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This Wednesday I was very privileged to interview Dr. Ann Cavoukian. Dr. Cavoukian is the information and privacy commissioner of the province of Ontario (Canada) as well as the creator and foremost global champion of the privacy by design philosophy. She has been one of the most vocal proponents of privacy and the fact that it doesn't have to come at the price of security or innovation. And so, I was very happy to visit the privacy commissioner's office and interview her for Singularity 1 on 1. During our 45 minute conversation with Dr. Ann Cavoukian we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why privacy is vital for freedom; her background as an Armenian born in Egypt; her personal goals and motivation; why privacy and security (or technological innovation) is not a zero-sum game; the main responsibilities and legal powers of the privacy commissioner's office; privacy by design as the proactive/preventative default solution to positive sum outcomes; the seven founding principles of privacy by design; NSA's PRISM program, surveillance by design and false positives; why metadata is more important and revealing than content; why she believes that we owe a debt of gratitude to people such as Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning and Julian Assange; whether enhanced privacy helps or hurts a company's bottom line; Digital Rights Management (DRM) and open source software; the internet of things and privacy by design; what we can do to fight for and protect our own privacy... My favorite quotes that I will take away from this conversation with Dr. Cavoukian are: "Privacy knows no borders: we have to protect privacy globally or we protect it nowhere!" and "Have hope!  [...] Challenge the view that privacy is dead! [...] Uphold privacy and know that you can have it. Know that we must have it! We must have privacy and freedom - that's what it means to be human." (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above, or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.  If you want to help me produce more episodes please make a donation)   Who is Dr. Ann Cavoukian? Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the leading privacy experts in the world. Noted for her seminal work on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) in 1995, her concept of Privacy by Design seeks to proactively embed privacy into the design specifications of information technology and accountable business practices, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In October, 2010, regulators from around the world gathered at the annual assembly of International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Jerusalem, Israel, and unanimously passed a landmark Resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an essential component of fundamental privacy protection. This was followed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s inclusion of Privacy by Design as one of its three recommended practices for protecting online privacy – a major validation of its significance. An avowed believer in the role that technology can play in the protection of privacy, Dr. Cavoukian’s leadership has seen her office develop a number of tools and procedures to ensure that privacy is strongly protected, not only in Canada, but around the world. She has been involved in numerous international committees focused on privacy, security, technology and business, and endeavours to focus on strengthening consumer confidence and trust in emerging technology applications. Dr. Cavoukian serves as the Chair of the Identity, Privacy and Security Institute at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is also a member of several Boards including, the European Biometrics Forum, Future of Privacy Forum, RIM Council, and has been conferred as a Distinguished Fellow of the Ponemon Institute. Dr. Cavoukian was honoured with the prestigious Kristian Beckman Award in 2011 for her pioneering work on Privacy by Design and privacy protection in modern international environments.

This Wednesday I was very privileged to interview Dr. Ann Cavoukian. Dr. Cavoukian is the information and privacy commissioner of the province of Ontario (Canada) as well as the creator and foremost global champion of the privacy by design philosophy. She has been one of the most vocal proponents of […]

This Wednesday I was very privileged to interview Dr. Ann Cavoukian. Dr. Cavoukian is the information and privacy commissioner of the province of Ontario (Canada) as well as the creator and foremost global champion of the privacy by design philosophy. She has been one of the most vocal proponents of privacy and the fact that […]

Nigel Ackland claims he is an ordinary man. But, after seeing the emotional impact he had on the audience at GF2045, I have to disagree with him. His speech titled Ordinary... Extraordinary. Life with a Bionic Arm was in my view by far the most moving of all the conference presentations. And so, I knew instantly that I have to interview Nigel on my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. During my conversation with Ackland we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: Nigel's traumatic accident and consequent depression; the crude prosthesis he had to struggle with and the fortunate connection with RSL Steeper; his bebionic hand - the cost, availability and operation thereof; why the major benefits of his bionic arm are psychological; the impact and importance of shaking hands; why and how the Paralympic games may become more interesting than the Olympics; whether people will eventually volunteer to get advanced prosthetics to enhance their abilities; why sensory feedback is necessary for full functionality... (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above, or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.  If you want to help me produce more episodes please make a donation)   Nigel Ackland on life with RSLSteeper bebionic arm:  Having a bionic arm is like being human again. Psychologically I wouldn't be without it. I can hold the phone, shake hands and wash my left hand normally. I'm back to being a two finger typist and can even do hand signals. Not particularly functional, but the psychological benefit is immense! It has a great impact on my life: not only does it look more like a human hand but it also functions more like a human hand.   Related articles RSLSteeper’s bebionic3 Prosthetic Hand

Nigel Ackland claims he is an ordinary man. But, after seeing the emotional impact he had on the audience at GF2045, I have to disagree with him. His speech titled Ordinary… Extraordinary. Life with a Bionic Arm was in my view by far the most moving of all the conference […]

Nigel Ackland claims he is an ordinary man. But, after seeing the emotional impact he had on the audience at GF2045, I have to disagree with him. His speech titled Ordinary… Extraordinary. Life with a Bionic Arm was in my view by far the most moving of all the conference presentations. And so, I knew […]

