Techopian Weekly -AI will spark a productivity boom soon, says professor

AI will spark a productivity boom soon, says professor
Thanos was wrong about population but so is Musk, suggests famous economist
The 'wind speed lie'
Oxford University’s research and knowledge contributes £7.9 billion to the UK economy
The world just tried going cold turkey

Techopian's weekly roundup on some of the key stories covered this week. For those too busy during the week but need something to make them seem informed on Monday morning

AI will spark a productivity boom soon, says professor

What has a good comedian and the economic impact of technology got in common? Answer: timing.

Whilst you get over the fits of laughter, the above joke must surely have induced spare thoughts for time-lags. Technology underpins and economy — the industrial revolution of the 18th, 19th and early 20th Century followed a period of economic boom — but not straight away. It will be like that with AI, suggests

Prof Crafts, Professor of Economic History at the University of Sussex Business School, but the time lags between innovation and economic impact are getting shorter. So we won’t have to wait so long this time.

AI will spark a productivity boom soon, says professor

New research from a professor of economic history suggests that AI will support a boom in economic productivity soon, but we may have to wait a little longer.

Techopian - The conversation and voice for ethical technologyMichael Baxter

Thanos was wrong about population but so is Musk, suggests famous economist

Elon Musk and Thanos from the Marvel franchise sit on opposite sides of the population debate. Thanos fretted about overpopulation and came up with an idea of a kind of universal cull. On the other hand, Musk thinks an imminent collapse in the population is potentially the single biggest threat to civilisation. We know Thanos was wrong, but so is Musk says Lord Turner, former chair at the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Thanos was wrong about population but so is Musk suggests famous economist

Elon Musk reckons a collapse in the population poses the biggest threat to civilisation, but he is wrong, suggests leading economist

Techopian - The conversation and voice for ethical technologyMichael Baxter

The 'wind speed lie'

Some people just don’t want a renewable revolution; everywhere I turn, I hear reasons why low wind speeds are the cause — or at least one cause — of the energy crisis. It is odd, though; there are very few electric heat pumps across Europe, gas is the main source for our heating.

Consumers can’t flick a switch and in a trice shift their heating, or indeed their oven, from gas to electric. It doesn’t work like that.

So why then are so many reports blaming low wind speeds for higher gas prices?

According to the UK National Grid website, at 7 am on Thursday, October 7th, which fell into the period when this article was being written, 24.6 per cent of UK electricity generation was derived from renewables. This was slightly higher than the average over the last year, which was 23.1 per cent. Over the last month, week and day, electricity generation from renewables as a share of total generation was higher than the average over the last year.

The wind speed lie

Slower wind speeds are the cause of the energy crisis, suggest analysts; here is the problem with this statement, there is precious little evidence to back it up

Techopian - The conversation and voice for ethical technologyMichael Baxter

Oxford University’s research and knowledge contributes £7.9 billion to the UK economy

The UK. One can have fun listing its failings, but surely no one can deny the extraordinary reputation of its universities.

According to the top universities website, of the world’s top ten universities, four are in the UK, five in the US and one in Switzerland.

There was a time was when universities were seen as somewhat removed from the real world, Ivory Towers that offered a safe, protected environment for dons, their noses stuck in books. It is not like that now, research from universities is changing the world, and it is worth money too, a lot of money.

Take Oxford University. A new report analysed the economic impact of the University of Oxford on the UK economy, focusing on the 2018/19 financial year. It valued…

Oxford University’s research and knowledge contributes £7.9 billion to the UK economy

Oxford University contributed £15.7 billion to the UK economy in 2018/19 with research and knowledge accounting for more than half this figure

Techopian - The conversation and voice for ethical technologyTechopian Team

The world just tried going cold turkey

If the world is addicted to social media and oil and debt, then we have just been through a period of cold turkey, and then there is the British Conservative party which just took a wrong turn in its journey through the space-time continuum…

The world just tried going cold turkey

If the world is addicted to social media and oil and debt, then we have just been through a period of cold turkey, and then there is the British Conservative party which just took a wrong turn in its journey through the space-time continuum.What

Techopian - The conversation and voice for ethical technologyMichael Baxter

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