The metaverse has virtually disappeared. Here's why it's generative AI's fault
"It's basically going through the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies,"
she says. "We've had the hype and now we're seeing the reality. The metaverse
was capturing people's imagination. But we're still looking for proven use cases
that are going to generate value." Searle's assertion that the metaverse is
suffering a familiar fate to other over-hyped technologies is certainly one
explanatory factor for the drop in interest in the metaverse. But another huge
contributory factor is the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
... Of course, the rapid take up of generative AI isn't the only narrative in
this story; there's a whole series of potential concerns, such as
hallucinations, plagiarism, and ethics, that need to be dealt with sooner
rather than later. But if you want to impress your family and friends with a
tool that seems to work like magic, then generative AI is the one. On the
other hand, the metaverse -- just like the blockchain before it -- feels a bit
like a rabbit that's stuck in a magician's hat. Entering the metaverse often
isn't as easy as its proponents have promised.
Why the service industry needs blockchain, explained
The difficulty of integrating blockchain with existing infrastructure and
processes is a significant obstacle. Because service providers frequently use a
variety of platforms and technologies, achieving seamless integration can be
difficult. It might be difficult to protect data security and privacy while
still adhering to regulations. Blockchain’s transparency conflicts with the
requirement to protect sensitive customer information, necessitating careful
design and implementation of privacy measures. Another major challenge is
establishing communication and data exchange across various blockchain networks
and traditional systems. To facilitate seamless interoperability, service
providers need to spend time developing standardized protocols, which can be
expensive and time-consuming. Moreover, there are scalability concerns.
Blockchain networks, especially public ones, may face limitations in handling a
high volume of transactions efficiently. Delays and higher expenses may result
from this, especially in service industries where several quick transactions are
necessary.
Why developer productivity isn’t all about tooling and AI
Creative work requires some degree of isolation. Each time they sit down to
code, developers build up context for what they’re doing in their head; they
play a game with their imagination where they’re slotting their next line of
code into the larger picture of their project so everything fits together.
Imagine you’re holding all this context in your head — and then someone pings
you on Slack with a small request. All the context you’ve built up collapses in
that instant. It takes time to reorient yourself. It’s like trying to sleep and
getting woken up every hour. ... Another factor that gets in the way of
developer productivity is a lack of clarity on what engineers are supposed to be
doing. If developers have to spend time trying to figure out the requirements of
what they’re building while they’re building it, they’re ultimately doing two
types of work: Prioritization and coding. These disparate types of work don’t
mesh. Figuring out what to build requires conversations with users, extensive
research, talks with stakeholders across the organization and other tasks well
outside the scope of software development.
Here’s What a Software Architect Does in an Agile Team
An architect is probably not a valid role on an agile team. I admit I have at
times been overzealous with non-coding members of a dev team. The less militant
version of this is to be aware of ‘pigs’ and ‘chickens’ in the agile sense. When
making breakfast, chickens lay eggs but pigs literally have skin in the game. So
only pigs should attend daily agile stand ups. There are three problems with the
role of architect in classic agile. Think of these as Lutheran protestant theses
nailed to the door — or more likely to the planning wall.There are no upfront
design phases in agile. “The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams”. An architect cannot be an approver and cause
of delay. This leads to the idea that architectural know-how should be spread
out amongst the other team members. This is often the case — however it elides
the fact that architectural responsibility doesn’t fall to anyone, even if
people feel they may be accountable. Remember your RACI matrix. Should all agile
developers be architects in a project? This makes little sense, since
architecture describes a singular plan.
AI’s Ability to Reason: Statistics vs. Logic
As a simplistic existence proof that today’s AI does not reason with logic,
consider the following problem in basic algebra which was given to Bing/OpenAI
GPT to solve. The gist of the problem shown in the figure below is that there
are two rectangles, each having the same height (though this detail is not
clearly stated in the sourcing 6th grade math text) but different widths.
Areas for each are given. The rectangles are positioned in the corresponding
math text to suggest that they may be aggregated into a larger rectangle
having a width that is the sum of the widths of the smaller rectangles — maybe
as a hint toward length. The request to find the length (height) and widths is
a test to see whether OpenAI’s GPT via Bing would determine if there are
sufficient equations matching unknowns. There aren’t. GPT didn’t discover the
number of equations is one too few. Instead, it attempted to find length and
widths, and it responded suggesting it had successfully solved the math
problem. Everything started to go amuck when the insufficiency of the number
of equations matched to the number of unknowns was missed, and the third
equation given above simply is a function of the other two.
