Go Time! Episode 5: Explain it to me like I’m Valor

Episode 5 of our Pokémon Go podcast is here!

We’re back for episode five with Valor, Mystic, and Instinct players. There was a lot to talk about this week. We covered the changes to the nearby and sightings systems from the app update, the return of battery saver for iOS. We also uncover the secrets behind the IV system for your Pokémon, and how to behave when playing around children.

We’ve been having a blast with Pokémon Go, and we hope you’ll join us!

• Google Play
• Soundcloud
• iTunes
• Or add us to your podcatcher of choice!

You can also join our Facebook page to keep up on all things Pokémon Go. See you in the world!

Pokémon Go

• Join our Pokémon Go forums!
• How to deal with GPS errors in-game
• Which team should you choose?
• How to play without killing your battery
• The Ultimate Pokémon Go Game Guide!
• Listen to the Pokémon Go podcast!

Android 7.0: Data Saver will prevent overages on cheaper plans

Android 7.0 Nougat can help you use less data in an intelligent way.

We all like new features and a better way to do things, but when they can save us some money we might just like them a little more. That’s what Google is aiming for with the new Data Saver feature in Android 7.0 Nougat.

For many of us, especially if we bought a less expensive Android, the amount of money we spend on data will quickly become more than we paid for the phone that’s using it. When we use too much, especially when we didn’t realize it was happening, it becomes even worse because the companies who provide us with a connection like to charge plenty of money for going over your monthly allotment. Not paying attention to apps sucking up data behind the scenes is fairly common in today’s mobile landscape, and with Android 7.0 Google is looking to fix that.

More: The best cheap Android phones of 2016

Data Saver in Android 7.0 isn’t like the current data usage setting in Marshmallow, nor is it like Sony’s Stamina mode. Rather than just a cut off when a certain user-set amount is consumed, or stop all background usage completely on every connection, Data Saver kicks in anytime you’re on a metered (read: not unlimited) data connection. If you are, it limits apps and background process to a set amount of data, influencing how often they can dip into it. When you’re on an unmetered connection (no data cap) it allows apps to do everything they were programmed to do. Changes to the ConnectivityManager API in SDK version 24 (that’s Android 7.0) include a way to check if the device is on a metered connection, when anything about the connection changes and if Data Saver is enabled.

Data Saver works for any cellular data plan, including prepaid services

Data Saver works for any cellular data plan, including prepaid services. That means it will also work if you’re traveling abroad and buy a pre-paid local SIM card.

We may want to let certain apps do what they need even when the Data Saver setting is applied. Those apps can be put on a user-created whitelist. Apps on that list are allowed to freely use data when running in the background.

Also, some apps just won’t work if they can’t get connected. For the developers of this sort of app (think something like Facebook Messenger) they can request to be whitelisted by using a bit of code in their app. If Data Saver is enabled, the app will let the user know that it needs to be whitelisted (developers, make sure to include an explanation, please!) and direct the user to the whitelist settings. They can still say no, but they need to know that an app won’t work without a connection.

The whole system is opt-in through the network settings in Android 7.0 — and developers will have to enable the feature, too

This means developers will want to make some changes to how they run in the background. As users, we’ll be more willing to whitelist an app if it can limit background data usage to just essential services like direct messages. Developers can also shift to using Google Cloud Messaging (introduced in 2013) for easier-to-manage push notifications while having the rest of their app use the standard data connection.

The whole system is opt-in through the network settings in Android 7.0. If you have an unlimited plan from Sprint or T-Mobile or are holding on to a legacy plan from another provider, you can just ignore it. Likewise for things like a company phone where 24/7 connectivity is more important than the bill.

Data Saver is one of many new system-level features coming with Nougat. Together they make Android 7.0 one of the best updates we’ve seen in a while, and will be the groundwork for even more great features in the future.

Android Nougat

Android Nougat is the 12th nicknamed version of Android and will be released to the public in the fall of 2016. Here’s everything you need to know so far!

• What’s new in Android Nougat
• Will my phone get Android Nougat?
• All Android Nougat news
• Should you use the Android N Dev Preview?
• Join the Discussion

Pokémon Go tips and tricks: It’s time to catch ’em all!

