Artificial Intelligence
Rapid advancements in AI today have the potential to change everything about everything. But will they? We’re exploring what will change, how, and whether we’re building digital gods or stochastic parrots.
Featured
Has AI made “learn to code” obsolete?
Freethink talks to the creator of the world’s most popular AI coding assistant to find out whether learning to code is still worthwhile.
AI is already in the classroom. It’s time colleges caught up.
Rather than banning AI, schools should adapt by designing assignments that promote responsible use and keep the focus on learning.
Google AI exec: “The mistake would be thinking this is hype.”
Bestselling author and Google Labs’ Editorial Director Steven Johnson talks about the future of AI at Freethink’s Great Progression event.
A tool, a rival, or a collaborator?
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Recycling robot keeps waste out of landfills
AMP Robotics has developed a recycling robot that uses AI to sort recyclables twice as quickly as humans can.
Physicists are starting to harness the power of deepfakes
Generative adversarial networks are the scary AI producing deepfakes. But they have other uses too, and physicists are starting to harness their power.
Just how are deepfakes made, anyway?
Capable of creating incredibly realistic false data — most infamously of famous people — deepfakes are a powerful tool.
New optical sensor imitates the human eye
Researchers have created an optical sensor, designed to mimic the human eye. The team says this is a major breakthrough in neuromorphic computing
NASA scientists want to send this robot dog to Mars
A modified version of Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot could be the ideal Mars rover for exploring caves and other underground structures.
These chatbots provide genetic counseling services
Genetic counseling services are in high demand. Now, chatbots are providing some of those services, helping patients navigate DNA testing.
How to protect our future (when AI gets too smart)
The future of AI looks promising, but it doesn’t come without risks. How can we keep the technology in check, before it outsmarts us?
Deep learning vs. machine learning: Explained
Deep learning vs. machine learning AI: what’s the difference?
An AI co-pilots a military jet for the first time
On December 16, 2020, the Air Force flew an AI co-pilot on a U-2 spy plane. This is the first time that the Air Force completed a military flight with AI.
Robot dogs are being deployed at a US military base
Four robot dogs are heading to a Florida Air Force base to serve as security patrol, marking the U.S. military’s first full-time deployment of a robot dog.
Heads up display lets firefighters see through smoke
Qwake Technologies’ C-Thru is a heads up display that combines AI, augmented reality, and thermal imaging to help firefighters battle blazes.
AI navigation system teaches itself to steer internet balloons
Loon is using a new AI navigation system trained via reinforcement learning to control its fleet of internet-beaming balloons in Kenya.
MIT built an AI to design robots
MIT has developed an AI capable of robot design — all you need to do is tell RoboGrammar the bot’s goal and the available body parts.
Ai discovers billions of new trees from space
Researchers are using artificial intelligence and a supercomputer to count all the trees on the planet, via imaging from space.
DeepMind AI cracks the code of protein structures
A protein’s structure is crucial to its function. Predicting how a protein will fold was a challenge decades in the making — and answered by DeepMind.
At-home breast cancer screening, powered by AI
An award-winning at-home breast cancer screening device, called the Blue Box, could one day replace uncomfortable mammograms.
Google’s Tree Canopy Lab is helping LA cool down
Google’s new Tree Canopy Lab uses AI and aerial photography to combat the urban heat island effect by showing a city exactly where it could use more trees.
Stopping nightmare disorder with a prescription-only watch
A prescription-only watch that treats nightmare disorder is the latest in a growing subset of health technologies called prescription digital therapeutics.
Human battles AI fighter jet in first man vs. machine test flight
Daniel Robinson, a veteran F-22 pilot, flew a real aircraft and battled an AI virtual fighter in a world’s first.
Cough-analyzing AI detects asymptomatic COVID-19 infections
MIT has developed an AI that can detect asymptomatic COVID-19 infections from the sound of a person’s forced-cough with incredible accuracy.
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