Description: This article is a review of the book by Joshua Foer. It covers the history of memory techniques, the way a human brain organizes memory, and various problems and successes in memory recall. The author starts by interviewing memory savants, and learns from them that the ability to perform seemingly impossible memory tricks is simply a matter of studying and practicing proven techniques used for millennia. This review suggests that actuaries can benefit greatly from some of these techniques despite the availability of electronic hand-held devices to recall facts because the person who does not need to rely upon such devices can have a huge perceptual advantage in executive presentations.

Description: Each month in the media we learn of another set of jobs being automated into oblivion or replaced by disruptive technologies. We see taxi drivers replaced by Uber and Lyft now, and soon by self-driving cars. An Oxford University study of 702 occupations showed insurance underwriters in 698th place, with a 99% probability of computerization. They were safer for obsolescence by automation than only four occupations such as hand sewers and telemarketers.

Description: Editorial Introduction to the issue.

Description: In An Introduction to Incremental Learning, by Qiang Wu and I describe how machine learning is a natural enhancement to predictive analytics through its many useful tools to derive meaning from a lot of otherwise unusable data such as handwriting. Again, there are formulas involved; but we have tried to keep them understandable to the actuary who isn’t already familiar with stochastic gradient descent, perceptrons, and principal component analysis. Incremental learning can help you refine the estimations you derive from more traditional actuarial methods.

Description: Second article in a series on effective writing: focuses on writing for Chinese readers if English; and on writing for English readers if Chinese.

Description: The editor of the newsletter provides a running list of articles included in the issue highlighting such topics as the applicability genetic algorithms, the power of group dynamics, judgmental forecasting, improvement in mortality and complexity science.

Description: Provides a simplified explanation of the modeling and statistical terms currently in use by the profession, and provides a list of publications worth reading in regards to complexity science plus a list of free software.

Description: Actuaries of the future have to embrace the ideas and technologies that lie ahead.

Description: In Complexity: A Guided Tour, readers are given a short history lesson on the roots of dynamical systems theory, chaos and prediction.

Description: Discusses the three complexity science sessions at the Annual Meeting that were sponsored by the Section.