Lifeboat Foundation

Scholars at Carnegie Mellon University recently offered what they call a “High-Modality Multimodal Transformer,” which combines not just text, image, video, and speech but also database table information and time series data. Lead author Paul Pu Liang and colleagues report that they observed “a crucial scaling behavior” of the 10-mode neural network. “Performance continues to improve with each modality added, and it transfers to entirely new modalities and tasks.”

Scholars Yiyuan Zhang and colleagues at the Multimedia Lab of The Chinese University of Hong Kong boosted the number of modalities to a dozen in their Meta-Transformer. Its point clouds model 3D vision, while its hyper-spectral sensing data represents electromagnetic energy reflected back from the ground to fly-over images of landscapes.

The immediate payoff of multi-modality will simply be to enrich the output of a thing such as ChatGPT in ways that go far beyond the “demo” mode. A children’s storybook, a book with text passages combined with pictures illustrating the text, is one immediate example. By combining the language and image attributes, the kinds of pictures created by the diffusion process can be more subtly controlled from picture to picture.

Solar-and wind-based EV charger originally designed for off-grid farms.

The human brain can change – but usually only slowly and with great effort, such as when learning a new sport or foreign language, or recovering from a stroke. Learning new skills correlates with changes in the brain, as evidenced by neuroscience research with animals and functional brain scans in people. Presumably, if you master Calculus 1, something is now different in your brain. Furthermore, motor neurons in the brain expand and contract depending on how often they are exercised – a neuronal reflection of “use it or lose it.”

People may wish their brains could change faster – not just when learning new skills, but also when overcoming problems like anxiety, depression and addictions.

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Continue reading “Psychedelics plus psychotherapy can trigger rapid changes in the brain − new research at the level of neurons is untangling how” »

Following the successful launch of Spotify’s AI-powered DJ feature and, more recently, added support for AI-translated podcasts, Spotify now appears to be developing another means of using AI in its app: AI-powered playlists. References discovered in the app’s code indicate the company may be developing generative AI playlists users could create using prompts.

The additions were uncovered by tech veteran-turned-investor Chris Messina, who posted screenshots of code in Spotify’s app that refer to “AI playlists” and “playlists based on your prompts.” He theorized that creating these may be an option within the Blend genre, where the tastes of different users are mixed to create a playlist with songs that everyone likes.

Generative AI was the explosive breakout tech trend of 2023, capturing the attention of not only techies and futurists but mainstream audiences, too, with its ability to create seemingly human-like content.

With tech giants including Microsoft, Google and Meta pouring their apparently limitless resources into the technology, we can expect equally game-changing innovation in 2024.

Generative AI is an incredibly powerful tool that will play an important role in democratizing access to the transformative potential of AI. And I believe everyone needs to be aware of what’s coming in order to carefully consider the impact it will have on our lives.

Continue reading “The 10 Biggest Generative AI Trends For 2024 Everyone Must Be Ready For Now” »

Helsinki’s Callboats pioneers autonomous water taxis, aiming to cut costs, improve island access, and reduce captain shortages.

Autonomous electric water transport could be the answer to improving accessibility, achieving carbon neutrality, and addressing a shortage of skippers in the Helsinki archipelago. However, current legislation is a barrier to the operation of remotely controlled boats, according to a Helsinki Times.

Over the years, Forum Virium Helsinki, the innovation agency of the City of Helsinki, has accelerated various business ideas through its rapid innovation experiments. Successful innovations in smart mobility include autonomous transportation solutions like robot buses, drones delivering first aid supplies, and sweeping robot machines.

A fleet of five AVs will operate on a 5-mile stretch in the upend Jumeirah neighborhood.

Dubai is set to be the first city in the Middle East to start the trial of fully autonomous vehicles (AVs). On an experimental basis, the service will be carried by US-firm Cruise, which plans to initiate the services next month, according to.

Cruise and the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority signed a contract that designated Cruise as the only supplier of self-driving taxis and ride-hailing services back in 2021.

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has agreed to provide £85 million in funding to build what has been called “the world’s most powerful laser.”

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has awarded £85 million (roughly $103 million) to the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Central Laser Facility (CLF) to build what will become the world’s most powerful laser. The investment will support a major upgrade to the CLF, including the centerpiece “Vulcan 20–20 laser.”

UKRI

Continue reading “UK to build world’s most powerful laser than to £85m cash injection” »

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman compared the capabilities of AGI to a “median human.”

Critics and internet users aren’t happy with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s comments in a recent profile published in the New Yorker.

Not to be confused with generative… More.

Continue reading “OpenAI CEO says hiring AGI as a co-worker is a possibility” »