Lifeboat Foundation

(repeat) Are you ready to defer all your personal decision-making to machines? Polls show that most Americans are uneasy about the unchecked growth of artificial intelligence. The possible misuse of genetic engineering also makes us anxious. We all have a stake in the responsible development of science and technology, but fortunately, science fiction films can help.

The movies Ex Machina and Jurassic Park suggest where A.I. and unfettered gene-tinkering could lead. But even less popular sci-fi movies can help us imagine unsettling scenarios regarding over-population, smart drugs, and human cloning.

And not all tales are grim. The 1951 film, The Man in the White Suit, weaves a humorous story of materials science run amok.

BU researchers have discovered specialized brain cells that provide rats—and most likely, humans— with personalized maps of their surroundings, helping them navigate through obstacles. The findings could lead to improved autonomous vehicles that can navigate unpredictable and dynamic terrain.

KALISPELL, Mont. — Two middle schoolers in the Flathead are making a name for themselves in the robotics world. Katie Eberhardy and Jessie Chadwick recently won the regional, NASA-sponsored Apollo Next Great Leap Student Challenge.

Eberhardy and Chadwick’s team—the Lunar Loonies—was the only all-girl team in the competition, and one of the smallest of the about 20 other teams.

“Some teams had six to eight people,” Chadwick said. “We’re just a team of two.”

AARHUS, Denmark — The Philippine Robotics National Team bagged the gold medal award in the World Robot Olympiad Friendship Invitational (WROFIT) 2019 held here from August 1 to 4.

The delegation represented by Team NOUVUS from Dr. Yanga’s College Inc., (DYCI Bocaue, Bulacan) won gold in the competition’s Smart Cities project presentation in the Open Category–Smart Governance Theme.

The team’s work called Project ’ALAB’ (Anti-Adversity Link for Aid and Benefits) bested 149 teams from 32 countries (ages 16 to 19 years old).

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel painted a gloomy picture of artificial intelligence in his NYT’s op-ed on Thursday, detailing the technology’s real value and purpose as primarily a military one.

“The first users of the machine learning tools being created today will be generals,” Thiel declared in his 1,200-word piece. “A.I. is a military technology.”

Thiel’s portrayal is a far cry from the optimistic view that many in Silicon Valley have embraced. Artificial intelligence has promised to give us the next, best Netflix recommendations, let us search the internet using our voices, and do away with humans behind the wheel. It’s also expected to have a huge impact in medicine and agriculture. But instead, Thiel says that AI’s real home is on the battlefield — whether that be in the physical or cyber worlds.

Only these eyes aren’t human. They don’t blink or take breaks, and guided by artificial intelligence they can tell the difference between a dust cloud, an insect swarm and a plume of smoke that demands quick attention. In Brazil, the devices help keep mining giant Vale SA working, and protect trees for pulp and paper producer Suzano SA.

The research and development of neural networks is flourishing thanks to recent advancements in computational power, the discovery of new algorithms, and an increase in labelled data. Before the current explosion of activity in the space, the practical applications of neural networks were limited.

Much of the recent research has allowed for broad application, the heavy computational requirements for machine learning models still restrain it from truly entering the mainstream. Now, emerging algorithms are on the cusp of pushing neural networks into more conventional applications through exponentially increased efficiency.

The U.S. Army has confirmed it is trying to speed up high-powered laser weapon program to develop a new system that will acquire, track, engage, and defeat unmanned aircraft system, cruise missile and rocket, artillery, and mortar threats.

The new Army’s high-powered laser weapon system is intended to provide 360º protection and simultaneously engage threats arriving from different azimuths.

The Army will adjust the current High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL-TVD), a 100 kW-class laser system integrated on a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles platform developed by Dynetics and subcontractor Lockheed Martin. Under the new directed energy strategy, the Army is leveraging progress made in that effort in order to merge the HEL-TVD with similar technologies in development by the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

The other gaming was that computers don’t really understand words… So you ask, “Who was the sixteenth president of the United States.”? The computer doesn’t know what “sixteenth” and “president of the United States” mean. But it can go and rummage through Wikipedia-like sources and find those words and match them to a president, Abraham Lincoln and come back with “‘Who’ was Abraham Lincoln.”

But then you put anything in that’s like a pun or a joke or a riddle or sarcasm, that you can’t look up in Wikipedia, and computers are helpless. For example, in the first round, one of the final Jeopardy clues was, “Its largest airport is named for a World War II hero; its second largest for a World War II battle.” And the correct answer was “Chicago.” And Watson guessed “Toronto,” apparently because it was confused in the second part of that sentence, what “it” referred to. And that is a common problem with computers. (See: Why did Watson think Toronto was in the U.S.A.?)

Terry Winograd is a computer scientist at Stanford and he thought up this test of computer knowledge. The question is, “What does ‘it’ refer to in this sentence?”