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Whereas October’s information was dominated by Fb’s (excuse me, Meta’s) continued issues (you’d suppose they’d get uninterested in the apology tour), essentially the most fascinating information comes from the AI world. I’m fascinated by means of massive language fashions to research the “speech” of whales, and to protect endangered human languages. It’s additionally vital that machine studying appears to have taken a step (pun considerably supposed) ahead, with robots that educate themselves to stroll by trial and error, and with robots that discover ways to assemble themselves to carry out particular duties.
AI
- The design studio Artefact has created a recreation to show center faculty college students about algorithmic bias.
- Researchers are constructing massive pure language fashions, probably the scale of GPT-3, to decode the “speech” of whales.
- A gaggle at Berkeley has constructed a robotic that makes use of reinforcement studying to educate itself to stroll from scratch–i.e., by trial and error. They used two ranges of simulation earlier than loading the mannequin right into a bodily robotic.
- AI is reinventing computer systems: AI is driving new sorts of CPUs, new “out of the field” kind elements (doorbells, home equipment), decision-making moderately than conventional computation. The “laptop” because the computational gadget we all know could also be on the best way out.
- Bizarre creatures: Unimals, or common animals, are robots that may use AI to evolve their physique shapes to allow them to remedy issues extra effectively. Future generations of robotics won’t be designed with mounted our bodies, however have the potential to adapt their form as wanted.
- Would a Nationwide AI Cloud be a subsidy to Google, Fb, et.al., a risk to privateness, or a useful tutorial analysis instrument?
- I’ve been skeptical about digital twins; they appear to be a know-how on the lookout for an software. Nonetheless, Digital Twins (AI fashions of real-world techniques, used for predicting their conduct) look like a helpful know-how for optimizing the efficiency of enormous batteries.
- Digital Twins might present a method to predict provide chain issues and work round shortages. They might permit producers to navigate a compromise between just-in-time stocking processes, that are susceptible to shortages, and resilience.
- Modulate is a startup at present testing real-time voice altering software program. They supply life like, human sounding voices that substitute the person’s personal voice. They’re concentrating on gaming, however the software program is helpful in lots of conditions the place harassment is a threat.
- Voice copying algorithms have been capable of idiot each individuals and voice-enabled gadgets roughly 50% of the time (30% for Azure’s voice recognition service, 62% for Alexa). This can be a new entrance in deep fakery.
- Fb AI Analysis has created a set of first-person (head-mounted digicam) movies referred to as Ego4D for coaching AI. They need to construct AI fashions that see the world “as an individual sees it,” and be capable of reply questions like “the place did I depart my keys.” In essence, which means they might want to acquire actually all the pieces {that a} subscriber does. Though Fb denies that they’re desirous about business functions, there are apparent connections to Ray-Ban Tales and their curiosity in augmented actuality.
- DeepMind is engaged on a deep studying mannequin that may emulate the output of any algorithm. That is referred to as Neuro Algorithmic Reasoning; it might be a step in the direction of a “basic AI.”
- Microsoft and NVIDIA announce a 530 billion parameter pure language mannequin named Megatron-Turing NLG 530B. That’s greater than GPT-3 (175B parameters).
- Can machine studying be used to doc endangered indigenous languages and assist in language reclamation?
- Beethoven’s tenth symphony accomplished by AI: I’m not satisfied that that is what Beethoven would have written, however that is higher than different (human) makes an attempt to finish the tenth that I’ve heard. It seems like Beethoven, for essentially the most half, although it shortly will get aimless.
- I’m nonetheless fascinated by methods to foil face recognition. Right here’s a paper about an AI system that designs minimal, natural-looking make-up that reshapes the components of the face that face recognition algorithms are most delicate to, with out considerably altering an individual’s look.
Ethics
- Thoughtworks’ Accountable Tech Playbook is a curated assortment of instruments and methods to assist organizations change into extra conscious of bias and change into extra inclusive and clear.
Programming
- Kerla is a Linux-like working system kernel written in Rust that may run most Linux executables. I doubt it will ever be built-in into Linux, nevertheless it’s yet one more signal that Rust has joined the large time.
- OSS Port is an open supply instrument that goals to assist builders perceive massive codebases. It parses a challenge repository on GitHub and produces maps and excursions of the codebase. It at present works with JavaScript, Go, Java, and Python, with Rust help promised quickly.
- Turing Full is a recreation about laptop science. That about says it…
- wasmCloud is a runtime setting that can be utilized to construct distributed techniques with wasm within the cloud. WebAssembly was designed as a programming-language-neutral digital machine for browsers, nevertheless it more and more appears to be like like it is going to additionally discover a residence on the server aspect.