Time to take hold of your dreams, become a Pokémon trainer, and catch ’em all!

Just about everyone knows about Pokémon, a game where you travel the world in order to collect every pocket monster on the planet. For over a decade it has won hearts, and now, Pokémon Go is here on a mobile device near you. Whether you are rocking an Android or an iPhone, this game is awesome.

We’ve got all the details that you need to hit the ground running. We cover how to find and catch Pokémon, how Gyms and teams work, what items you can hope to find, and how evolution works. We’ve got the definitive guide to Pokémon Go. Keep reading for all the details!

• In the world
• Teams
• Pokémon
• Pokéstops
• Capturing Pokémon
• Items, items, items
• Eggs and incubators
• Evolution
• Gyms
• Leveling up
• Pokémon Go Plus [AKA: Poké Watch]
• Final Thoughts

In the world

While there is plenty going on in Pokémon Go, getting the hang of the basics is in your best interest. That way you can catch any Pokémon you come across without any issues. This includes knowing how the mechanics work, and how you access your backpack and Pokédex.

As you wander through the real world, the app will show you an animated version of Google maps. You’ll be able to see roads, buildings, Gyms, and Pokéstops. As you move, your avatar will as well. As you walk in the real world Pokémon will pop up on the map, and if you tap on them you can try to capture them.

• Avatar: Your avatar is you, inside the confines of the game. You’ll be able to choose gender, eye color, hair color, shirt, hat, pants, shoes and the style of your backpack. You can change your trainer look at any time in the game.
• Player icon: At the bottom right is a player icon, if you tap on this you can see the specs of your character, as well as a list of in-game achievements.
• Backpack: This is where all the items you pick up on your journey will go.
• Pokédex: Your index of Pokémon, complete with information on all the species you’ve already caught.
• Pokémon: From here you’ll be able to see all the Pokémon that are in your possession.
• Sightings: Located at the bottom right of your screen this will inform you of which Pokémon are nearby.

More: Pokémon Go terms to know!

Teams

When you reach your first Gym in Level 5, you’ll be asked to join one of three color coded teams: Mystic (Blue), Valor (Red), or Instinct (Yellow). This is a throw back to the original US titles – Pokémon Red, *Pokémon Blue, and Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition. The team you choose doesn’t affect the type of Pokémon you will come across in the wild, but you will be on the same team as hundreds or thousands of other players around the world. Each team will work together to become the most successful. Teams can quickly turn Pokémon Go from a single player experience to a group sport, making the game a whole lot more fun.

Teams are how you join up with your friends to make a dent on the world. You and your team will take over and level up Gyms. Each of the three factions is represented by one of the three legendary birds — Articuno (Blue), Moltres (Valor), and Zapdos (Instinct).

More: Which team should you join?

Pokémon

Over the years we’ve been introduced to, and fallen in love with, hundreds of pocket monsters. For now however it seems like we aren’t getting access to all of the Pokémon that you might find on your Nintendo DS. Instead, it’s back to basics. As of now we’ve seen a variety of Pokémon types, and even Pokémon in the wild that you might not expect, like Flareon and Jolteon.

Over 150 Pokémon from Pokémon Red and Blue are all available for capture, which is basically all of the Pokémon from the original games save for Mew, MewTwo, Ditto, Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. Pokémon are popping up all over the world, typically in places associated with their Type. Grass Pokémon are going to be in grassy areas, Water Pokémon will be near lakes and streams and oceans, and Ghost Pokémon will be more prevalent at night. Capturing every Pokémon is going to require a little traveling, however, as there are a couple of places in the world with a single Pokémon that is exclusive to that area.

• Tauros is only available in North America
• Mr. Mime is only available in Europe
• Kangaskhan is only available in Australia
• Farfetch’d is only available in Asia

Trading Pokémon is currently not something you can do in the game, but according to Niantic that feature will be available in a future update.

Pokéstops

Pokéstops are an easy way to collect items, eggs, and experience. Each one is indicated on your map, and you can click them even if you’re not in range yet. You won’t be able to check in until the Pokéstop is close by, but it’s an easy way to see where a Pokéstop is located before checking in there.

