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Articolo su come la tecnologia cambia il settore postale
by Luigi Scorca Feb. 21, 2019

Feb. 21, 2019

Cari amici nexiani, vi segnalo un mio articolo appena pubblicato sul volume "*New Business and Regulatory Strategies in the Postal Sector*" (ed. Springer, lo trovate qui https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783030029364) dal titolo "*The Transformation of Postal Services in Light of Technological Developments and Users’ Needs*". In breve, analizzo come lo sviluppo tecnologico sta cambiando il processo di produzione dei servizi postali in due modi: sia attraverso l'integrazione verticale con le piattaforme e-commerce (Amazon, E-Bay, etc), sia attraverso la disintegrazione dei processi produttivi in segmenti amorfi, con la nascita di piattaforme per la gestione degli armadietti elettronici (i *lockers*), ed i servizi di consegna ultimo-miglio, anche in modalità *crowdsourced *(alla UBER, per intenderci). L'articolo è in inglese, e segue la presentazione fatta durante il NEXA Lunch Seminar del 28 Febbraio 2018 (https://nexa.polito.it/lunch-58) Per chi ha piacere di saperne di più mi scriva in privato ed invierò del materiale in merito. Buona serata, Luigi -- Luigi Scorca Mob: +39 347 85 22 221 Mail: luigi.scorca(a)gmail.com

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A philosopher argues that an AI can’t be an artist...
by Enrico Nardelli Feb. 21, 2019

Feb. 21, 2019

... Creativity is, and always will be, a human endeavor https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612913/a-philosopher-argues-that-an-ai-c… Creativity is among the most mysterious and impressive achievements of human existence. But what is it? Creativity is not just novelty. A toddler at the piano may hit a novel sequence of notes, but they’re not, in any meaningful sense, creative. Also, creativity is bounded by history: what counts as creative inspiration in one period or place might be disregarded as ridiculous, stupid, or crazy in another. A community has to accept ideas as good for them to count as creative. -- EN ===================================================================== Prof. Enrico Nardelli Dipartimento di Matematica - Universita' di Roma "Tor Vergata" Via della Ricerca Scientifica snc - 00133 Roma tel: +39 06 7259.4204 fax: +39 06 7259.4699 mobile: +39 335 590.2331 e-mail: nardelli(a)mat.uniroma2.it home page: http://www.mat.uniroma2.it/~nardelli blog: http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/blog/enardelli/ http://link-and-think.blogspot.it/ ===================================================================== --

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Cronache romane
by don Luca Peyron Feb. 21, 2019

Feb. 21, 2019

L’incertezza ci salverà Oggi le Ai sono sviluppate o in una modalità *market-driven* o *state-driven*. Dobbiamo pensare altre modalità. Per esempio sviluppando algoritmi di verifica indipendenti che sappiano certificare queste quattro capacità delle macchine. Oppure è possibile ipotizzare enti terzi indipendenti, che attraverso la scrittura di algoritmi dedicati siano in grado di valutare l’idoneità delle Ai alla convivenza con l’uomo. Solo rispettando queste indicazioni l’innovazione potrà essere guidata verso un autentico sviluppo umano. Il resto dell'articolo seguendo il link http://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/lincertezza-ci-salvera?fbclid=IwAR1… Buona lettura dl _________________________ www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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Learning Analytics - Yet another tool for "scientific" discrimination?
by Diego Latella Feb. 21, 2019

