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Connect with slime mold – University of Chicago

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

Its alive! The Human Computer Integration Labs novel smartwatch is activated by an organism called Physarum polycephalum. (Photo courtesy Jasmine Lu)

Do you have a smartphone in your pocket or a smartwatch on your wrist? For many of us, our devices are constant companionsonly to be ditched when a newer model is released. In 2021 a record 63 million tons of electronic waste were discarded worldwide, of which only 17 percent was recycled. But what if we developed emotional relationships with our devices like we do with our pets, wondered Jasmine Lu. Would we be so quick to abandon them?

Lu is a computer science PhD student in assistant professor Pedro Lopess Human Computer Integration Lab, which focuses on engineering interactive devices that integrate directly with a users body. Lopess research is a more immersive take on human-computer interaction, a field that explores the interfaces between people and technologies.

To probe the potential for a more caring bond with our electronics, Lu designed a smartwatch integrated with a living organism: a slime mold. The device, which tells time and monitors heart rate, works only when the slime mold is healthy. The wearer must care for the device, like a living Tamagotchithe Japanese virtual pets popular in the 90s. Lu didnt set out to reimagine the egg-like toy, but after creating the slime mold watch, she recognized the similarities to her childhood virtual pet. She would feed it in the morning and bring it to school, hooked on her belt loop, she says. I treasured it.

Why a slime mold? Despite the name, its not like other types of mold, explains Lu. Slime molds are now known to be part of the protist kingdoma diverse collection of mostly single-celled organisms distinct from fungi, plants, animals, and bacteria. The species Physarum polycephalum was chosen because it can rapidly grow toward food sources, which is how it is able, curiously, to solve mazes. Nicknamed the blob, the species is also resilient, able to go dormant when starved and to be revived even years later.

The slime mold lives in a transparent enclosure on the watch, and the wearer must give it oats and water on a regular schedule. When properly cared for, the slime mold will grow across a channel to reach oats on the other side of the enclosure, forming a living wire that conducts electricity and activates the device. (Electricity travels through the slime mold, but the current is low enough that the team didnt observe any harm to its body; it continued to thrive, says Lu.)

The two-week study involved five participants and was split into phases: caring and neglect. Throughout the process, the participants kept a diary of the care they provided, the slime molds condition, and their own reflections. They were interviewed after each phase.

For the caring phase, they were asked to wear the watch for as much of the day as possible, watering the slime mold twice a day and feeding it oats every other day. All participants noted a sense of connection with the watch, and four described it as a little friend or pet. One named her slime mold Jeff. (The participants sometimes talked about the slime mold as a separate entity rather than part of the device, something Lu and Lopes hope to change with an updated design.)

One woman was reminded that her device had a life-form inside by its earthy smell and associated the healthy slime molds bright yellow color with happiness. Another linked the watchs needs to her own: whenever she ate, she would check the slime mold. Yet another recounted how she was sick during part of the care phase, and her partner fed her oatmeal. She started calling me her slime, wrote the participant, because we were eating the same stuff.

The participants were then told to withhold water and food. Unsurprisingly, all five mentioned how much easier the second phase was; they felt relieved and disconnected. But each participant also felt sad or guilty while neglecting their slime mold. One woman who had eagerly shown off her living watch felt anxious about having to explain the slime molds neglected state. While the dried-out slime mold was technically dormant, many participants referred to it as dead.

The team collected the watches after the experiment, but in the exit interview, they asked hypothetically, How would you dispose of the watch? Responses included: toss the watch and keep the slime mold; sell it; and give it to a friend. If you really couldnt take care of a pet anymore, said one of the participants, you would try to rehome it.

All participants identified as women, which was not a deliberate experimental design choice. Lu speculates there may have been some self-selectionmany women grew up with toys where caretaking is the central modality that theyre expected to engage with. Tamagotchis were aggressively marketed toward girls, and four of the five participants happened to have direct experience with virtual pets. But it was a small set of people, says Lopes, so you cant generalize too much. In the future, says Lu, it would be interesting to explore this from a gendered perspective.

