Last Week in AI
Weekly summaries of the AI news that matters!
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Episodes
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
Our 93nd episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Outline:
Intro
Applications & Business
(01:10) Venture funding for chip startups has doubled in the last five years thanks to AI
(4:00) Google's multisearch feature lets you search with text and images at the same time
(6:10) Lighting Round
Nurse-assisting robotics firm Diligent raises $30M - "We’ve seen robotics applied to just about every other field of late, so why not nursing — a field that will require one million new faces to keep up with demand in the U.S. alone?
Sorry, developers: Microsoft's new tool fixes the bugs in software code written by AI - "Microsoft's Jigsaw can automate the process of checking and editing code outputted by a machine."
Research & Advancements(7:50) Deep Learning Poised to ‘Blow Up’ Famed Fluid Equations - "For centuries, mathematicians have tried to prove that Euler’s fluid equations can produce nonsensical answers. A new approach to machine learning has researchers betting that “blowup” is near."
(11:20) Analog A.I.? It sounds crazy, but it might be the future - "Forget digital. The future of A.I. is … analog? At least, that’s the assertion of Mythic, an A.I. chip company that’s, its own words, taking “a leap forward in performance in power” by going back in time. Sort of."
(13:55) Lighting Round
AI and infrared spectroscopy identify the age and species of mosquitoes – Physics World
Deep Science: Combining vision and language could be the key to more capable AI
Society & Ethics
(15:45) The Miserable Lives of Cyborg Truck Drivers - "How AI and automation can make a job worse than before"
(18:45) House lawmakers launch investigation of face-scan contractor ID.me - "The House probe marks an escalation of years of controversy over the government’s growing reliance on facial recognition, which boiled over earlier this year after the IRS said it would require Americans to scan their faces in order to access their IRS tax accounts."
(22:10) Lighting Round
Biden administration takes step forward on AI policy
FDA Issues Advisory on Use of AI and Machine Learning for Large Vessel Occlusion in the Brain
Fun & Neat
(23:40) GM Cruise autonomous taxi pulled over by police in San Francisco without humans, ‘bolts’ off (U: Cruise responds) - "Last week, a GM Cruise-converted Chevy Bolt without a driver was pulled over by San Francisco Police. In an unexpected turn, the car “bolted” …to a safe spot. Cruise responded below."
(26:43) How artificial intelligence helps students learn
Outro
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
Our 92nd episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Outline:
(0:00) Intro
Research & Advancements
(01:15) OpenAI's new DALL.E model turns your words into pieces of art
(5:45) Pathways Language Model (PaLM): Scaling to 540 Billion Parameters for Breakthrough Performance
(10:00) Lighting Round
Stanford Researchers Have Developed a Machine Learning-Based Algorithm To Detect Autism in Brain “Fingerprints” - "Patients with autism who are diagnosed early and definitively may benefit from earlier therapies and better results. Stanford researchers have created an algorithm that can tell if someone has autism by analyzing brain images."
Johns Hopkins’ heart-scanning AI predicts cardiac arrests up to 10 years ahead - "Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed an artificial intelligence approach they say can help predict if and when a person could die of cardiac arrest based on imaging scans of the heart."
AI Betting Agents Weigh In On Reproducibility Of Research Findings - "Penn State researchers have created synthetic “prediction markets” for speculating on the replicability of published studies with unparalleled accuracy."
AI turns infrared images taken in total darkness into full colour - "The black-and-white images provided by night-vision cameras can be colourised using AI, but it must always be trained on similar images and is unlikely to ever work on unfamiliar general scenes"
Applications & Business
(12:15) First autonomous X-ray-analyzing AI is cleared in the EU - "An artificial intelligence tool that reads chest X-rays without oversight from a radiologist got regulatory clearance in the European Union last week — a first for a fully autonomous medical imaging AI, the company, called Oxipit, said in a statement."
(14:45) Werner to use self-driving trucks on 600 mile lane deemed ‘unappealing’ for human truck drivers - "Werner Enterprises in partnership with autonomous vehicle tech company Aurora Innovation, Inc. launched a commercial pilot program in Texas."
(17:00) Lighting Round
Elon Musk says production of Tesla's robot could start next year, but A.I. experts have their doubts - "Tesla has yet to reveal a working prototype of the robot, however, and it’s unclear how sophisticated Optimus is at this stage."
This California-based HealthTech Startup is Using Artificial Intelligence To Modernize and Personalize Fertility Care - "Alife Health, a San Francisco-based startup is using artificial intelligence to improve IVF fertility outcomes."
