Recently I noticed in an old USAF study that a Dr. Walter Thiel (chemist) was credited as Germany’s “best propulsion expert” until he was killed by a 1943 Allied bombing run on a Nazi weapons research center. This little detail (perhaps with a nod to Operation Paperclip) prompted me to start looking into the Thiel … Continue reading Why Doesn’t Peter Thiel Denounce Nazism?
An infamous blackface performance by Tesla indicates to me the company is promoting a fantasy of robots that invokes a discussion of slavery. What do you see here? Does a white man dressed all in black seem odd standing next to a robot made to appear like a black woman dressed all in white? I … Continue reading Tesla’s Black-Face Robot: Promoting Slavery as Fantasy?
I just got off the phone with a technology reporter for a major newspaper, where I was asked about the risks of facial recognition. That’s a deep topic, since crime using faces (deepfakes, impersonation) can apply to almost anything (fraud/theft, racism, classicism). However, I ended the call by warning about even broader risks in recognition … Continue reading Tesla Safety Fail: “Full Self Driving” Can’t Read Even Basic Traffic Signals