Of course, slime mold watches will likely never catch on like Tamagotchis, nor was Lu suggesting with this research that biological devices are the practical solution to e-waste. Rather, exploring interactions between people and their living technology might teach engineers how to center a sense of care in their interactive designs. If engineers could make it easier to repair rather than replace devices, for instance, people with less computing or electronics literacy might feel more empowered, says Lumore comfortable learning how devices work and exactly what theyre doing.

Lopes compares repairing your own device to people learning to bake bread during the pandemic. You could buy a mass-produced loaf at the store, but folks are discovering some deeper connection by making their own. You could buy the latest iPhone, but if you repair or upgrade the one you already have, its no longer the sole creation of Apple, says Lopes. In some ways, it becomes partly yours.

Consumer devices are made so that you trash them, instead of engaging with them, Lu told UChicago Computer Science News. So I definitely think there is a design takeaway of focusing on this aspect of caring for devices instead of just consuming them.

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At Northrop Grumman Day, Students Pitch the Future of Networked – Maryland Today

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

A violence-detection system took the top prize in yesterdays Northrop Grumman Student Challenge, an Internet of Things (IoT) hackathon.

Developed by information science major William Byrne, computer science students Ethan Huegler and William Meagher and Zoe Poppert, an immersive media design major, the team took home bragging rightsand $2,500for its Guardian smart system. It was one of three finalist teams selected from 11 entries.

The competition was part of Northrop Grumman Day, an all-day event for executives with the aerospace and defense company to connect with University of Maryland leaders, students and faculty. It highlights the universitys close partnership with Northrop Grumman as well as the companys investment in fostering talent and technology to meet industry needs.

Its not every day you have such a leader of the international defense community and leader of such a corporation come to College Park, university President Darryll J. Pines said during CEO Kathy Wardens meet-and-greet with students. Northrop Grumman is one of our most strategic partners across campus.

The Student Challenge was open to Terp undergraduate teams of two to four students from any major, who were challenged to create a proposal and prototype for a novel IoT devicehardware that connects to the Internetusing a provided computer board. An increasing number of consumer electronics, from smart watches to home security systems to medical testing devices, are part of the IoT. With guidance and mentorship from Northrop Grumman engineers, the teams worked over just three weeks to build their system

The Guardian combines a camera with machine learning to alert remote users in real time to perceived violence. Similar home security systems have proven successful, but we found nothing out there thats implementing a model looking for violence in a space like a campus, Poppert said.

As for commercial viability of the system, Meagher called it extreme, noting the global security camera market in 2021 was $31.88 billion.

The second prize and $1,500 award went to SmartSort, created by mechanical engineering and computer science junior Urjo Nahid and mechanical engineering and robotics junior Billy Rust. While automated sorting and storage are already available in industrial settings, the team wanted to offer an option for homes and businesses. The desk-sized prototype was built with a camera to label and detect the item to sort, and a motorized spool and track, mechanical arm and small bins to sort and retrieve items.

The third-place team of computer science majors Andrew Bumgardner, Matt Coley, Asher Weiman and Quinn Carmack (a double major in mathematics) won $1,000. Its device, called Pair, consists of a website and Python programming library that users can install on any system, such as a homes sprinkler system, to push sensor data online.

Before the Student Challenge event in A. James Clark Hall, Pines moderated a question-and-answer session with Warden and students. When asked about plans for growing the workforce, she noted the importance of continuing education and on-the-job training and highlighted the companys mentoring program. I believe strongly that all of us are on a learning journey, forever, she said.

As for students beginning their career journey? Warden stressed the importance of personal relationships and of pushing out of ones comfort zone. Experiment. Take a little risk, she said.

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College of Education and Human Sciences awards new Hall of … – Oklahoma State University

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

Friday, May 5, 2023

Media Contact: Kirsi McDowell | Senior Communications Specialist | 405-744-9347 | kirsi@okstate.edu

The Oklahoma State University College of Education and Human Sciences welcomed a new member to its Hall of Fame and honored two Outstanding Alumni Award recipients during the 2023 Hall of Fame banquet on April 28 in the Nancy Randolph Davis Great Hall on the Stillwater campus.

