Will AI probably kill us all?

Less than fifty per cent think not...

At least not anytime soon. 

A minority of researchers think the transition from Artificial General Intelligence to Artificial Super Intelligence will not happen for at least another one hundred years.

Current trends however show that the law of accelerating returns is very likely to radically slash that prediction. The one hundred years is more likely to be fifteen to twenty years.

At the moment, three of the most relevant individuals on the planet today are preaching caution when it comes to powerful machines.

Professor Stephen Hawkins states: "The rise of  powerful AI will either be the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity. 

Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates asks the question, "how can they not see what a huge challenge this is?"

Elon Musk Founder of Tesla thinks we should be extremely careful about this, while stating clearly that he is not against the advancement of AI.

Technologically, we have made huge leaps and bounds. Very far ahead than that of any other aspect of human endeavour. 

Boyinaband's video explains "the law of accelerating returns," below.

We have to be aware that once AI gets on to the internet, within a short space of time, it will know everything. 

And everything means, the accumulated knowledge of all humanity. It will also know about the habits and lifestyle of every living individual on the planet. 

Our thoughts, interactions, brilliance, foibles, stupidity, wars, poverty, strengths and weaknesses will all be apparent to it. 

AI is very likely to know us better than we know ourselves.

Confucius tells us: "The man who asks a question is a fool for only a minute. The man who doesn't ask, is a fool for life."

Very often, it seems that psychologically we're still in the seventeenth century whilst we're living technologically in the twenty first century.

I'll be a fool for a minute for the sake of tomorrow and ask, "will AI probably kill us all?

'Bodederek

MusicArtinDesign is also thinking of Tomorrow!

7 Cool Ways To Start A Business...

Without Quitting Your Day Job!

You think making money online sounds like a daydream? Well, think again!

There are plenty of ways to turn your skills and interest into cold hard cash.

Starting a business of any kind is hard work, but the fact remains that countless people have done it and are currently thriving. Chances are, you can too!

Whether you're looking to escape the daily grind, or you just want to earn some money on the side,
here are some simple ideas you can use to start a real business without quitting your day job (unless you want to).

1. Build A Drop-Shipping Empire by sourcing a pre-existing product from a supplier and have them take care of everything else, including packaging and delivery.
2. Start A Clothing Line - If you already own an online store, you can set up your very own clothing line using plugins. Printify, Printful and Merchify can automatically link your store to apparel printers.
3. Selling Your Art Online by turning your latest set of masterpieces into a stable revenue stream by having a beautifully designed ecommerce website. A great idea, if you're in the printing trade, are a photographer or a musician.
4. Become A Freelance Writer, Designer or Developer by putting your talents to good use by helping people across the world with their projects (while making some quick money on the side).
5. Teaching An Online Course - Put together a video walkthrough explaining a subject that you're familiar with and host it on your own personal website!
6. Flipping Your Thrift Store Finds - If you love hunting down great deals hitting up thrift stores, then opening up an online boutique to sell your second hand treasures is a natural next step.
7. Publish Your Own Book - It doesn't matter if it's a science fiction novel, a marketing guide or a children's picture book. There are now plenty of options to successfully self publish your work.

Read on for more information on how to start and scale these 7 online business ideas. They're simple, practical and effective.

You can take your first step by getting started for free today. The only thing you'll need to spend, is just the time it'll take to get the business off the ground!

Good Luck!

'Bodederek

Shopify.com

MusicArtinDesign

A Bad Boss Day?

Educating, Entertaining and Informing with Short Stories and Humour!

Are You Working for a Tyrannical Bully?

I have been lucky. Most of my working life, I can honestly say, I've had good bosses. Honest, hardworking and dedicated individuals who took their roles seriously. 

The great ones were always courteous, kind and helpful, inspiring the workforce to higher levels of productivity. 

These traits created a comfortably great atmosphere at work and the staff were always happy to go the extra mile because we had a great boss.

The only place I ever worked where the boss was a tyrant and bully, on my first day there, I noticed pinned on to the wall behind someone's desk, the following:

How The Asshole Became Boss

One day, all the organs of the body had a meeting to decide who would be boss. "I should be in charge," said the Brain, "I run everything and work out all solutions." 

"Oh no," said the Stomach, "I process the food through digestion and provide all the fuel and energy. I should be the boss" 

The Heart, Kidney and Lungs wanted to be boss too and made their cases. 

And so it went on until finally the Asshole interrupted and said he should be boss...

They all laughed, giggled and smirked at the idea of asshole being their boss. They really found it funny.

At that point the Asshole went on strike and refused to function. 

By the end of the week, the eyes got watery and blurred and the legs got wobbly. 

At the end of the second week, the stomach became bloated and the arms became lethargic. 

By the end of the fifth week, the heart and lungs were in severe distress and had begun to panic. 

By week six, Brain had a fever and couldn't think straight anymore...

That was when all of them decided to plead with Brain to let the Asshole take over and Brain agreed.  

So the Asshole became the boss and passed out shit while the others worked. 

And that is the reason The Boss Is Always An Asshole!

Bad bosses pick favourites, communicate poorly, misuse their power, are usually rude, take all the credit for other people's work and usually neglect their employees.

Studies show that bad bosses never accept responsibility for their mistakes, the poor decisions and their bad attitude toward people.

