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A team of MIT researchers has found that in many instances, replacing human workers with AI is still more expensive than sticking with the people, a conclusion that flies in the face of current fears over the technology taking our jobs.

As detailed in a new paper, the team examined the cost-effectiveness of 1,000 “visual inspection” tasks across 800 occupations, such as inspecting food to see whether it’s gone bad. They discovered that just 23 percent of workers’ total wages “would be attractive to automate,” mainly because of the “large upfront costs of AI systems” — and that’s if the automatable tasks could even “be separated from other parts” of the jobs.

That said, they admit, those economics may well change over time.

Google Deepmind says that a new artificial intelligence system has made a major breakthrough in one of the most difficult tests for AI.

The company says that it has created a new AI system that can solve geometry problems at the level of the very top high-school students.

Geometry is one of the oldest branches of mathematics, but has proven particularly difficult for AI systems to work with. It has been difficult to train them because of a lack of data, and succeeding requires building a system that can take on difficult logical challenges.

The article repeats itself a bit but there’s some good parts about an exoskeleton, advanced algorithm and bipedal robots and prosthetics. It’ll basically apply to those future industries.


We typically don’t think about it whilst doing it, but walking is a complicated task. Controlled by our nervous system, our bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues (i.e., the musculoskeletal system) must move in coordination and respond to unexpected changes or disturbances at varying speeds in a highly efficient manner. Replicating this in robotic technologies is no small feat.

Now, a research group from Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering has replicated human-like variable speed walking using a musculoskeletal model – one steered by a reflex control method reflective of the human nervous system. This breakthrough in biomechanics and robotics sets a new benchmark in understanding human movement and paves the way for innovative robotic technologies.

Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that he’s going to purchase hundreds of thousands of expensive AI processing chips — and experts are mighty worried about what he plans to use them for.

In the same Instagram post announcing his planned purchase of 350,000 Nvidia’s H100 graphics chips, which average about $30,000 apiece and are considered the gold standard for powering AI models, Zuckerberg said that he wants to build an open-source artificial AGI, the industry term for the point at which AI reaches or even surpasses human-level intelligence.

While there’s still an open debate about whether AGI is even possible, the prospect itself is enough to give some researchers pause.

How human-robot collaboration will affect the manufacturing industry — https://bit.ly/3S7Skfa


By Nitin Rawat, Manufacturing Head, Addverb

Robotics are employed to boost production and efficiency in the manufacturing sector, and they are capable of working in any hazardous setting. Robotic arms are also employed to perform effective work in the industries. It has been years since the introduction of collaborative robots in the manufacturing industry, and they have now been applied in several applications at manufacturing facilities. Robots these days are exceptionally programmable and controllable, allowing them to perform complex tasks using AI and automation.

Robot applications in manufacturing include assembly, welding, shipping, handling raw materials, and product packing. Robots nowadays collaborate with human workers (co-bots) on practically every task. In manufacturing, robotics is used to automate repetitive activities and streamline assembly workflows. Many industries are now using robots for hazardous and time-consuming tasks that can endanger workers.

By Chuck Brooks


Computing paradigms as we know them will exponentially change when artificial intelligence is combined with classical, biological, chemical, and quantum computing. Artificial intelligence might guide and enhance quantum computing, run in a 5G or 6G environment, facilitate the Internet of Things, and stimulate materials science, biotech, genomics, and the metaverse.

Computers that can execute more than a quadrillion calculations per second should be available within the next ten years. We will also rely on clever computing software solutions to automate knowledge labor. Artificial intelligence technologies that improve cognitive performance across all envisioned industry verticals will support our future computing.

Advanced computing has a fascinating and mind-blowing future. It will include computers that can communicate via lightwave transmission, function as a human-machine interface, and self-assemble and teach themselves thanks to artificial intelligence. One day, computers might have sentience.

Thomvest Ventures is popping into 2024 with a new $250 million fund and the promotion of Umesh Padval and Nima Wedlake to the role of managing directors.

The Bay Area venture capital firm was started about 25 years ago by Peter Thomson, whose family is the majority owners of Thomson Reuters.

“Peter has always had a very strong interest in technology and what technology would do in terms of shaping society and the future,” Don Butler, Thomvest Ventures’ managing director, told TechCrunch. He met Thomson in 1999 and joined the firm in 2000.