Apr 16, 2021
Andy and Dave discuss the latest in AI news, including the
resignation of Samy Bengio from Google Brain, which fired ethicists
Gebru in December and Mitchell in February. The Joint AI Center
releases its request for proposals on Data Readiness for AI
Development (DRAID). DARPA prepares for the quantum age with a
program for Quantum Computer Benchmarking. And a separate DARPA
program seeks to enable fully homomorphic encryption with its Data
Protection in Virtual Environments (DPRIVE) program. A poll from
Hyland on digital distrust shows that Americans think that over the
next decade, AI has the most potential to cause harm. Amazon
introduces the next level of “biometric consent” required for its
delivery drivers, which includes an always-on camera observing the
driver and gathering other data; drivers will lose their jobs if
they do not consent to the monitoring. And Josh Bongard of the
University of Vermont and Michael Levin of Tufts University along
with other researchers from Wyss and Harvard join together to form
the Institute for Computationally Designed Organisms (ICDO), which
will focus on “AI-driven designs of new life forms.” In research,
Bongard publishes the latest iteration of its mobile living
machines, with Xenobots II, using frog cells to create life forms
capable of motion, memory, and manipulation of the world around
them. Researchers from the universities of Copenhagen, York, and
Shanghai use neural cellular automata to grow 3D objects and
functional machines within the Minecraft world. And OpenAI Robotics
demonstrates the ability for a robotic arm to solve manipulation
tasks, including tasks with previously unseen goals and objects,
with asymmetric self-play. And the Book / Fun Site of the Week
comes from the Special Interest Group on Harry Q. Bovik (SIGBOVIK),
which presents “April Fools” research, descriptions of truly
absurd, but fascinating, research.
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