Lifeboat Foundation

Every major tech company is looking at quantum computers as the next big breakthrough in computing. Teams at Google, Microsoft, Intel, IBM and various startups and academic labs are racing to become the first to achieve quantum supremacy — that is, the point where a quantum computer can run certain algorithms faster than a classical computer ever could. Today, Google said that it believes that Bristlecone, its latest quantum processor, will put it on a path to reach quantum supremacy in the future.

The purpose of Bristlecone, Google says, it to provide its researchers with a testbed “for research into system error rates and scalability of our qubit technology, as well as applications in quantum simulation, optimization, and machine learning.”

Continue reading “Google’s new Bristlecone processor brings it one step closer to quantum supremacy” »

OpenAI’s latest algorithm lets AI learn from its mistakes by re-framing past failures. This method helps AI to learn faster and do so better.

The state of California will now allow driverless cars without safety drivers to be tested on public roads for the first time. Is a world full of driverless cars about to kick into gear?

Via NBC News MACH

Tokyo, Japan may have just become the first city to officially grant residence to an artificial intelligence (AI). The intelligence’s name is Shibuya Mirai and exists only as a chatbot on the popular Line messaging app. Mirai, which translates to ‘future’ from Japanese, joins Hanson Robotic’s “Sophia” as pioneering AI gaining statuses previously reserved for living, biological entities. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia granted Sophia citizenship last month.

The Shibuya Ward of Tokyo released a statement through Microsoft saying, “His hobbies are taking pictures and observing people. And he loves talking with people… Please talk to him about anything.” The goal of Mirai is said to be to familiarize some of the 224,000 citizens of the district with the local government and give them an avenue to share opinions with officials.

Mirai is programmed to be a seven-year-old boy and can have text conversations with users and even “make light-hearted alterations to selfies he is sent,” according to Agence France Presse.

Continue reading “This AI has officially been granted residence” »

Alphabet’s self-driving unit has racked up 5 million miles of on-road testing in autonomous mode — more than double its closest competitor — and 5 billion miles of computer-simulated scenarios. Ensuring the technology’s reliability could take much, much more.

What if Uber carried robots instead of people? This startup is working on it.

“To have the opportunity to talk to someone like that and to show what we did, it feels great,” said participant Ruby Novoa Forcier, 18.

Saint-Jacques’ visit was part of the Robotics FIRST (Favoriser l’Inspiration et la Reconnaissance des Sciences et de la Technologie) Quebec competition.

Around 5,000 students from different schools across Quebec, the United States and Europe got the chance to compete at the event.

Continue reading “Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques visits Montreal robotics competition” »

Baidu’s AI research team has developed a nueral network that can mimic a voice with less than a minute long sample. The software can also change the voice into other genders and accents.

The Google of China, Baidu, has just released a white paper showing its latest development in artificial intelligence (AI): a program that can clone voices after analyzing even a seconds-long clip, using a neural network. Not only can the software mimic an input voice, but it can also change it to reflect another gender or even a different accent.

The only difference is that in the case of the new technology Qure.ai is using, the artificial neuro network will be exposed to millions of cases instead of thousands. But can one trust a diagnosis made with the help of machines or AI? Human beings would typically trust another human being over a machine. But Warrier says that that is part and parcel of the diagnosis – human or artificial. Eighty-million chest X-rays happen in India every year, with radiology error rates for chest X-rays at 20–23 per cent. In fact, 19 per cent of lung nodules are missed! So even now if one goes to a trained radiologist, there are chances he can read or make a mistake in the diagnosis. But since the software runs through “millions” of scans instead of thousands as a human might, chances of an error are, in fact, lower. So chances of an error are, if anything, minimised. Secondly, as of now, Qure.ai is not producing a final report but developing a report that is ready for further analysis by a radiologist. “At locations across the country where radiologists are not available, this report can be the one that is physically available. It could go wrong but something is better than nothing,” argues Warrier. In cases where physicians disagree – often happens in cases like interstitial lung disease — the report produced through AI is “consistent and reproducible” and can be relied upon to arrive at a final conclusion. In India, Qure.ai has no competitors, but globally Zebra Medical Vision is the nearest competitor. The software has been adopted and deployed in five centres in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. The company is also working with public health programmes in some countries. TB Reach has used it for processing TB cases (chest X-rays) from Nepal and Cameroon. Its solutions are being marketed in North America through its partners EnvoyAI (TeraRecon). According to Warrier, the global sales team of their parent company, Fractal Analytics, is helping them to reach out to health care providers and possible customers in the US and Europe. It may be early days yet, but if the technology and product prove as good as they claim, the benefits for patients will be felt for a long time to come.