When a Pokéstop is within your range, you’ll want to tap on it. This will bring up a screen, swipe across and you’ll be rewarded with a variety of items. The items in questions can range from eggs, to various different kinds of Poké Balls, to revives or healing potions for the Pokémon in your roster.

Pokéstops are important or iconic areas around the city you are in. They may be special benches with dedication plaques, or permanent art installations, or historic landmarks. They will never be something as mundane as a stop sign. They will also never be in a location that is not accessible to the public, like inside a private building, or beyond a locked gate. Do not trespass onto someone’s property to get to a Pokéstop!

Capturing Pokémon

Once you’ve got the basics of gameplay, the next thing to do of course is go out and find Pokémon. While you’re running around in the world, you’ll see your avatar moving along the map using your GPS. When it comes time to capture Pokémon, they’ll pop up on your screen from anywhere.

You will find Pokémon in the wild by physically walking around your city. Since it is dangerous to walk around with your phone in your face, the game is designed to allow you to keep your eyes free while you wander. You can keep your phone at your side while you walk, and when you are near a Pokémon, you’ll get a notification in the form of a vibration and the Pokémon’s unique call. You can then tap on that character to attempt a capture.

Surprise! You can now see that Pokémon in the world, right behind your phone! To capture this Pokémon, place your finger on the floating Poké Ball you see on your screen and flick it towards the character. If the Poké Ball hits the Pokémon, you’ll see the ball open and attempt a capture. If the capture is successful, you’ll see some congratulatory stars and will return to the Pokédex. If the capture is unsuccessful, the Pokémon will break free from the Poké Ball and you will have to try again.

There are several tricks for capturing a stubborn Pokémon. The first is to pay attention to its difficulty ring. A small colored ring will appear around the Pokémon when you try to capture it. The closer that ring is to the color green, the easier that Pokémon is to capture. The closer that ring is to red, the more difficult that Pokémon will be to capture. Here’s how you change that difficulty color:

• Feed the Pokémon a Razz Berry — go into your Backpack and select Razz Berry. Tap on the berry to feed it to the Pokémon. This will make the Pokémon somewhat distracted, and more easy to catch. Razz Berries only work once, so if you miss you’ll need to try feeding the Pokémon another.
• Use a stronger Poké Ball — as you level up, you will have access to stronger and more capable Poké Balls. These are available in much lower numbers, and are meant to be used sparingly, but will quickly change the difficulty color of your Pokémon when you need an advantage.

This ring also serves as a way to offer accuracy bonuses. If you land your thrown Poké Ball inside the color ring, you will be awarded extra experience points (XP) for the capture. If you land a thrown Poké Ball while throwing a curveball, you can gain even more XP.

More: How to use Razz berries

More: Get a curveball bonus in Pokémon Go

Items, items, items

In a game like Pokémon, having access to items is kind of mandatory. You’ll need:

• Poké Balls in order to capture Pokémon
• Potions to heal Pokémon
• Revives to wake Pokémon if they fall in battle

… and the list goes on! As you increase in level, you’ll find stronger versions of these items that will eventually be swapped out for the original versions you used. It’s a long list of things to keep track of once you’ve gone beyond level 20 in the game, and it keeps going all the way to level 40!

More: The definitive list of unlockable items in Pokémon Go

You never know what you’re going to come across at a Pokéstop but items are always helpful. Each item has a specific use in the game. For the most part items fall under recovery, and capture. That is, items either help your Pokémon to recover from wounds, or are one of a variety of Poké Balls used to capture Pokémon. There are also incense to lure Pokémon to you, Lucky Eggs which grant you double experience for 30 minutes, Lure Patches which will draw Pokémon to a Pokéstop, Razz Berries which make it easier to catch more of the same species of Pokémon and eggs which can hatch into new Pokémon.

More: How to get Poké Balls in Pokémon Go

Eggs and incubators

As you move through the world, and collect items from Pokéstops you might just luck out and pick up an egg. You can incubate eggs in order to hatch them, which will net you a Pokémon in the progress. You start the game with a single incubator, although you can purchase more. The only way to get eggs though is by finding them at Pokéstops.

To hatch an egg, you must first place it in an incubator. When you place an egg into the incubator, it will let you know how far you need to physically walk in order to hatch it. Initially, you’ll only have access to a single incubator which lasts forever. You can purchase more incubators from the store for 180 coins each, and those will last for 5 uses before breaking down.

