Archive for the ‘robotics/AI’ category: Page 1890
Feb 3, 2018
The most advanced robotic arm in the world, John Hopkins’s Modular Prosthetic Limb, is finally leaving the lab
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, robotics/AI
I suspect this will be the hands for ATLAS. being field tested by human volunteers to see what it needs to do for average use. And, then blow that away within a few years.
Johnny Matheny is the first person to live with an advanced mind-controlled robotic arm. Last December, researchers from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab delivered the arm to Matheny at his home in Port Richey, Florida. Aside from the occasional demo, this is the first time the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL) has spent significant time out of the lab.
Feb 3, 2018
Getting to grips with military robotics
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: information science, military, robotics/AI
PETER SINGER, AN expert on future warfare at the New America think-tank, is in no doubt. “What we have is a series of technologies that change the game. They’re not science fiction. They raise new questions. What’s possible? What’s proper?” Mr Singer is talking about artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and big-data analytics. Together they will produce systems and weapons with varying degrees of autonomy, from being able to work under human supervision to “thinking” for themselves. The most decisive factor on the battlefield of the future may be the quality of each side’s algorithms. Combat may speed up so much that humans can no longer keep up.
Frank Hoffman, a fellow of the National Defence University who coined the term “hybrid warfare”, believes that these new technologies have the potential not just to change the character of war but even possibly its supposedly immutable nature as a contest of wills. For the first time, the human factors that have defined success in war, “will, fear, decision-making and even the human spark of genius, may be less evident,” he says.
Weapons with a limited degree of autonomy are not new. In 1943 Germany produced a torpedo with an acoustic homing device that helped it find its way to its target. Tomahawk cruise missiles, once fired, can adjust their course using a digital map of Earth’s contours. Anti-missile systems are pre-programmed to decide when to fire and engage an incoming target because the human brain cannot react fast enough.
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Feb 3, 2018
We are already Artificial Intelligence
Posted by Odd Edges in categories: augmented reality, computing, cyborgs, DNA, evolution, existential risks, futurism, hacking, robotics/AI, theory, transhumanism
By Eliott Edge
“It is possible for a computer to become conscious. Basically, we are that. We are data, computation, memory. So we are conscious computers in a sense.”
—Tom Campbell, NASA
If the universe is a computer simulation, virtual reality, or video game, then a few unusual conditions seem to necessarily fall out from that reading. One is what we call consciousness, the mind, is actually something like an artificial intelligence. If the universe is a computer simulation, we are all likely one form of AI or another. In fact, we might come from the same computer that is creating this simulated universe to begin with. If so then it stands to reason that we are virtual characters and virtual minds in a virtual universe.
Feb 2, 2018
The Case for Free Money
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: economics, government, robotics/AI
A major conservative publication, The Weekly Standard, has published a positive Cover story about Basic Income, as a way to reign in entitlements and deal with automation. My California libertarian governor campaign gets a brief mention in it. Over 100,000 print copies out this week.
At first blush, universal basic income sounds like something dreamed up on a California commune or in a late-night college bull session. The idea: Just give people money. Ask nothing in return. Impose no requirement to work or to look for work. And don’t just give taxpayer money to people living in poverty, give it to everybody—from gazillionaire to gig-worker—no questions asked.
Yet universal basic income is an idea that is having its moment. Enthusiasm for a government-guaranteed income for all seems to be percolating across the country. Groups backed by Silicon Valley luminaries are forming to devise political strategies. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign flirted with the idea.
Feb 2, 2018
Barrow Redefines Spine Surgery With New Surgical Robot
Posted by Roman Mednitzer in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI
The Globus Medical ExcelsiusGPS, a spine surgery robot developed at Barrow, provides patients with less-invasive and more precise surgery. Learn More.
Feb 2, 2018
Debating Slaughterbots and the Future of Autonomous Weapons
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: futurism, robotics/AI
People can look at the same technology and disagree about how it will shape the future, explains Paul Scharre as he shares a final perspective on the Slaughterbots debate.
Jan 31, 2018
Robots and AI Will Take Over These 3 Medical Niches First
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI, virtual reality
We’re no stranger to robotics in the medical field. Robot-assisted surgery is becoming more and more common. Many training programs are starting to include robotic and virtual reality scenarios to provide hands-on training for students without putting patients at risk.
With all of these advances in medical robotics, three niches stand out above the rest: surgery, medical imaging, and drug discovery. How have robotics already begun to exert their influence on these practices, and how will they change them for good?
Jan 31, 2018
Waymo Gets Ready to Deploy Thousands of Self-Driving Minivans
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
The Alphabet spinoff is in a rush, so it’s buying thousands more “driverless” cars from Fiat-Chrysler.
Jan 31, 2018
Microsoft’s New AI Creates Fake Photos From Your Words
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in category: robotics/AI
The groundbreaking software takes AI one step closer to achieving humanlike intelligence, according to its creator.