Amy Mitchell received the colleges most prestigious honor, the Hall of Fame Award given in recognition of outstanding professional and personal achievements that have brought honor and distinction to the college and to the university as well as have made a significant and lasting contribution, consistent with the mission of OSU and the College of Education and Human Sciences.

Mitchell, of Dallas, graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1983 with her bachelors degree in family relations and child development.

Following graduation, she pursued a career as a social worker at a San Angelo, Texas, hospital while she and her husband, Malone, founded Riata Energy.

In 2006, Amy assumed the role of partner and managing member for Riata Corporate Group and is now the director and manager of Longfellow Ranches. Prior to this role, she served as the accountant as well as regulatory and compliance administrator for Riata Energy, managing the real estate acquisitions and investments as well as the corporate records of the Riata entities and was involved in the development of the companies.

In 2008, the Mitchells donated $57 million to Oklahoma State University, becoming the school's second-biggest donor behind T. Boone Pickens.

Amy, along with her husband, was inducted into the OSU Hall of Fame in 2013. Amy has supported many organizations and devoted her time and effort to helping those in need.

Included in the numerous boards and committees that Amy has served on throughout her career is her seat on the board as the former executive director of the Pion Foundation, a nonprofit organization that was established by the Mitchell family in 2006 to support institutions that support children and elderly individuals.

Since 2010, the Pion scholarship program has awarded more than 400 scholarships to graduates of Fort Stockton and Sanderson High Schools in Texas.

While being a successful entrepreneur, giving back and helping others has remained a passion of Amy's. In addition to her philanthropic work, Amy owns and operates Forget Me Not, a gift shop, bakery and catering business in Highland Park, Texas.

The Outstanding Alumni award honors alumni who have demonstrated a distinguished career and continue to make impactful contributions to their profession and beyond. Their quest for excellence is shown through their accomplishments, service to the community and leadership.

Athena Frank of Glencoe, Oklahoma, graduated with her bachelors degree in business information with a specialty in information processing from OSUs College of Business in 1985 and later completed her masters degree in curriculum and instruction with a focus in information and community technology from the OSU College of Education in 1992.

The early part of her career focused on working in the accounting, legal and information processing sectors and after completing her masters degree she began teaching business technology courses at Ripley High School for 12 years.

Her career has led her to become the business information technology instructor for the Central Technology Center in Drumright, Oklahoma, where she provides instructional and career skills and strategies in business, finance and entrepreneurship to high school juniors, seniors and adults from the districts 18 local sending communities.

Over her three decades of service, she has received numerous accolades on the state and national level and has served in leadership positions for various boards of directors. In her role as the local Business Professionals of America chapter advisor, Frank has been honored to receive the Oklahoma BPA Lifetime Achievement Award, Oklahoma BPA Advisor of the Year Award and the 2021 National BPA Advisor of the Year.

Dr. Steven A. Scott of Pittsburg, Kansas has invested nearly 50 years in public education as a teacher, coach, administrator, leader and board member.

Scott graduated from Pittsburg State University in 1973 with a degree in secondary mathematics and began his professional career as a middle school math teacher in Riverton, Kansas, before completing a masters degree in mathematics at Oklahoma State University in 1977.

After time spent teaching upper-level mathematics at Miami High School, he accepted a faculty position in the Department of Computer Science at Northeastern Oklahoma A & M College.

Scott later returned to Kansas as faculty in the PSU College of Education and began working toward a doctorate of education in higher education at OSU, completing this degree in the spring of 1990.

His teaching, as well as his graduate course work, focused on the use of technology in the classroom for teachers at all levels. Scotts career advanced steadily until he was selected by the Kansas Board of Regents to become PSUs ninth president.

Scotts tenure as president provided growth for the university across academics, athletics and facilities. Currently retired, Scott has maintained an active role in community and statewide affairs.

