That experiences leave their trace in the connectivity of the brain has been known for a while, but a pioneering study by researchers at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and TUD Dresden University of Technology now shows how massive these effects really are. The findings in mice provide unprecedented insights into the complexity of large-scale neural networks and brain plasticity. Moreover, they could pave the way for new brain-inspired artificial intelligence methods. The results, based on an innovative “brain-on-chip” technology, are published in the scientific journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
The Dresden researchers explored the question of how an enriched experience affects the brain’s circuitry. For this, they deployed a so-called neurochip with more than 4,000 electrodes to detect the electrical activity of brain cells. This innovative platform enabled registering the “firing” of thousands of neurons simultaneously. The area examined – much smaller than the size of a human fingernail – covered an entire mouse hippocampus. This brain structure, shared by humans, plays a pivotal role in learning and memory, making it a prime target for the ravages of dementias like Alzheimer’s disease. For their study, the scientists compared brain tissue from mice, which were raised differently. While one group of rodents grew up in standard cages, which did not offer any special stimuli, the others were housed in an “enriched environment” that included rearrangeable toys and maze-like plastic tubes.
“The results by far exceeded our expectations,” said Dr. Hayder Amin, lead scientist of the study. Amin, a neuroelectronics and nomputational neuroscience expert, heads a research group at DZNE. With his team, he developed the technology and analysis tools used in this study. “Simplified, one can say that the neurons of mice from the enriched environment were much more interconnected than those raised in standard housing. No matter which parameter we looked at, a richer experience literally boosted connections in the neuronal networks. These findings suggest that leading an active and varied life shapes the brain on whole new grounds.”
Sports teams spend millions of dollars on their players’ health and fitness and any injuries can be detrimental to their players’ careers. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly change the way that sports spine injuries are diagnosed, treated, and managed. Tools such as Spindle and SpindleX are making it easy to prevent long-term injuries or spinal issues by detecting even the minutest variations in time. However, AI has just begun its foray into the field of healthcare and more importantly radiology or spine imaging.
With AI-related radiology imaging, it is becoming easier to prevent and cure injuries we didn’t even know existed. AI-assisted reports are helping physicians and surgeons take better and more accurate decisions and treatment plans, saving millions of dollars in the healthcare industry. Here are a few examples of how AI is improving the treatment of sports-related spine injuries:
The chief executive of an Indian startup laid off 90% of his support staff after the firm built a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence that he says can handle customer queries much faster than his employees.
Summit Shah, the founder and CEO of Dukaan, a Bangalore-based e-commerce company, said on Twitter Monday that the chatbot — built by one of the firm’s data scientists in two days — could respond to initial customer queries instantly, whereas his staff’s first responses were sent after an average of 1 minute and 44 seconds.
The average time taken to resolve a customer’s issue also dropped by almost 98% when they interacted with the chatbot, he tweeted.
Join top executives in San Francisco on July 11–12 and learn how business leaders are getting ahead of the generative AI revolution. Learn More
The messaging software company Slack sees massive potential in generative AI and large language models, allowing more automation to improve workplace productivity and efficiency, said Steve Wood, Slack’s SVP, product management at the VentureBeat Transform 2023 conference on Tuesday.
“For me, I think automation, integration and AI are going to have a profound impact on how we experience software going forward,” Wood said in his panel discussion with Brian Evergreen, founder and CEO of the Profitable Good Company, a leadership advisory firm.
I’m excited to share my latest article with Aporia Magazine, where I’m writing a series of stories on transhumanism. My latest article, on AI and religion, is now out.
Written by Zoltan Istvan.
A consensus of 350 top AI experts believes that by 2060 engineers could create a superintelligence to rival the human mind. This machine intelligence might create complex symphonies, direct blockbuster movies and run market-beating companies. But would it be sophisticated enough to understand spirituality, practice a religion or commune with a higher power?
In conferences and forums around the world, theologians and scientists are trying to answer these questions. Some are even debating whether the superintelligence should be converted to a specific religious perspective when it arrives – and then maybe even saved.
Wired Magazine’s executive founding editor Kevin Kelly once said, “The creator made us as beings with free will and consciousness – we are going to do the same thing. We are going to make beings with free will and consciousness, because we are in the image of the creator.”
Join top executives in San Francisco on July 11–12 and learn how business leaders are getting ahead of the generative AI revolution. Learn More
Online furniture retailer Wayfair is embracing the power of generative AI with a thoughtful, measured approach that involves a council of stakeholders and a core thesis to help accelerate business productivity.
In a session at today’s VentureBeat Transform 2023, Wilko Schulz-Mahlendorf, head of pricing and marketing science at Wayfair, offered insights into how the company is using generative AI today and what its strategy is to integrate more AI in the future.
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The paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade8450
How computing with Different Colours of Light works: https://youtu.be/mt8I71VUazw.
00:00 — Photonic Chips.
06:38 — Backpropagation Problem.
07:38 — Training NN with Light.
12:27 — Challenges of Photonic Chips.
13:46 — Investments in Photonics.
This video was sponsored by Brilliant.
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July 11 (Reuters) — Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) was accused in a proposed class action lawsuit on Tuesday of misusing vast amounts of personal information and copyrighted material to train its artificial intelligence systems.
The complaint, filed in San Francisco federal court by eight individuals seeking to represent millions of internet users and copyright holders, said Google’s unauthorized scraping of data from websites violated their privacy and property rights.
“Google does not own the internet, it does not own our creative works, it does not own our expressions of our personhood, pictures of our families and children, or anything else simply because we share it online,” the plaintiffs’ attorney Ryan Clarkson said in a statement.