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DeepMind breaks 50-year math record using AI; new record falls a week later

Matrix multiplication is at the heart of many machine learning breakthroughs, and it just got faster—twice. Last week, DeepMind announced it discovered a more efficient way to perform matrix multiplication, conquering a 50-year-old record. This week, two Austrian researchers at Johannes Kepler University Linz claim they have bested that new record by one step.

In 1969, a German mathematician named Volker Strassen discovered the previous-best algorithm for multiplying 4×4 matrices, which reduces the number of steps necessary to perform a matrix calculation. For example, multiplying two 4×4 matrices together using a traditional schoolroom method would take 64 multiplications, while Strassen’s algorithm can perform the same feat in 49 multiplications.

China is developing AI-camouflaged ‘invisible’ missile launchers for future warfare

The launchers are for DF-17 missiles, which can allegedly breach U.S. missile defenses.

China is making launchers for its series of road-mobile missiles named “Dongfeng,” which could avoid being detected by drones, radars, and satellites.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be utilized for the Dongfeng launchers, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Thursday, quoting Chinese state TV broadcaster CCTV.

Mobility and Transportation Design Services

The concept aims to encourage public transportation in the city.

Ponti Design Studio revealed a concept design of an electric double-decker driverless tram to hit the roads of post-COVID Hong Kong. Dubbed Island.

The vehicle’s curved windows and see-through top let the sunshine in during the day, allowing passengers to enjoy the city view at night. According to the website, the interiors are sleek and comfortable, with charcoal gray walls, cushioned seats, wooden floors, and trims with a natural finish. Island won the 2020 GIDA Design Award.


Island is a driverless tram designed by Ponti Design Studio. We provide sustainable mobility, automotive and transportation design, aviation and rail design.

Months after adding $60M to coffers, AI startup Terray nabs discovery pact with Google’s Calico

A small California biotech emerged from stealth last year to go after drug discovery’s “data problem,” and now the AI outfit has announced its first public partnership. Terray Therapeutics put out word Wednesday that it reached a deal with Calico Life Sciences, the Google-backed anti-aging biotech co-founded by industry legend.

New AI Algorithms Predict Sports Teams’ Moves With 80% Accuracy

Accuracy. Now the Cornell Laboratory for Intelligent Systems and Controls, which developed the algorithms, is collaborating with the Big Red hockey team to expand the research project’s applications.

Representing Cornell University, the Big Red men’s ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college ice hockey program. Cornell Big Red competes in the ECAC Hockey conference and plays its home games at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, New York.

Signal will remove support for SMS text messages on Android

Signal says it will start to phase out SMS and MMS message support from its Android app to streamline the user experience and prioritize security and privacy.

While this announcement may surprise those who don’t know Signal can also be used to manage this type of text message, the Signal for Android app could be configured as the default SMS/MMS app since its beginning as TextSecure, an app that used the Axolotl Ratchet protocol.

“We have now reached the point where SMS support no longer makes sense. In order to enable a more streamlined Signal experience, we are starting to phase out SMS support from the Android app,” the company said in a blog post published today.

In-Hand Object Rotation via Rapid Motor Adaptation

Generalized in-hand manipulation has long been an unsolved challenge of robotics. As a small step towards this grand goal, we demonstrate how to design and learn a simple adaptive controller to achieve in-hand object rotation using only fingertips. The controller is trained entirely in simulation on only cylindrical objects, which then – without any fine-tuning – can be directly deployed to a real robot hand to rotate dozens of objects with diverse sizes, shapes, and weights over the z-axis. This is achieved via rapid online adaptation of the robot’s controller to the object properties using only proprioception history. Furthermore, natural and stable finger gaits automatically emerge from training the control policy via reinforcement learning.

The Psychology of Artificial Superintelligence

This book explores the psychological impact of advanced forms of artificial intelligence. How will it be to live with a superior intelligence? How will the exposure to highly developed artificial intelligence (AI) systems change human well-being? With a review of recent advancements in brain–computer interfaces, military AI, Explainable AI (XAI) and digital clones as a foundation, the experience of living with a hyperintelligence is discussed from the viewpoint of a clinical psychologist. The theory of universal solicitation is introduced, i.e. the demand character of a technology that wants to be used in all aspects of life. With a focus on human experience, and to a lesser extent on technology, the book is written for a general readership with an interest in psychology, technology and the future of our human condition. With its unique focus on psychological topics, the book offers contributions to a discussion on the future of human life beyond purely technological considerations.

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Mathematical formula tackles complex moral decision-making in AI

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a blueprint for creating algorithms that more effectively incorporate ethical guidelines into artificial intelligence (AI) decision-making programs. The project was focused specifically on technologies in which humans interact with AI programs, such as virtual assistants or “carebots” used in healthcare settings.

“Technologies like carebots are supposed to help ensure the safety and comfort of hospital patients, and other people who require health monitoring or physical assistance,” says Veljko Dubljević, corresponding author of a paper on the work and an associate professor in the Science, Technology & Society program at North Carolina State University. “In practical terms, this means these technologies will be placed in situations where they need to make ethical judgments.”

“For example, let’s say that a carebot is in a setting where two people require medical assistance. One patient is unconscious but requires urgent care, while the second patient is in less urgent need but demands that the carebot treat him first. How does the carebot decide which patient is assisted first? Should the carebot even treat a patient who is unconscious and therefore unable to consent to receiving the treatment?”

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