Using machine learning to improve student success in higher education - "[overview of topic Deploying machine learning and advanced analytics thoughtfully and to their full potential may support improvements in student access, success, and the overall student experience."
Microsoft and HPE put AI to the test on International Space Station … with gloves - "An image of a spacewalker’s gloves is analyzed for signs of wear using AI"
Society & Ethics
(20:45) California suggests taking aim at AI-powered hiring software - "A newly proposed amendment to California's hiring discrimination laws would make AI-powered employment decision-making software a source of legal liability."
(23:03) As Russia Plots Its Next Move, an AI Listens to the Chatter - "With vast amounts of data becoming available to intelligence analysts, new tools will help them sift and interpret it all—but they will introduce new risks, too."
(25:22) Lightning
Face scanner Clearview AI aims to branch out beyond police - “The new "consent-based" product, with aspirations of competing with Amazon and Microsoft, would use Clearview's algorithms to verify a person's face for bank transactions or commercial purposes.”
Google Says AI Generated Content Is Against Guidelines - "Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller says content automatically generated with AI writing tools is considered spam, according to the search engine’s webmaster guidelines."
California suggests taking aim at AI-powered hiring software - "A newly proposed amendment to California's hiring discrimination laws would make AI-powered employment decision-making software a source of legal liability."
What AI Can Do for Climate Change, and What Climate Change Can Do for AI - "[overview of topics] To tackle the climate crisis, artificial intelligence is becoming more open and democratic"
Fun & Neat
(27:42) The 11 Commandments of Hugging Robots - "How to build a humanoid that gives perfect hugs"
(33:00) Adding AI to Museum Exhibits Increases Learning, Keeps Kids Engaged Longer - "They used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a new genre of interactive, hands-on exhibits that includes a virtual assistant to interact with visitors."
Outro
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Our 91st episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Outline:
Applications & Business
Meet the DeepMind mafia: These 18 alumni from Google's AI research lab are raising millions for their own startups, from climate to crypto
Nvidia unveils new technology to speed up AI, launches new supercomputer
Kroger and Nvidia partner to ‘reinvent the shopping experience’ with AI and digital twin simulations
Top AI execs, including Richard Socher, launch AIX Ventures
Research & Advancements
Researchers From Cortical Labs Develop DishBrain: A Neural Network With Biological Neurons
Google AI and UC Berkely Researchers Introduce A Deep Learning Approach Called 'PRIME' That Generates AI Chip Architectures By Drawing From Existing Blueprints And Performance Figures
Seeing an elusive magnetic effect through the lens of machine learning
AI confirms the obvious: The pandemic bummed people out
Society & Ethics
US-China collaboration in AI papers drops amid ongoing tech war, Stanford report shows
Banks Using AI Are Ripe for Russian Sabotage
Automation will erase 'knowledge jobs' before most blue collar jobs: Future Today Institute CEO
Ukraine uses facial recognition to identify dead Russian soldiers, minister says
Software vendors are pushing "explainable A.I." that often isn't
Fun & Neat
Ubisoft shows off machine learning tool for modelling animals
Nvidia shows off AI model that turns a few dozen snapshots into a 3D-rendered scene
Thursday Mar 24, 2022
Thursday Mar 24, 2022
Our 90th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Outline:
(00:00) Intro
Applications & Business
(1:10) Machine Learning Reimagines the Building Blocks of Computing
(5:50) Meet ElliQ, the robot who wants to keep Grandma company
(10:52) Lightning Round
Research & Advancements
(12:24) AI suggested 40,000 new possible chemical weapons in just six hours
(14:15) Meta AI’s Sparse All-MLP Model Doubles Training Efficiency Compared to Transformers
(16:15) Lightning Round
Society & Ethics
(17:33) AI and disinformation in the Russia-Ukraine war + Deepfake Zelenskyy surrender video is the 'first intentionally used' in Ukraine war
(19:28) Powered by artificial intelligence, ‘autonomous’ border towers test Democrats’ support for surveillance technology
(23:15) Lightning round
Fun & Neat
(25:05) AI-generated utopias
(26:51) Building games and apps entirely through natural language using OpenAI’s code-davinci model
(29:15) Outro
Thursday Mar 17, 2022
Thursday Mar 17, 2022
Our 89th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
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Outline:
