Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Here’s my latest opinion article, just published at Merion West. It’s about AI and the environment! Give it a read!

“With artificial general intelligence (AGI) likely just decades away, there is an urgent need to consider the extent of environmental harm we are causing. AGI will likely question if humans are good stewards of the planet and quickly come to the conclusion that we are not.”

Many artificial intelligence (AI) scientists believe that artificial general intelligence (AGI)—intelligence on par with humans—will be achieved within 20 years. If this happens, what will AI think of people?

Answers to this question range widely, from AI being grateful to its creators to it barely even noticing us to it wanting to be our equals. However one theory in ethics increasingly being considered is that AI will be angry with us because of the environmental harm humans have caused to the planet and to other species.

Skeptics counter that AGI will not care about the environment because it is a machine, with little need for nature. Despite this, I believe that AGI will not only want Earth to thrive but also to be protected from those who might destroy it—such as humans. AGI, similar to any intelligent person, would prefer a stable, biodiverse planet filled with renewable resources available to it over an ecological wasteland.

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Working on your muscles could help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms, researchers have revealed.

Researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo and the University of São Paulo in Brazil have uncovered strong evidence that resistance training – where muscles are worked against a weight or a force – could have significant consequences for the brains of dementia patients.

Before you hurriedly renew your gym membership or break out the home exercise equipment, it’s worth bearing in mind that this was a mouse model study. Nevertheless, the same principles are likely to apply to humans.

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Summary: Our brains have been likened to an orchestra, with neurons as musicians creating a symphony of thought and memory.

A recent study reveals the conductor behind this symphony: electric fields. These fields are generated by the combined electrical activity of neurons, orchestrating them into functional networks.

This research shines a light on the brain’s complex inner workings and could impact the future of brain-computer interfaces.

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Researchers in the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering have demonstrated control over an emerging material, which they consider as a possible future alternative to silicon in microelectronics. This is a timely development, because scientists and engineers face challenges in continuing the transistor shrinking trend, an important driver of computer chip performance.

The continuous performance improvement of these chips has been driven by shrinking the size of the most basic logic “Lego” piece – the transistor. Transistors are miniature switches that control the flow of electric currents, analogous to a faucet controlling the flow of water. Already in the early 1960s, Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel, proposed that the transistors’ miniaturization rate should allow doubling of the number of transistors per area every 2 years.

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Phase change memory is a type of nonvolatile memory that harnesses a phase change material’s (PCM) ability to shift from an amorphous state, i.e., where atoms are disorganized, to a crystalline state, i.e., where atoms are tightly packed close together. This change produces a reversible electrical property which can be engineered to store and retrieve data.

While this field is in its infancy, could potentially revolutionize because of its high storage density, and faster read and write capabilities. But still, the complex switching mechanism and intricate fabrication methods associated with these materials have posed challenges for mass production.

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) Van Der Waals (vdW) di-chalcogenides have emerged as a promising PCM for usage in phase change memory.

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As customers browse and shop in-person and online, AI is humming behind the scenes looking for the relevant connections between bits of information. Already, it’s helped retailers make potentially millions of decisions to better manage inventory, understand shoppers, and price their products and services.

And it’s just getting started. Able to parse an amount of data no human could, AI has the potential to detect disruptions or product demand earlier, allowing retailers to avoid missed opportunities. Location, as always, remains vital to that undertaking. The most successful retail operation gives the customer what they want when and where they want it at a price point most profitable for the seller.

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