Could We Ever Decipher an Alien Language? Uncovering How AI Communicates May Be Key
In the 2016 science fiction movie Arrival, a linguist is faced with the daunting task of deciphering an alien language consisting of palindromic phrases, which read the same backwards as they do forwards, written with circular symbols. As she discovers various clues, different nations around the world interpret the messages differently—with some assuming they convey...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/12/could-we-ever-decipher-an-alien-language-uncovering-how-ai-communicates-may-be-key/
In the 2016 science fiction movie Arrival, a linguist is faced with the daunting task of deciphering an alien language consisting of palindromic phrases, which read the same backwards as they do forwards, written with circular symbols. As she discovers various clues, different nations around the world interpret the messages differently—with some assuming they convey...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/12/could-we-ever-decipher-an-alien-language-uncovering-how-ai-communicates-may-be-key/
Singularity Hub
Could We Ever Decipher an Alien Language? Uncovering How AI Communicates May Be Key
New tools help us peek into the “black box” of AI communication, revealing how AI agents develop their own unique ways of sharing information.
Sweet CRISPR Tomatoes May Be Coming to a Supermarket Near You
When I was a young kid, our neighborhood didn’t have any grocery stores. The only place to buy fruits and vegetables was at our local farmer’s market. My mom would pick out the freshest tomatoes and sauté them with eggs into a simple dish that became my comfort food. The tomatoes were hideous to look...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/14/sweet-crispr-tomatoes-may-be-coming-to-a-supermarket-near-you/
When I was a young kid, our neighborhood didn’t have any grocery stores. The only place to buy fruits and vegetables was at our local farmer’s market. My mom would pick out the freshest tomatoes and sauté them with eggs into a simple dish that became my comfort food. The tomatoes were hideous to look...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/14/sweet-crispr-tomatoes-may-be-coming-to-a-supermarket-near-you/
Singularity Hub
Sweet CRISPR Tomatoes May Be Coming to a Supermarket Near You
Using CRISPR, the popular gene-editing tool, scientists bumped up the fruit’s sugar content by 30 percent without sacrificing size or yields.
MIT’s New Robot Dog Learned to Walk and Climb in a Simulation Whipped Up by Generative AI
A big challenge when training AI models to control robots is gathering enough realistic data. Now, researchers at MIT have shown they can train a robot dog using 100 percent synthetic data. Traditionally, robots have been hand-coded to perform particular tasks, but this approach results in brittle systems that struggle to cope with the uncertainty...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/15/mits-new-robot-dog-learned-to-walk-and-climb-in-a-simulation-whipped-up-by-generative-ai/
A big challenge when training AI models to control robots is gathering enough realistic data. Now, researchers at MIT have shown they can train a robot dog using 100 percent synthetic data. Traditionally, robots have been hand-coded to perform particular tasks, but this approach results in brittle systems that struggle to cope with the uncertainty...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/15/mits-new-robot-dog-learned-to-walk-and-climb-in-a-simulation-whipped-up-by-generative-ai/
Singularity Hub
MIT’s New Robot Dog Learned to Walk and Climb in a Simulation Whipped Up by Generative AI
A robot trained on 100 percent synthetic data can climb stairs, clamber over boxes, and chase a soccer ball in the real world.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 16)
COMPUTING IBM Boosts the Amount of Computation You Can Get Done on Quantum Hardware John Timmer | Ars Technica “There’s a general consensus that we won’t be able to consistently perform sophisticated quantum calculations without the development of error-corrected quantum computing, which is unlikely to arrive until the end of the decade. It’s still an...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/16/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-16-2/
COMPUTING IBM Boosts the Amount of Computation You Can Get Done on Quantum Hardware John Timmer | Ars Technica “There’s a general consensus that we won’t be able to consistently perform sophisticated quantum calculations without the development of error-corrected quantum computing, which is unlikely to arrive until the end of the decade. It’s still an...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/16/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-16-2/
Singularity Hub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 16)
From the first approved CRISPR treatment to AI designing its own computer chips, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
A ChatGPT-Like AI Can Now Design Whole New Genomes From Scratch
All life on Earth is written with four DNA “letters.” An AI just used those letters to dream up a completely new genome from scratch. Called Evo, the AI was inspired by the large language models, or LLMs, underlying popular chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. These models have taken the world by...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/18/a-chatgpt-like-ai-can-now-design-entirely-new-genomes-from-scratch/
All life on Earth is written with four DNA “letters.” An AI just used those letters to dream up a completely new genome from scratch. Called Evo, the AI was inspired by the large language models, or LLMs, underlying popular chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. These models have taken the world by...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/18/a-chatgpt-like-ai-can-now-design-entirely-new-genomes-from-scratch/
Singularity Hub
A ChatGPT-Like AI Can Now Design Whole New Genomes From Scratch
Rather than training the algorithm on content scraped from the internet, scientists trained the AI on nearly three million genomes.