Hatching eggs comes in three varieties:

• 2km travelled
• 5km travelled
• 10km travelled

When Eggs hatch, you can generally expect to find Pokémon similar to common Pokémon from the Pokéstop where you found the egg, but may occasionally find something more rare. The Eggs with the larger distance often yields a greater reward in terms of rarity, but you have no control over how strong that Pokémon is when it hatches.

The big benefit to hatching an egg is’t so much the Pokémon inside, but the Pokémon Candy that comes with it. Candy is used to evolve Pokémon, so you’re going to need lots of it. While you gain three Candy for each Pokémon you capture, you get a lot more from hatching an egg!

Evolution

Evolution is a natural part of Pokémon that’s to be expected in any Pokémon game and Pokémon Go is no different. However, evolution doesn’t work the same way in Pokémon Go as it does in the classic games, though. Pokémon don’t evolve when they level up through earning experience from battles with other Pokémon trainers. Instead, you’ll need to grab up duplicates of the same Pokémon, which drop Candy and Stardust. Candies are Pokémon specific and can be used to level up any Pokémon in that evolutionary line.

For example, you can use Candy that Charmander has dropped to evolve a Chameleon. Once you have gathered enough of a single type of Pokémon, you’ll be able to use the Candies to evolve it. However you are still saddled with all those duplicates you gathered up. The game does allow you to send unwanted Pokémon to the Professor in exchange for additional Candy, but be careful. Once sent to the Professor, you can never get a Pokémon back.

In addition to giving you the next evolutionary stage of a Pokémon, evolving will raise a Pokémon’s CP and HP. CP represents how strong a Pokémon’s attacks are while HP represents how much damage a Pokémon can take.

Gyms

Much like Pokéstops, Gyms are actual landmarks out in the world, and they are where real Pokémon battles happen. You can claim them for your team, or help level up a Gym already claimed for your team to gain build up its prestige. Trainers can take over an unoccupied Gym and claim it for the Red, Blue, or Yellow team. If your team’s color is in control of a Gym, you are able to train in it. If a Gym is already held by an opposing team, you’ll need to battle the Pokémon holding it to lower its prestige.

This triggers a fun mini-game where you’ll need to attack the opposing Pokémon, and dodge their attacks. When battling, you have three options. You can tap the screen to attack, press and hold the screen to initiate a special attack, and swipe left or right to dodge an opponent’s attack. Just like in traditional Pokémon games, the goal is to reduce your opponent’s Pokémon’s hit points to zero.

Gyms earn prestige when either you train your Pokémon in one that your team controls, and lose prestige when opposing teams win battles against the Pokémon left there. Your team’s Gym will earn experience points to gain prestige, which will amount to leveling up the Gym. As its levels increase, so do the number of Gym Leaders. For example, if your Gym has reached level three, you can have three Gym Leaders in it, which makes it harder for opposing teams to overthrow.

To steal control of a Gym that is already occupied by an opposing team, you must win your battle against all of the Gym Leaders’ Pokemon in it. Beating all the leaders in the Gym will lower the prestige but it will take multiple battles against the same Pokémon in order to occupy it for your team.

Leveling up

You’ll gain XP as you move through the world by exploring Pokéstops and battling at Gyms, and like most games each level has an amount of XP you need to earn in order to move on through the next level. Currently, there are 40 levels in Pokémon Go. Here are the big things you need to know:

• Each level increase comes with a set of gifts as a reward
• You must be level 5 before you can participate in Gym battles and choose a faction.
• You start receiving better Poké Balls at level 12
• The jump from level 20 to level 21 is twice the XP it took to get to level 20 from level 19

Leveling up through the initial levels quickly is all about going out and doing the work. You play the game, gather as many Pokémon as possible, and then use an item called a Lucky Egg to quickly gain XP. Most players recommend using the first 20 levels to store up as much Stardust as possible, so you have lots of it on hand to power up more capable Pokémon once you’re at a level to better take and hold a Gym.

