The AI boom is happening all over the world, and it’s accelerating quickly

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The second annual AI Index report pulls together data and expert findings on the field’s progress and acceleration.

The rate of progress in the field of artificial intelligence is one of the most hotly contested aspects of the ongoing boom in teaching computers and robots how to see the world, make sense of it, and eventually perform complex tasks both in the physical realm and the virtual one. And just how fast the industry is moving, and to what end, is typically measured not just by actual product advancements and research milestones, but also by the prognostications and voiced concerns of AI leaders, futurists, academics, economists, and policymakers. AI is going to change the world — but how and when are still open questions.

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AI can generate interactive virtual worlds based on simple videos

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Nvidia’s new AI represents a major leap forward in graphics generation based on neural networks.

Crafting an interactive virtual world of the kind found in many modern video games is a labor-intensive process that can require years of work, hundreds of people, and millions of dollars. Soon, some of that work may be done by machines.

Computer hardware company Nvidia, which specializes in graphics cards, announced on Monday that it developed a new AI model that can take video of the real world and use it to generate a realistic and interactive virtual world. According to Nvidia, its new AI could be used to drastically lower the cost of generating virtual environments, which will be particularly useful in the video game and film industries.

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5 important Artificial Intelligence predictions (for 2019) everyone should read

 

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Artificial Intelligence – specifically machine learning and deep learning – was everywhere in 2018 and don’t expect the hype to die down over the next 12 months.

The hype will die eventually of course, and AI will become another consistent thread in the tapestry of our lives, just like the internet, electricity, and combustion did in days of yore.

But for at least the next year, and probably longer, expect astonishing breakthroughs as well as continued excitement and hyperbole from commentators.

This is because expectations of the changes to business and society which AI promises (or in some cases threatens) to bring about go beyond anything dreamed up during previous technological revolutions.

AI points towards a future where machines not only do all of the physical work, as they have done since the industrial revolution but also the “thinking” work – planning, strategizing and making decisions.

The jury’s still out on whether this will lead to a glorious utopia, with humans free to spend their lives following more meaningful pursuits, rather than on those which economic necessity dictates they dedicate their time, or to widespread unemployment and social unrest.

We probably won’t arrive at either of those outcomes in 2019, but it’s a topic which will continue to be hotly debated. In the meantime, here are five things that we can expect to happen:

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Rocket launch in New Zealand brings quick, cheap space access

  • Launch sends Rocket Lab to lead in global space competition
  • Six satellites carried into low orbit from sheep farm launchCheap, quick access to space has officially arrived — and in some serious style.On a late Sunday afternoon in New Zealand, Rocket Lab successfully launched its third rocket. Dozens of employees gathered at the company’s headquarters in Auckland clad in Rocket Lab’s black-and-red colors and let out a series of primordial screams as the rocket took off, flew into space and dropped its satellite payload into orbit. Continue reading… “Rocket launch in New Zealand brings quick, cheap space access”

The homeless crisis is getting worse in America’s richest cities

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A toxic combination of slow wage growth and skyrocketing rents has put housing out of reach for a greater number of people.

Daniel Olguin, 28, works on his computer in the front of his van, while his wife, Mary, 26, checks on their almost-2-year-old child in the back. The couple, who have a band called Carpoolparty, have traveled around the U.S. since 2017, playing gigs with their electronic pop music whenever they can. Daniel, who was recently diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, says his parents kicked the couple out on Christmas Day a few years ago, but they have since reconciled. The two musicians have been in Los Angeles for about five months, and use the quiet and safety of the Safe Parking L.A. lot in the Koreatown section of the city to work on their music and sleep. According to a 2018 count done by Los Angeles County, there are more than 15,700 people living in 9,100 vehicles every night. These vehicle dwellers represent over 25 percent of the homeless population in L.A. County.

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Microsoft’s CTO lays out the 2 tech trends he believes will change the world: ‘People haven’t wrapped their heads around this yet’

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Microsoft’s chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, sees two big things coming down the pipeline in the tech industry, he told Business Insider.

