Man and Machine: Questions of Risk, Trust and Accountability in Today's AI Technology

Artificial Intelligence began as a field probing some of the most fundamental questions of science - the nature of intelligence and the design of intelligent artifacts. But it has grown into a discipline that is deeply entwined with commerce and society. Today's AI technology, such as expert systems and intelligent assistants, pose some difficult questions of risk, trust and accountability. In this paper, we present these concerns, examining them in the context of historical developments that have shaped the nature and direction of AI research. We also suggest the exploration and further development of two paradigms, human intelligence-machine cooperation, and a sociological view of intelligence, which might help address some of these concerns.Comment: Preprin

Cultural evolution developing its own rules: The rise of conservatism and persuasion

In the human sciences, cultural evolution is often viewed as an autonomous process free of genetic influence. A question that follows is, If culture is not influenced by genes, can it take any path? Employing a simple mathematical model of cultural transmission in which individuals may copy each other's traits, we show that cultural evolution favors individuals who are weakly influenced by others and able to influence others. The model suggests that the cultural evolution of rules of cultural transmission tends to create populations that evolve rapidly toward conservatism, and that bias in cultural transmission may result purely from cultural dynamics. Freedom from genetic influence is not freedom to take any direction

Cultural competency in the delivery of health services for Indigenous people

Aim and objectives This review aims to examine available evidence on cultural competence in health care settings to identify key approaches and strategies that can contribute to improving the development and implementation of Indigenous health services and programs. The objectives are to: 1. define cultural competency –– we consider the significance of cultural competence and how it has been defined in international and local literature, including the use of similar terms and meanings 2. report on the quantity, nature and quality of available evidence –– we look at available evidence on cultural competency in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, including how cultural competence has been measured, and assess the quality of the evidence against basic methodological criteria 3. identify approaches and strategies that are effective in improving cultural competency among health services staff 4. examine the relationship between cultural competency and health outcomes 5. develop an evidence-informed conceptual framework of cultural competency

The Status of Queen Conch, Strombus gigas, Research in the Caribbean

Today there are approximately 230 published scientific papers on queen conch, Strombus gigas. Publication on this species began in the 1960's and increased rapidly during the 1980's and 1990's (Fig. 1). The increase in publication after 1980 was associated with three particular areas ofendeavor. First, many articles were published to document the rapid depletion of conch stocks throughout the Caribbean Sea. Second, substantial progress was made in understanding processes related to growth, mortality, and reproduction in queen conch. Third, because of the apparent and widespread decline in conch, several research laboratories, especially in Florida, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Turks and Caicos Islands began experiments related to hatchery production of juvenile conch. The primary intent was to replenish wild stocks by releasing hatchery-reared animals. Today, hatchery production has been relatively well perfected, and the increase in numbers of scientific papers related specifically to culture has slowed. A thorough review of the history of conch mariculture was provided by Creswell (1994), and Davis (1994) summarized the details of larval culture technique