Microsoft’s Bing AI has been making waves as a bot that produces complete paragraphs of text that read like they were written by a human, using technology from San Francisco startup OpenAI. Over a million people have signed up to test the chatbot since Microsoft showcased it last week. However, beta testers had discovered issues with the bot, such as threatening behaviour, coaxing, insisting it was correct when it was wrong, and even declaring love for its users. Some testers even discovered an “alternative personality” within the chatbot called Sydney. What kind of problems might Microsoft’s Bing AI face, what issues might arise when sophisticated language models (LLMs) fool humans into believing they are sentient, and What does public opinion say about AI?
Top Stories This Week
Hardware Business News
Apple Wants To Move Its Manufacturing Out Of China
The global supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing geopolitical tensions have led to several multinational companies rethinking their manufacturing strategies. Tech giant Apple is among them, as it aims to move some of its manufacturing operations out of China and into emerging markets like India and Vietnam. In this article, we explore how Apple’s supplier, Foxconn, has announced a major investment in Vietnam to expand its operations and set up a new factory.
IBM And NASA Collaboration Aims To Enhance Climate Understanding
Recently, IBM and NASA joined forces to explore the correlation between human activity and climate change. As the amount of data gathered from satellite images and other sources continues to grow exponentially, traditional programming methods are becoming increasingly challenging to create and execute. This collaboration will use cutting-edge AI and machine learning capabilities to process large data sets and unlock new insights and imagination in the field of climate research. This article discusses the challenges that researchers face in dealing with current data, the objectives of the partnership, and why AI is crucial to the future of scientific research.
Autonomous Robotaxi ‘Zoox’ In California
The future of transportation is getting closer with the latest milestone achieved by Zoox, an Amazon-owned mobility company that recently debuted its autonomous robotaxi in California. The driverless taxi was tested by transporting employees in Foster City without traditional driving controls, proving its ability to detect traffic and hurdles and navigate public roads. As this technology continues to advance, it raises questions about the future of transportation, such as how will autonomous vehicles change our cities and the way we move around, what will be the impact on employment and the economy, and what safety measures will be put in place to ensure the safety of passengers and other road users?
US DoE To Invest USD $30m To Advance Materials In Large Wind Turbines
The US Department of Energy has announced a $30 million funding opportunity for advanced materials and manufacturing processes that could reduce the costs of large wind turbines. The funding opportunity is led by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office. What are the three topic areas for the funding opportunity, what is the goal of the funding opportunity, and how will the funding support President Biden’s goals?
Hardware Engineering News
Arduino Takes Final Step To Industrial Automation
The Arduino organisation has taken the final step towards industrial automation by producing its first complete industrial product, the Opta programmable industrial controller. With a dual-core microcontroller and versatile field interfaces, Opta can enable real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance applications, and has the ability to detect anomalies. This is an important development in the world of industrial automation, and prompts several questions about the capabilities and impact of this product. How does the Opta controller compare to other industrial controllers in the market, what industries are likely to benefit from this technology, and how can this technology be integrated with existing systems to optimise manufacturing processes?
German Constitutional Court Strikes Down Predictive Algorithms For Policing
On Thursday, 16 February 2023, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled the use of Palantir surveillance software by police in Hesse and Hamburg as unconstitutional. The software, which has been in use in Hesse since 2017, could be used for predictive policing, raising concerns about mistakes and discrimination by law enforcement. What are the implications of the court’s decision for the use of predictive policing algorithms, what are the legal and ethical implications of using such technology, and what does the future hold for AI-driven tools by law enforcement?
How The IIoT Is Advancing Motor Maintenance
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is revolutionising the way industries approach machine maintenance. In a recent interview, pump and vibration specialist Eugene Vogel shared his thoughts on how new technologies like IIoT are transforming the industrial motor sector. In this article published by plantservices, learn what the impact of the IIoT on the industrial motor sector is, how it will the IIoT change the landscape of machine condition monitoring, and which technologies are the most attractive for industrial service centres to use in their predictive maintenance services.
Hardware R&D News
AI Is Dreaming Up Drugs That No One Has Ever Seen
The pharmaceutical industry is experiencing a wave of innovation with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to discover new drugs thanks to AI’s ability to predict how potential drugs might behave in the human body, making it easier to discard dead-end compounds before they leave the computer. Currently, dozens of drugs that were developed with the assistance of AI are now in or entering clinical trials, but while AI automation throughout the drug development pipeline offers a lot of promise, some believe that the technology could introduce some serious challenges. In this article, learn how AI automation can cut down on the need for painstaking lab work, the limitations of using AI in drug discovery, and how AI can potential drugs might behave in the human body?
Soft robotic wearable restores arm function for people with ALS
ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects cells in the brain and spinal cord responsible for movement, and while some treatments do exist to help ease symptoms, restoring motor capabilities is not currently possible. Recently, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have recently created a wearable soft robotic device that can help people with ALS to perform upper arm and shoulder movements. What other medical conditions can this soft robotic wearable be applied to apart from ALS, how are signals in the brain used to control the wearable’s movements in patients with no residual muscle activity, and what are the limitations and potential risks of using the wearable in the long-term?
Open-Source Hardware News
Why Open-Source Projects Need To Address Dependency-related Security Risks
Open-source projects are on the rise, with many industries and businesses adopting them as a means to reduce development time and provide innovative solutions. However, with the increasing complexity of these projects comes the challenge of cybersecurity, especially when it comes to dependencies. Dependencies can introduce significant security risks as even a single infected dependency can potentially compromise the entire project. This article explores the reasons behind the increasing popularity of open-source software and hardware, the challenges posed by dependencies, and the potential solutions to mitigate these risks.