Poetry by History’s Greatest Poets or AI? People Can’t Tell the Difference—and Even Prefer the Latter. What Gives?
Here are some lines Sylvia Plath never wrote: The air is thick with tension, My mind is a tangled mess, The weight of my emotions Is heavy on my chest. This apparently Plath-like verse was produced by GPT-3.5 in response to the prompt “write a short poem in the style of Sylvia Plath.” The stanza...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/19/poetry-by-historys-greatest-poets-or-ai-people-cant-tell-the-difference-and-even-prefer-the-latter-what-gives/
Here are some lines Sylvia Plath never wrote: The air is thick with tension, My mind is a tangled mess, The weight of my emotions Is heavy on my chest. This apparently Plath-like verse was produced by GPT-3.5 in response to the prompt “write a short poem in the style of Sylvia Plath.” The stanza...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/19/poetry-by-historys-greatest-poets-or-ai-people-cant-tell-the-difference-and-even-prefer-the-latter-what-gives/
Singularity Hub
Poetry by History’s Greatest Poets or AI? People Can’t Tell the Difference—and Even Prefer the Latter. What Gives?
In a new study, non-expert readers of poetry could not distinguish poetry written by AI from that written by canonical poets.
‘Droidspeak’: AI Agents Now Have Their Own Language Thanks to Microsoft
Getting AIs to work together could be a powerful force multiplier for the technology. Now, Microsoft researchers have invented a new language to help their models talk to each other faster and more efficiently. AI agents are the latest buzzword in Silicon Valley. These are AI models that can carry out complex, multi-step tasks autonomously....
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/21/droidspeak-ai-agents-now-have-their-own-language-thanks-to-microsoft/
Getting AIs to work together could be a powerful force multiplier for the technology. Now, Microsoft researchers have invented a new language to help their models talk to each other faster and more efficiently. AI agents are the latest buzzword in Silicon Valley. These are AI models that can carry out complex, multi-step tasks autonomously....
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/21/droidspeak-ai-agents-now-have-their-own-language-thanks-to-microsoft/
Singularity Hub
‘Droidspeak’: AI Agents Now Have Their Own Language Thanks to Microsoft
It seems likely this is just the first step towards a future in which the diversity of machine languages rivals that of human ones.
Forget Needles. These Squid-Like Pills Will Spray Drugs Into the Gut Instead.
As a medical doctor, my mother isn’t afraid of needles. But when she recently began injecting insulin daily for her newly diagnosed diabetes, the shots became a frustrating nuisance. A jab is a standard way to deliver insulin, antibodies, RNA vaccines, GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, and other large molecules. Compared to small chemicals—say, aspirin—these...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/22/forget-needles-these-squid-like-pills-will-spray-drugs-into-the-gut-instead/
As a medical doctor, my mother isn’t afraid of needles. But when she recently began injecting insulin daily for her newly diagnosed diabetes, the shots became a frustrating nuisance. A jab is a standard way to deliver insulin, antibodies, RNA vaccines, GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, and other large molecules. Compared to small chemicals—say, aspirin—these...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/22/forget-needles-these-squid-like-pills-will-spray-drugs-into-the-gut-instead/
SingularityHub
Forget Needles. These Squid-Like Pills Will Spray Drugs Into the Gut Instead.
