Category: AI

Purdue University engineers have found that autonomous vehicles (AVs) could soon be powered by advanced chatbots like ChatGPT, enabling them to better understand and respond to passengers’ commands. These chatbots are built on large language models (LLMs), a type of artificial intelligence algorithm designed to interpret natural language and continuously learn from vast amounts of data.

This breakthrough study, published on the preprint server arXiv, is set to be presented at the 27th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems on September 25. It may be one of the first real-world experiments testing how well AVs can use LLMs to understand and act on passenger instructions.

In response to rising operational costs and labor shortages, Hestia Technology Limited, founded in Hong Kong in 2018 by chemistry professor Chen Guanhua, is transforming restaurant operations with its cutting-edge robotic kitchen systems. The company’s mission is to enhance efficiency and accessibility while delivering traditional Chinese and international cuisine through automation.

Hestia’s fifth-generation robots offer a complete automation solution for restaurant kitchens, handling everything from ingredient retrieval and preparation to serving and cleanup—entirely without human involvement. The system, which consists of a larder, conveyor belt, and multicooker, can replace up to three chefs and prepare more than 200 different dishes, including Chinese regional favorites like Hunan and Sichuan, as well as Italian cuisine.

A 64-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative nerve disease, has successfully controlled Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant using only his thoughts, thanks to groundbreaking brain-computer interface technology. The company behind the innovation, Synchron, announced on Monday that the patient, named Mark, was able to stream shows, make video calls, control smart home devices, and more using just his mind.

The key to this technological feat is an implant placed in a blood vessel on the surface of Mark’s brain. This implant enables him to mentally “tap” icons on an Amazon Fire tablet, allowing him to command Alexa without using his hands or voice.

A study presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Vienna revealed that the chatbot ChatGPT outperformed trainee doctors in assessing complex respiratory diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, and chest infections. The research also showed that Google’s chatbot Bard performed better than trainees in certain areas, while Microsoft’s Bing chatbot matched the trainees in overall performance.

The findings suggest that large language models (LLMs) like these could help trainee doctors, nurses, and general practitioners in triaging patients more efficiently, potentially easing the strain on healthcare systems. The study was led by Dr. Manjith Narayanan, a consultant in pediatric pulmonology at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh, and a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.

While ChatGPT has propelled OpenAI to a $100 billion valuation with its 200 million weekly active users, the darker side of AI is quietly flourishing. Underground markets are exploiting large language models (LLMs) for illegal purposes, with some earning as much as $28,000 in just two months, according to a recent study published on arXiv by researchers from Indiana University Bloomington.

The study, which analyzed over 200 examples of malicious LLMs (dubbed “malas”) on underground marketplaces from April to October 2023, revealed two primary categories of these illicit models. Some are built as uncensored versions of open-source LLMs, while others are commercial models that have been “jailbroken” using specific prompts to bypass safety protocols.

The remarkable progress in artificial intelligence (AI) over recent years can largely be attributed to one factor: scale. Around the beginning of this decade, researchers noticed that as they increased the size of their algorithms and fed them more data, the capabilities of AI models skyrocketed. The latest AI models, boasting hundreds of billions to over a trillion network connections, are learning to write, code, and process information by ingesting vast amounts of data—essentially a large fraction of the internet.

This scaling, however, demands enormous computing power. According to nonprofit AI research organization Epoch AI, the computing power dedicated to AI training has been quadrupling every year. Should this trend continue, by 2030, AI models could be trained with up to 10,000 times more compute than today’s cutting-edge models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4. This would represent a leap as significant as the difference between GPT-2’s rudimentary text generation in 2019 and GPT-4’s advanced problem-solving abilities in 2023.

After the 2014 failure of Google Glass, smart glasses seemed doomed to obscurity. However, a resurgence may be on the horizon, as companies like Meta and Google invest heavily in a new generation of smart glasses that blend fashion, functionality, and generative AI, according to Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management.

