Soon enough, agriculture might need a lot more bots.
By matt simon and melanie ruiz
Jan Scheuermann was one of the first volunteers on DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program and became a pioneer in the field of brain-machine interface, controlling first an advanced robotic arm, and then a simulated jet, with her mind alone. The New Yorker tells her story in exquisite detail, along with the story of Nathan Copeland, the volunteer who followed Jan in the research and put his own spin on how it unfolded.
A neuroscientist’s research into the mysteries of motion helps a paralyzed woman escape her body.
Control this humanoid robot in VR.
Robots help extend VR into the real-world.
Misalignment between our goals and the machine’s
Part of what humans value in AI-powered machines is their efficiency and effectiveness. But, if we aren’t clear with the goals we set for AI machines, it could be dangerous if a machine isn’t armed with the same goals we have. For example, a command to “Get me to the airport as quickly as possible” might have dire consequences. Without specifying that the rules of the road must be respected because we value human life, a machine could quite effectively accomplish its goal of getting you to the airport as quickly as possible and do literally what you asked, but leave behind a trail of accidents.
Discrimination.
AI research by itself will tend to lead to concentrations of power, money, and researchers … this is not healthy. Even in a democracy, it’s dangerous to have too much power concentrated in a few hands.
Yoshua Bengio wants to stop talk of an AI arms race, and make the technology more accessible to the developing world.
An uncrewed Russian cargo ship linked up with the International Space Station Sunday (Nov. 18) to deliver nearly 3 tons of supplies for the orbiting lab.
The resupply ship, called Progress 71, docked at the space station at 2:28 p.m. EST (1928 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 252 miles (405 kilometers) over Algeria. Progress 71 launched into orbit Friday (Nov. 16) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
“A textbook journey for the Progress,” NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said during live commentary. [The Space Station’s Robotic Cargo Ship Fleet in Pictures].