Selfies on social media platforms are common.  Hold a cell phone at arm’s length, choose a flattering angle from which to shoot, then share the image with the world.  The picture represents a self-impression: the face we create to meet the facts that we meet.* Our self-image is la

In an earlier blog (10/27/16), I referred to an article by Clive Thompson about artificial intelligence.  He warned we know so little about what’s going on inside those wired machines, we should consider what this lack of transparency means.  Are we being foolhardy when we put too

Surveillance tools are everywhere.  Another device is coming soon to a store near you: software that identifies individual faces in a crowd.  Walk through Macy’s one afternoon and you may hear a message telling you your favorite cologne is on sale.  And those greeters with their

“Don’t expect Congress to protect you against all possible data invasions,” says Sergey Feldman, a data scientist, when asked to comment on “deep learning,” the latest frontier in computing. (“Do Androids Dream of Electric Lolocats?” by Dana Liebelson, Mother Jones, Sept