Ken Garen, CPA, Co-Founder and President, UBCC

Humans Are Slamming Into Driverless Cars and Exposing a Key Flaw By Keith Naughton December 17, 2015 — 4:01 PM PST Updated on December 18, 2015 — 3:30 AM PST The self-driving car, that cutting-edge creation that’s supposed to lead to a world without accidents, is achieving the exact opposite right now: The vehicles have racked up a crash rate double that of those with human drivers. The glitch? They obey the law all the time, as in, without exception. This may sound like the right way to program a robot to drive a car, but good luck trying to merge onto a chaotic, jam-packed highway with traffic flying along well above the speed limit. It tends not to work out well. As the accidents have piled up -- all minor scrape-ups for now -- the arguments among programmers at places like Google Inc. and Carnegie Mellon University are heating up: Should they teach the cars how to commit infractions from time to time to stay out of trouble? “It’s a constant debate inside our gr...

Scientists Ponder How to Create Artificial Intelligence That Won’t Destroy Us Researchers take responsibility for the futuristic monster they may build By Jack Clark December 18, 2015 — 4:00 AM PST The creators of artificially intelligent machines are often depicted in popular fiction as myopic Dr. Frankensteins who are oblivious to the apocalyptic technologies they unleash upon the world. In real life, they tend to wring their hands over the big questions: good versus evil and the impact the coming wave of robots and machine brains will have on human workers. Scientists, recognizing their work is breaking out of the research lab and into the real world, grappled during a daylong summit on Dec. 10 in Montreal with such ethical issues as how to prevent computers that are smarter than humans from putting people out of work, adding complications to legal proceedings, or, even worse, seeking to harm society. Today’s AI can learn how to play video games, help automate e-mai...

Eye on safety, California sets rules for self-driving cars Originally published December 16, 2015 at 11:00 pm By JUSTIN PRITCHARD The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — California regulators have unveiled a roadmap that would let consumers begin using self-driving cars, though manufacturers would have to prove the emerging technology is safe before a licensed driver could get chauffeured around town. The approach California’s Department of Motor Vehicles offered Wednesday in precedent-setting draft regulations is cautious, though it does allow that Californians could be behind the wheel of a self-driving car by 2017. Among other safety-related requirements, the cars must have a steering wheel, and a licensed driver must be ready to take over if the machine fails. Google, which is pushing to get cars without a steering wheel or pedals to consumers, expressed “grave disappointment” with the rules, which the tech giant said would slow deployment of technology with ...

Rent Your Place on Airbnb? The Landlord Wants a Cut Revenue-sharing model would allow apartment dwellers to market rooms through lodging website By LAURA KUSISTO Updated Dec. 16, 2015 11:24 a.m. ET Three of the nation’s largest landlords have held discussions with Airbnb Inc. about allowing apartment dwellers to market rooms through the company’s global network in exchange for a slice of the revenue. Equity Residential, AvalonBay Communities Inc. and Camden Property Trust have had discussions with Airbnb in recent weeks about joining forces, executives at each of the companies said. They all said they are interested in pursuing a revenue-sharing model with Airbnb but would need to work out details. The moves hold the potential to expand Airbnb’s access to rental units across the country and further formalize a business that has grown from a matchmaking service for couch-surfers into a real threat to established hotels. Airbnb’s service has long run afoul of man...

Ford to test self-driving cars on California roads AFP 19 hours ago San Francisco (AFP) - Ford on Tuesday said that it has a green light to test self-driving cars in California, and should have them on roads in the most populous US state next year. The car maker officially enrolled in the California Autonomous Vehicle Testing Program and will begin with self-driving Ford Fusion Hybrid sedans, it said in a release. Ford boasted having more than 100 researchers, engineers, and scientists working in its research center in the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto. Ford researchers, who also collaborate with universities, specialize in technologies that help cars "see" or sense what is around them and safely navigate. "Our Palo Alto team has grown significantly this year, using research and innovation to explore and develop future mobility solutions,” said Ford chief executive Mark Fields. Ford announced earlier this year that it was nearing a productio...

Google to Make Driverless Cars an Alphabet Company in 2016 By John Lippert and Jack Clark December 16, 2015 — 6:35 AM PST Updated on December 16, 2015 — 9:16 AM PST Google Said to Make Driverless Car Unit Alphabet Company Group said to plan transportation service in Uber challenge Autonomous vehicles seen reducing roadway fatalities Google Inc. plans to make its self-driving cars unit, which will offer rides for hire, a stand-alone business under the Alphabet Inc. corporate umbrella next year, a person briefed on the company’s strategy said. Google’s autonomous vehicles have logged more than 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) on public roads, mostly around San Francisco and Austin, Texas, making these cities logical places for launching a service, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. The fleets ­-- which would include a range of large and small vehicles -- could be deployed first in confined areas like college campuse...

If you think your boss is a stiff now, just wait five years By Catey Hill, Marketwatch December 16, 2015 | 11:32am Robots are after your boss’ job. Managers spend much of their day working on tasks that robots will do better in the future, according to a survey released Wednesday by Accenture Strategy, the strategy arm of the global professional services company. More than 8 in 10 managers say they spend a significant part of their day planning and coordinating work, 65% solving problems and related tasks, 52% monitoring and reporting performance and 45% analyzing and sharing information, according to the survey, which questioned 1,700 managers across 17 industries. But in roughly five to 10 years, intelligent machines will likely be able to do many of these tasks more effectively than humans, says Bob Thomas, the managing director of Accenture Strategy. “We are entering a different kind of technological era,” he says — one in which robots play a much bigger role at ...