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Vladimir Putin recently expressed his fears with regards to artificial intelligence [AI] by asking Russia's largest technology firm how long it will be until smart robots “eat us.” Arkady Volozh, chief of the internet firm Yande replied, “I hope never.” Putin said he wasn’t so sure stating that he believes AI is “the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind.” But, he added, alongside its "colossal opportunities" are "threats that are difficult to predict." He then concluded by saying, "Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world."

In expressing his concern about the future of AI, Putin joins Tesla founder Elon Musk, who is strongly in favour of regulating its development. Musk worries that robots could one day take up arms against humans. Standing with Musk is Bill Gates when he says, "I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence.” And both are backed by Stephen Hawking who says, "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race."

Increasingly, people are getting their news from social media. But, is this good or bad?

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2016, 35 percent of people between ages 18 and 29 said that social media was the “most helpful” source of information about the presidential campaign. For those aged 30 to 49 it was only 15 percent who found social media most helpful.

In addition to this demographic shift toward social media is information from the Media Insight Project which shows that people tend to trust articles shared on Facebook more from people than from news organizations or institutions. And, also, a recent study by Eschelon Insights and Hart Research found adults ages 18 to 49 trust news and political information shared from “friends” more than news delivered from other sources.

From 1989 to 2013 traditional newspaper organizations lost 20,000 full-time jobs. From 1968 to 2014, the number of paid daily subscribers in the United States dropped by 20 million. Advertising revenue plummeted from $49.4 billion in 2005 to $19.9 billion in 2014. Surely, these statistics would spell doom for any industry. Yet, today, the traditional newspaper industry is still alive and in some cases, thriving. But, how can this be? One reason is: The Bezos Effect

It was Jeff Bezos, the owner and inventor of Amazon, his integrity, forward thinking and deep pockets, which saved the Washington Post from the grave and provided the industry with an example of success.

When General Linen, a commercial linen service with more than 4,400 customers throughout New England, needed to modernize their message, improve web presence, and boost sales, they relied on the experience, passion, and knowledge of BridgeView. The result was that General Linen’s web-based lead conversions increased from 3 conversions in 2012 to 288 conversions in 2015, putting General Linen on a course to produce 394 web-based lead conversions in 2016. How does a third generation company begun in 1938 achieve a thirteen thousand percent increase in lead

 conversions in the span of four years? The answer is BridgeView and their Google guru, Gary Brown.

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“Fake news!” We’re hearing about it all the time. Untrue and damaging stories which get shared quickly and widely on social media. In some cases “fake news” stories have led to tragic results. But, “fake news” is not a new phenomenon. It has been around since news became a concept five hundred years ago with the invention of print. Even America’s Founding Fathers were perpetrators of fake news for political means. Verified, “objective” news, didn’t emerge until about a hundred years ago. 

Today, in the social media age, finding reliable news can be a confusing task. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have created vast communication spaces for the sharing of information. This explosion of channels has increased the speed at which information travels, but it’s also helping to spread today’s epidemic of “fake news.”