H+ Weekly - Issue #40
ISSUE #40
This week - AlphaGo vs Lee Sedol, Open Bionics and Metal Gear Solid, Facebook's AI reads books, is it OK to torture a robot, the history of AI, drone circus and more!
More than a human
Six Million Dollar Man's Bionic Eye Becomes Reality
Eric Tremblay unveiled a unique contact lens that provides the user with a telescopic vision which can be turned on and off with a wink.
Open Bionics Meets Metal Gear Solid
Open Bionics has created a custom 3D printed bionic hand for an avid one-handed gamer - the Phantom Limb from Metal Gear Solid. Looks amazing!
Artificial Intelligence
AlphaGo vs Lee Sedol
AlphaGo, DeepMind's algorithm that had beaten European Champion in Go, is now playing against Lee Sedol, the World Champion in Go. At the time I was writing this the result was 2:0 for AlphaGo.
Inside the Artificial Intelligence Revolution: A Special Report, Pt. 1
I didn't expect to see such detailed article about artificial intelligence on Rolling Stone. It is a long read, but it covers what is the current AI revolution all about and how it came to be.
Inside the Artificial Intelligence Revolution: A Special Report, Pt. 2
And here's the second part of the AI report from Rolling Stone, focusing on self-driving cars, war outsourced to robots, surgery by autonomous machines and what is there to come.
AI & The Future Of Civilization
A Conversation With Stephen Wolfram on AI and future of civilization. Quite long, one and a half hour, but if you have time it is worth listening what Wolfram has to say. Or you can read the transcript. Your choice.
AlphaGo And AI Progress
Since AlphaGo is now on everyone's mind, here is an article focusing on AlphaGo in a larger context of recent computer Go history, AI progress in general, and technological forecasting.
Facebook’s AI is learning by reading loads of children’s books
On 18 February, Facebook released several data sets that it uses to train its home-grown neural networks. One is packed with the text of classic novels. Training its AI on these books is part of what Facebook calls the Children’s Book Test, a method of gauging how well a computer understands what it’s reading.
Jason Silva Explains Why Robots Won't Destroy the Human Race
A very interesting, 20-minutes long interview with Jason Silva, the host of National Geographic's show, Brain Games, about technology, AI, robots, future of humanity and what can we see in the forthcoming years.
Robotics
Is It OK to Torture a Robot?
In last week, we saw how robots are being treated at Boston Dynamics. In short, not well. The question that this article tries to answer might sound absurd, but what if we create a machine that is conscious (whatever it means)? Or a machine that "lives"? Would it be still cool to poke it with a big stick?
The Master of Drones Turns Flying Machines Into Performers
The story of Raffaello D’Andrea and his flying drone circus. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you to check out his performance.
Driverless lorries to be trialled in UK
If you live in Cumbria near M6 and you see a lorry without a driver later in 2016, don't freak out. This is only a trial.
The Secret History Of American Robot Law
The self-driving car is a conundrum for the lawmakers, who now how to figure out who's responsible in case of an accident caused by this kind of car. It sounds for some people like a sci-fi, but it turns out there was a "similar" problem in the past in... 1950. The case did not involve any robots, but two humans, where one was controlling another. This case might show us how the law for the driveless cars might look like.
The SkyWall 100 bazooka captures drones with a giant net
The neighbors' drone annoyed you? If so, then shoot it down using this bazooka that shoots giant nets.
Don’t Be Alarmed: AI Won’t Leave Half the World Unemployed
Toby Walsh explains that, yes, automation will replace some jobs, but it will also create new jobs. So don't fear.
Neil deGrasse Tyson explains what will happen when robots take our jobs
In recent years, society has seen major advances in robotics and computing, which leads some to believe that one day robots will become smart enough to take over all of our jobs. Neil deGrasse Tyson has another theory on how the future of robotics might play out.
Virtual Worlds
Will Virtual Reality Movies Supplant the Theatrical Experience?
Chief film critic A.O. Scott discusses how virtual reality may change the movie-going experience. People have predicted the death of cinema over and over, he says, but people still love going to the movies.
Virtual Reality's Psychological and Behavioral Effects
While we've seen and used many virtual reality products aimed at consumers, there's also a lot of research in academia using virtual reality to study human psychology and behavior. Guys from Tested visit Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab to run through their VR demos and hear what researchers have learned from these VR experiments.
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