H+ Weekly - Issue #23
ISSUE #23
Google open sourced its AI engine, what plans has Facebook about its AI, how autonomous car sees the world, crazy biohackers, robots and more!
More than a human
Biohackers Are Implanting LED Lights Under Their Skin
Motherboard visited some crazy biohackers to watch how they implant light-up implants in their hands. The article contains really explicit images of the process, so you have been warned.
To Study the Brain, a Doctor Puts Himself Under the Knife
To better understand how the brain works, Phil Kennedy, a 67-year-old neurologist and inventor, put an implant into his head.
Can Prosthetics Outperform Real Limbs?
MIT Media Lab's Hugh Herr explains how he looks to nature when developing new bionic appendages. The amputee and avid rock climber discusses how his biomechatronics division is pioneering the technologies that aim to augment human physical capabilities.
A demonstration of the Fortis Exoskeleton, developed by Lockheed Martin
National Geographic checks how does the Fortis Exoskeleton perform in a simulated disaster environment.
Artificial Intelligence
Google Open Sourced TensorFlow, Its Artificial Intelligence Engine
Google open sourced software that sits at the heart of its empire.
How Google Aims To Dominate AI
A long read from PopSci on how Google aims to dominate AI.
Here’s How Smart Facebook’s AI Has Become
Watch Yann LeCun, director of AI at Facebook, show off some of what the AI that powers Facebook M is capable of yesterday at MIT Technology Review’s EmTech conference.
Your Robot Assistant Will Be Able to Do Things No Human Can Do
Ray Kurzweil shares his vision of intelligent assistants. It is like your personal Siri with powers of Google.
I’m going to make Facebook’s AI predict what happens in videos
An interview with Yann Lecun, the guy behind Facebook's AI, on what awaits us in the near and far future of artificial intelligence.
Homo sapiens will be split into a handful of gods and the rest of us
An article from Guardian on how AI will make inequalities even bigger in the future, resulting in societies where a small group of people has everything and everybody else have nothing.
Teaching Machines to Learn on Their Own
Stephen Hoover, CEO of Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, talks withScientific American tech editor Larry Greenemeier about the revolution underway in machine learning, in which the machine eventually programs itself.
Facebook M — The Anti-Turing Test
This guy performed a reverse Turing Test. He wanted to prove that Facebook M is indeed partially powered by humans. Very interesting reading.
Why Asimov's Laws of Robotics Don't Work
The famous Asimov's Laws of Robotics... Three or four laws to make robots and AI safe - should be simple right? Rob Miles on why these simple laws are so complicated.
Dawkins, Tyson, Maher discuss AI
Bill Maher asks Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins what do they think about AI. Also, not related to the AI, transhumanism and stuff, watch till the end. Neil nails it.
Robotics
Robot Toddler Learns to Stand by “Imagining” How to Do It
Instead of being programmed, a little robot named Darwin uses brain-inspired algorithms to “imagine” (or less poetic - by running a lot of simulations) doing tasks before trying them in the real world.
BitDrones Are Awesome, Ridiculous At Same Time
Imagine a human-computer interface controlled by drones. It is hard to describe it with words, so please, check the link and check the video showing how awesome BitDrones are.
What an autonomous car sees
Here how the world looks like according to autonomous car.
This Robot Will Let Kids In Hospital Explore Zoos Through Virtual Reality
Being in hospital sucks. It sucks even more if you are a kid. But, thanks to this interessing project, kids in hospital could go visit the zoo using virtual reality and mobile robot.
Welcome to the arms race for anti-drone weaponry
Recent incidents involding drones sparked a discussion on how to make sure drones won't cause any problems. Some proposed regulations. Other proposed weapons.
In Greece, Driverless Buses Are Now Accepting Passengers
Another city joins the list of cities with driveless buses. This time, it is Trikala, Greece.
Biotechnology
Gene editing saves girl dying from leukaemia in world first
For the first time ever, a person’s life has been saved by gene editing. One-year-old Layla was dying from leukaemia after all conventional treatments failed. The only hope to save her life was gene editing. And it worked!
Y Combinator’s Sam Altman Is Bullish on Biotech Startups
An interview with Sam Altman from Y Combinator on biotechnology startups from a perspective of an investor.
You Could Soon Use CRISPR To Biohack In Your Own Home
Kits from a new crowdfunding campaign could send you everything you need to get started with gene editing without spending thousands of dollars to build a professional lab.
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