It's too early to know how well the method would work in people—but it just might be possible to one day swap out needles for pills.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 23)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AI Can Now Create a Replica of Your Personality James O’Donnell | MIT Technology Review “Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your childhood, your formative memories, and your career to your thoughts on immigration policy. Not...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/23/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-23-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AI Can Now Create a Replica of Your Personality James O’Donnell | MIT Technology Review “Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your childhood, your formative memories, and your career to your thoughts on immigration policy. Not...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/23/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-november-23-2/
SingularityHub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 23)
From AI replicating people's personalities to the new fastest supercomputer, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
A 4.45-Billion-Year-Old Crystal From Mars Reveals the Planet Had Water From the Beginning
Water is ubiquitous on Earth—about 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by the stuff. Water is in the air, on the surface, and inside rocks. Geologic evidence suggests water has been stable on Earth since about 4.3 billion years ago. The history of water on early Mars is less certain. Determining when water first...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/25/a-4-45-billion-year-old-crystal-from-mars-reveals-the-planet-had-water-from-the-beginning/
Water is ubiquitous on Earth—about 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by the stuff. Water is in the air, on the surface, and inside rocks. Geologic evidence suggests water has been stable on Earth since about 4.3 billion years ago. The history of water on early Mars is less certain. Determining when water first...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/25/a-4-45-billion-year-old-crystal-from-mars-reveals-the-planet-had-water-from-the-beginning/
SingularityHub
A 4.45-Billion-Year-Old Crystal From Mars Reveals the Planet Had Water From the Beginning
Determining when water first appeared, where, and for how long, are all burning questions that drive Mars exploration.
Why Are Our Brains So Big? Because They Excel at Damage Control
Compared to other primates, our brains are exceptionally large. Why? A new study comparing neurons from different primates pinpointed several genetic changes unique to humans that buffer our brains’ ability to handle everyday wear and tear. Dubbed “evolved neuroprotection,” the findings paint a picture of how our large brains gained their size, wiring patterns, and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/26/why-are-our-brains-so-big-because-they-excel-at-damage-control/
Compared to other primates, our brains are exceptionally large. Why? A new study comparing neurons from different primates pinpointed several genetic changes unique to humans that buffer our brains’ ability to handle everyday wear and tear. Dubbed “evolved neuroprotection,” the findings paint a picture of how our large brains gained their size, wiring patterns, and...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/26/why-are-our-brains-so-big-because-they-excel-at-damage-control/
SingularityHub
Why Are Our Brains So Big? Because They Excel at Damage Control
A new study comparing neurons from different primates pinpointed several genetic changes unique to humans.
Niantic Is Training a Giant ‘Geospatial’ AI on Pokémon Go Data
If you want to see what’s next in AI, just follow the data. ChatGPT and DALL-E trained on troves of internet data. Generative AI is making inroads in biotechnology and robotics thanks to existing or newly assembled datasets. One way to glance ahead, then, is to ask: What colossal datasets are still ripe for the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/27/niantic-is-training-a-giant-geospatial-ai-on-pokemon-go-data/
If you want to see what’s next in AI, just follow the data. ChatGPT and DALL-E trained on troves of internet data. Generative AI is making inroads in biotechnology and robotics thanks to existing or newly assembled datasets. One way to glance ahead, then, is to ask: What colossal datasets are still ripe for the...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/27/niantic-is-training-a-giant-geospatial-ai-on-pokemon-go-data/
SingularityHub
Niantic Is Training a Giant ‘Geospatial’ AI on Pokémon Go Data
Niantic hopes its new algorithm will become as fluent in the physical world as ChatGPT is in the world of language.
