Lifeboat Foundation

White-collar automation has become a common buzzword in debates about the growing power of computers, as software shows potential to take over some work of accountants and lawyers. Artificial-intelligence researchers at Google are trying to automate the tasks of highly paid workers more likely to wear a hoodie than a coat and tie—themselves.

In a project called AutoML, Google’s researchers have taught machine-learning software to build machine-learning software. In some instances, what it comes up with is more powerful and efficient than the best systems the researchers themselves can design. Google says the system recently scored a record 82 percent at categorizing images by their content. On the harder task of marking the location of multiple objects in an image, an important task for augmented reality and autonomous robots, the auto-generated system scored 43 percent. The best human-built system scored 39 percent.

Such results are significant because the expertise needed to build cutting-edge AI systems is in scarce—even at Google. “Today these are handcrafted by machine learning scientists and literally only a few thousands of scientists around the world can do this,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai last week, briefly namechecking AutoML at a launch event for new smartphones and other gadgets. “We want to enable hundreds of thousands of developers to be able to do it.”

Continue reading “Google’s AutoML Project Teaches AI To Write Learning Software” »

While some automakers look to electrify conventional trucks, General Motors has taken a much more radical approach in its development of next-generation commercial vehicles.

Meet the Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure, or SURUS for short.

Unveiled on Friday ahead of the fall meeting of the Association of the United States Army, where it will be presented on Monday, the SURUS is essentially a modular platform designed for heavy-duty trucks that will enable near-silent running, zero harmful emissions, and autonomous operation.

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Hyperloop One has received a significant investment in Hyperloop One — the official figure hasn’t been revealed, but it’s enough that the Hyperloop tech startup, which aims to create networks of high-speed transportation tunnels to various locales across the globe, has changed its name. Virgin Hyperloop One is the entity’s official moniker going forward, which is quite a mouthful.

Virgin Hyperloop One’s rebrand will mean it gains from association with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, whose high-tech transportation exploits include Virgin Galactic and other space-based ventures. The goal of the company under the rebrand remains the same, and it’ll continue to explore the best places and partners for deploying its high-speed transportation tech, which will zoom pods at high speed down extremely low-pressure tubes to reduce trip times over land from hours to minutes.

The money isn’t the only connection between Hyperloop One and Virgin; the Hyperloop company’s president of engineering, Josh Giegel, is a former Virgin employee. Branson noted in a blog post that he also visited Hyperloop One earlier this summer to view its technology first-hand, at the Hyperloop One DevLoop test track site in Nevada, outside Las Vegas.

Continue reading “Investors Haven’t Seen an Opportunity Like This in Decades” »

Dubai’s police department has added a flying motorcycle to its arsenal. Capable of flying with or without a pilot, the bike will be used to help rescue missions and monitor traffic. Due to safety concerns, the bike won’t fly higher than 20 feet. Dubai officials plan to start using the vehicle within the next two years.

The flying motorcycle is just the latest piece of absurd technology the Dubai government has introduced in the last year. The bike will join the ranks of Dubai’s jetpack firefighters, flying taxis, and robot police officers.

Dubai’s push for new government technology is part of their plan improve services ahead of their world fair, Expo 2020, which is expected to attract 25 million visitors to the city.

Continue reading “Dubai police add hoverbikes to go with their robocops and flying taxis” »

In a big step on the journey to our robot-laden future, California is moving to permit companies that are developing self-driving cars to test them in the state with no human safety driver at the wheel.

The state that’s home to the biggest concentration of autonomous vehicles is poised to take a big step to help advance the technology — and fend off efforts by other states to attract test programs.

(Reuters) — British billionaire Richard Branson on Thursday placed another bet on the future with an investment in Hyperloop One, which is developing super high-speed transportation systems.

Hyperloop One said Branson’s Virgin Group would take the company global and rebrand itself as Virgin Hyperloop One in the near future.

Branson has joined the board of Hyperloop One, which will develop pods that will transport passenger and mixed-use cargo at speeds of 250 miles per hour (402 km per hour).

Continue reading “Richard Branson takes another bet on the future with Hyperloop One” »

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From flying taxis to Batman-style surveillance motorcycles, Dubai’s GITEX expo this week showcased innovations that were symbols of the city-state’s ambitions to be a metropolis of the future.

Known for its futuristic skyline and artificial islands, Gulf emirate Dubai has carved out a place alongside cities like Singapore as a hub for innovative ideas.

Continue reading “From flying taxis to robocops, Dubai reveals its future technologies” »

And charge electric cars.