H+ Weekly - Issue #54
ISSUE #54
This week we ask what will come after the Singularity, Elon Musk says we need to merge with the machines, an AI wrote a sci-fi movie, a robot in Russia tastes freedom, how face swap fails show us how the computer see us and more!
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More than a human
The Transcension Hypothesis - What comes after the singularity?
The Transcension Hypothesis is an attempt to explain the Fermi's Paradox (what is Fermi's Paradox was nicely explained here) by asking what would happen after a civilisation reaches the Singularity. The idea is that superintelligence would not grow outwards, but inwards, eventually removing itself from the universe. It's an interesting concept and Jason Silva does a good job explaining it in the video.
Zoltan Istvan explains in just 2 minutes the important priority of curing the degenerative disease of aging
Mark Niu sat down with Zoltan Istvan, the Transhumanist party's candidate for U.S. president, to talk about his party's bill of rights that asks for government support of longer life spans through the use of science and technology.
Elon Musk: To Survive The Age of Artificial Intelligence, Humanity Must “Achieve Symbiosis With Machines”
I'm happy we agree on that, Elon.
Cyborg Nest
Cyborg Nest is a company which aim is to enhance human senses. They start with North Sense - a miniature Artificial Sense, vibrating each time it faces the Magnetic North.
A prosthetic arm with a tattoo gun
It's so cyberpunk.
Titanium Implants for James' Limbs
A couple of issues ago I showed you a guy with a Metal Gear Solid arm. His name is James Young and he's raising money to undergo a direct skeletal fixation, or osseointegration operation. In other words, he wants to have his prosthesis attached directly into his bones.
Artificial Intelligence
An AI wrote a sci-fi short film by learning from 90s screenplays
Someone feed an AI with a bunch of scripts of sci-fi movies and then asked it to generate a new script. Then they gathered a team and made this movie. It's called Sunspring.
There’s An AI That’s Making Music to Improve Your Brain Function
Brain.fm uses an artificial intelligence to compose music that is designed to enhance your brain's performance—decreasing anxiety, improving focus, and alleviating insomnia through neural entrainment. I might give it a try. If you have tried it, please share your thoughts about it.
Artificial intelligence produces realistic sounds that fool humans
And here's another AI that uses sounds, but not to enhance brain function, but to troll people. The AI is able to predict the sound. You show it a silent video and the system will create a realistic sound good enough to trick people into believing it's real.
Deep Learning Isn’t a Dangerous Magic Genie. It’s Just Math
Deep learning is a powerful technique allowing machines to do things we thought would beyond their reach for decades. It feels almost like a magic and there might be the root of all fears of AI. This article proves in plain English that deep learning is just math and explains where are the limits of deep learning.
Google's Deep Mind Explained! - Self Learning AI
The history of DeepMind, what is deep reinforced learning, general purpose AI and what its algorithms can do explained in 15 minutes.
Robotics
Russian Robot Escapes Laboratory, Wanders Into Street
The robot was programmed to wander around outside of the laboratory to test independent locomotion. But someone forgot to close the gate, so the robot decided to see the world.
There’s a Problem in China—Robots
It's not the-robot-took-your-job kind of problem. China's push for a homegrown robotics industry has created scams aimed at getting government subsidies with nothing to show for it. Many companies with little or no experience in robotics are receiving huge handouts from the government.
This Robot Can Decide When to Inflict Pain on Humans
Alexander Reben, a roboticist and artist based in Berkeley, California, wanted to create a machine that would spur debate around sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's "First Law" of robotics, which says a robot may not harm a human being, or by its inaction allow a human being to be harmed. So he built a robot that decides whenever it will prick you or not.
The Evolution of Robots
A nice comic about the evolution of robots, from Leonardo da Vinci's automaton to Asimov's Laws of Robotics to current bipedal humanoid robots and beyond.
Siemens is Building a Swarm of 3D Printing Spider Robots With a Hive Mind
Siemens is building an army of robot spiders called SiSpis that are equipped with artificial intelligence and 3D printing nozzles. This allows them to autonomously and collaboratively build wherever they are, a new system the inventors are referring to as "mobile manufacturing."
Robots Are Beginning To Learn The Same Way As Humans
ADROIT is a robotic hand that learns how to perform complex tasks the same way as human would do, by trial and error.
The 5 Best Robotic Arm for 2016
Speaking of robotic arms, here's a list of 5 best robotic arms that you can actually buy (or assemble) and use as a toy or to learn robotics.
Biotechnology
Why We Should Finish the Human Genome
We mapped the entire human genome. Well, we mapped almost entire human genome. There is the remaining 1% of human DNA, known as "junk DNA" or "dark matter DNA", where we can find answers how our bodies work or how to cure diseases.
Copyrighting DNA Is a Bad Idea
The recent legal battle on who holds the patent for CRISPR caused questions about copyrights and patents in biotech industry. Susie Neilson talks with Dan Burk, a professor of intellectual property law at the University of California, Irvine, about how to solve the problem of copyrights when it comes to gene editing and DNA.
Virtual Worlds
Alienware is Building a Backpack PC for Virtual Reality
So that you could play VR games outside.
Outro
The Vague Horror of Face Swap | Idea Channel
Here's an idea - the face swap fails can tells us how computers see us. When a computer doesn’t know the difference between your face or a hubcap, what does that say about the way computers see us?
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