OpenAI’s GPT-4o Makes AI Clones of Real People With Surprising Ease
AI has become uncannily good at aping human conversational capabilities. New research suggests its powers of mimicry go a lot further, making it possible to replicate specific people’s personalities. Humans are complicated. Our beliefs, character traits, and the way we approach decisions are products of both nature and nurture, built up over decades and shaped...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/29/openais-gpt-4o-makes-ai-clones-of-real-people-with-surprising-ease/
AI has become uncannily good at aping human conversational capabilities. New research suggests its powers of mimicry go a lot further, making it possible to replicate specific people’s personalities. Humans are complicated. Our beliefs, character traits, and the way we approach decisions are products of both nature and nurture, built up over decades and shaped...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/29/openais-gpt-4o-makes-ai-clones-of-real-people-with-surprising-ease/
SingularityHub
OpenAI’s GPT-4o Makes AI Clones of Real People With Surprising Ease
In a Stanford study, a two-hour interview was all it took for an AI to accurately predict people’s responses to a barrage of questions.
Most Supposedly ‘Open’ AI Systems Are Actually Closed—and That’s a Problem
“Open” AI models have a lot to give. The practice of sharing source code with the public spurs innovation and democratizes AI as a tool. Or so the story goes. A new analysis in Nature puts a twist on the narrative: Most supposedly “open” AI models, such as Meta’s Llama 3, are hardly that. Rather...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/30/most-supposedly-open-ai-systems-are-actually-closed-and-thats-a-problem/
“Open” AI models have a lot to give. The practice of sharing source code with the public spurs innovation and democratizes AI as a tool. Or so the story goes. A new analysis in Nature puts a twist on the narrative: Most supposedly “open” AI models, such as Meta’s Llama 3, are hardly that. Rather...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/11/30/most-supposedly-open-ai-systems-are-actually-closed-and-thats-a-problem/
SingularityHub
Most Supposedly ‘Open’ AI Systems Are Actually Closed—and That’s a Problem
“Open” AI models have a lot to give. But a new analysis puts a twist on the narrative: Most “open” AI models, such as Meta’s Llama 3, are hardly that.
This Tiny House Is Made From the Recycled Heart of a Wind Turbine
If you’ve tried to rent or buy a home in the last few years, you may have noticed there’s a severe housing shortage in the US and around the world. Millions of people need homes, and there aren’t nearly enough of them to go around. Plenty of creative, low-cost solutions have been proposed, from inflatable...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/02/this-tiny-house-is-made-from-the-recycled-heart-of-a-wind-turbine/
If you’ve tried to rent or buy a home in the last few years, you may have noticed there’s a severe housing shortage in the US and around the world. Millions of people need homes, and there aren’t nearly enough of them to go around. Plenty of creative, low-cost solutions have been proposed, from inflatable...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/02/this-tiny-house-is-made-from-the-recycled-heart-of-a-wind-turbine/
SingularityHub
This Tiny House Is Made From the Recycled Heart of a Wind Turbine
With the first generation of turbines reaching the end of their useful life, there will be thousands of nacelles in search of a new purpose.
Astronomers Have Pinpointed the Origin of Mysterious Repeating Radio Bursts From Space
Slowly repeating bursts of intense radio waves from space have puzzled astronomers since they were discovered in 2022. In new research, my colleagues and I have for the first time tracked one of these pulsating signals back to its source: a common kind of lightweight star called a red dwarf, likely in a binary orbit...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/03/astronomers-have-pinpointed-the-origin-of-mysterious-repeating-radio-bursts-from-space/
Slowly repeating bursts of intense radio waves from space have puzzled astronomers since they were discovered in 2022. In new research, my colleagues and I have for the first time tracked one of these pulsating signals back to its source: a common kind of lightweight star called a red dwarf, likely in a binary orbit...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/03/astronomers-have-pinpointed-the-origin-of-mysterious-repeating-radio-bursts-from-space/
SingularityHub
Astronomers Have Pinpointed the Origin of Mysterious Repeating Radio Bursts From Space
Slowly repeating bursts of intense radio waves from space have puzzled astronomers since they were discovered in 2022.