Marvin Minsky is often called the Father of Artificial Intelligence and I have been looking for an opportunity to interview him for years. I was hoping that I will finally get my chance at the GF2045 conference in NY City. Unfortunately, Prof. Minsky had bronchitis and consequently had to speak via video. A week later, though still recovering, Marvin generously gave me a 30 min interview while attending the ISTAS13 Veilance conference in Toronto. Hope that you enjoy this brief but rare opportunity as much as I did! During our conversation with Marvin Minsky we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: how he moved from biology and mathematics to Artificial Intelligence; his personal motivation and most proud accomplishment; the importance of science fiction - in general, and his take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - in particular; the Turing Test; the importance of theory of mind; the Human Brain Project; the technological singularity and why he thinks that progress in AI has stalled; his personal advice to young AI researchers… (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above, or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.  If you want to help me produce more episodes please make a donation)   Who is Marvin Minsky? Marvin Minsky has made many contributions to AI, cognitive psychology, mathematics, computational linguistics, robotics, and optics. In recent years he has worked chiefly on imparting to machines the human capacity for commonsense reasoning. His conception of human intellectual structure and function is presented in two books: The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind and The Society of Mind (which is also the title of the course he teaches at MIT). He received the BA and PhD in mathematics at Harvard (1950) and Princeton (1954). In 1951 he built the SNARC, the first neural network simulator. His other inventions include mechanical arms, hands and other robotic devices, the Confocal Scanning Microscope, the "Muse" synthesizer for musical variations (with E. Fredkin), and one of the first LOGO "turtles". A member of the NAS, NAE and Argentine NAS, he has received the ACM Turing Award, the MIT Killian Award, the Japan Prize, the IJCAI Research Excellence Award, the Rank Prize and the Robert Wood Prize for Optoelectronics, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal.

Marvin Minsky is often called the Father of Artificial Intelligence and I have been looking for an opportunity to interview him for years. I was hoping that I will finally get my chance at the GF2045 conference in NY City. Unfortunately, Prof. Minsky had bronchitis and consequently had to speak […]

A few weeks ago I got interviewed on the Futurology Podcast. During my one hour conversation with show host Jason Peffley we discuss a number of topics such as: how I got to do blogging and podcasting; my time and take on Singularity University in particular and education in general; the wait-and-see vs the proactive approach to the future; the definition of the technological singularity; slow vs hard take-off scenarios; whether I am a futurist or not; my favorite singularity books; the political and economic reality in the US; why life extension technology is so exciting; why I hate Prometheus; pessimism vs optimism... Here is the original podcast description written by Jason Peffley: "Instead of running through the top 5 links, this episode is dedicated to interviewing Nikola Danaylov. His site (singularityweblog.com) is periodically discussed here and his podcast has featured some of the biggest names in technology.  Nikola has also studied at the Singularity University.  He now makes his living by blogging, podcasting, and attending singularity related events around the world."   Related articles Socrates at Newtonbrook Secondary School: Be Unreasonable! 15 Steps Towards Your Podcasting Success: Socrates At Podcamp Toronto 2013

A few weeks ago I got interviewed on the Futurology Podcast. During my one hour conversation with show host Jason Peffley we discuss a number of topics such as: how I got to do blogging and podcasting; my time and take on Singularity University in particular and education in general; […]

A few weeks ago I got interviewed on the Futurology Podcast. During my one hour conversation with show host Jason Peffley we discuss a number of topics such as: how I got to do blogging and podcasting; my time and take on Singularity University in particular and education in general; the wait-and-see vs the proactive […]

Marvin Minsky is often called the Father of Artificial Intelligence and I have been looking for an opportunity to interview him for years. I was hoping that I will finally get my chance at the GF2045 conference in NY City. Unfortunately, Prof. Minsky had bronchitis and consequently had to speak via video. A week later, […]

Thad Starner is a wearable computing pioneer who coined the term “augmented reality” and a Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a technical lead on Google Glass – a self-contained wearable computer. And so I was very excited to interview Prof. Starner for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. […]

Thad Starner is a wearable computing pioneer who coined the term "augmented reality" and a Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a technical lead on Google Glass - a self-contained wearable computer. And so I was very excited to interview Prof. Starner for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. During our conversation with Thad we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: how he coined the term augmented reality (AR) and the definition thereof; what is wearable computing and how it is different from AR; Google Glass - its major breakthroughs, popular apps, misconceptions and implications; Starner's other cutting-edge projects such as the passive haptic learning mobile music touch glove; his personal advice for young augmented reality designers and developers; Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End and the technological singularity… (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above, or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.  If you want to help me produce more episodes please make a donation)   Who is Thad Starner? Thad Starner is a wearable computing pioneer and a Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a Technical Lead on Google's Glass, a self-contained wearable computer. Thad received a PhD from the MIT Media Laboratory, where he founded the MIT Wearable Computing Project. Starner was perhaps the first to integrate a wearable computer into his everyday life as a personal assistant, and he coined the term "augmented reality" in 1990 to describe the types of interfaces he envisioned at the time. His groups' prototypes on mobile context-based search, gesture-based interfaces, mobile MP3 players, and mobile instant messaging foreshadowed now commonplace devices and services. Thad has authored over 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications with over 100 co-authors on mobile Human Computer Interaction (HCI), machine learning, energy harvesting for mobile devices, and gesture recognition. He is listed as an inventor on over 80 United States patents awarded or in process. Thad is a founder of the annual ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers, and his work has been discussed in many forums including CNN, NPR, the BBC, CBS's 60 Minutes, ABC's 48 Hours, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Related articles Ori Inbar on Singularity 1 on 1: Augmented Reality Will Change Every Aspect of Life and Work Vernor Vinge on Singularity 1 on 1: We Can Surpass the Wildest Dreams of Optimism

Thad Starner is a wearable computing pioneer who coined the term “augmented reality” and a Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a technical lead on Google Glass – a self-contained wearable computer. And so I was very excited to interview Prof. Starner for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. During our conversation with Thad […]