Feb. 21, 2019

Hi everybody. I’ve just received the call for papers for the 1st International Symposium Learning Analytics (http://iv.csites.fct.unl.pt/fr/symposia/iv/la-learning-analytics/ <http://iv.csites.fct.unl.pt/fr/symposia/iv/la-learning-analytics/>) I’ve no doubt about the good intentions of the organizers, that emerge also from the description of the symposium which I report (partially) below: Learning Analytics refers to the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data on the progress of learners and the micro and macro contexts of learning environment. It uses the data collected from the digital footprint of the learner and applies bigdata concepts to understand the influencing factors that affects learners whether it is educational policy and strategy, or it relates to the micro level module contents and its delivery. This has potential to support designing data and fact-based policy both for campus based and online delivery. Through Learning Analytics, it is possible to provide tailor-made learning and teaching for a specific group. It can lead to reduce disparity of standard within different systems and optimise the resources required to achieve required standards. Learning Analytics can support the prediction of outcome and guide early intervention to boosting retention rates. It will make significant contribution for quality assurance. When combined with refined visualization tools and suitable interfaces in an e-learning system, the use of Learning Analytics fosters a student-centred approach, supports self-regulated learning, and eventually helps learners (and teachers) along the road to educational success. This research area is witnessing swift developments since several years, and this Symposium aims to gather contributions to allow for exchange and further advancements. Technology Enhanced Learning advocates are invited to submit their original research work involving the use of Learning Analytics in education. However, I have to express strong concern about what could be additional uses (or abuses!) of “Learning Analytics”, and in particular about using it as a tool for potential discrimination. I think it is worth citing here what Ben Buchanan Taylor Miller of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of the Harvard Kennedy School wrote with reference to (big-data and) machine learning in their report of 2017 titled “Machine Learning for Policymakers. What It Is and Why It Matters”: "On one hand, machine learning has the exciting potential to diminish many of the effects of bias on the day-to-day lives […]. Neutral algorithms could make hiring decisions, approve people for loans, and recommend criminal sentences without the implicit preconceptions that humans bring to the table. Properly implemented, this could lead to a more just society. On the other hand, machine learning is sometimes critiqued as “money laundering for bias.” At its very worst, machine learning can cloak inequity with the imprimatur of science.” [emphasis added by me] Buchanan e Miller then continue describing a few well known cases of discrimination based on AI tools. I hope that the researchers in Learning Analytics will do their best for avoiding that the results of their scientific work, and the related technology, will never be used for discriminatory purposes. Diego Dott. Diego Latella - Senior Researcher CNR-ISTI, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy (http:www.isti.cnr.it) FM&&T Lab. (http://fmt.isti.cnr.it) http://www.isti.cnr.it/People/D.Latella - ph: +390506212982, mob: +39 348 8283101, fax: +390506212040 =================== The quest for a war-free world has a basic purpose: survival. But if in the process we learn how to achieve it by love rather than by fear, by kindness rather than compulsion; if in the process we learn how to combine the essential with the enjoyable, the expedient with the benevolent, the practical with the beautiful, this will be an extra incentive to embark on this great task. Above all, remember your humanity. -- Sir Joseph Rotblat

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When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already Online
by Giacomo Tesio Feb. 21, 2019

Feb. 21, 2019

When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already Online https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/when-kids-realize-th… Like most other modern kids, Cara grew up immersed in social media. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were all founded before she was born; Instagram has been around since she was a toddler. While many kids may not yet have accounts themselves, their parents, schools, sports teams, and organizations have been curating an online presence for them since birth. The shock of realizing that details about your life—or, in some cases, an entire narrative of it—have been shared online without your consent or knowledge has become a pivotal experience in the lives of many young teens and tweens. Recently a parenting blogger wrote in a Washington Post essay that despite her 14-year-old daughter’s horror at discovering that her mother had shared years of highly personal stories and information about her online, she simply could not stop posting on her blog and social media. The writer claimed that promising her daughter that she would stop posting about her publicly on the internet “would mean shutting down a vital part of myself, which isn’t necessarily good for me or her.” [...] Natalie, now 13, said that in fifth grade she and her friends competed with one another over the amount of information about themselves on the internet. “We thought it was so cool that we had pics of ourselves online,” she said. “We would brag like, ‘I have this many pics of myself on the internet.’ You look yourself up, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, it’s you!’ We were all shocked when we realized we were out there. We were like, ‘Whoa, we’re real people.’” Natalie’s parents are stringent about not posting photos of her to social media, so there are only a handful of photos of her out there, but she yearns for more. “I don’t want to live in a hole and only have two pics of me online. I want to be a person who is a person. I want people to know who I am,” she said. [...] Still, Jane—who, like all the other kids in this story, spoke to me with her parents’ permission—worries. She’s too young to navigate the web on her own, but she feels that a lot of what’s out there on the internet about her is beyond her control. “I don’t really like how people know things about me, and I don’t even know them,” she said. [...] Jaime Putnam, a mom in Georgia, said she has started to be more mindful of the fact that many of her kids’ friends don’t yet know how much information about themselves is out there. Recently she saw on social media that one of her child’s friends got a puppy. She brought it up when she next saw him, and he looked at her, horrified. He had no idea how she had learned that seemingly private information. “It made me realize these kids don’t know what’s being posted all the time,” she said. Now she’s careful about what she reveals. “It kind of feels like you’re maybe crossing a line telling them everything you know about them.”