More: How to use a Lucky Egg

More: How to level up your trainer in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go Plus [AKA: Poké Watch]

If you decide to go all-in and invest in a Pokémon Go Plus wearable, you can play the game without having to take your phone out of your pocket. The device comes with a detachable band and a clip, so you can wear it on your wrist or lapel, or backpack, or wherever.

When worn, the Pokémon Go Plus acts as a notification device, alerting you when a Pokéstop or Pokémon is nearby. You will receive a different vibration, depending on what you are near. You can then use the Pokémon Go Plus to activate a Pokéstop or even catch a Pokémon without having to look at your phone at all. To activate a Pokéstop or catch a Pokémon, you will press the wearable device in a specific pattern.

The Pokémon Go Plus accessory is expected to be available in October.

Get out there and play!

There is tons to explore with Pokémon Go whether you’ve been playing the games for years, or you’re checking it out for the first time. This is just the beginning, we know that trading and Poké Centers and the Pokémon Go Plus accessory are all on the way to improve the experience.

The awesome part is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re an Android fan, or more comfortable with an iPhone, Pokemon Go will be available to you. It’s a global game, which means that it also doesn’t matter where in the world you are, although finding Pokemon will require you to travel a fair bit.

Pokémon Go

• Join our Pokémon Go forums!
• How to deal with GPS errors in-game
• Which team should you choose?
• How to play without killing your battery
• The Ultimate Pokémon Go Game Guide!
• Listen to the Pokémon Go podcast!

Complain all you want about the OnePlus 3, at least it’s getting updates

OnePlus 3 software updates are fixing things and breaking other things. But that’s OK.

I’ve been witness to a maelstrom of frustration and invective over the weekend as OnePlus rolled out yet another fix for its OxygenOS software for the OnePlus 3.

OxygenOS version 3.2.4 began trickling out in small waves over the weekend, with promises to fix a few of the OnePlus 3’s nagging issues — many of which were introduced in previous updates. That’s a problem, sure: it’s never ideal to replace one set of bugs with another. But the reality is that OnePlus, free from the need to submit its software to carriers, can and is doing the right thing by unilaterally releasing regular fixes — even as it continues to roll up Google’s own security updates into separate releases.

The latest update comprised the following fixes:

• Fixed the auto-reboot issue.
• Improved call quality.
• Implemented various fixes and carrier optimizations.

Many people in our forums, XDA, and in OnePlus’ own, have complained that OxygenOS 3.2.4 worsens the phone’s ability to stay connected to an LTE network, and doesn’t fix its most glaring issue: a poor implementation of Doze that prevents the OnePlus 3 from intermittently receiving notifications while idle. There is no question that OnePlus is doing everything it can to address these problems, which is why there have been so many hotfix updates in the past few weeks. Being a relatively small company comes with scaling challenges, and selling a single version of the phone to work with hundreds of carriers around the world is, even with a single Qualcomm baseband solution, a logistical nightmare. OnePlus has done an admirable job getting its latest flagship to the point where it just works out of the box.

OnePlus should be lauded, not criticized, for its commitment to releasing updates on a regular basis

OnePlus should be lauded, not criticized, for its commitment to releasing updates on a regular basis, even if they don’t end up fixing everything that’s wrong with the device in question. For all of its hardware prowess, we have to remember that OnePlus is a very young company, and that OxygenOS is considerably less mature than an equivalent Android build from Samsung, LG or HTC. You may see something close to stock Android and think they slightly modified the code from Google’s Nexus line, but you’re wrong: there’s a whole lot of behind the scenes stuff happening that you don’t (and shouldn’t) see.

Of course, the company did take its time in releasing Marshmallow for the OnePlus 2, and that phone had no shortage of issues when it launched in 2015, but OnePlus seems to have improved its quality control in a number of ways since then.

I also have to emphasize that the OnePlus 3 issues you are hearing about are not widespread. Neither I nor my two colleagues with the OnePlus 3 in-hand have had troubles with notifications, and the battery problems that a vocal few are having are no worse than on an average Android phone with a 3,000mAh battery. I’ve also really enjoyed using the OnePlus 3’s vivid 1080p display despite criticism that it is poorly calibrated; indeed, the newly-added SRGB toggle in Developer Settings that was added shortly after Anandtech’s scathing review is, to my eyes, not nearly as enjoyable as the default color setting.

