AI Investments by Government or by Others?

When problems don’t have a physical face, they are harder to see and easier to dismiss. Yet they can have deeper impact than many we can recognize. A powerful example is investment in research and development such as those in AI (artificial intelligence). It is something the government used to do, but is doing less and less and is slated to do even less in the Trump administration. It doesn’t mean that advances are not being made, they are. It means that much of the advances are made by the so called big five, sometimes called the Frightful Five—Amazon, Apple,  Facebook, Google and Microsoft. But Continue reading “AI Investments by Government or by Others?”

1400 Mayors and Climate Change

1400 US mayors have passed an agreement to have their cities rely totally on renewable energies by 2035. While the pledge came as part of the United States Conference of Mayors meeting recently, it was not unanimous. Some mayors who do not believe in the issue of climate change abstained. Critics also say that this resolution doesn’t solve the climate change problem. That may be but when 1400 mayors from red states as well as blue states agree on something like that, it can have positive effects for the environment and that is important. A group within the US Conference, Mayors for Continue reading “1400 Mayors and Climate Change”

Amazon and Whole Foods–Good or Bad?

By all accounts Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, if it indeed goes through, is a very big deal. No one denies it will have many consequences, whether those consequences are good or bad. What will precisely be the nature of those consequences, though, is not so agreed upon. Of course it may depend on how far into the future one looks. In the near term it is said it will change the food industry, the habits of customers for whom ordering on line may well be easier, the delivery of goods, the nature of retail, the competition to be the largest retailer and for what’s would be left of the retail industry. Amazon which went public in 1997 was then worth $438million with a  stock price of Continue reading “Amazon and Whole Foods–Good or Bad?”

What We Can Do For Climate Change

Climate change is better addressed as a matter of national and international policy. Yet without it we are not helpless. They are good examples of things we can do and come from an article in the NYT, which I hope you will read. They’re things we already know, based on our carbon footprint; still I found being reminded and having them in a list something which makes individual efforts matter more. If we all do this, or enough of us do enough of them, we can together make a difference regardless of whether or not our Continue reading “What We Can Do For Climate Change”