Security Is EVERYBODY’s Business, But CISOs Need to Lead
Cybersecurity is not an audit or internal audit. There is a fine line of
difference there. And as much as the CISO is seen as somewhat more of an
enforcer, they need to be seen as an enabler to the business. CISOs need to
have very direct, effective, and transparent communication with the board
members when it comes to quantification of everything that they’re doing. And
when I say quantification, what I mean is quantification of risks to the
organization. Some of the board members will be closer to cybersecurity risks.
Some of them may be closer to a reputational risk or a financial risk. But if
a CSO can stitch that story together and quantify it for the audience of the
board, I think that goes a long way. That’s what’s needed because, in the
situation in the market that we are in right now, with the threat landscape
changing, with new capabilities coming into play, I think it’s critical. CISOs
need to ensure the message is articulated well in the boardroom.
How Agile Managers Use Uncertainty to Create Better Decisions Faster
Here's the problem I see with big, long-term, and final management decisions:
the decision is too large to have any certainty at all. Remember I said I
don't take long consulting engagements? Early in my consulting career, I
learned that even a “guaranteed” consulting project was not a guarantee at
all. Sure, the client might pay a kill fee (a portion of the unused project
budget), but most of the time, the client said (on a Friday afternoon),
“Thanks. The world has changed. Don't come back on Monday.” While I always
continued my marketing so my business would survive, I felt as if the clients
cheated themselves. Because we thought we had more time, we didn't create
smaller goals and achieve them. Our work was incomplete—according to their
goals. And that's what people remember. Not that they changed the
circumstances, but that we didn't finish. That's exactly what happens when
managers try to decide for a long time without revisiting their decisions. The
world changes. If the world changes enough, the managers feel the need to lay
people off, not just stop efforts. Those layoffs are a result of too-long and
too-large management decisions.
Technical and digital debt can devastate your digital ambition
Of course, no organisation can afford zero technical debt (is this even
possible?). The judgement here is targeting existing technical debt in a
priority order. Deciding what not to do is just as important as what to do.
You will be better able to manage the high expectations of stakeholders, shape
the transformation and prioritise investment when you have this insight. Ask
yourself these questions:What technical debt will act as an anchor when trying
to increase the pace of change, irrespective of how fast your new IT
engineering and product-based approaches to change are? Or to put it another
way, which single piece of technical debt will limit the flow of value,
irrespective of how slick everything else is? To be able to adapt at pace, at
short notice, responding to market opportunities, where is your underlying
technology strong but resistant to change? Customers just expect your digital
channels to work; where must you improve the reliability of your service?
Where can you increase cost effectiveness or risk mitigation through targeted
automation as one of the treatment strategies available to you?
How AI and Crypto is Transforming the Future of Decentralized Finance
As time has passed, the crypto industry has evolved into a breeding ground for
fraudulent activities and deception. Safeguarding investors from fraud has
become increasingly vital, especially with the influx of initial coin
offerings and new platforms entering the market. The encouraging news is that
AI and crypto can effectively prevent fraud attempts and ensure that investors
adhere to financial compliance. AI bots, for example, can detect and flag
fraudulent transactions, preventing them from proceeding unless confirmed by a
human. Confirming crypto transactions often takes up to 24 hours due to
reliance on consensus methods. However, cases of transaction delays often pose
a challenge for the crypto sector. With some recent advancements in AI
technology, there have been some enhanced trade management options. Some
companies are adopting innovative consensus methods that significantly reduce
transaction times to just a few seconds. This improvement holds potential
benefits for the
Secure Together: ATO Defense for Businesses and Consumers
First off, businesses need to take the lead in forming a stronger partnership
with their customers. This means educating both customers and employees on
proper security measures. Websites operating with user accounts, engaging
individuals and corporations, often find themselves in the crosshairs of
swindlers intent on ATO. We mentioned above that phishing is a common tactic.
It’s imperative to consistently enlighten customers and employees about the
looming menace of online security breaches like phishing, including how
phishing attempts trick people and tips for not getting tangled. Adopt a
vigilant stance on security by ingraining robust preventive protocols,
including routine password updates and providing guidelines for safeguarding
user credentials. ... Training does not end there. The MGM Resorts cyberattack
we cited above also involved a fraudster tricking a customer support help
desk. Businesses must train their staff on how to stop these attempted
breaches — for example, by knowing how to ask questions that only a legitimate
account holder could know the answer to.
Quote for the day:
"You may be good. You may even be
better than everyone esle. But without a coach you will never be as good as
you could be." -- Andy Stanley
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