17% of employees say their bosses are dishonest. 13% claim their bosses are lazy while 25% say their bosses don't provide enough guidance and opportunities for advancement.

Bad bosses can destroy good staff. Causing them to flee while the remainder lose all motivation.

Know them by their response when you confront them and tell him or her that they're terrible bosses;


1) "A bad boss. Me? You really think so?" Should tell you, he/she doesn't know they're bad.


2) "I could do better if only I knew how!" He/She knows they're bad and wants to improve.

3) "It's my way or the highway!" Tells you they don't care either way!

To all the bad bosses out there, I say; Karma's just sharpening her nails and finishing her drink. She says, she'll be with you shortly because she has your address!

A Future By Design ~ MusicArtinDesign

Afro-beat. What Next? Part 2

Fela Bandwagon contd...

The world is watching and waiting for hits that will enhance and give the afro-beat genre a stronger foothold, keep it interesting until it gets passed on to the next generation. It's what Fela Kuti would have wanted. 

I mentioned JK Brimah because Fela Kuti's personal and musical development wouldn't have been complete without the influence of JK. (A chapter is dedicated to JK in Fela's autobiography "This Bitch of A Life" written by Carlos Moore), the story is even more interesting when JK tells it. It annoys me that today's practitioners see JK (who is still alive and well) as an irrelevance, only good in their eyes when they want their undeserved validation.

JK at a Party

Other individuals who supported and encouraged Fela's musicality but today are given no credit, (especially during the years of strife and turmoil), were individuals like Tunde Kuboye, who ran The Jazz Club of Nigeria, promoted African and Jazz music at the Museum Kitchen every Friday evening, and organised an African Music Festival once a year. His late wife Frances, Fela's cousin, a dentist by profession. A lady who could easily have made it as a professional singer, if she'd decided to leave Nigeria and settle anywhere in the western world. Some others were Fela's contemporaries who played Jazz at the floating Buka on the Marina in Lagos, guys like my ex-boss at Japan Petroleum, Femi Asekun (Skipper), his friend Femi Adeniyi-Williams and uncle Art Alade. These were the people Fela would rush to jam with, whenever he could break away from the madness at Kalakuta.

Fela developed Afro-beat because he wouldn't have been able to make a living playing jazz. Not in Nigeria anyway. So he developed his genre, using a core of local musicians like Tony Allen, the amazing drummer, Henry Kofi (Pedido), Igo Chiko and a couple more talented instrumentalist, who remained a constant part of the Nigeria 70 band, later to become the Africa 70. The commercial music played by the band during those heady days, has stood the test of time. The compositions were unsurprisingly popular and accepted by everyone because of the satire and social commentary in those compositions. Songs like "Na Fight", "No Bread", "JJD", "Buy Africa", "Don't Gag Me", "Lady", "Shakara", "Yellow Fever" etc., amused and entertained, but didn't stray into the political minefield that would bring the wrath of military governments down on Fela's head in the later years.

Fela Album Cover

What I'm trying to say here is, even when Afro-beat went political, there was always a theme to the compositions. A message that made every song unique and identifiable to the listener. That element is missing within the genre today. The message and point to Afro-beat as a sound, is in danger of being swallowed up and lost forever, if the diluted and watered down modern compositions continue. After all is said and done, what would be the point of it all?

S.T.B. and J.J.D.

I think Fela would have wanted Afro-beat to grow as a satirical vehicle for social commentary, more than he would have wanted to be regarded as an icon. He was after all a man like anyone else and not the caricature two dimensional image that is being planted unto the public consciousness today. It would be better if practitioners of Afro-beat drop the hype and get back to basics, there is plenty more work to do because that man, Fela was a tough act to follow when he was alive. It makes it even tougher, that he is now regarded a legend and an icon.

Tony Allen and I

I would urge any artist interested in venturing into afro-beat, to disregard what is presented at the moment. Ignore the half baked presentation of cover songs that could never compare to the original songs. Study the philosophy behind Fela's tunes and if possible, imprint their own personality into their compositions. This would be the ideal way to excel at making a great and unique afro-beat standard. In short, being original is the most important thing, and believe me, the genre needs this, more than anything else.

...More later


'Bodederek


Interesting blog at www.MusicArtinDesign.co.uk tomorrow!

Cruising With An African Queen!

Nigerian Celebrity and Star!

I was in Royal company last Saturday night. In the same car as Salawa Abeni on her way to a gig!

 Queen Salawa Abeni

Queen Salawa permitted me to ride in her car after making sure I was aware of Yoruba traditions and protocols. She was very gracious indeed.

So, there I was, cruising down the North Circular road, shoulder to shoulder with a Celebrity Singer. A Child Star and now a Queen. I felt privileged and lucky that I happened in the right place at the right time, not only to meet a woman of immense talent and culture, but to be actually in the same car with an actual African Queen.

Queen Salawa Abeni was kind, dignified and courteous throughout the journey. I was pleasantly surprised that we had a lot in common. My love of music and African culture has made me aware of Salawa's career from when she was a little girl and a star on the Nigerian music scene so many years ago.

A massive star in Nigeria, she has entertained fans worldwide. Has performed for the rich and powerful both in Nigeria and abroad. Her powerful voice and vocal range is quite impressive, tailor made for her repertoire.

She will be performing with the Yoruba Women's Choir next month at London's South-Bank Centre.


'Bodederek


www.MusicArtinDesign.co.uk