Writing on the firm’s website, Munster explained the renewed optimism in smart glasses, stating that consumers are drawn to easy-to-use technology, and the advancements in generative AI are transforming these devices into a more attractive option. “Gen AI is paving the way toward complex wearable ambient computing,” he noted. This next iteration of smart glasses aims to look and feel like “normal glasses,” while incorporating generative AI, voice activation, cameras, and sensors for a seamless user experience.

In a groundbreaking advancement in artificial intelligence, Google is leveraging audio signals to detect the early symptoms of illness. Using 300 million audio samples—ranging from coughs to labored breathing—Google has trained its AI foundation model to recognize signs of diseases like tuberculosis. In collaboration with Salcit Technologies, an AI startup in India focused on respiratory healthcare, Google is working to integrate this technology into smartphones. This innovation has the potential to transform healthcare in high-risk, underserved communities by offering more accessible diagnostic tools.

Google has a history of digitizing human senses, and its venture into bioacoustics is an extension of that. Bioacoustics, which merges biology and acoustics, uses AI to interpret sounds made by humans and animals to gain medical insights. In this field, Google’s new AI model, HeAR (Health Acoustic Representations), stands at the forefront. This model utilizes sound signals to detect early signs of illness, offering a promising tool for early diagnosis.

A team of researchers has developed a swarm of self-coordinating drones designed to act as first responders in combating wildfires. This innovative solution, which combines cutting-edge AI, thermal, and optical imaging technology, was created by the University of Sheffield’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering to enhance early mitigation strategies for wildfires.

These AI-powered drones can autonomously detect, investigate, and relay information about fires to firefighting teams. By utilizing swarm technology developed at the University of Bristol, the drones can intelligently coordinate with one another to deploy fire retardants, monitor fire progression, and safely return to base. Dr. Lyudmila Mihaylova, Professor of Signal Processing and Control at the University of Sheffield, emphasized the importance of this breakthrough, saying, “Autonomous wildfire detection and localization, especially in remote and large geographic areas with hot weather, is a challenging task that current technology has not fully addressed.”

Richtech Robotics, a leader in AI-driven service robots, has launched its latest ADAM robot bartender at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. This installation marks the 10th deployment of ADAM, reflecting the Paradise, Nevada-based company’s commitment to enhancing personalized hospitality experiences.

“ADAM has seen a surge in popularity following the successful debut of its advanced AI features at CES 2024,” said Matt Casella, president of Richtech Robotics. “We’re thrilled to bring ADAM to the iconic Globe Life Field, continuing our mission to deliver exceptional, engaging, and fluid interactions across various industries. We’re eager to see how fans at the stadium interact with our leading robot.”

Chinese researchers have unveiled a groundbreaking AI model that mimics the behavior of neurons in the human brain, potentially revolutionizing the future of artificial intelligence. This new model, developed by a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Automation and Peking University, promises to deliver powerful computational abilities without the high energy consumption associated with traditional silicon-based processors.

The research team aimed to bridge the gap between the complex workings of large AI models and the intricate, yet energy-efficient, operations of the human brain. While AI systems have rapidly expanded in capability, their increasing demand for energy has become a growing concern. In contrast, the human brain, which is far more complex than any existing AI model, operates on a mere fraction of the energy.

A team of scientists from Beijing has announced a groundbreaking development in artificial intelligence (AI) with the creation of the world’s first fully optical AI chip, named Taichi-II. This innovative chip marks a significant leap in both efficiency and performance, surpassing even NVIDIA’s renowned H100 GPU in energy efficiency.

Led by Professors Fang Lu and Dai Qionghai from Tsinghua University, the research team revealed their findings, showcasing the Taichi-II as a major advancement over its predecessor, the Taichi chip. Earlier this year, the original Taichi chip was reported to have exceeded the energy efficiency of NVIDIA’s H100 GPU by more than a thousand times, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The new Taichi-II chip has further elevated this benchmark, demonstrating superior performance across a range of applications.