A timely investigation of the potential economic effects, both realized and unrealized, of artificial intelligence within the United States healthcare system. In sweeping conversations about the impact of artificial intelligence on many sectors of the economy, healthcare has received relatively little attention. Yet it seems unlikely that an industry that represents nearly one-fifth of the economy could escape the efficiency and cost-driven disruptions of AI. The Economics of Artificial Intelligence: Health Care Challenges brings together contributions from health economists, physicians, philosophers, and scholars in law, public health, and machine learning to identify the primary barriers to entry of AI in the healthcare sector. Across original papers and in wide-ranging responses, the contributors analyze barriers of four types: incentives, management, data availability, and regulation. They also suggest that AI has the potential to improve outcomes and lower costs. Understanding both the benefits of and barriers to AI adoption is essential for designing policies that will affect the evolution of the healthcare system.
From EverQuest to World of Warcraft, online games have evolved from the exclusive domain of computer geeks into an extraordinarily lucrative staple of the entertainment industry. People of all ages and from all walks of life now spend thousands of hours—and dollars—partaking in this popular new brand of escapism. But the line between fantasy and reality is starting to blur. Players have created virtual societies with governments and economies of their own whose currencies now trade against the dollar on eBay at rates higher than the yen. And the players who inhabit these synthetic worlds are starting to spend more time online than at their day jobs. In Synthetic Worlds, Edward Castronova offers the first comprehensive look at the online game industry, exploring its implications for business and culture alike. He starts with the players, giving us a revealing look into the everyday lives of the gamers—outlining what they do in their synthetic worlds and why. He then describes the economies inside these worlds to show how they might dramatically affect real world financial systems, from potential disruptions of markets to new business horizons. Ultimately, he explores the long-term social consequences of online games: If players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? Will a day ever come when we spend more time in these synthetic worlds than in our own? Or even more startling, will a day ever come when such questions no longer sound alarmist but instead seem obsolete? With more than ten million active players worldwide—and with Microsoft and Sony pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into video game development—online games have become too big to ignore. Synthetic Worlds spearheads our efforts to come to terms with this virtual reality and its concrete effects. “Illuminating. . . . Castronova’s analysis of the economics of fun is intriguing. Virtual-world economies are designed to make the resulting game interesting and enjoyable for their inhabitants. Many games follow a rags-to-riches storyline, for example. But how can all the players end up in the top 10%? Simple: the upwardly mobile human players need only be a subset of the world's population. An underclass of computer-controlled 'bot' citizens, meanwhile, stays poor forever. Mr. Castronova explains all this with clarity, wit, and a merciful lack of academic jargon.”—The Economist “Synthetic Worlds is a surprisingly profound book about the social, political, and economic issues arising from the emergence of vast multiplayer games on the Internet. What Castronova has realized is that these games, where players contribute considerable labor in exchange for things they value, are not merely like real economies, they are real economies, displaying inflation, fraud, Chinese sweatshops, and some surprising in-game innovations.”—Tim Harford, Chronicle of Higher Education
The manuscript reviews some key ideas about artificial intelligence, and relates them to economics. These include its relation to robotics, and the concepts of synthetic emotions, consciousness, and life. The economic implications of the advent of artificial intelligence, such as its effect on prices and wages, appropriate patent policy, and the possibility of accelerating productivity, are discussed. The growing field of artificial economics and the use of artificial agents in experimental economics is considered.
I’Ve live in an astornshingly complex world, Yet what we do in our everyday lives seems simple enough. Most of us conform to society’s rules, pursue familiar strategies, and achieve reasonably predictable outcomes. In our role as economic agents, we simply peddle our wares and earn our daily bread as best we can.So where on earth does this astonishing complexity come from? Much of it is ubiquitous in nature, to be sure, but part of it lies within and between us. Part of it comes from those games of interaction that humans play—games against nature, games against each other, games of competition, games of cooperation. In bygone eras, people simply hunted and gathered to come up with dinner. Today you can find theoretical economists scratching mysterious equations on whiteboards (not even blackboards) and getting paid to do this. In the modern economy, most of us make our living in a niche created for us by what others do. Because we’ve become more dependent on each other, our economy as a whole has become more strongly interactive.
