Google’s AI enlisted to help crack the secret of nuclear fusion
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Trying to create an artificial Sun on Earth is no mean feat, and scientists have turned to Artificial Intelligence to help them. With the click of a mouse and a loud bang researchers blast jets of super hot, ionized gas called plasma into one...
World first as Google DeepMind’s AI crushes the world’s top Starcraft players
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Starcraft is a game of strategy, and as a result DeepMind’s AI had to learn an entirely new type of game play in order to thrash its opponents. AI agents developed by Google’s DeepMind subsidiary have finally beaten human pros at Starcraft II — a first...
Google creates a neural network that picks out individual voices in video
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not only does this technology have benefits for video search, but it also has surveillance and privacy implications. Recently I talked about a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancement from Hitachi that let’s its AI’s pick out and follow individuals in a crowd – something that...
Google X spins off its molten salt grid scale storage business
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Renewable energy sources only generate electricity when the sun shines or the wind blows, so companies have to find a way to store it so it can be used in times of scarcity. One of the biggest problems with renewable energy is that when...
New “revolutionary” Google AI training method trains AI’s at the edge and protects user privacy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One of the biggest problems with training AI’s is the shortage of data, and the issue of privacy, Federated AI Learning overcomes this problem by training AI’s on the devices and smartphones at the network’s edge. When big tech firms use Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
Inside Google’s plan to make sure AI is safe
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI becomes more deeply embedded into our every day lives it is imperative that there are safeguards in place to make sure it’s safe. Making sure Artificial Intelligence (AI) does what we want and behaves in predictable ways will be crucial as the...
AI is now better at diagnosing eye diseases than human experts
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but they’re also a window to our health. Recently we’ve seen breakthroughs where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is better at diagnosing dementia, fatal heart conditions, inherited genetic diseases, lung diseases, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, and even the...
This creative AI paints like the old masters
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We’re always told ai cannot be imaginative or creative, but human creativity can be cloned. Recently art made by Artificial Intelligence (AI) software has become a field in its own right and it’s become quite a niche market in certain circles. As a result...
DeepMind’s AI now has human like 3D vision
WHY THIS MATERS IN BRIEF As we come to rely on robots and automated systems more in our daily lives their ability to accurately perceive our world is crucial. If I showed you a single picture of a room it’s likely you’d be able to tell me about it...
Artificial General Intelligence is here, DeepMind unveils its Impala AGI
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The development of an AGI that can master tens, hundreds, and eventually thousands or millions of subjects is the “holy grail” of AI, and it will change every corner of society. One of the most significant Artificial Intelligence (AI) milestones in history was quietly...
Tech giants prepare for the next giant leap in quantum computing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the race to build quantum computers heats up it could be the company who has the most accurate quantum computer, not the one who has the largest, that wins the game. The hype that has been building around quantum computing, a potentially revolutionary technology...
US military and DARPA team up to develop tech to uncover fake news
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The advent of powerful AI tools, adaptable neural networks and the democratisation of hi definition rendering have taken fake news to a new level and this program aims to unmask the fakes. We’ve all seen that video where Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered algorithms make it seem like Barack...
Futurist in the press: Tech giants and Trust in the dock, Associated Press
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Large platform dominate today’s internet landscape and in this article AP asks whether or not they are good stewards of our information, and, more importantly, whether they can be trusted with it. The Associated Press needs no introduction, today they are news organisation behind...
The US military is funding an AI that’s learning to write its own code
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One day non-programmers will be able to instruct AI’s to create software on their behalf, this is one step in realising that goal and it has wide ranging ramifications for al of us, and AI development. If you’re tired of writing your own boring...
Google’s lifelike sounding AI assistant, Duplex, blows past uncanny valley
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF I’ve been saying this for a long time, very soon you won’t know whether the content you’re consuming was generated by a human or a machine, and Google’s latest product, Duplex, moves us all one step closer to that time. At Google’s I/O developer...
Your next smartphone could have sonar
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF With biometrics becoming an increasingly important way of authenticating people some of todays technologies still leave much to be desired, as a result teams around the world are continually looking to push the boundaries. VoiceGesture is an app that could make phones far more...
Google’s Lunar XPrize will continue, without Google
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Sometimes the prize isn’t the prize, it’s just a bonus, and in this case most of the teams who were involved in the original Google Lunar XPrize still have their sights set on a Moon landing in 2019. The Google Lunar XPRIZE, a $30...
World first as Waymo’s self-driving taxi service opens to the public
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many people think the future takes a long time to arrive, when in matter of fact it’s arriving faster than it ever has in the past, and now that Waymo’s service is live others will quickly follow. Self-driving taxis, the type that stay on...
Google are testing a 72 Qubit quantum computing chip
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum computing companies are in a race to reach a major performance milestone called Quantum Supremacy, and Google looks like they might beat the rest of the world to the post. A few months after Intel revealed their first 17 Qubit quantum chip, IBM...
Google’s AI can rate photos on aesthetic appeal
WHY THIS MATTER IN BRIEF Google’s AI is moving from just being able to identify and categorise images to being able to identify them according to their aesthetics, and that’s big. Today’s slew of photo apps can help you find objects in your pictures but they don’t tell you...
