Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending June 14, 2014)

A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.

June 13, 2014

Response by Ray Kurzweil to the Announcement of Chatbot Eugene Goostman Passing the Turing Test
Ray Kurzweil may think that he has a good shot at living forever, but he doesn’t think a chat bot passed the Turing test. Here’s his explanation of why the much-hyped result from London’s Royal Society this week doesn’t mean machines can be considered intelligent yet.
—Tom Simonite, senior editor, IT

The Eccentric Genius Whose Time May Have Finally Come (Again)
Norbert Wiener’s warnings on automation are worth revisiting.
—Brian Bergstein, deputy editor

Putting Time in Perspective
All our yesterdays: Terrific graphic showing time scales of human presence on planet.
—Antonio Regalado, senior editor, business

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If Robots Drove, How Much Safer Would Roads Be?
How much safer would roads be if robots drove the cars? Similar impact as seat belts have had.
—Antonio Regalado

23andMe CEO on Her Mission to Shake Up Preventive Care
Long, informative game of softball between Eric Topol and 23andMe founder on consumers and DNA data.
—Antonio Regalado

Extroverts Don’t Belong on Mars
If you have to spend the rest of your life in a space colony with someone, you better hope he knows how to leave you alone.
—Linda Lowenthal, copy chief

With Uber, Less Reason to Own a Car
We knew Uber and other ride-sharing services were disrupting the taxi industry. But this New York Times piece suggests the technology might go on to undermine the whole premise of private vehicle ownership.
—David Talbot, chief correspondent

Stretch Genes
A very smart review of Nicholas Wade’s controversial new book A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History explains why the former New York Times writer went wrong in his argument.
—David Rotman, editor

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