A McKinsey Global Institute report on automation suggests that by 2055, about “half of all the activities people are paid to do in the world’s workforce could potentially be automated by adapting currently demonstrated technologies.” That, the report says, could save almost $16 trillion in wages. The report is food for thought for a wide swatch of workers:
The activities most susceptible to automation are physical ones in highly structured and predictable environments, as well as data collection and processing. In the United States, these activities make up 51 percent of activities in the economy, accounting for almost $2.7 trillion in wages. They are most prevalent in manufacturing, accommodation and food service, and retail trade.
The report says that the potential for automation goes beyond low-skill/low-wage workers. Tasks performed by highly paid and skilled workers are liable for replacement as well.
Humans Don’t Know When to Fold ‘Em
Poker would seem to be a more difficult challenge for artificial intelligence (AI) than the South Korean game Go and chess, two games in which humans fell to the machines. Poker is more random and relies on intuition and nerves to a greater degree than the earlier contests.
It may be different, but the results are similar, Computerworld reports, about one-third of the way through a tournament pitting highly ranked humans versus Libratus, a computer. As of the seventh day of the tournament, Libratus had a lead of $231,329 in chips.
5G Will Be Huge
The numbers continue to be astronomical for 5G. IHS Markit, in a study commissioned by Qualcomm, found that 5G will generate as much as $3.5 trillion in revenue in 2035 and create as many as 22 million jobs.
The massive earnings will occur in all areas. Light Reading points especially to education, transportation and entertainment. The study was validated by U.C. Berkley professor David Teece.
Google, Malware Distributors Play Cat and Mouse
Security people are clever and inventive. The site green bot posted a story on Verify Apps, a feature that Google introduced with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). The idea is to scans apps not downloaded from the Play Store. If those apps have malware, the owner is alerted.
Most people don’t know that Verify Apps is running on their device, the story says. The challenge is that crackers began trafficking apps that surreptitiously turned off Verify Apps so that subsequent malware could do damage. The affected devices, according to the story, are called Dead or Insecure (DOI), and apps designed to turn off Verify Apps are called DOI Apps.
Google is taking the initiative:
If a device has stopped using Verify Apps, Google dives into the apps that device has installed and checks their retention rate—the number of devices that have downloaded a particular app with Verify Apps switched on—to come up with a DOI score. If the app has a low score, meaning a high number of devices without Verify Apps has downloaded it in one day, Google will investigate further, and take steps to remove and block future installation if necessary.
Google has found more than 25,000 DOI apps carrying Hummingbird, Ghost Push or Googligan malware.
Dulles Airport Cellular Speed Assessed
Benchmarking firm Global Wireless Solutions this week released statistics on cellular performance at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.
The press release says that AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon did well, but that Sprint struggled. AT&T ranked the highest at gates C and D, while Verizon excelled at check-in, baggage claim and gates A and B. Video streaming was dominated by AT&T, which averaged 15 Megabits per second (Mbps) at baggage claim and as fast as 21 Mbps at gates C and D. T-Mobile was fastest in uploading, with speeds as fast as 13 Mbps in baggage claim.
The results are interesting in the context of the airport itself. More importantly, the study suggests that performance can vary greatly in a large public venue.
Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at cweinsch@optonline.net and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
