Letter from the Editors
Dear Readers,
I was recently reminded of the twin issues of
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security when I re-watched
the classic movie War Games. As many of you are aware,
arguably the two hottest sectors in the VC world today are
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security. We seem to have
hit an inflection point where AI (also known as machine learning)
seems to be making almost every business model more efficient.
Further, anyone who spends time in front of a computer is well
aware of the daily hacking and phishing threats. No wonder the
quest for creating new machine learning applications and new cyber
security risk management tools is happening at a torrid pace.
What was amazing about watching War Games
is that a movie made in 1983 was so prescient about the benefits
and pitfalls of AI and cyber security. For those who haven't
seen it (and if you haven't, you should), the movie follows a
young Mathew Broderick as an earnest teenage computer hacker who
finds a "back door" into the NORAD computer systems that
provide war game scenarios and also control the launch and defense
of America's nuclear weapons. A hacking session by our hero and
a security flaw almost turns into an Armageddon-like nightmare. But
with human guile and wisdom, our hero is ultimately able to provide
the guidance to the AI computer system to save the world from
nuclear destruction (all while winning the girl's affection and
showing the so-called "grown-ups" how to act better).
Pretty good stuff. But what we learn from this movie is that while
machine learning will enable us to perform many tasks more
efficiently, our computers still need human guidance and oversight.
How we adapt to the use of these incredible tools we are creating
will shape our lives in the future.
The current edition of TechConnect
includes an article relating to investing in hot secondary
securities and an article on some of the pitfalls in our "gig
economy" under New York law when hiring independent
contractors. We also highlight a very cool young company called
Kinnos, which is raising the standard of infectious disease
decontamination to protect healthcare workers, patients, and the
general public.
As always, we welcome your questions and inquiries,
and we invite all of you to visit our website for emerging
companies and entrepreneurs @www.mintzedge.com
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