(00:00) Intro
Applications & Business
(3:23) Amazon Uses Machine Learning to Improve Video Quality on Prime Video
(6:55) These Campaigns Hope 'Deepfake' Candidates Help Get Out the Vote
Research & Advancements
(16:25) DeepMind’s new AI model helps decipher, date, and locate ancient inscriptions
(20:45) Generating and Identifying Propaganda With Machine Learning
Society & Ethics
(27:08) The secret police: Cops built a shadowy surveillance machine in Minnesota after George Floyd's murder
(33:40) AI-produced images can't fix diversity issues in dermatology databases
Fun & Neat
(40:35) Grunt of the litter: scientists use AI to decode pig calls
(43:25) I fell in love with my AI girlfriend - and it saved my marriage'
(48:00) Outro
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Our 88th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
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Outline:
(00:00) Intro
Applications & Business
(01:18) How GitHub Uses Machine Learning to Extend Vulnerability Code Scanning
(06:55) First Wholly AI-Developed Drug Enters Phase 1 Trials
Research & Advancements
(10:50) Stanford University use AI computing to cut DNA sequencing down to five hours
(15:36) AI Machines Have Beaten Moore's Law Over The Last Decade, Say Computer Scientists
Society & Ethics
(21:56) China Is About to Regulate AI—and the World Is Watching
(28:00) Russia’s AI Army: Drones, AI-Guided Missiles and Autonomous Tanks
Fun & Neat
(36:20) How vacation photos of zebras and whales can help conservation
(40:50) Walmart’s Choose My Model Helps Shoppers Try on Clothes Virtually
(43:37) Baidu plans 100-city robot taxi rollout by 2030
(46:01) Outro
Thursday Feb 24, 2022
Thursday Feb 24, 2022
Our 87th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
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Outline:
(00:00) Intro
(01:30) AI Arrives for Serious Photo Editing, Not Just Smartphone Snapshots
(05:20) Listen to an AI voice actor try and flirt with you
(10:28) DeepMind’s AI can control superheated plasma inside a fusion reactor
(15:55) Good News About the Carbon Footprint of Machine Learning Training
(21:36) Who Is Behind QAnon? Linguistic Detectives Find Fingerprints
(26:18) Facial recognition firm Clearview AI tells investors it is seeking massive expansion beyond law enforcement
(31:23) This AI Generates Fake New Pokémon, And It's Actually Pretty Good
(34:01) AI generated this moody, entertaining animated music video
(37:35) Outro
Thursday Feb 17, 2022
Thursday Feb 17, 2022
Our 86th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
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Outline:
(00:00) Intro
(01:22) This AI is set to help stop illegal fishing
(04:21) An ancient language has defied translation for 100 years. Can AI crack the code?
(09:40) The New CGI: Creating Neural Neighborhoods With Block-NeRF
(12:45) MuZero’s first step from research into the real world
(16:40) MoviePass 2.0 Wants to Track Your Eyeballs to Make Sure You Watch Ads
(20:02) AI fails its job interview
(23:58) Mad Scientist Forces AI to Make Horrific Pictures Out of BuzzFeed Headlines
(26:18) Artist uses AI to perfectly fake 70s science fiction pulp covers – artwork and titles
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
Our 85th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
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Outline:
(00:00) Intro
(01:20) Machine learning the hard way: IBM Watson's fatal misdiagnosis
(05:20) How homeowners defeated Zillow’s AI, which led to Zillow Offers’ demise
(09:00) DeepMind claims its new code-generating system is competitive with human programmers
(14:00) Announcing GPT-NeoX-20B
(16:35) AI Insurance Company Faces Class Action for Use of Biometric Data
(19:24) Democratic lawmakers take another stab at AI bias legislation
(22:55) AI-generated Valentine's Cards
(26:10) Tell this AI your story's themes, and it'll write the first paragraph for you
(28:50) Outro
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Our 84rd episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Note: apologies for issues with sound quality in this episode!
Outline:
Applications & BusinessMeta Aims to Build the World's Fastest AI Supercomputer
Deploying machine learning to improve mental health
Research & Advancements
OpenAI rolls out new text-generating models that it claims are less toxic
Meta researchers build an AI that learns equally well from visual, written or spoken materials
Society & Ethics
China Proposes Increased Regulation of Deepfakes and Other AI Synthesis Systems
IRS Will Require Facial Recognition Scans to Access Your Taxes
Fun & Neat
Google AI tools bring back women in science to the fore
Watch an AI Play the Best Game of Tetris You've Ever Seen
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