Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 5962

Volvo’s recent investment in the Israeli startup Spectralics gives the Swedish company the opportunity to revolutionize the in-car user experience by turning the entire windshield into a heads-up display. According to the press release, the startup has a background in developing aerospace tech and is focused on developing better images. However, instead of working on just one aspect, the start-up is leveraging hardware, software, and even materials to improve the final product.

Of special interest to Volvo is the startup’s core product, multi-layered thin combiner (MLTC), a new type of optical film that can be applied on any type of surface or size. When applied to glass, it can be used to overlay images, making it an ideal candidate to make a full-scale heads-up display.

Car manufacturers have been tinkering with the idea of a windshield display for a few years now. While this is a great way to ensure that the driver does not take his eyes off the road, currently available displays are rather small, either due to cost constraints or to ensure that they do not become the cause of distraction.

Read more | >

After many MANY delays, the James Webb Space Telescope is fully-fueled and ready for the final stage of preparations before launch (still on for Dec. 22nd)!

On Oct. 12th, 2021, after years of waiting and cost overruns, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) finally arrived safely at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The crews began unboxing the next-generation observatory and getting it ready for integration with the Ariane 5 rocket that will take it to space. Then, an “incident” occurred where a clamp band suddenly released, sending vibrations throughout the facility. Once again, the JWST’s launch date was pushed back while crews investigated the source of the problem.

But lo and behold, the due diligence is now done, and the James Webb is back on track! According to the latest news from the ESA, crews have finished fueling the JWST’s thrusters in preparation for its launch, which is scheduled for Dec. 22nd. The Webb will use these thrusters to make course corrections after separating from the Ariane 5 rocket in orbit, maintaining its prescribed orbit, and repointing the observatory during operations.

Continue reading “After 10 Days of Dangerous, Careful Work, James Webb has Been Fully Fueled up” | >

The biggest hurdle of developing an Artificial Intelligence which could match the human brain in both efficiency and capabilities is the enormous energy consumption of today’s computer chips. But recent advancements in neural-optimized chips and the emergence of the first neuromorphic computing chips, start painting a clearer picture on how we may soon develop an Artificial Intelligence which matches and even beats us in most areas.

Timing is crucial when it comes to brain computing. It’s the way neurons connect to form circuits. It’s how these circuits analyze extremely complicated data, resulting to life-or-death decisions. It’s the ability of our brains to make split-second judgments, even when confronted with completely novel situations. We accomplish this without frying the brain as a result of excessive energy usage.

To summarize, the brain is a wonderful example of a very powerful computer to imitate, and computer scientists and engineers have already taken the initial steps in this direction.

Read more | >

PolyAI Ltd. is an ambitious startup that creates artificial voices to replace call center operators. Based in London, it has raised $28 million to bring AI-powered customer service to Metro Bank Plc, BP Plc and more. The idea is that instead of the nightmare of dialing random digits in a decision tree, you can instead ask to, say, book a table and a voice — with just the slightest inflection of its machine-learning origins — responds with great civility. That’s nice. But there was a brief moment two years ago when it wasn’t polite at all.

A software developer with PolyAI who was testing the system, asked about booking a table for himself and a Serbian friend. “Yes, we allow children at the restaurant,” the voice bot replied, according to PolyAI founder Nikola Mrksic. Seemingly out of nowhere, the bot was trying make an obnoxious joke about people from Serbia. When it was asked about bringing a Polish friend, it replied, “Yes, but you can’t bring your own booze.”

Full Story:

Money is pouring into artificial intelligence. Not so much into ethics. That’ll be a problem down the line.

Continue reading “Did That Chatbot Just Make A Rude Joke?” | >

Dante’s Divine Comedy has inspired countless artists, from William Blake to Franz Liszt, and from Auguste Rodin to CS Lewis. But an exhibition marking the 700th anniversary of the Italian poet’s death will be showcasing the work of a rather more modern devotee: Ai-Da the robot, which will make history by becoming the first robot to publicly perform poetry written by its AI algorithms.

The ultra-realistic Ai-Da, who was devised in Oxford by Aidan Meller and named after computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, was given the whole of Dante’s epic three-part narrative poem, the Divine Comedy, to read, in JG Nichols’ English translation. She then used her algorithms, drawing on her data bank of words and speech pattern analysis, to produce her own reactive work to Dante’s.

Full Story:

Read more | >