Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has a personal challenge for 2016. The challenge is to build a simple AI to run his home and help him with his work. You can think of it kind of like Jarvis in Iron Man. Start by exploring what technology is already out there. start teaching it to understand …
An Indian Army requirement for approximately 600 sets of mini-UAVs is attracting interest from various manufacturers, who must partner with Indian companies to comply with the government’s “Make in India” industrial strategy. The Directorate General of Infantry has issued a request for information (RFI) that will be followed by a request for proposals by late …
Despite ubiquitous discussions of robots’ potential impact, there is almost no systematic empirical evidence on their economic effects. Researchers analyzed for the first time the economic impact of industrial robots, using new data on a panel of industries in 17 countries from 1993-2007. We find that industrial robots increased both labor productivity and value added. …
A platoon of two trucks is like a short train driving on the road, with the trucks driving very closely behind each other. The distance between the two trucks can really be extremely small – creating a desirable form of tailgating. The distance can be as low as 0.3 seconds, which at 80 km/h is …
Wait but Why summarizes some of the timelines and definitions for artificial super-intelligence. The general consensus among AI researchers is that Artificial superintelligence could arrive around 2060. Nick Bostrom defines superintelligence as “an intellect that is much smarter than the best human brains in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom and social skills”. …
The Guardian UK has an article about cities can outgrow the automobile. There are technologies and policies which can reduce the use and need for automobiles. These would need to be combined with urban design and planning to reduce the usage of automobiles. The USA has about 809 cars per 1000 people. There are some …
An IEEE symposium panel concluded that “there is no chance that it (Moore’s law) will continue until 2035”. Moore’s Law is not dead, but it has clearly reached old age, and no fundamental technology has emerged to replace it. Whatever comes next is likely to challenge old assumptions both for technologists and society at large. …
Future proofing against mass unemployment from robotics
Quantum algorithms – what we can do and what could we do Mathematical Challenges in Quantum Algorithms (51 pages) There are many things we can do with our quantum computers. For example: Factorise large integers and hence break RSA; Efficiently simulate quantum-mechanical systems; Solve certain search and optimisation problems faster than possible classically; . . …
New Scientist reports that Matthias Troyer of ETH Zurich in Switzerland has tested a D-Wave Two computer against a conventional, “classical” machine running an optimised algorithm – and they have found no evidence of superior performance in the D-Wave machine. DWave, Google and Lockheed remain optimistic of the usefulness of the machine and of future …
The scientific community accepts two models for building qubits and keeping them in quantum states—gate and adiabatic. D-Wave’s is adiabatic, and so is the 20-qubit model Christopher Monroe, the Bice Zorn Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland and fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute, has in his lab. Adiabatic quantum computers apply quantum …