- Adobe Photoshop now runs within the browser, utilizing wasm and Emscripten (the C++ toolchain for wasm). Along with compiling C++ to wasm, Emscripten additionally interprets POSIX system calls to net API calls and converts OpenGL to WebGL.
- JQL (JSON Question Language) is a Rust-based language for querying JSON (what else?).
Safety
- Microsoft has launched an effort to coach 250,000 cyber safety staff within the US by 2025. This effort will work with neighborhood schools. They estimate that it’ll solely make up 50% of the shortfall in safety expertise.
- Integrating zero belief safety into the software program improvement lifecycle is de facto the one manner ahead for firms who depend on techniques which are safe and out there.
- A provide chain assault towards a Node.js library (UA-Parser-JS) installs crypto miners and trojans for stealing passwords on Linux and Home windows techniques. The library’s regular perform is to parse person agent strings, figuring out the browser, working system, and different parameters.
- A cybercrime group has created penetration testing consultancies whose objective is to accumulate shoppers after which collect data and provoke ransomware assaults towards these shoppers.
- A federated cryptographic system will permit sharing of medical knowledge with out compromising affected person privateness. That is an important ingredient in “predictive, preventive, personalised, and participatory” drugs (aka P4).
- The European Parliament has taken steps in the direction of banning surveillance primarily based on biometric knowledge, non-public face recognition databases, and predictive policing.
- Is it attainable to reverse-engineer the info on which a mannequin was educated? An assault towards a pretend face generator was capable of determine the unique faces within the coaching knowledge. This has vital implications for privateness and safety, because it seems to generalize to other forms of information.
- Adversarial assaults towards machine studying techniques current a unique set of challenges for cybersecurity. Fashions aren’t code, and have their very own vulnerabilities and assault vectors. Atlas is a challenge to outline the the machine studying risk panorama. Instruments to harden machine studying fashions towards assault embrace IBM’s Adversarial Robustness Toolbox and Microsoft’s Counterfit.
- Researchers have found that you would be able to encode malware into DNA that assaults sequencing software program and provides the attacker management of the pc. This assault hasn’t (but) been discovered within the wild.
- Masscan is a subsequent era, extraordinarily quick port scanner. It’s just like nmap, however a lot sooner; it claims to have the ability to scan your complete web in 6 minutes.
- ethr is an open supply cross-platform community efficiency measurement instrument developed by Microsoft in Go. Proper now, it appears to be like like the very best community efficiency instrument on the market.
- Self-aware techniques monitor themselves consistently and are able to detecting (and even repairing) assaults.
Infrastructure and Operations
Gadgets and Issues
- Amazon is engaged on an Web-enabled fridge that may hold monitor of what’s in it and notify you while you’re low on provides. (And there are already related merchandise available on the market.) Bear in mind when this was joke?
- Shopper-facing AI: On one hand, “sensible devices” current a whole lot of challenges and alternatives. Alternatively, it wants higher deliverables than “sensible” doorbells. Sensible listening to aids which are field-upgradable as a subscription service?
- A drone has been used to ship a lung for organ transplant. That is solely the second time a drone has been used to hold organs for transplantation.
- Intel has launched its subsequent era neuromorphic processor, Loihi. Neuromorphic processors are primarily based on the construction of the mind, wherein neurons asynchronously ship one another alerts. Whereas they’re nonetheless a analysis challenge, they seem to require a lot much less energy than conventional CPUs.
Internet
- ipleak and dnsleaktest are websites that inform you what data your browser leaks. They’re helpful instruments for those who’re enthusiastic about preserving privateness. The outcomes may be scary.
- Darkish design is the observe of designing interfaces that manipulate customers into doing issues they won’t need to do, whether or not that’s agreeing to surrender details about their net utilization or clicking to purchase a product. Darkish patterns are already widespread, and turning into more and more prevalent.
- Black Twitter has change into the brand new “Inexperienced Guide,” a digital place for tips about coping with a racist society. The unique Inexperienced Guide was a Jim Crow-era publication that advised Black individuals the place they may journey safely, which resorts would settle for them, and the place they have been prone to change into victims of racist violence.
Quantum Computing
- A gaggle at Duke College has made vital progress on error correcting quantum computing. They’ve created a “logical qubit” that may be learn with a 99.4% likelihood of being appropriate. (Nonetheless effectively under what is required for sensible quantum computing.)
- There at the moment are two claims of quantum supremacy from Chinese language quantum computing tasks.
Miscellaneous
- Would our response to the COVID pandemic been higher if it was approached as an engineering downside, moderately than scientific analysis?
Study sooner. Dig deeper. See farther.
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