Thursday, June 08, 2023

Andreesen On AI Optimism

Marc Andreessen: "Why AI Will Save the World".

His essay concludes with some free-market proposals:
I propose a simple plan: 

* Big AI companies should be allowed to build AI as fast and aggressively as they can – but not allowed to achieve regulatory capture, not allowed to establish a government-protect cartel that is insulated from market competition due to incorrect claims of AI risk. This will maximize the technological and societal payoff from the amazing capabilities of these companies, which are jewels of modern capitalism. 

* Startup AI companies should be allowed to build AI as fast and aggressively as they can. They should neither confront government-granted protection of big companies, nor should they receive government assistance. They should simply be allowed to compete. If and as startups don’t succeed, their presence in the market will also continuously motivate big companies to be their best – our economies and societies win either way. 

* Open source AI should be allowed to freely proliferate and compete with both big AI companies and startups. There should be no regulatory barriers to open source whatsoever. Even when open source does not beat companies, its widespread availability is a boon to students all over the world who want to learn how to build and use AI to become part of the technological future, and will ensure that AI is available to everyone who can benefit from it no matter who they are or how much money they have. 

* To offset the risk of bad people doing bad things with AI, governments working in partnership with the private sector should vigorously engage in each area of potential risk to use AI to maximize society’s defensive capabilities. This shouldn’t be limited to AI-enabled risks but also more general problems such as malnutrition, disease, and climate. AI can be an incredibly powerful tool for solving problems, and we should embrace it as such. 

* To prevent the risk of China achieving global AI dominance, we should use the full power of our private sector, our scientific establishment, and our governments in concert to drive American and Western AI to absolute global dominance, including ultimately inside China itself. We win, they lose.

Robotic Bee

"Researchers create new robotic bee with full freedom of movement". (Via H.R.)

Technical paper: "High-Performance Six-DOF Flight Control of the Bee++: An Inclined-Stroke-Plane Approach"

Wednesday, June 07, 2023

De-Aging Fail

"Attention, Hollywood: De-Aging Isn't Working, So Please Stop Using It"

The harsh truth is there is a fundamental difference, which can be recognized by the naked eye, between how someone in their 20s and 30s navigates the world versus someone in their 70s and 80s.

Windows 11 AI

"Built-in ChatGPT-driven Copilot will transform Windows 11 starting in June"

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

Clever Optical Illusions

I liked "Platform 9 34s", inspired by Harry Potter. "The illusion is of a LEGO car driving through a solid wall.". (Click through to see the illusion and the explanation.)

For more, see "The Best Illusions of 2023 Contest"

AI Antibiotic

"A new antibiotic, discovered with artificial intelligence, may defeat a dangerous superbug":

The researchers also tested the antibiotic against 41 different strains of antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. The drug worked on all of them, though it would need to be further refined and tested in human clinical trials before it could be used in patients.  

What’s more, the compound identified by AI worked in a way that stymied only the problem pathogen. It didn’t seem to kill the many other species of beneficial bacteria that live in the gut or on the skin, making it a rare narrowly targeted agent...

Monday, June 05, 2023

Friday, June 02, 2023

AI Gold Rush

"Nvidia is not the only firm cashing in on the AI gold rush"

Ditching Phone Cases

"Ditching a Phone Case Is the Latest Symbol of Stealth Wealth"

Thursday, June 01, 2023

Fast Robotic Mice

Video: "The Fastest Maze-Solving Competition On Earth"


Chatbot Replaces Human Workers

Telephone helpline staffers at the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) were feeling overworked and voted to unionize. Management then fired them all and replaced them with an AI Chatbot named Tessa.

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Hsieh Forbes Column on Automation Bias and Medical Misdiagnosis

My latest Forbes column is out: "How 'Automation Bias' Plus Artificial Intelligence Can Lead To Medical Misdiagnoses".

Takehome point: The machine does NOT always know where it's going!

Parents Posting Embarrassing Kid Videos

"The First Social-Media Babies Are Growing Up -- And They're Horrified"

I'm not a parent, so I've never had to wrestle with the issue of whether or not to post videos of offspring online. But I can see why some kids today aren't very excited about the social media posting decisions their parents made a few years ago
In the United States, parental authority supersedes a child’s right to privacy, and socially, we’ve normalized sharing information about and images of children that we never would of adults. Parents regularly divulge diaper-changing mishaps, potty-training successes, and details about a child’s first menstrual period to an audience of hundreds or thousands of people. There are no real rules against it. Social-media platforms have guidelines for combatting truly inappropriate content—physical abuse of minors, child nudity, neglect, endangerment, and the like. But uploading non-abusive content can be damaging, too, according to kids whose lives have been painstakingly documented online.

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Lawyer Uses ChatGPT, Hilarity Ensues

That awkward moment when a lawyer uses ChatGPT to draft a legal brief, and it's full of citations to non-existent cases

From the court order: "Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations."

Clothes, Please

"Georgia officials remind people to wear clothes in their digital driver's license photo"

Monday, May 29, 2023

No Needle Measles Vaccine

"Promising early data on a measles vaccine delivered via sticker"

Mosquito Cloth

"New clothing fabric blocks mosquito bites and provides comfort". (Via H.R.)