Science
Deep Doo-Doo: AI App Diagnoses Poop Better Than People
People who suffer from gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome are number two when it comes to describing the characteristics of their own poop.
Latest
Machine Learning Research
Pile on the Layers!: DeepNorm Allows Transformers to Accommodate More Layers
Adding layers to a neural network puts the “deep” in deep learning, but it also increases the chance that the network will get stuck during training. A new approach effectively trains transformers with an order of magnitude more layers than previous methods.
The Batch Newsletter
The Batch: Google Engineer Claims Sentient AI, Ethics Team Grounds Taser Drones, Meta Reorgs AI Division, Deep Learning Optimizes Physical Designs
A Google Engineer recently announced he believes that a language model is sentient. I’m highly skeptical that any of today’s AI models are sentient. Some reporters, to their credit, also expressed skepticism.
Letters
Can an AI System Be Sentient? Ask a Philosopher
A Google Engineer recently announced he believes that a language model is sentient. I’m highly skeptical that any of today’s AI models are sentient. Some reporters, to their credit, also expressed skepticism.
Tech & Society
LaMDA Comes Alive?: Google Engineer Says LaMDA AI is Sentient
A chatbot persuaded at least one person that it has feelings. A senior engineer at Google announced his belief that the company’s latest conversational language model is sentient.
Tech & Society
Ethics Team Scuttles Taser Drone: Axon Cancels Plans to Sell a Taser Drone
A weaponized AI system intended to protect students has been grounded. Axon, which makes law-enforcement equipment such as tasers and body cameras, canceled a plan to sell remote-controlled drones capable of firing electroshock darts.
Business
Meta Decentralizes AI Effort: Meta Restructures its AI Research Teams
The future of Big AI may lie with product-development teams. Meta reorganized its AI division. Henceforth, AI teams will report to departments that develop key products.
Machine Learning Research
Airfoils Automatically Optimized: DeepMind AI Research Simulates Fluid Dynamics
Engineers who design aircraft, aqueducts, and other objects that interact with air and water use numerical simulations to test potential shapes, but they rely on trial and error to improve their designs. A neural simulator can optimize the shape itself.
The Batch Newsletter
The Batch: Top 100 AI Startups, Inside the Mind of DALL·E 2, Child Welfare Officials Drop AI, Fresh Images From Cellular Automata
Last week, I wrote about how rising interest rates are likely to lead investors and other finance professionals to focus on short-term returns rather than longer-term investments. Nonetheless, I believe this is still a good time to invest in long-term bets on AI.
Tech & Society
Standout Startups: The Top 100 AI Startups off 2022
AI startups are creating high value across a wide variety of industries. CB Insights, which tracks tech startups, published the latest edition of the AI 100, its annual list of 100 notable AI startups.
Tech & Society
Child-Welfare Agency Drops AI: Oregon and Pennsylvania Halt Use of AI Tool for At-Risk Kids
Officials in charge of protecting children stopped using a machine learning model designed to help them make decisions in difficult cases. The U.S. state of Oregon halted its use of an algorithm intended to identify children who may benefit from intervention.
Machine Learning Research
Tech Imitates Life, Life Imitates Art: Image Generation Technique Works Pixel By Pixel
The computational systems known as cellular automata reproduce patterns of pixels by iteratively applying simple rules based loosely on the behavior of biological cells. New work extends their utility from reproducing images to generating new ones.