Zoom CEO wants to introduce AI clones to meetings
Nilay Patel | The Verge
“Like other companies, Zoom is investing heavily in AI. [CEO Eric Yuan’s] The vision for what AI can achieve is pretty bold. Eric wants to make sure you never have to join a Zoom meeting yourself. He thinks one of the big benefits of AI in the workplace is that we will all be able to create what he calls a “digital twin” – essentially a deepfake avatar of yourself that can join Zoom meetings for you and make decisions for you while you spend your time with more important things, like your family.
Groundbreaking Study Uses AI to Predict Potential New Antibiotics
Eric Berger | The Guardian
“The report, published Wednesday in the journal Cell, details the findings of scientists who used algorithms to mine 'the entirety of Earth's microbial diversity, or a vast representation of it,' and discover roughly one million new molecules encoded or hidden in microbial dark matter,” said study author Cesar de la Fuente, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
OpenAI officials warn of 'reckless' race for dominance
Kevin Roose | The New York Times
“Members say OpenAI, which began as a non-profit research lab and gained public attention in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, is prioritizing profits and growth in its quest to build artificial general intelligence (AGI), an industry term for computer programs that can do anything humans can do.”
Digital Media
The near future of deepfakes just got clearer
Nilesh Christopher | The Atlantic
“Throughout this election cycle, [this week] For the win [Prime Minister Narendra] Six weeks into the polls and more than 640 million votes later, Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is under attack from synthetic media. … But despite fears that AI generation and deepfakes are a looming “atomic bomb” that will distort reality and shift voter preferences, India is harboring a different, stranger future.
Unmanned air taxis? Joby explores possibilities with new acquisition
Andrew J. Hawkins | The Verge
“While the launch of Joby's electric air taxi is still a few years away, the company wants to be well-positioned to take advantage of autonomous flight technology once it is commercially available. Founded in 2016, Xwing has conducted 250 autonomous test flights and 500 automated landings, and in April 2023, Joby says it is the first company to receive official project designation from the Federal Aviation Administration for certification of large unmanned aerial systems.”
The age of drone police has arrived
Dhruv Mehrotra and Jesse Marx | Wired
“A Wired investigation based on more than 22 million flight coordinates uncovers the complex truth about America's first full-scale police drone program and shows why your city could be the next target. … As police look to expand their use of unmanned aerial vehicles, [Chula Vista Police Department]. “
Starship launch: Fourth test successful, both stages land in ocean
Matthew Sparks | New Scientist
“SpaceX's Starship, the largest rocket ever made, successfully completed its fourth test flight. The first and second stages performed their missions as planned, splashing down in separate oceans. … This fourth test flight focused on returning Starship from orbit after reaching space for the first time in the previous test.”
Google's AI overview misunderstands why people use Google
Kyle Orlando | Ars Technica
“Google's value has always been in pointing users to where it thinks they might find the right answers to those questions. But it's up to you, the user, to decide which sources are the most reliable and relevant to what you need at that moment. … If an AI is just summarizing the top search results from around the web, it can only ever be as smart as the search engine itself, or not as smart. Without a human element to help make sense of Google's web map, any Google-powered 'AI summary' is bound to fail in some surprising way.”
Most life on Earth is dormant after pulling the “emergency brake”
Dan Samorodnitsky | Quanta
“Dormancy and stillness is actually normal for the majority of life on Earth. By one estimate, 60% of microbial cells are in a state of hibernation at any one time. Even in organisms that do not enter full-body hibernation, such as most mammals, a small population of cells rests, waiting for the optimal time to become active.”
Image credit: Paris Bilal / Unsplash