Software is a living, breathing thing. OnePlus can’t and won’t get everything right the first, second or even third time.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the aggressive memory management that the OnePlus 3 shipped with, which too willingly closed background apps after some time, causing them to reload instead of jump to attention. This was a choice by OnePlus to prolong battery life, and theoretically works in conjunction with other Marshmallow features like Doze, and existing notification schemes like Google Cloud Messaging, which does not rely on having apps open in the background.

Software is a living, breathing thing. That’s why it may be a good idea for the company to release a beta track, which will allow a small number of early adopters to regularly provide feedback on upcoming releases. It did that with the OnePlus 2 Marshmallow update, and that proved to be a successful endeavor.

OnePlus can’t and won’t get everything right the first, second or even third time. But when we’re measuring other manufacturers by whether they released an update at all in the last few months, OnePlus, at least from my perspective, deserves no small amount of praise for its efforts.

OnePlus 3

• OnePlus 3 review: Finally, all grown up
• OnePlus 3 specs
• OnePlus 3 vs. the flagship competition
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3 in the forums

OnePlus

New iPhone 7 leaks show Space Black colour and Smart Connector

Apple will likely unveil the new iPhone, thought to be called iPhone 7, in just a few weeks, so it’s no surprise to see a new leaked images and a video emerge online, reportedly revealing the 5.5-inch Plus model in Space Black.

Space Black is basically a darker version of the existing Space Gray colour. It’s been a rumoured colour option for a while and was even once expected to be called Deep Blue. It now appears like Space Black is the name, and the leaked images and video depicting this new colour option largely match with previous leaks for the iPhone 7, though there are some curious differences.

For one, the dual-lens camera bump appears less pronounced than it does on other leaks, and there is a “S” edition designated on the rear, which seems odd, considering the current-generation iPhone models are iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. The pictures also show a Smart Connector on the back, even though it’s rumoured to be a feature specific to a iPhone 7 Pro model.

Apple is supposedly mulling three models of the iPhone this year: the standard iPhone 7, then the larger-screen iPhone 7 Plus, and a iPhone 7 Pro. More recently, reports have claimed a Pro model is not in the works, and that Apple will not include a Smart Connector on the iPhone 7. Other rumours include no 3.5mm headphone jack, two speakers, and a pressure-sensitive Home Button.

Apple is expected to reveal the iPhone 7 on 7 September, with pre-orders beginning two days later, followed by a launch on 16 September.

Tinder says GIFs and emoji lead to better connections

Who knew that the secret to successful online dating lay in GIFs? The next time you find yourself spending an hour coming up with the perfect greeting and introduction on Tinder, stop and find a GIF instead. According to Tinder’s research, GIF messages are 30 percent more likely to receive a response than non-GIF ones.

The company also found that conversations with GIFs were two times longer than those without, and since the feature was enabled in 2016, more than 100 million GIFs have been sent around the world in the app.

Tinder’s sociologist Dr. Jess Carbino told Engadget that she regularly interviews the company’s users. She believes starting conversations is challenging, and that GIFs and emojis are a good way to break the ice, because “people are very attracted to art and things that are visual,” she said.

When asked if the animated images could be used as a crutch, Dr Carbino argued, “GIFs are a good way to assess compatibility and sense of humor.” The GIFs aren’t just used by young people, either. According to Dr. Carbino, Tinder’s users range between 18 and 61 years of age, and GIFs are used universally across all the age groups.

The company is still looking into the impact of GIFs and emojis on people who are meeting through its new Social feature, which lets you find new friends to hang out with. In the meantime, if you’re puzzling over how to get that cute match to keep talking to you, it might be time to drop a GIF.

We don’t understand AI because we don’t understand intelligence

Artificial intelligence prophets including Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Raymond Kurzweil predict that by the year 2030 machines will develop consciousness through the application of human intelligence. This will lead to a variety of benign, neutral and terrifying outcomes. For example, Musk, Hawking and dozens of other researchers signed a petition in January 2015 that claimed AI-driven machines could lead to “the eradication of disease and poverty” in the near future. This is, clearly, a benign outcome.

