Reading & Resources Roundup - October 2022
This October, our members have been recommending the resources and reading material they've found valuable and interesting. Enjoy!
Tech
- You should not be using AWS. Probably - this article makes the case that choosing a popular cloud service like AWS or Google Cloud Platform may be the wrong choice for you (and what to do instead).
- GitHub Copilot investigation - there might be troubles ahead for Github's co-pilot and other automated coding tools that don't respect the author's licensing.
- Microsoft open sources its farm of the future toolkit - Microsoft's Project FarmVibes aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help farmers design the farms of the future
- How to store data for 1,000 years - most current data storage systems eventually stop working. But there are alternatives on the horizon.
- Record-breaking chip can transmit entire internet's traffic per second - the speed record for data transmission has been smashed. Engineers have transmitted data at a world record-breaking speed of 1.84 petabits per second (Pbit/s), almost twice the global internet traffic per second.
- Technology readiness levels for machine learning systems
AI
- Sequoia’s Sonya Huang: The generative AI hype is 'absolutely justified'
- The National Robotarium has worked with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to develop AI-empowered smart helmets to help firefighters safely navigate adverse or low-visibility conditions and reduce the time it takes to rescue victims.
- Robo-cop: EU wants firms to be held liable for harm done by AI - intelligence-powered software and products forced to compensate people harmed by their creations.
- Why AI shouldn’t be making life-and-death decisions - article on whether AI should be allowed to make life or death decisions. Also featuring a terrifying looking machine, and Philip Nitschke, who is charmingly nicknamed “Dr. Death” and “the Elon Musk of assisted suicide.”
- The unseen Black faces of AI algorithms - another worrying article exposing the ongoing problems with bias in our AI tools.
- AI digitally restored a lost trio of Gustav Klimt paintings. Not everyone is happy about it - pretty cool photo essay on the controversy around using AI to digitally restore a lost trio of paintings by the artist Gustav Kimt.
- AI helps scientists discover 4 new materials
Jobs, Skills & Work
- What is data driven entrepreneurship? - catch up with the recording of October's community event!
- 'We grow them and then they leave': Scotland's science sector is in need of nurturing - interesting piece here, detailing Scotland's struggles to hold on to successful tech / science companies (and talent).
- UK Falling Behind in Data Intelligence, Costing Potential Billions
- Free poster: Put your data skills to work - Craig Steele has made a free poster for classrooms, schools or libraries about all the different jobs that need data skills. Find out more about the exciting, creative, and rewarding jobs that rely on people who can collect, analyse, and solve problems using data. This poster is free for educational purposes, you may print this poster and use it in your classroom, school, or library.
Privacy
- Why the metaverse is filled with security, privacy and safety issues - by 2026, it's estimated that 25% of the global population will log onto the metaverse for a least an hour a day, and it is expected to lead to a whole host of new problems related to privacy, security and user health.
- Former Uber security chief found guilty of concealing data breach - we've been following this one for a while. Uber’s former chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, has now been found guilty of criminal obstruction for failing to report a 2016 cybersecurity incident to authorities.
- UK Reconsiders Data Protection Rules (Again) - new UK secretary of state for digital, Michelle Donelan, announced that the government will be “replacing” the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Everything else!
- Hannah Fry on cancer, Covid and the science of love - great article on Data Fest speaker and all round good egg, Hannah Fry.
- Liz Truss in numbers - statistical recap of Liz Truss's rather short stint as UK prime minister.
- How we approach 'missing data' could unlock social and economic injustice - interesting piece from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Chief Insight Architect, Rosario Piazza, on why a new insight and analysis infrastructure could help improve how we understand (and attempt to solve) inequality.
That's all - again, a massive thanks to everyone who contributed, and sorry if we missed anything! If you've got a resource that you found valuable - make sure to share it with the community!