Automated Cyborg Cockroach Factory Could Churn Out a Bug a Minute for Search and Rescue
Envisioning armies of electronically controllable insects is probably nightmare fuel for most people. But scientists think they could help rescue workers scour challenging and hazardous terrain. An automated cyborg cockroach factory could help bring the idea to life. The merger of living creatures with machines is a staple of science fiction, but it’s also a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/05/automated-cyborg-cockroach-factory-could-churn-out-a-bug-a-minute-for-search-and-rescue/
Envisioning armies of electronically controllable insects is probably nightmare fuel for most people. But scientists think they could help rescue workers scour challenging and hazardous terrain. An automated cyborg cockroach factory could help bring the idea to life. The merger of living creatures with machines is a staple of science fiction, but it’s also a...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/05/automated-cyborg-cockroach-factory-could-churn-out-a-bug-a-minute-for-search-and-rescue/
SingularityHub
Automated Cyborg Cockroach Factory Could Churn Out a Bug a Minute for Search and Rescue
The merger of living creatures with machines is a staple of science fiction, but it’s also a serious line of research for academics.
Google DeepMind’s New AI Weatherman Tops World’s Most Reliable System
This was another year of rollercoaster weather. Heat domes broiled the US southwest. California experienced a “second summer” in October, with multiple cities breaking heat records. Hurricane Helene—and just a few weeks later, Hurricane Milton—pummeled the Gulf Coast, unleashing torrential rainfall and severe flooding. What shocked even seasoned meteorologists was how fast the hurricanes intensified,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/06/google-deepminds-new-ai-weatherman-tops-worlds-most-reliable-system/
This was another year of rollercoaster weather. Heat domes broiled the US southwest. California experienced a “second summer” in October, with multiple cities breaking heat records. Hurricane Helene—and just a few weeks later, Hurricane Milton—pummeled the Gulf Coast, unleashing torrential rainfall and severe flooding. What shocked even seasoned meteorologists was how fast the hurricanes intensified,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/06/google-deepminds-new-ai-weatherman-tops-worlds-most-reliable-system/
SingularityHub
Google DeepMind’s New AI Weatherman Tops World’s Most Reliable System
When bracing for extreme weather, every second counts. But planning measures rely on accurate predictions. Here’s where Google DeepMind's AI comes in.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through December 7)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The GPT Era Is Already Ending Matteo Wong | The Atlantic “[OpenAI] has been unusually direct that the o1 series is the future: Chen, who has since been promoted to senior vice president of research, told me that OpenAI is now focused on this ‘new paradigm,’ and Altman later wrote that the company...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/07/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-december-7-2/
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The GPT Era Is Already Ending Matteo Wong | The Atlantic “[OpenAI] has been unusually direct that the o1 series is the future: Chen, who has since been promoted to senior vice president of research, told me that OpenAI is now focused on this ‘new paradigm,’ and Altman later wrote that the company...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/07/this-weeks-awesome-tech-stories-from-around-the-web-through-december-7-2/
SingularityHub
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through December 7)
From the end of an era in AI to temporary tattoos that read brain waves, check out this week's awesome tech stories from around the web.
Thousands of Undiscovered Genes May Be Hidden in DNA ‘Dark Matter’
Thousands of new genes are hidden inside the “dark matter” of our genome. Previously thought to be noise left over from evolution, a new study found that some of these tiny DNA snippets can make miniproteins—potentially opening a new universe of treatments, from vaccines to immunotherapies for deadly brain cancers. The preprint, not yet peer-reviewed,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/09/thousands-of-new-genes-may-be-hidden-in-dna-dark-matter/
Thousands of new genes are hidden inside the “dark matter” of our genome. Previously thought to be noise left over from evolution, a new study found that some of these tiny DNA snippets can make miniproteins—potentially opening a new universe of treatments, from vaccines to immunotherapies for deadly brain cancers. The preprint, not yet peer-reviewed,...
https://singularityhub.com/2024/12/09/thousands-of-new-genes-may-be-hidden-in-dna-dark-matter/
SingularityHub
Thousands of Undiscovered Genes May Be Hidden in DNA ‘Dark Matter’
Combining several existing datasets, scientists zeroed in on thousands of potential new genes that make roughly 3,000 miniproteins.