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Whereas October’s information was dominated by Fb’s (excuse me, Meta’s) continued issues (you’d suppose they’d get uninterested in the apology tour), probably the most attention-grabbing information comes from the AI world. I’m fascinated by way of massive language fashions to investigate the “speech” of whales, and to protect endangered human languages. It’s additionally vital that machine studying appears to have taken a step (pun considerably meant) ahead, with robots that educate themselves to stroll by trial and error, and with robots that discover ways to assemble themselves to carry out particular duties.
AI
- The design studio Artefact has created a sport to show center college college students about algorithmic bias.
- Researchers are constructing massive pure language fashions, doubtlessly the scale of GPT-3, to decode the “speech” of whales.
- A bunch at Berkeley has constructed a robotic that makes use of reinforcement studying to educate itself to stroll from scratch–i.e., by trial and error. They used two ranges of simulation earlier than loading the mannequin right into a bodily robotic.
- AI is reinventing computer systems: AI is driving new sorts of CPUs, new “out of the field” type elements (doorbells, home equipment), decision-making relatively than conventional computation. The “laptop” because the computational machine we all know could also be on the best way out.
- Bizarre creatures: Unimals, or common animals, are robots that may use AI to evolve their physique shapes to allow them to remedy issues extra effectively. Future generations of robotics may not be designed with fastened our bodies, however have the aptitude to adapt their form as wanted.
- Would a Nationwide AI Cloud be a subsidy to Google, Fb, et.al., a menace to privateness, or a worthwhile tutorial analysis software?
- I’ve been skeptical about digital twins; they appear to be a know-how searching for an utility. Nevertheless, Digital Twins (AI fashions of real-world techniques, used for predicting their habits) seem to be a helpful know-how for optimizing the efficiency of huge batteries.
- Digital Twins may present a method to predict provide chain issues and work round shortages. They might enable producers to navigate a compromise between just-in-time stocking processes, that are susceptible to shortages, and resilience.
- Modulate is a startup at the moment testing real-time voice altering software program. They supply practical, human sounding voices that change the person’s personal voice. They’re concentrating on gaming, however the software program is helpful in lots of conditions the place harassment is a threat.
- Voice copying algorithms had been capable of idiot each folks and voice-enabled gadgets roughly 50% of the time (30% for Azure’s voice recognition service, 62% for Alexa). It is a new entrance in deep fakery.
- Fb AI Analysis has created a set of first-person (head-mounted digicam) movies known as Ego4D for coaching AI. They wish to construct AI fashions that see the world “as an individual sees it,” and be capable of reply questions like “the place did I go away my keys.” In essence, because of this they might want to acquire actually every thing {that a} subscriber does. Though Fb denies that they’re desirous about industrial purposes, there are apparent connections to Ray-Ban Tales and their curiosity in augmented actuality.
- DeepMind is engaged on a deep studying mannequin that may emulate the output of any algorithm. That is known as Neuro Algorithmic Reasoning; it could be a step in direction of a “common AI.”
- Microsoft and NVIDIA announce a 530 billion parameter pure language mannequin named Megatron-Turing NLG 530B. That’s larger than GPT-3 (175B parameters).
- Can machine studying be used to doc endangered indigenous languages and help in language reclamation?
- Beethoven’s tenth symphony accomplished by AI: I’m not satisfied that that is what Beethoven would have written, however that is higher than different (human) makes an attempt to finish the tenth that I’ve heard. It seems like Beethoven, for probably the most half, although it rapidly will get aimless.
- I’m nonetheless fascinated by strategies to foil face recognition. Right here’s a paper about an AI system that designs minimal, natural-looking make-up that reshapes the components of the face that face recognition algorithms are most delicate to, with out considerably altering an individual’s look.
Ethics
- Thoughtworks’ Accountable Tech Playbook is a curated assortment of instruments and strategies to assist organizations change into extra conscious of bias and change into extra inclusive and clear.
Programming
- Kerla is a Linux-like working system kernel written in Rust that may run most Linux executables. I doubt this may ever be built-in into Linux, but it surely’s yet one more signal that Rust has joined the large time.
- OSS Port is an open supply software that goals to assist builders perceive massive codebases. It parses a undertaking repository on GitHub and produces maps and excursions of the codebase. It at the moment works with JavaScript, Go, Java, and Python, with Rust help promised quickly.
- Turing Full is a sport about laptop science. That about says it…
- wasmCloud is a runtime surroundings that can be utilized to construct distributed techniques with wasm within the cloud. WebAssembly was designed as a programming-language-neutral digital machine for browsers, but it surely more and more appears like it’ll additionally discover a house on the server facet.