For more information about the colleges Alumni Association, Hall of Fame award or to make nominations, visit education.okstate.edu/alumni.

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Is College The Real World? – Forbes

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

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SEAS teams net top honors at President’s Innovation Challenge – Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) had a banner night at the recent 2023 Presidents Innovation Challenge Awards Ceremony at Harvard Business Schools Klarman Hall. Three SEAS-affiliated ventures won a combined $105,000 in Bertarelli Foundation prize money at the annual Harvard Innovation Labs event, taking both the grand prize and runner-up in the Student Open track, as well as one of several $5,000 Ingenuity Awards.

The space is such a good magnet for all the founders in the broader Harvard community, said Rohan Doshi, whose venture Penguin.ai won the $75,000 grand prize. It makes entrepreneurship, which is typically a lonely journey, a more communal one. It serves as a keystone position within the broader ecosystem by allowing founders to interact with each other and build a community.

Doshi, an M.S./M.B.A. candidate at SEAS and Harvard Business School, began developing Penguin.ai towards the end of last summer. The venture uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create high-quality visual assets, greatly reducing the time and cost associated with working with separate design agencies.

Penguin.ai already has multiple enterprise pilots in place, including with the Kraft Heinz Company.

I see AI as a tool, not a replacement, Doshi said. When youre writing text, theres an AI spell-checker or autocorrect that helps you move faster and do more. I see AI in a similar capacity, where it augments your ability to express yourself.

The $25,000 runner-up prize went to Stochastic, co-founded by SEAS postdoctoral researcher Glenn Ko and computer science Ph.D. candidate Yuji Chai. Stochastic equips companies with a secure, customizable AI-assisted data management platform that uses a chat-based interface similar to ChatGPT.

Large language models like ChatGPT are a way to compress a really large amount of data into a single model that you can interrogate, ask questions and receive answers, Ko said. They can aggregate information from different data sources, absorb all that knowledge, and allow users to access the knowledge instantaneously. At the same time, AI can act upon that knowledge by generating reports, documents, and emails to actually boost productivity. Because the language models inherently use a natural language interface, it gives wider access to AI for non-technical people.

Halo Braid, founded by M.S./M.B.A. candidate Yinka Ogunbiyi, is an automated hair-braiding device. Braids are an extremely common hairstyle for Black women, and Ogunbiyi devised her venture after learning how time-consuming braiding can be for professional stylists, her target market.

It started to make commercial sense when I did the math on how much stylists earn, how much time they spend braiding hair, and what would happen if they could effectively triple the number of clients they could see, Ogunbiyi said. When you do those numbers, its potentially a hundred thousand extra dollars they could earn per year.

Penguin.ai and Stochastic continued the success of SEAS ventures at the Presidents Innovation Challenge. Recent prize winners affiliated with SEAS include Limax Biosciences in 2022, Beacon Bio in 2021, Fractal in 2020, and ReThink in 2019.

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Climbing Mount Everest of computer programming – EurekAlert

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

Aleks Nanevski, researcher at IMDEA Software, discovered his passion for mathematics at the age of 10 when a teacher at his school in Macedonia saw his aptitude and started giving him extracurricular classes. He began to participate in regional competitions and by the age of 13 he was already on the podium in national competitions.

The mathematically gifted boy asked his parents for a computer. During a family trip to France, his parents were finally able to buy him one, the one they could afford, and Aleks began to delve into the world of programming. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the instruction book for that machine was in French and he didn't know the language. For a while he also couldn't connect the computer to his TV, because of different TV standards. But the book showed example programs in the BASIC programming language along with the output of their execution. That sufficed for him to learn to program in his mind, without actually typing anything on a computer. This got him drawn into programming as an abstract mathematical activity that is independent of any computers.