Imagining a future in which humans fundamentally reshape the natural world using nanotechnology, synthetic biology, de-extinction, and climate engineering. We have all heard that there are no longer any places left on Earth untouched by humans. The significance of this goes beyond statistics documenting melting glaciers and shrinking species counts. It signals a new geological epoch. In The Synthetic Age, Christopher Preston argues that what is most startling about this coming epoch is not only how much impact humans have had but, more important, how much deliberate shaping they will start to do. Emerging technologies promise to give us the power to take over some of Nature's most basic operations. It is not just that we are exiting the Holocene and entering the Anthropocene; it is that we are leaving behind the time in which planetary change is just the unintended consequence of unbridled industrialism. A world designed by engineers and technicians means the birth of the planet's first Synthetic Age. Preston describes a range of technologies that will reconfigure Earth's very metabolism: nanotechnologies that can restructure natural forms of matter; “molecular manufacturing” that offers unlimited repurposing; synthetic biology's potential to build, not just read, a genome; “biological mini-machines” that can outdesign evolution; the relocation and resurrection of species; and climate engineering attempts to manage solar radiation by synthesizing a volcanic haze, cool surface temperatures by increasing the brightness of clouds, and remove carbon from the atmosphere with artificial trees that capture carbon from the breeze. What does it mean when humans shift from being caretakers of the Earth to being shapers of it? And in whom should we trust to decide the contours of our synthetic future? These questions are too important to be left to the engineers.
In the final years of the twentieth century, emigres from mechanical and electrical engineering and computer science resolved that if the aim of biology was to understand life, then making life would yield better theories than experimentation. Sophia Roosth, a cultural anthropologist, takes us into the world of these self-named synthetic biologists who, she shows, advocate not experiment but manufacture, not reduction but construction, not analysis but synthesis. Roosth reveals how synthetic biologists make new living things in order to understand better how life works. What we see through her careful questioning is that the biological features, theories, and limits they fasten upon are determined circularly by their own experimental tactics. This is a story of broad interest, because the active, interested making of the synthetic biologists is endemic to the sciences of our time."
The most cutting-edge read on CDO and credit market structures Collateralized Debt Obligations and Structured Finance provides a state-of-the-art look at the exploding CDO and structured credit products market. Financial expert Janet Tavakoli examines securitization topics never before seen in print, including the huge increase in the CDO arbitrage created by synthetics; the tranches most at risk from this new technology; dumping securitizations on bank balance sheets; the abuse of offshore vehicles by companies such as Enron; and securitizations made possible by new securitization techniques and the introduction of the Euro. This valuable guide comprehensively covers one of the fastest growing markets on Wall Street, predicting where new bank regulations and other developments may lead to product growth or product extinction. While providing an overview of the market and its dynamic growth, Collateralized Debt Obligations and Structured Finance explores the types of products offered, hedging techniques, and valuation and risk/return issues associated with investment in CDOs and synthetic CDOs. Janet M. Tavakoli, MBA (Chicago, IL), has over eighteen years of experience trading, structuring, and marketing derivatives and structured products with major financial institutions in New York and London. She is also the author of Credit Derivatives and Synthetic Structures, now in its Second Edition (0-471-41266-X).
The comprehensive guide to creating, valuing, and trading today'smost innovative fixed-income securities . Financial marketsworldwide are being flooded with a wealth of innovative andincreasingly complex securities. Now, more than ever, fixed-incomeprofessionals must understand how these synthetic instruments arestructured and traded, and how to profitably integrate them into anoverall financial strategy. Fixed-Income Synthetic Assets suppliesthis crucial working knowledge. This results-driven primer deliversthe proven tools and techniques for packaging, pricing, and tradingthese innovative products. From A-tranche CMOs to Zero couponbonds, this unique sourcebook guides both the novice and theprofessional through the full range of innovative syntheticstructures and their manifold uses. It's packed with easy-to-useformulas and charts, as well as clear, step-by-step discussions offinancial theory that promote clear understanding of the mostcomplex fixed-income financial engineering strategies andpractices. This timely sourcebook is designed to help traders,arbitrageurs, speculators, and financial executives profit from thefinancial markets of today, and successfully prepare for theopportunities of tomorrow. "Perry H. Beaumont offers a logical,well organized book filled with examples. His step-by-stepexplanations make it easy to decipher some of today's mostsophisticated financial instruments." --Ira G. Kawaller VicePresident, Director of New York Office, Chicago Mercantile Exchange"Fixed-Income Synthetic Assets is a practical guide tostate-of-the-art financial practice. An excellent tool for thefinancial manager trading in the markets and applying the latestfinancial techniques." --David Robison Vice President &Treasurer Chrysler Financial Corporation
Good,No Highlights,No Markup,all pages are intact, Slight Shelfwear,may have the corners slightly dented, may have slight color changes/slightly damaged spine.