And then there’s the neutral result: Kurzweil, who first posited the idea of the technological singularity, believes that by the 2030s people will be able to upload their minds, melding man with machine. On the terrifying side of things, Musk envisions a future where humans will essentially be house cats to our software-based overlords, while Kurzweil takes it a step further, suggesting that humans will essentially be eradicated in favor of intelligent machines.

These claims are not ludicrous on their own. We’ve seen rapid advancements in technology over the past decades; we know computers are growing more powerful and more accessible by the month. Already in 2011, a supercomputer named Watson won a game of Jeopardy against two former champions, using a mixture of AI and all-important natural-language processing. The future is here and it may soon outstrip us.

Kurzweil’s timeline of the technological singularity is based on the law of accelerating returns, wherein the more powerful computers become, the faster they advance. It’s a timeline of extreme exponential growth, and right now we’re smacking into the steep curve that leads to conscious machines and a world where robots are the dominant creatures on earth.

That’s what Kurzweil believes. That’s what Musk, Hawking and many other AI scientists believe. And isn’t that a human thing, to believe in something? However, by 2045, belief will also be a machine thing, according to these researchers. We just need to create the most advanced AI possible, and then bam — conscious machines.

This is where they lose me.

I agree that technology will continue to advance in unprecedented, accelerated ways; we’re seeing this happen right now, and there’s no reason to believe we are anywhere near a computational plateau. However, it is a huge leap from advanced technology to the artificial creation of consciousness. Essentially, the most extreme promises of AI are based on a flawed premise: that we understand human intelligence and consciousness.

AI experts are working with a specific definition of intelligence, namely the ability to learn, recognize patterns, display emotional behaviors and solve analytical problems. However, this is just one definition of intelligence in a sea of contested, vaguely formed ideas about the nature of cognition. Neuroscience and neuropsychology don’t provide a definition of human intelligence — rather, they have many. Different fields, even different researchers, identify intelligence in disparate terms.

Broadly, scientists regard intelligence as the ability to adapt to an environment while realizing personal goals, or even as the ability to select the best response to a particular setting. However, this is based largely on the biological understanding of intelligence, as it relates to evolution and natural selection. In practice, neuroscientists and psychologists offer competing ideas of human intelligence within and outside of their respective fields.

Consider the following overview from psychologists Michael C. Ramsay and Cecil R. Reynolds:

“Theorists have proposed, and researchers have reported, that intelligence is a set of relatively stable abilities, which change only slowly over time. Although intelligence can be seen as a potential, it does not appear to be an inherent fixed or unalterable characteristic. … Contemporary psychologists and other scientists hold that intelligence results from a complex interaction of environmental and genetic influences. Despite more than one hundred years of research, this interaction remains poorly understood and detailed. Finally, intelligence is neither purely biological nor purely social in its origins. Some authors have suggested that intelligence is whatever intelligence tests measure.”

This does not describe a field flush with consensus. And psychology is just one of a dozen industries concerned with the human brain, mind and intelligence.

Our understanding of technology may be advancing at an ever-accelerating rate, but our knowledge of these more vague concepts — intelligence, consciousness, what the human mind even is — remains in a ridiculously infantile stage. Technology may be poised to usher in an era of computer-based humanity, but neuroscience, psychology and philosophy are not. They’re universes away from even landing on technology’s planet, and these gaps in knowledge will surely drag down the projected AI timeline.

Most experts who study the brain and mind generally agree on at least two things: We do not know, concretely and unanimously, what intelligence is. And we do not know what consciousness is.

“To achieve the singularity, it isn’t enough to just run today’s software faster,” Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen wrote in 2011. “We would also need to build smarter and more capable software programs. Creating this kind of advanced software requires a prior scientific understanding of the foundations of human cognition, and we are just scraping the surface of this.”

Defining human intelligence and consciousness is still more philosophy than neuroscience. So let’s get philosophical.

Conscious creativity

Musk, Kurzweil and other proponents of the technological singularity suggest over and over again that ever-increasing computational power will automatically lead to human intelligence and machine consciousness. They imply that the more rapidly technology advances, the more rapidly other scientific fields will also advance.

