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May 27, 2023

AI Can Help You Ask Better Questions — and Solve Bigger Problems

Posted by in categories: business, robotics/AI

Most companies still view AI rather narrowly, as a tool that alleviates the costs and inefficiencies of repetitive human labor and increasing organizations’ capacity to produce, process, and analyze piles and piles of data. But when paired with “soft” inquiry-related skills it can help people ask better questions and be more innovative.

There are two distinct, yet related, paths to do this. 1) Use the technology to change the cadence and patterns of their questions: AI increases question velocity, question variety, and question novelty. 2) Use AI to transform the conditions and settings where people work so that questions that spark change — what we call “catalytic” questions — can emerge. This pushes leaders out of their comfort zones and into the position of being intellectually wrong, emotionally uncomfortable, and behaviorally quiet and more reflective, all of which, it turns out, promotes innovative thinking and action.

Page-utils class= article-utils—vertical hide-for-print data-js-target= page-utils data-id= tag: blogs.harvardbusiness.org, 2007/03/31:999.356809 data-title= AI Can Help You Ask Better Questions — and Solve Bigger Problems data-url=/2023/05/ai-can-help-you-ask-better-questions-and-solve-bigger-problems data-topic= Technology and analytics data-authors= Hal Gregersen; Nicola Morini Bianzino data-content-type= Digital Article data-content-image=/resources/images/article_assets/2023/05/May23_26_887787366-383x215.jpg data-summary=

May 27, 2023

Gene Editing Gets a Triple Boost: “Happy Accident” Leads to Enhanced CRISPR Efficiency

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

Scientists have enhanced the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing by threefold using interstrand crosslinks, without resorting to viral material for delivery. This approach boosts the cell’s natural repair mechanisms, allowing for more accurate and efficient gene editing, potentially improving disease research and preclinical work.

Gene editing is a powerful method for both research and therapy. Since the advent of the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR/Cas9 technology, a quick and accurate tool for genome editing discovered in 2012, scientists have been working to explore its capabilities and boost its performance.

Researchers in the University of California, Santa Barbara biologist Chris Richardson’s lab have added to that growing toolbox, with a method that increases the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 editing without the use of viral material to deliver the genetic template used to edit the target genetic sequence. According to their new paper published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, their method stimulates homology-directed repair (a step in the gene editing process) by approximately threefold “without increasing mutation frequencies or altering end-joining repair outcomes.”

May 27, 2023

Pioneering Experimental Method Unlocks Spin Structure Secrets in 2D Materials

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, particle physics

Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a single layer of atoms in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes of carbon, including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes. In proportion to its thickness, it is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel.

May 27, 2023

Tesla Bot has got our competitive juices flowing, says Boston Dynamics CEO

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter has commented on Tesla Bot, Tesla’s humanoid robot project, and he says it ignited a competitive spirit at the company.

Ever since Tesla announced its humanoid robot project, it has often been compared to Boston Dynamics, which is widely recognized as the leader in robotics.

Continue reading “Tesla Bot has got our competitive juices flowing, says Boston Dynamics CEO” »

May 27, 2023

OpenAI offers $1 million in grants to shape ethical AI, combat misinformation

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

In a blog post, OpenAI has officially declared its intentions to offer $100,000 grants for the best ideas on how we should regulate and control AI.

ChatGPT creators, OpenAI, have announced ten $100,000 grants for anyone with good ideas on how artificial intelligence (AI) can be governed to help address bias and other factors. The grants will be awarded to recipients who present the most compelling answers for some of the most pressing solutions around AI, like whether it should be allowed to have an opinion on public figures.

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May 27, 2023

Engineer takes 16 years to build robot that can help musicians play guitar

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

You won’t believe your eyes or ears.

Engineer Olav Martin Kvern has built a robot that picks electric guitar strings making playing the instrument easier and more accessible. This noble endeavor took 16 years to accomplish.

Continue reading “Engineer takes 16 years to build robot that can help musicians play guitar” »

May 27, 2023

Could analog chips be the solution to AI’s power thirst?

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, robotics/AI, transportation

Digital chips have revolutionized the world beyond all recognition. Yet, despite their enormous advantages to computing, for power-hungry processes like AI, analog might be best.

Digital computer chips are the mainstay of our current digital age.

Continue reading “Could analog chips be the solution to AI’s power thirst?” »

May 27, 2023

Baidu’s AI revolution: CEO announces launch of game-changing generative AI model

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

CEO Robin Li recently revealed that the company is primed to launch Ernie 3.5, a generative AI large-language model.

Baidu is China’s leading search engine and a powerhouse of technological innovation. Now, they are at the edge of a breakthrough. CEO Robin Li recently revealed that the company is primed to officially launch Ernie 3.5, a generative AI large-language model that promises to revolutionize Baidu’s ChatGPT-like app, Ernie Bot, and enhance its renowned search engine.

The announcement during the prestigious Zhongguancun Forum marks an exciting milestone for Baidu’s journey into advanced artificial intelligence.

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May 27, 2023

Impulse and Relativity Space to launch first commercial Mars mission in 2026

Posted by in category: space travel

The firms claim they want to set up a “constant supply chain to Mars” by sending missions every 26 months.

Two private space companies, Impulse Space and Relativity Space, recently announced that their private Mars mission is now expected to launch sometime in 2026, a report from SpaceNews reveals.

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May 27, 2023

Engineers harvest abundant clean energy from thin air, 24/7

Posted by in categories: climatology, computing, engineering

A team of engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has recently shown that nearly any material can be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air. The secret lies in being able to pepper the material with nanopores less than 100 nanometers in diameter. The research appeared in the journal Advanced Materials.

“This is very exciting,” says Xiaomeng Liu, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering in UMass Amherst’s College of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “We are opening up a wide door for harvesting clean from thin air.”

“The air contains an enormous amount of electricity,” says Jun Yao, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, and the paper’s senior author. “Think of a cloud, which is nothing more than a mass of water droplets. Each of those droplets contains a charge, and when conditions are right, the cloud can produce a lightning bolt—but we don’t know how to reliably capture electricity from lightning. What we’ve done is to create a human-built, small-scale cloud that produces electricity for us predictably and continuously so that we can harvest it.”