- Adobe Photoshop now runs within the browser, utilizing wasm and Emscripten (the C++ toolchain for wasm). Along with compiling C++ to wasm, Emscripten additionally interprets POSIX system calls to net API calls and converts OpenGL to WebGL.
- JQL (JSON Question Language) is a Rust-based language for querying JSON (what else?).
Safety
- Microsoft has launched an effort to coach 250,000 cyber safety staff within the US by 2025. This effort will work with group schools. They estimate that it’ll solely make up 50% of the shortfall in safety expertise.
- Integrating zero belief safety into the software program growth lifecycle is absolutely the one method ahead for corporations who depend on techniques which can be safe and obtainable.
- A provide chain assault towards a Node.js library (UA-Parser-JS) installs crypto miners and trojans for stealing passwords on Linux and Home windows techniques. The library’s regular perform is to parse person agent strings, figuring out the browser, working system, and different parameters.
- A cybercrime group has created penetration testing consultancies whose function is to amass purchasers after which collect info and provoke ransomware assaults towards these purchasers.
- A federated cryptographic system will enable sharing of medical information with out compromising affected person privateness. That is a necessary ingredient in “predictive, preventive, personalised, and participatory” medication (aka P4).
- The European Parliament has taken steps in direction of banning surveillance primarily based on biometric information, non-public face recognition databases, and predictive policing.
- Is it attainable to reverse-engineer the info on which a mannequin was skilled? An assault towards a pretend face generator was capable of determine the unique faces within the coaching information. This has vital implications for privateness and safety, because it seems to generalize to different kinds of knowledge.
- Adversarial assaults towards machine studying techniques current a special set of challenges for cybersecurity. Fashions aren’t code, and have their very own vulnerabilities and assault vectors. Atlas is a undertaking to outline the the machine studying menace panorama. Instruments to harden machine studying fashions towards assault embody IBM’s Adversarial Robustness Toolbox and Microsoft’s Counterfit.
- Researchers have found which you could encode malware into DNA that assaults sequencing software program and offers the attacker management of the pc. This assault hasn’t (but) been discovered within the wild.
- Masscan is a subsequent era, extraordinarily quick port scanner. It’s just like nmap, however a lot sooner; it claims to have the ability to scan all the web in 6 minutes.
- ethr is an open supply cross-platform community efficiency measurement software developed by Microsoft in Go. Proper now, it appears like the very best community efficiency software on the market.
- Self-aware techniques monitor themselves consistently and are able to detecting (and even repairing) assaults.
Infrastructure and Operations
Gadgets and Issues
- Amazon is engaged on an Web-enabled fridge that may hold monitor of what’s in it and notify you while you’re low on provides. (And there are already related merchandise in the marketplace.) Bear in mind when this was joke?
- Client-facing AI: On one hand, “sensible devices” current a number of challenges and alternatives. However, it wants higher deliverables than “sensible” doorbells. Sensible listening to aids which can be field-upgradable as a subscription service?
- A drone has been used to ship a lung for organ transplant. That is solely the second time a drone has been used to hold organs for transplantation.
- Intel has launched its subsequent era neuromorphic processor, Loihi. Neuromorphic processors are primarily based on the construction of the mind, through which neurons asynchronously ship one another alerts. Whereas they’re nonetheless a analysis undertaking, they seem to require a lot much less energy than conventional CPUs.
Internet
- ipleak and dnsleaktest are websites that inform you what info your browser leaks. They’re helpful instruments in case you’re taken with preserving privateness. The outcomes could be scary.
- Darkish design is the follow of designing interfaces that manipulate customers into doing issues they may not wish to do, whether or not that’s agreeing to surrender details about their net utilization or clicking to purchase a product. Darkish patterns are already widespread, and changing into more and more prevalent.
- Black Twitter has change into the brand new “Inexperienced E-book,” a digital place for recommendations on coping with a racist society. The unique Inexperienced E-book was a Jim Crow-era publication that informed Black folks the place they might journey safely, which resorts would settle for them, and the place they had been more likely to change into victims of racist violence.
Quantum Computing
- A bunch at Duke College has made important progress on error correcting quantum computing. They’ve created a “logical qubit” that may be learn with a 99.4% chance of being right. (Nonetheless effectively under what is required for sensible quantum computing.)
- There at the moment are two claims of quantum supremacy from Chinese language quantum computing tasks.
Miscellaneous
- Would our response to the COVID pandemic been higher if it was approached as an engineering downside, relatively than scientific analysis?
Be taught sooner. Dig deeper. See farther.
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