His career as a researcher began with his doctorate at Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a postdoctoral position at Harvard University. He then spent a couple of years at Microsoft Research in Cambridge U.K., following which he joined IMDEA Software Institute in Madrid, where he was awarded an ERC grant worth two million euros for the project "MATHADOR: Type and Proof Structures for Concurrent Software Verification". The project, funded by the European Unions Horizon 2020 program, has lasted 6 years and ended on March 31st. His research, as the European Research Council indicated at the time of the grant award, is high-risk because it proposes new foundations for concurrent software verification, but it is also high-gain, since concurrent software verification is one of the most important open problem in current research onprogramming languages and semantics.

For example, a computer program of an electric car has millions of lines of code and may work at launch, but that doesnt mean it can't have errors. Finding the errors can be like looking for a needle in a haystack, as it involves time and resources. If, in addition, the error arises from the faulty interaction between simultaneously running components, e.g., the car connects with GPS, safety sensors or a music application, the difficulties multiply. One can consider searching for the errors in principle, but in practice this requires infeasible amount of work. To really address the problem, a radical approach is needed.

Enterfunctional programmingandtype theory; centered in the academic world, these subjects have roots in philosophy, logic, and constructive mathematics. Functional programs may not be as fast to execute asimperative programs---the ones used by software industry---but they are much easier to write and understand. An imperative program with hundreds of lines of code can often be reduced to just a few lines in the functional idiom. When programmingimperatively, we adapt to the machines. When programming functionally, we have the machines adapt to us. The idea of functional programming is to use a mathematical language that is so minimalist, concise and effective that it makes it easy to spot the programming errors, and thus not even make errors in the first place.

Courage, patience and faith are characteristics required of someone who chooses the long path: "I started with an intuition that concurrency should fruitfully be addressed by functional programming and type theory, because I applied these previously to non-concurrent programming, which uncovered deep connections with so-calledSeparation Logic, animportantand well-known idea in computer science. Somewhat amazingly, this intuition has so far always materialized, even when it temporarily looked like it has no chance. However, there is still a long way to the top.", according to Nanevski.

Aleks explains that his research is related to "Everything and nothing at the same time. It is a foundational problem, which implies that it is highly idealized. It takes its challenges from existing practices and technologies and removes the messiness of the real world, while striving to distill the basic core issue. That makes it related to nothing directly. But it also makes it related to everything, because that core issue is what it means for programs to interact and coordinate with each other, and this interaction arises in Artificial Intelligence, in Internet of Things, and everywhere in-between. Because of its universality, understanding the issue mathematically will open possibilities for the technologies of the future that today we can't even imagine."

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. [724464])

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says we may have AGI in the next few years – Cointelegraph

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind, recently predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) systems would reach human-level cognition somewhere between the next few years and maybe within a decade.

Hassabis, who got his start in the gaming industry, co-founded Google DeepMind (formerly DeepMind Technologies), the company known for developing the AlphaGo AI system responsible for beating the worlds top human Go players.

In a recent interview conducted during The Wall Street Journals Future of Everything festival, Hassabis told interviewer Chris Mims he believes the arrival of machines with human-level cognition is imminent:

These comments come just two weeks after internal restructuring led Google to announce the merging of Google AI and DeepMind into the aptly named Google DeepMind.

When asked to define AGI artificial general intelligence Hassabis responded: human-level cognition.

There currently exists no standardized definition, test or benchmark for AGI widely accepted by the science, technology, engineering and math community. Nor is there a unified scientific consensus on whether AGI is even possible.

Some notable figures such as Roger Penrose (Stephen Hawkings long-time research partner)believe AGI cant be achieved, while others think it could take decades or centuries for scientists and engineers to figure it out.

Among those who are bullish on AGI in the near term, or some similar form of human-level AI, are Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

AGIs become a hot topic in the wake of the launch of ChatGPT and myriad similar AI products and services over the past few months. Often cited as a holy grail technology, experts predict human-level AI will disrupt every facet of life on Earth.

If human-level AI is ever achieved, it could disrupt various aspects of the crypto industry. In the cryptocurrency world, users could see fully autonomous machines capable of acting as entrepreneurs, C-suite executives, advisers and traders, with the intellectual reasoning capacity of a human and the ability to retain information and execute code like a computer system.

