Software Defined YouNameIt

16

October

2017

5/5 (1)

There seems to be a new hot term in the IT-buzzword-world. Next to cloud, analytics, automation, AR, IoT and many others, I have stumbled upon a lot of software defined xy’s recently. Examples include amongst others Cisco’s Software Defined Acces (SDA) within their new digital network architecture (DNA), Microsofts Software Defined Storage (SDS) and DellEMC’s Software Defined Data Center (SDDC).

To understand how Software Defined Everything (SDE) is disrupting the IT infrastructure industry, let’s first grab an understanding of what it really is. Software defined means that management and administrative functions of the computing infrastructure are virtualized and can be implemented and delivered through software.

Although the term has recently been used a lot for marketing purposes, the phenomenon itself has been around for a while. Take an example from consumer devices. Originally, to find your way around you would have have to buy a GPS, whereas today, you do not need to buy specific hardware anymore but can simply download a maps app to your phone. This trend became alive by the sheer availability of ubiquitous software platforms, i.e. hardware devices such as phones, tablets and PCs.

In the IT infrastructure industry, we can observe the same trend. Previously, there was no standard interface readily available to deploy software into an enterprise. The only possible approach was by selling the software on a piece of hardware. Now, many standardized interfaces are available in most companies with most of the underlying hardware becoming cheaper and more substitutable (Casado, 2016).

This challenges most of the traditional hardware giants in several ways. As capable software becomes the core value driver, many new start-ups can enter the industry. Developing only the software without the hardware radically decreases the amount of investment needed to get started on building and distributing the product (Casado, 2016).

Further, the industry is moving from on premise software to software as a service. Many incumbents have reacted to the disruption by changing there strategic focus. But one thing is for sure: we will be observing a diversifying infrastructure industry in the years to come.

 

#softwareDefinedDisruptionOnDemandPlease

 

If you want to learn more about this topic check out the following video:

https://a16z.com/2016/08/21/infrastructure-trends-future/

 

Casado, M. (2016). Trends in — and the Future of — Infrastructure – Andreessen Horowitz. A16z.com. Retrieved 15 October 2017, from https://a16z.com/2016/08/21/infrastructure-trends-future/

DNA, N. Software-Defined Access. Cisco. Retrieved 16 October 2017, from https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise-networks/software-defined-access/index.html

Software-defined Storage—Windows Server 2016 | Microsoft. Microsoft Cloud-Platform – IN (English). Retrieved 16 October 2017, from https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/cloud-platform/software-defined-storage

Software Defined Data Center – EMC Glossary. Emc.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017, from https://www.emc.com/corporate/glossary/software-defined-data-center.htm

Please rate this

Ex Machina – The Peril of Falling in Love with a Robot

15

October

2017

5/5 (1)

 

 

Ex-Machina

Many posts in this blog have touched upon the technical issues and business implications behind artificial intelligence (AI). My purpose with this post is to provide food for thought for an ethical discussion of the issue. To do so, I am writing a short review of the movie Ex Machina which elaborates on the issue of sentience of machines. The movie was released in 2015 and has received many positive critics and won two Oscars. Manohla Dargis from The New York Times called it a “smart, sleek movie about men and the machines they make” (Dargis, 2015).

If you haven’t watched the movie yet, I strongly recommend doing so before reading the blogpost – Spoiler Alarm! Check out the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYGzRB4Pnq8

 

Caleb is a programmer who works for the search engine giant Blue Book. As he has won a contest, Caleb is invited to visit the company’s CEO Nathan at his house. Upon his arrival at the house which is isolated in the mountains and can only be reached by helicopter, Caleb learns that the house is also a research facility where Nathan has been developing humanoid robots with artificial intelligence. Caleb’s task is to test and judge the consciousness of Ava, Nathan’s first robot.

Although Caleb knows that Ava is artificial, he develops a close relationship to her. Eventually, Ava convinces Caleb to help her escape, creating the plan to deceive Nathan and leaving the house together.

When Nathan finds out about the plan, he knocks out Caleb but is later killed by Ava. In that fight, Ava got damaged but was able to fix herself and fully take on the appearance of a human woman. She escapes the house and ignores the screams of Caleb, leaving him trapped in the facilities.

How will Ava survive in the outside world? Does she have enough intelligence to remain a functioning robot? Will the society detect, and if yes, even accept her? Will she do harm to human beings? How much value will she contribute to society?

 

When humanoid robots become reality, these are only some of the questions we will have to ask ourselves. As AI technology develops, we as a society continuously have to decide how much we want AI to be a part of our lives.

Dargis, M. (2015). Review: In ‘Ex Machina,’ a Mogul Fashions the Droid of His Dreams. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/movies/review-in-ex-machina-a-mogul-fashions-the-droid-of-his-dreams.html [Accessed 15 Oct. 2017].

 

 

Please rate this