Showing 31 - 40 of 104
Are we ready for the first real automatons?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 30/01/2021
» They were planning to put on a play written by an artificial intelligence programme in Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic, this month, to mark the invention of robots (or at least the idea of robots) in the same city exactly one hundred years ago. The coronavirus pandemic got in the way of that, and it will now only be available free online late next month. Kind of symbolic, really: the future is quite different than what they expected.
Amazon's Chief Technology Officer Shares His Predictions for 2021
Business, Published on 19/12/2020
» Werner Vogels, Amazon.com Inc.'s chief technology officer, predicts 2021 will see a much broader distribution of the technologies that have been powering big corporations.
Big firms fuzzy on their AI thinking
Life, James Hein, Published on 28/10/2020
» Everything you see these days is AI enabled in some way, or according to the marketing they must be. Software, fridges, cancer detection and lots of other examples are all based on some kind of AI implementation. Google, Microsoft and all the big players are heavily invested in at least the buzzword, but the proof of delivery as promised is elusive.
Retailers Push a New Kind of Online Shopping. It Looks a Lot Like QVC.
Business, Published on 13/10/2020
» To get homebound shoppers to splurge, some brands are copying QVC.
Writing wrong
Life, Arusa Pisuthipan, Published on 28/09/2020
» What's hot and what's not in the LGBTI communities in Asia and around the globe during the past month
Embracing diversity on the screen
Life, Melalin Mahavongtrakul, Published on 23/06/2020
» Thailand and the world have come a long way when it comes to diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression of characters on our screens. On the occasion of Pride Month, Netflix facilitated a talk with filmmaker Chookiat Sakveerakul (Love Of Siam and Dew) and Sanchai Chotirosseranee, deputy director of the Thai Film Archive, where they discussed onscreen representation, visibility and political correctness of today's LGBTI content.
An R-rated roller-coaster ride
Life, Tatat Bunnag, Published on 19/06/2020
» A dozen strangers suddenly wake up to find themselves in a remote field. They have no idea where they are or how they got there, but the next thing they know they're being hunted down for sport. Judging by its premise or the trailer, the new action/horror film The Hunt could give you an impression of another The Hunger Games or Maze Runner, a survival story mixed with strong political messages. But the film surprisingly delivered a satire, dark humour combined with really well filmed action sequences, plus some of the most likeable performances you'll see in a movie this year.
Corona and the death of cinema (again)
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 30/03/2020
» "Cinema is an invention without a future," said Louis Lumiere who, along with his brother Auguste, invented the Cinematographe in 1895. From its birth, cinema was convinced of its own death. From the very beginning, cinema predicted its own eventual demise. And that was before the two world wars, the advent of home video, laser disc, DVDs, Blu-rays, terrorism, mass shootings, Netflix, and now the coronavirus, the latest scourge that has sealed shut cinema houses around the world.
Funny business
Asia focus, Published on 16/03/2020
» Navin Prabhakar became a household name in 2005 when he appeared on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on television. Today he is among the standup comedians making a good living by making corporate executives and employees laugh.
Asia's century, China's year
Asia focus, Published on 30/12/2019
» Way back when 1999 was winding down, pundits were telling us that the Asian Century was about to dawn. That prediction has not yet been fully realised, but few would disagree that 2019 belonged to China. Over the past 12 months, the top headlines have been about the bruising trade war with America, defiant protests in Hong Kong against Beijing's tightening grip, and the rise of a surveillance state that is herding hundreds of thousands into "re-education" camps on its western fringes. Below, the Asia Focus team looks back on a busy and sometimes troubling 2019.