As to whether AGI agents would serve humankind as AI-powered tools or compete with humans for resources remains to be seen.

For his part, Hassabis didn't speculate on any scenarios, but he did tell The Wall Street Journal that he would advocate developing these types of AGI technologies in a cautious manner using the scientific method, where you try and do very careful controlled experiments to understand what the underlying system does.

This might stand in juxtaposition to the current landscape, where products such as his own employer's Google Bard and OpenAIs ChatGPT were recently made available for public use.

Related: Godfather of AI resigns from Google, warns of the dangers of AI

Industry insiders such as OpenAI's Altman and DeepMinds Nando de Freitas have stated that they believe AGI could emerge by itself if developers continue to scale current models. And one Google researcher recently parted ways with the company after claiming that a model named LaMDA had already become sentient.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding the development of these technologies and their potential impact on humankind, thousands of people, including Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, recently signed an open letter asking companies and individuals building related systems to pause development for six months so scientists can assess the potential for harm.

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‘We’re not at the moon yet’: Human-like A.I. is still some way off, early investor in Google’s DeepMind says – CNBC

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

This photo illustration shows the ChatGPT logo at an office in Washington, DC, on March 15, 2023.

Stefani Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

We are still some way off reaching human-level artificial intelligence despite rapid advances in the technology, according to an early investor in research laboratory DeepMind.

"In terms of artificial general intelligence, OpenAI, ChatGPT stuff: it's like saying we're going to jump to the moon," Humayun Sheikh, a founding investor in AI startup DeepMind, which is now owned by Google, told CNBC in an interview.

"We took a big jump, but we're not at the moon yet."

Sheikh, who held around 1.3% of DeepMind's shares in 2011, said that large language models (LLM) like those developed by Microsoft-backed firm OpenAI, though impressive, are lightyears away from so-called artificial general intelligence, or AGI.

AGI is often referred to as the holy grail of AI. It is a hypothetical system capable of completing any task to the same level as a human.

This is very much: Google is not born yet, but Yahoo is.

Humayun Sheikh

CEO, Fetch.ai

"That's really how I compare AGI with all the large language model companies which are popping up," Humayun, who is now co-founder of AI and blockchain startup Fetch.ai, said.

"They are very limited. How you actually get them to do certain things is still in its infancy."

"This is very much: Google is not born yet, but Yahoo is," he added.

His comments come as Google-parent Alphabet merges DeepMind with Google Brain, part of the U.S. internet giant's research division.

Google is racing to compete with Microsoft and other tech companies in the field of AI. Microsoft is making huge strides with its investment into OpenAI and the inclusion of the firm's LLM technology into its Bing browser and other products.

Earlier this week, Demis Hassabis, the founder of DeepMind, told the Wall Street Journal that some form of AGI might be possible "in the next few years."

Sheikh said he had a "lot of respect" for Hassabis and that the entrepreneur is "very aware of the ethics of AI."

"One of the first things he has been always bringing out was, how do we control it? How do we put that boundary around it and make sure AI doesn't go out of control?," Sheikh said.

Google acquired DeepMind for $500 million in 2014 and is attempting to bolster its business by doubling down on AI in a bid to fend off the threat to its core search unit from OpenAI. Google launched its own chatbot alternative to ChatGPT, Bard, in March.

AI's huge potential is seen in its ability to generate entirely new content from user prompts. People have used the technology to create everything from poems to quirky images and movie trailers, while kids are using it to help with their homework.

Experts have raised concern over the risks of sophisticated AI, however, with a group of tech leaders including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak calling for a six-month ban on the development of AI more advanced than GPT-4, the latest version of OpenAI's massive language processing software.

WATCH: Can China's ChatGPT clones give it an edge over the U.S. in an A.I. arms race?

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Google DeepMind CEO says human-level AI will be here in a few years – Fox Business

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

Waze co-founder Uri Levine discusses how artificial intelligence is changing the tech landscape on "The Claman Countdown."

