H+ Weekly - Issue #383
View this email in your browser
This week - Tesla shows a humanoid robot; DeepMind finds a better way to multiply matrices; a new project to map the entire human brain launches; and more!
MORE THAN A HUMAN
A $500 Million International Project Will Create the Most Detailed Map of the Brain Ever
National Institutes of Health launches BRAIN Initiative - a $500 million dollar multinational project whose goal is to map the entire human brain, down to single cells. The new project builds on a previous effort to identify and map more than 100 cell types across the motor cortex of a mouse and will borrow many of the tools and techniques developed for that effort.
New Tech for Gene Therapy Could Advance Longevity
Gene therapies are changing how we treat diseases and for a growing number of scientists, ageing is being recognised as a disease. This article starts by introducing Liz Parrish, one of the pioneers in the anti-ageing field, and how the science has changed since she received two gene therapies in 2015 and 2020 to slow down the effects of ageing.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
White House guidelines for AI aim to mitigate harm
The White House proposed a non-binding Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights that it said would help parents, patients and workers avert harm from the increasing use of automation in education, health care and employment. Like the others, the White House version suggests numerous practices that developers and users of AI software should voluntarily follow to prevent the technology from unfairly disadvantaging people. However, the pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned that the non-binding proposal could hurt American businesses if they became rules.
Artificial Intelligence allows me to get straight A's
I wonder how many futurists predicted that an advanced text-generating AI will be used by students to write assignments.
DeepMind AI finds new way to multiply numbers and speed up computers
DeepMind's new AI, named AlphaTensor, has found a new way to compute matrix multiplications - one of the core operations in computing. DeepMind reports this new approach is up to 20% more efficient than the previous algorithm and it can run on the current hardware. Hussein Fawzi at Deepmind says the results are mathematically sound, but are far from intuitive for humans. “We don’t really know why the system came up with this, essentially,” he says. “Why is it the best way of multiplying matrices? It’s unclear.” The AlphaTensor code is open source and available on GitHub.
▶️ How to Defeat Roko's Basilisk (12:55)
Just by reading this words I have doomed you to eternity of suffering from superintelligent AI. But Kyle Hill comes to rescue and explains how to use Prisoner's Dilemma to save ourselves from the Basilisk.
ROBOTICS
Elon Musk unveils humanoid ‘Optimus’ robot at Tesla’s AI Day
During Tesla AI Day, Elon Musk showed to the world the company's humanoid robot - Optimus. Unlike last year, when the robot was an actor dressed as a robot, this time Musk presented a real humanoid robot that walked on the stage, waved at people and did a little dance. Musk said the robot will be used in Tesla's factories and in homes. The company plans to mass-produce these robots and sell them for under $20,000. Nothing has been said when the sales would start.
What Robotics Experts Think of Tesla’s Optimus Robot
IEEE Spectrum reached out to robotics experts asking them what do they think about Optimus - Tesla's new humanoid robot. The common thread amongst these experts is the respect and praise for Tesla engineers who were able to build such a robot in a short period of time. At the same time, they are not impressed by what we have seen.
Robots are making French fries faster, better than humans
Miso Robotics Inc in Pasadena has started rolling out its Flippy 2 robot, which automates the process of deep frying potatoes, onions and other foods. Flippy 2 can cook several meals with different recipes simultaneously, reducing the need for catering staff and, says Miso, speed up order delivery at drive-through windows.
Boston Dynamics pledges not to weaponize its robots
Six robotics companies - Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics and Unitree Robotics - have signed a letter pledging not to support the weaponization of their products and are calling for others in the industry to do the same.
This issue was brought to you by our awesome patrons Floris, Eric, Andrew, dux and Tom! You too can support the newsletter on Patreon.
Thank you for subscribing,
Conrad Gray (@conradthegray)
If you have any questions or suggestions, just reply to this email or tweet at @hplusweekly. I'd like to hear what do you think about H+ Weekly.
Follow H+ Weekly!