IEEE Spectrum October 2021

Most recent stories in IEEE Spectrum October 2021

• Shrinking population together with a higher average age erodes the tax base, raises infrastructure costs, and leads to social isolation, as settlements dwindle and die.

  

  IEEE Spectrum

  

  Whatever Happened to the Population Bomb?

  ieee.org - Vaclav Smil

  In 1960, Science published a paper by Heinz von Foerster predicting that on Friday, 13 November 2026, the "human population will approach infinity if …

• “How do we transform today’s buggy and hackable AI systems into systems we can really trust?”

  

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  AI Experts Speak: Memorable Quotes from Spectrum's AI Coverage

  ieee.org - Eliza Strickland

  This article is part of our special report on AI, “The Great AI Reckoning.”If you've seen IEEE Spectrum's October 2021 special issue on artificial …

• Are we headed toward another AI winter?

  

  IEEE Spectrum

  

  The Turbulent Past and Uncertain Future of Artificial Intelligence

  ieee.org - Eliza Strickland

  In the summer of 1956, a group of mathematicians and computer scientists took over the top floor of the building that housed the math department of …

• Artificial intelligence is more than 60 years old, notes Rodney Brooks, and yet we still can’t depend on it to make decisions in critical situations where the cost of failure would be high

  

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  An Inconvenient Truth About AI

  ieee.org - Rodney Brooks

  We are well into the third wave of major investment in artificial intelligence. So it's a fine time to take a historical perspective on the current …

• 20 years ago this month, fear gripped the American public, as the threat of bioterrorism became real.

  

  IEEE Spectrum

  

  Irradiating the Mail: The Anthrax Attacks of 2001

  ieee.org - Allison Marsh

  This October marks the 20th anniversary of the anthrax terror attacks in the United States. The attacks targeted major media outlets and members of …

• Smartphones and smartwatches often do a surprisingly bad job at tracking how many calories we burn during the day, but with a Raspberry Pi and some inexpensive IMUs, you can build your own much more a … More

  

  IEEE Spectrum

  

  A DIY Calorie Counter More Accurate Than a Smartphone

  ieee.org - Patrick Slade

  Physical activity is essential to both physical and mental health, something brought home to many people following sedentary pandemic lockdowns. Even …