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EU Datathon 2019
by Antonio Vetro' Feb. 20, 2019

Feb. 20, 2019

Segnalo iniziativa per il riuso di Open Data rilasciati da istituzioni europee: https://publications.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon (scadenza 24.3.2019) AV

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Algoritmi, politica e democrazia sui social network | 28 febbraio 2019
by Nexa Media Feb. 20, 2019

Feb. 20, 2019

Nexa Center for Internet and Society Newsletter Se non visualizzi correttamente questo messaggio clicca qui <https://nexa.polito.it/2019/02/mperrin> NEXA Giovedì 28 febbraio 2019, ore 12.00 - 14.00 Centro Nexa su Internet e Società, Politecnico di Torino, Via Boggio 65/a, Torino (1° piano) https://nexa.polito.it/2019/02/mperrin Algoritmi, politica e democrazia sui social network: legami pericolosi? Speaker Marc Perrin (CNAM, Centro Nexa) This event will be webcast live: https://nexa.polito.it/nexa-hangout-on-air Gli algoritmi hanno cominciato a regolare le nostre vite senza che noi ne fossimo completamente consapevoli, raggiungendo sempre con maggiore frequenza il campo della politica, attraverso l’ausilio dei social network. Il loro utilizzo apre una riflessione sul concetto di democrazia? *Gli algoritmi contribuiscono a cambiare il nostro rapporto con la società e con l'informazione?* Siamo tutti prigionieri delle filter bubble e delle fake news? Riusciamo ancora a governare le nostre decisioni senza avere il controllo totale sui nostri dati? A partire dagli ultimi studi e dalle ricerche svolte all’interno del Centro Nexa su Internet & Società, Marc Perrin proverà a fornire uno scenario delle possibili conseguenze politiche generate da queste innovazioni. /Il seminario, destinato in modo particolare agli studenti ESABAC di Torino, è aperto a tutti. Prenotazione obbligatoria delle classi *entro il 21/2/2018*/. Scrivere a: selina.fenoglietto(a)polito.it <mailto:selina.fenoglietto@polito.it> *Il seminario sarà tenuto in lingua francese.* BIOGRAFIE - e informazioni supplementari [PERRIN] Dr *Marc PERRIN* a partire da ottobre svolge al Centro Nexa lo stage "Il ruolo di internet, dei social media e dell'intelligenza artificiale nella formazione dell'opinione pubblica e nelle campagne elettorali" in collaborazione con il Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers di Parigi per il diploma magistrale in “Scienze, Tecniche e sociétà”. *Letture consigliate e link utili:* * Dominique Cardon, /A quoi rêvent les algorithmes?/, seuil, La République des idées 2015, trad. it, /Che cosa sognano gli algoritmi. Le nostre vite al tempo dei big data/, Mondadori 2018. * Eli Pariser, /The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You/, New York, Penguin Press, 2011, trad it, /Il filtro. Quello che internet ci nasconde/, Il Saggiatore 2012. * /Facebook menace-t-il la démocratie? /, "Le Monde", 1/11/2016. * Eytan Bakshy, Solomon Messing, Lada A. Adamic, /Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook/ <http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6239/1130>, "Science" 5/6/2015. * Cathy o’ Neil, /Algorithmes, la bombe à retardement/. éditions arène 2018, trad en, /Weapons of Math Destruction/, Crown 2016. Che cosa sono il Centro Nexa e i cicli di incontri “Mercoledì di Nexa” e “Nexa Lunch Seminar” Il Centro Nexa su Internet & Società del Politecnico di Torino (Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica) è un centro di ricerca indipendente e interdisciplinare che studia Internet e il suo effetto sulla società. Maggiori informazioni all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/about. Durante i “*Mercoledì di Nexa*”, che si tengono *ogni 2° mercoledì del mese* alle *ore 18 in punto*, il Centro Nexa su Internet e Società apre le sue porte non solo agli esperti e a tutti coloro i quali lavorano con Internet, ma anche a semplici appassionati e cittadini. Il ciclo di incontri intende approfondire, con un linguaggio preciso ma divulgativo, i temi legati alla Rete: motori di ricerca, Creative Commons, social networks, open source/software libero, neutralità della rete, libertà di espressione, privacy, file sharing, big e open data, smart cities e molto altro. Al centro di quasi tutti gli incontri un ospite pronto a dialogare con i direttori del Centro Nexa, il Prof. Juan Carlos De Martin del Politecnico di Torino e il Prof. Marco Ricolfi dell'Università di Torino, nonché lo staff e i Fellows del Centro Nexa. Maggiori informazioni sui Mercoledì di Nexa, incluso un elenco di tutti i “Mercoledì” passati, sono disponibili all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi. Si segnala inoltre che dal maggio 2012 *ogni 4° mercoledì* del mese *dalle ore 13 alle ore 14* il Centro Nexa organizza anche i "*Nexa Lunch Seminar*". Una lista di tutti i “Lunch Seminar” passati è disponibile all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/lunch-seminars. See our events calendar <http://nexa.polito.it/events> if you're curious about future luncheons, discussions, lectures, and conferences not listed in this email. Our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Responsabile Comunicazione Centro Nexa su Internet & Società: *Francesco Ruggiero*, tel: +39 011 090 7219, Mob: +39 349 1335082, francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>. Maggiori informazioni sui Mercoledì di Nexa e i Nexa Lunch Seminar, sono disponibili all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/events. Weekly Events Newsletter. Sign up <http://nexa.polito.it/mailing-lists> to receive this newsletter if this email was forwarded to you. To manage your subscription preferences, please click here <https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa>. Connect & get involved: Jobs, internships, and more <http://nexa.polito.it/get-involved>.