“It is not my position that just having powerful enough computers, powerful enough hardware, will give us human-level intelligence,” Kurzweil said in 2006. “We need to understand the principles of operation of the human intelligence, how the human brain performs these functions. What is the software, what is the algorithms, what is the content? And for that we look to another grand project, which I label reverse-engineering the human brain, understanding its methods. And we see the same exponential progress we see in other fields, like biology.”

Kurzweil recognizes the need to understand human intelligence before accurately rebuilding it in a machine, but his solution, reverse-engineering a brain, leaps across the fields of neuroscience, psychology and philosophy. It assumes too much — mainly that building a brain is the same thing as building a mind.

These two terms, “brain” and “mind,” are not interchangeable. It’s feasible that we can re-create the brain; it’s an infinitely complex structure, but it’s still a physical thing that can, eventually, be fully mapped, dissected and re-formed. Just this month, IBM announced it had created a working, artificial neuron capable of reliably recognizing patterns in a noisy data landscape while behaving unpredictably — specifically what a natural neuron should do. Creating a neuron is light-years away from rebuilding an entire human brain, but it’s a piece of the puzzle.

However, it’s still not a mind. Even if scientists develop the technology to create an artificial brain, there is no evidence that this process will automatically generate a mind. There’s no guarantee that this machine will suddenly be conscious. How could there be, when we don’t understand the nature of consciousness?

Even if scientists develop the technology to create an artificial brain, there is no evidence that this process will automatically generate a mind.

Consider just one aspect of the mind, consciousness and intelligence: creativity. On its own, creativity is a varied and murky thing for each individual. For one person, the creative process involves spending weeks isolated in a remote cabin; for another, it takes three glasses of whiskey; for still another, creativity manifests in unpredictable flashes of inspiration that last minutes or months at a time. Creativity means intense focus for some and long bouts of procrastination for others.

So tell me: Will AI machines procrastinate?

Perhaps not. The singularity suggests that, eventually, AI will be billions of times more powerful than human intelligence. This means AI will divest itself of messy things like procrastination, mild alcoholism and introversion in order to complete tasks similar to those accomplished by their human counterparts. There’s little doubt that software will one day be able to output beautiful, creative things with minimal (or zero) human input. Beautiful things, but not necessarily better. Creative, but not necessarily conscious.

Singularities

Kurzweil, Musk and others aren’t predicting the existence of Tay the Twitter bot; they’re telling the world that we will, within the next 20 years, copy the human brain, trap it inside an artificial casing and therefore re-create the human mind. No, we’ll create something even better: a mind — whatever that is — that doesn’t need to procrastinate in order to be massively creative. A mind that may or may not be conscious — whatever that means.

The technological singularity may be approaching, but our understanding of psychology, neuroscience and philosophy is far more nebulous, and all of these fields must work in harmony in order for the singularity’s promises to be fulfilled. Scientists have made vast advances in technological fields in recent decades, and computers are growing stronger by the year, but a more powerful computer does not equate to a breakthrough in philosophical understanding. More accurately mapping the brain does not mean we understand the mind.

The technological singularity has a longer tail than the law of accelerating returns suggests. Nothing on earth operates in a vacuum, and before we can create AI machines capable of supporting human intelligence, we need to understand what we’re attempting to imitate. Not ethically or morally, but technically. Before we can even think of re-creating the human brain, we need to unlock the secrets of the human mind.

Hyatt and Starwood hotel chains suffer credit card breach

HEI, the holding company behind a wide number of hotel brands including Marriott and (wait for it) Hyatt, has announced that it suffered a data breach via its payment tools. According to the outfit, hackers installed malware inside payment processing systems that harvested data at point-of-sale kiosks at 19 locations in the US. Specifically, those who made card purchases at specific restaurants, gift shops or spas between March 2015 and July 2016. In total, around 8,000 transactions are likely to be affected, with people’s credit card numbers and addresses potentially at risk.

The company has posted a list of which hotels were targeted, which includes Marriott, Hyatt, Intercontinental, LeMeridien, Renaissance, Sheraton and Westin branches. If you think you’ve been affected, the company advises you to contact your credit card provider and inform them of the situation. In addition, HEI has pledged that its systems are now clean and that its replacement payment processing system is significantly safer than before. Still, when sweating the cost of that $5 bag of chips, you’d never have thought the price would have climbed even higher.

Via: CNET

Source: HEI