automation becomes more inclusive, delivering collaborative applications to meet modern automation needs. Automation Adoption Rises in ASEAN The ASEAN region’s combined GDP hit almost USD2.7 trillion in 2017, four times the value in 2000, clocking an average 5.3 percent yearly growth. ASEAN could become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2030 if this growth maintains.[1] To achieve this, the region needs to leverage the opportunities presented by Industry 4.0 technologies. Adoption of these technologies remains slow in most countries however, with many manufacturers still relying on outdated processes[2]. Singapore is spearheading the adoption of automation and robotics, recording the second highest industrial robot density globally at 658 robots per 10,000 employees.[3] Malaysia and Thailand have also increased their focus on automation, encouraging greater use of robotics through the National Policy on Industry 4.0 (Industry4WRD) and the […]

How to have a good Fourth Industrial Revolution

Trees, please: Take a break from technology. To encourage people to examine the impact of technology on our lives, the artist Lauren McCarthy decided to try to become a human version of amazon.com’s smart home intelligence device Alexa. McCarthy installed a network of remote-controlled smart devices, from cameras and microphones to light switches and appliances, and invited volunteers to stay in her home. Then she tried to anticipate and respond to their needs – like making a bowl of popcorn when she guessed they were hungry—instead of just responding to commands like Alexa does. Get-Lauren touches on common anxieties, starting with the questions of what humans can offer that machines cannot, and what control each of us has over our future and even who we are. “By allowing these devices in, we outsource the formation of our identity to a virtual assistant whose values are programmed by a small, homogenous group of developers,” McCarthy wrote. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has ushered in new technologies that are changing where and how many of us work, what we buy and how we buy it, what we learn and what we delegate to our devices, and how we connect with each other. It’s easy for even tech-savvy individuals to feel that we are helpless in face of these tectonic shifts. What can a single person do? What power does anyone have amid massive social and economic changes? What is within our control and how do we adapt to what is out of our hands? Simply asking those questions is a good start toward managing technology instead of letting it control us. Seeking to understand the changes underway helps us to feel that we are doing something instead of facing complete uncertainty. Assessing how we use technology in the workplace, home, and community helps identify where we are doing well and where we […]

Emerging technologies this year

The emerging technologies positively disrupt the existing order, are attractive to investors and researchers, and expect to achieve considerable scale within the coming five years. These are the top 10 emerging technologies for 2019: Bioplastics for a circular economy Less than 15% of the world’s plastic is recycled, with the rest incinerated, abandoned or sent to landfill. Biodegradable plastic offers a solution but lacks the strength of conventional materials. A breakthrough idea promotes the circular economy by using cellulose or lignin from plant waste, which increases material strength without using crops that could otherwise be used for food. Social robots Today’s robots can recognise voices, faces and emotions, interpret speech patterns and gestures, and even make eye contact. Droid friends and assistants are becoming part of everyday life and are being used increasingly to care of the elderly, educate children and undertake all sorts of tasks in between. Metalenses Making the lenses used by mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices smaller has been beyond the capabilities of traditional glass cutting and glass curving techniques. But advances in physics have led to miniaturised, lighter alternatives to established lenses, called metalenses. These tiny, thin, flat lenses could replace existing bulky glass lenses and allow further miniaturisation in sensors and medical imaging devices. Disordered proteins as drug targets “Intrinsically disordered proteins” are proteins that can cause cancer and other diseases. Unlike conventional proteins, they lack a rigid structure so change shape, making them difficult to treat. Now scientists have found a way to prevent their shape-shifting long enough for treatment to take effect, offering new possibilities for patients. Smarter fertilisers Recent improvements in fertilisers have focused on their ability to slowly release nutrients when needed. However, they still contain ammonia, urea and potash which damage the environment. New fertilisers use more ecologically friendly sources […]

SkyDrive launches test flights of first-ever cargo drone

SkyDrive Inc., a leading flying-car developer, has successfully launched test flights of a cargo drone which could revolutionise the way heavy goods are transported and speed up the movement of equipment in remote locations. The first operational testing took place Toyota. It was carried out to test the technology by moving heavy equipment in remote locations. This new technology has been tested with a load capacity of 30kg–utilizing SkyDrive’s world-leading aircraft development technology to achieve high safety standards. There is the potential to develop this further and achieve greater capacity loads of up to 50kg and 80kg, according to demand. The cargo drone also has the potential to change the way products are moved from manufacturers to warehouses and onto depots. SkyDrive is developing the cargo drone for use in industries that carry heavy materials on complex terrain such as slopes, mountain valleys, overpasses, power transmission towers, civil engineering/construction sites, agricultural fields, etc. Usage of cargo drones will help avoid dangerous works, save personnel and shorten the term of works. SkyDrive can contribute to responding to labour shortages and improving labour productivity sagging. Cargo drone can be used by companies for transporting materials to hard-to-reach places such as slopes, mountain valleys, overpasses and sites of steel tower maintenance. The total length is 1.3m x total width 1.7m x total height 1.0m -Recommended payload: 30kg -Flight speed: 40km/h -Flight time: 15min. Winch mechanism to move up and down without landing.

University takes quantum leap in race to build first super battery

A South Australian university has recruited a leading quantum physics expert in a bid to win the race to build the world’s first quantum battery. Dr James Quach has joined the University of Adelaide’s School of Physical Sciences for four years under a Ramsay Fellowship. He will work within the Precision Measurement Group in the University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS). The new super battery, with the potential for instantaneous charging, could replace conventional batteries in small electronic devices such as a watch, phone, iPad or computer or any other product that relies on stored energy. Eventually it is hoped larger quantum batteries could provide opportunities for the renewable energy sector. Dr Quach, who has previously been a researcher at the University of Melbourne and the ICFO Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, said that unlike ordinary batteries, quantum batteries would theoretically charge faster the more you have of them. Dr James Quach will work under a Ramsay Fellowship to develop a quantum battery. “If one quantum battery takes one hour to charge, then two would take 30 minutes, three would take 20 minutes, and so on. If you had 10,000 batteries, they would all charge in less than a second,” he said. This is possible thanks to a feature of quantum mechanics known as entanglement. “Quantum mechanics deals with interactions at the very smallest of scales, at the levels of atoms and molecules – at this level you get very special properties that violate the conventional laws of physics,” said Dr Quach. “One of those properties is ‘entanglement’. When two objects are entangled it means that their individual properties are always shared – they somehow lose their sense of individuality. “It’s because of entanglement that it becomes possible to speed up the battery charging process.” South Australia is a global renewable energy […]

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