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How did the police know you were near a crime scene? Google told them
by Giacomo Tesio Feb. 20, 2019

Feb. 20, 2019

How did the police know you were near a crime scene? Google told them https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/02/07/google-location-police-search-warr… The suspects in an Eden Prairie home invasion last October wore gloves, dressed in black, and covered their faces with masks. But despite their efforts to remain unseen, a trail of evidence was left behind — not at the crime scene, but with Google. Knowing the Silicon Valley giant held a trove of consumer mobile phone location data, investigators got a Hennepin County judge to sign a "reverse location" search warrant ordering Google to identify the locations of cellphones that had been near the crime scene in Eden Prairie, and near two food markets the victims owned in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The scope of the warrant was so expansive in time and geography that it had the potential to gather data on tens of thousands of Minnesotans. The technique has caught the attention of civil liberties lawyers who worry such warrants — deployed increasingly by police in the Twin Cities and around the country — are a digital dragnet ripe for abuse, and that judges may not realize the technical details or broad scope of the searches they're authorizing. [...] The Eden Prairie detectives knew what most Google users should: that in exchange for the use of Google's devices and free services, users agree to let Google look over their shoulders. "[A] high percentage of the population regularly carries and uses a cellular phone," wrote a detective in one of these search warrant applications. "Google monitors its customers' activities and location through its free apps and services in order to provide more timely responses to queries and for targeted advertising ... [t]he services may be actively in use or running in the background on the device without the user's knowledge." Google's lengthy user agreement does specify that any data Google keeps may be provided to police in response to a legal demand. But the process by which a user consents to the data collection isn't always clear. "Google is sitting on an incredible amount of highly sensitive location data about millions and millions of people," said the ACLU's Wessler. "Some of that location data people may understand they're sharing with Google. And other parts of it, people almost certainly do not." [..] wo hard-to-find settings (se siete utenti Google: https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols?pli=1 ) — "Location History" and "Web and App Activity" — allow Google to keep track of everything their users search, and everywhere they go. It affects all Android users, and iPhone or iPad users with apps like Google Maps installed on their device. [...] Giacomo