Google's DeepMind CEO predicts that human-level artificial intelligence will be achievable within just "a few years."

Demis Hassabis made the prediction Thursday during an interview at the Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival. Artificial general intelligence, or AGI, has long been a goal for AI research. The technology would require an algorithm or system to replicate human intelligence.

"The progress in the last few years has been pretty incredible," Hassabis said. "I dont see any reason why that progress is going to slow down. I think it may even accelerate. So, I think we could be just a few years, maybe within a decade, away."

"I think well have very capable, very general systems in the next few years," he added.

FORMER GOOGLE CEO ERIC SCHMIDT CALLS CHATGPT WATERSHED MOMENT FOR AI: I DIDNT BELIEVE THIS A YEAR AGO'

Christopher Mims, left, and Demis Hassabis attend the WSJ's Future Of Everything Festival at Spring Studios on May 2, 2023, in New York City. Hassabis says AGI will be achievable in just a few years. (Getty Images)

MICROSOFT EXECUTIVE WARNS AI WILL CAUSE REAL DAMAGE IN THE WRONG HANDS

Hassabis' prediction comes just days after another top mind at Google quit the company to warn of the dangers of advancing AI too quickly. Geoffrey Hinton, a Google engineer widely considered the godfather of artificial intelligence, helped kicked off the AI craze in 2012 with a major breakthrough that led to AIs like ChatGPT.

Hinton now says he regrets his life's work.

"I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadnt done it, somebody else would have," he told the New York Times.

"It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things," Hinton went on to say of AI.

Hinton said the progression seen since 2012 is astonishing but is likely just the tip of the iceberg.

"Look at how it was five years ago and how it is now," he said of the industry. "Take the difference and propagate it forwards. Thats scary."

Geoffrey Hinton, widely called the "godfather of AI," quit Google to warn of the dangers of AI development. (Getty Images)

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Hinton's fears echo those expressed by more than 1,000 tech leaders earlier this year in a public letter that called for a brief halt to AI development. Hinton did not sign the letter at the time, and he now says that he did not want to criticize Google while he was with the company. Hinton has since ended his employment there and had a phone call with Google CEO Sundar Pichai last week.

"We remain committed to a responsible approach to AI. Were continually learning to understand emerging risks while also innovating boldly," Google's chief scientist, Jeff Dean, told the New York Times.

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DeepMind boss: AI as smart as human brain could arrive in a few years – Business Insider

May 6, 2023 | Author: admin

DeepMind boss Demis Hassabis believes some form of AGI will arrive in a few years. Samuel de Roman/Getty Images

AI that is as powerful as the human brain could arrive within the next few years, according to the boss of Google-owned AI lab DeepMind.

The Wall Street Journal reported the news.

Demis Hassabis, CEO and cofounder of London-based DeepMind, believes artificial general intelligence (AGI) a theoretical concept in the field that envisions AI matching the cognitive abilities of humans is on the horizon as AI research accelerates.

Speaking at a Wall Street Journal conference, Hassabis acknowledged that "progress in the last few years has been pretty incredible." He added: "I think we'll have very capable, very general systems in the next few years."

The comments come as Google, which bought DeepMind for $500 million in 2014, is attempting to fortify its business by doubling down on AI as it seeks to fend off a challenge to its core search unit from Microsoft-backed ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

Hassabis is playing a central role in Google's mission to advance its AI capabilities, having been announced last month as the leader of a newly formed unit at Google that brings DeepMind together with Google Brain, a separate AI research arm.

Since being founded in 2010, DeepMind has made it its mission to solve the puzzle of intelligence by building machines that are capable of learning, thinking, and acting the way humans do.

However, researchers across the field have become increasingly divided on the benefits of pursuing AGI. This is particularly true given the issues around inaccuracy and misuse posed by existing large language models underlying tools like ChatGPT and Google's rival technology Bard.

Hassabis said during the conference that he didn't "see any reason" why AI progress would slow down, but did suggest that developing AGI technologies would need to be done "in a cautious manner using the scientific method" that involves rigorous experiments and testing.

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