  • The first is an explosion of cheap, powerful silicon processors coming in the next five to eight years, leading to every device, everywhere, getting a microprocessor capable of running advanced artificial intelligence.
  • The second, related trend Scott sees is the increased importance of reinforcement learning, the style of machine learning that helps power Google DeepMind’s famous game-playing software bots.
  • Combined, the explosions of software and hardware will give developers everywhere the tools they need to easily solve computing problems once thought impossible in a way that’s cheap and efficient enough for every car, toy, and appliance manufacturer to take advantage.
  • A big part of Microsoft’s role in this is making it easier for developers to take advantage of these trends in their own software, Scott said Continue reading… “Microsoft’s CTO lays out the 2 tech trends he believes will change the world: ‘People haven’t wrapped their heads around this yet’”

This AI outperformed 20 corporate lawyers at legal work

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Technology is revolutionizing the work we do and how we do it. Increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots are taking over menial and repetitive tasks, leaving humans to concentrate on work that requires critical thinking.

But as machines become better at imitating human intelligence, they’re beginning to do more and more thinking for us.

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Gamification: The key to making cyber learning addictive

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How many times have you endured a dry-as-dust PowerPoint presentation or clicked through a tired e-learning course only to realize, despite hours of ‘teaching,’ you remember virtually nothing? It’s easy to blame yourself when this happens; you may feel guilty or even harbor doubts about your ability to retain knowledge. Don’t. There’s a good chance that the material simply wasn’t practical, engaging or relevant enough – flaws magnified when you are spoken at, instead of with, in a stale classroom environment.

I am not suggesting school-style learning should be outlawed, as it certainly has its merits. But some subjects, particularly those with a large technical element, demand a more innovative approach. Without doubt, cybersecurity falls into this category – something I first observed while delivering GCHQ’s Cyber Summer School. It was evident that people enjoyed completing practical exercises requiring analytical thinking and problem solving. It was also clear that when people had fun, they learned more.

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Using Artificial Intelligence to fix healthcare

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Surgery filmed in 360° and live-streamed to remote doctors could already be happening in a hospital near you.

The healthcare industry should be using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to a far greater degree than at present, but progress has been painfully slow. The same factors that make the healthcare system so attractive to AI developers – fragmented or non-existent data repositories, outdated computer systems and doctor shortages – are the same things that have stopped AI from providing the gains that should be created.

The healthcare sector also presents unique obstacles for AI: data must flow freely through AI systems to achieve real results, but extracting data from handwritten patient files or PDFs is cumbersome for us, and difficult for AI. Despite technical and operational challenges, new research suggests that the arrival of the tech giants into the industry may provide the data and the capital required to digitize this fairly untapped market.

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Dangle no more: Window-washing drone for towers could replace human cleaners

I’m Drones are edging evermore into the workplace, transforming the way jobs are done and enabling companies to save time, improve safety, and cut costs all at the same time.

Take this enormous window-washing drone. Built by Latvia-based Aerones, the machine aims to replace those human-operated cradles you’ve seen dangling on the side of huge towers.

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Alibaba just had the biggest online shopping day of all time, nearly tripling every company’s 2017 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined

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Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

  • Alibaba made e-commerce history on Sunday, with $30.8 billion in sales over the last 24 hours as part of the company’s massive Singles Day celebration.
  • The $30.8 billion in generated sales is a significant increase from 2017, when customers spent $25.3 billion.
  • For comparison, total online sales on Black Friday reached $5 billion in 2017, according to Adobe Analytics data. Cyber Monday sales last year reached about $6.6 billion.

SHANGHAI, China — Alibaba just made e-commerce history.

With the company’s massive Singles Day celebration on 11/11 — November 11 — coming to a close, Alibaba reports that customers spent $30.8 billion online over the last 24 hours. That is a significant increase from the $25.3 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) Alibaba shoppers spent in 2017.

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The growth of yoga and meditation in the US since 2012 is remarkable

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The number of Americans who meditate has tripled. Yoga is up 55 percent.

In 2017, about 14.3 percent of US adults surveyed said they had done yoga in the past 12 months. That’s up from 9 percent in 2012. Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Yoga and meditation, two ancient practices, are now officially the most popular alternative health approaches in the United States, each used by around 35 million adults.

That’s the word from two reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out Thursday, which looked at the changes in the use of yoga, meditation, and chiropractors between 2012 and 2017.

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