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This week an EU ‘Big Brother’ administration became almost inevitable
by Alberto Cammozzo Feb. 20, 2019

Feb. 20, 2019

This week an EU ‘Big Brother’ administration became almost inevitable <https://www.shoeman.eu/this-week-eu-big-brother-administration/> [...] the EU Council quietly announced this week that it has reached preliminary agreement with the European Parliament on interoperable information systems in justice and home affairs. The very blandness of the Council’s press release hides the importance of the agreement reached. The focus is of course the perennial security threat – the intention is to detect potential terrorists. The Romanian Council Presidency said today, “To make sure we detect those who pose a security threat or who are lying about their identity, competent authorities carrying out checks need to have a full picture of the person in front of them.” What will this mean in practice? More comprehensive datasets on individuals will provide EU border-control officials with a detailed picture of each individual stood in front of them at an EU border. The rationale presented by the EU Council and Commission is that this interoperability meets the threats from terrorism and migration and will only affect non-EU nationals. So all well and good, you might think. As we travel within the European Union, we can be reassured that law-enforcement authorities are delivering on their duty to ensure the safety of EU citizens. But, and it is a big but, the Council and the Security Commissioner have made clear that any new centralised database will include all new and existing databases. So the contents of the EU PNR (Passenger Name Record) will be incorporated, as will those of the Prüm database (DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registrations of EU nationals). In effect, the new datasets will apply to EU citizens as well as those from other countries. But this is unavoidable, you might say. Maybe, but is it really the sign of a healthy democracy to make every detail of each individual’s life and liberties available to every border control official? As far as I can tell, there are no ‘layered rights’ of access to knowledge contained within these future datasets, which means every lowly customs official or border-force officer will know everything about you. It is kind of difficult to have an interesting or enjoyable life, when you consider that every incident and mistake made when you were in your teens or twenties will be available for just about everyone with any kind of official access to data, right up until the time you die. Really makes a mockery of the concept of personal privacy. [...] Press release UE: <http://statewatch.org/news/2019/feb/eu-trilogue-bb-policing-borders-migrati…>

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Fabula - Fake news and AI
by VALENTINA BORGESE Feb. 19, 2019

Feb. 19, 2019

Dear All, Michael Bronstein, professor and researcher at the USI Institute of Computational Science (ICS), together with fellow ICS researchers Federico Monti and Dr. Davide Eynard, has devised and developed a new method – based on algorithms and artificial intelligence – that could prove to be the most effective solution to the spreading of fake news through the Internet. The innovative approach is based on a new class of automatic learning algorithms, so-called “Geometric Deep Learning”, developed by the research group of Prof. Bronstein together with other researchers at EPFL Lausanne, NTU Nanyang Technology University Singapore, and Tel Aviv University. This new technology is patented by USI and it will be marketed by the spin-off company Fabula AI. Find more info at: https://www.usi.ch/en/feeds/7721 https://www.usi.ch/en/feeds/9771 https://fabula.ai/ Cheers Valentina Valentina Borgese Ph.D. Student in Ph.D. in Private Law, Roman Law and European Legal Culture at Pavia University *Specialization: Intellectual property law and unfair competition: copyright law, design right, inventions, unfair competition and antitrust* Visiting Ph.D. Student at Northumbria University Visiting Ph.D. Student at USI *Email*: Unipv <valentina.borgese01(a)universitadipavia.it> * / Northumbria <valentina.borgese(a)northumbria.ac.uk>/ USI <valentina.borgese(a)usi.ch>* *Skype*: *valentina.borgese01(a)universitadipavia.it <valentina.borgese01(a)universitadipavia.it>* *Tel*: +39 320 1477904 / +41 765 419 545

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