Monthly Archives: March 2024

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Cognition Emerges From Stealth to Launch AI Software Engineer Devin Shubham Sharma | VentureBeat The human user simply types a natural language prompt into Devins chatbot style interface, and the AI software engineer takes it from there, developing a detailed, step-by-step plan to tackle the problem. It then begins the project using its developer tools, just like how a human would use them, writing its own code, fixing issues, testing and reporting on its progress in real-time, allowing the user to keep an eye on everything as it works.

Covariant Announces a Universal AI Platform for Robots Evan Ackerman | IEEE Spectrum [On Monday, Covariant announced] RFM-1, which the company describes as a robotics foundation model that gives robots the human-like ability to reason. Thats from the press release, and while I wouldnt necessarily read too much into human-like or reason, what Covariant has going on here is pretty cool. Our existing system is already good enough to do very fast, very variable pick and place, says Covariant co-founder Pieter Abbeel. But were now taking it quite a bit further. Any task, any embodimentthats the long-term vision. Robotics foundation models powering billions of robots across the world.'

Cerebras Unveils Its Next Waferscale AI Chip Samuel K. Moore | IEEE Spectrum Cerebras says its next generation of waferscale AI chips can do double the performance of the previous generation while consuming the same amount of power. The Wafer Scale Engine 3 (WSE-3) contains 4 trillion transistors, a more than 50 percent increase over the previous generation thanks to the use of newer chipmaking technology. The company says it will use the WSE-3 in a new generation of AI computers, which are now being installed in a datacenter in Dallas to form a supercomputer capable of 8 exaflops (8 billion billion floating point operations per second).

SpaceX Celebrates Major Progress on the Third Flight of Starship Stephen Clarke | Ars Technica SpaceXs new-generation Starship rocket, the most powerful and largest launcher ever built, flew halfway around the world following liftoff from South Texas on Thursday, accomplishing a key demonstration of its ability to carry heavyweight payloads into low-Earth orbit. The successful launch builds on two Starship test flights last year that achieved some, but not all, of their objectives and appears to put the privately funded rocket program on course to begin launching satellites, allowing SpaceX to ramp up the already-blistering pace of Starlink deployments.

This Self-Driving Startup Is Using Generative AI to Predict Traffic James ODonnell | MIT Technology Review The new system, called Copilot4D, was trained on troves of data from lidar sensors, which use light to sense how far away objects are. If you prompt the model with a situation, like a driver recklessly merging onto a highway at high speed, it predicts how the surrounding vehicles will move, then generates a lidar representation of 5 to 10 seconds into the future (showing a pileup, perhaps).

Electric Cars Are Still Not Good Enough Andrew Moseman | The Atlantic The next phase, when electric cars leap from early adoption to mass adoption, depends on the people [David] Rapson calls the pragmatists: Americans who will buy whichever car they deem best and who are waiting for their worries about price, range, and charging to be allayed before they go electric. The current slate of EVs isnt winning them over.

Mining Helium-3 on the Moon Has Been Talked About ForeverNow a Company Will Try Eric Berger | Ars Technica Two of Blue Origins earliest employees, former President Rob Meyerson and Chief Architect Gary Lai, have started a company that seeks to extract helium-3 from the lunar surface, return it to Earth, and sell it for applications here. The present lunar rush is rather like a California gold rush without the gold. By harvesting helium-3, which is rare and limited in supply on Earth, Interlune could help change that calculus by deriving value from resources on the moon. But many questions about the approach remain.

What Happens When ChatGPT Tries to Solve 50,000 Trolley Problems? Fintan Burke | Ars Technica Autonomous driving startups are now experimenting with AI chatbot assistants, including one self-driving system that will use one toexplain its driving decisions. Beyond announcing red lights and turn signals, the large language models (LLMs) powering these chatbots may ultimately need to make moral decisions, like prioritizing passengers or pedestrians safety. But is the tech ready? Kazuhiro Takemoto, a researcher at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan, wanted to check if chatbots could make the same moral decisions when driving as humans.

States Are Lining Up to Outlaw Lab-Grown Meat Matt Reynolds | Wired As well as the Florida bill, there is also proposed legislation to ban cultivated meat in Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, and Tennessee. If all of those bills passan admittedly unlikely prospectthen some 46 million Americans will be cut off from accessing a form of meat that many hope will be significantly kinder to the planet and animals.

Physicists Finally Find a Problem Only Quantum Computers Can Do Lakshmi Chandrasekaran | Quanta Quantum computers are poised to become computational superpowers, but researchers have long sought a viable problem that confers a quantum advantagesomething only a quantum computer can solve. Only then, they argue, will the technology finally be seen as essential. Theyve been looking for decades. Now, a team of physicists including [John] Preskill may have found the best candidate yet for quantum advantage.

Image Credit: SpaceX

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This Week's Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through March 16) - Singularity Hub

Singularity 6's cosy MMO Palia has reached over 3 million players in six months ahead of its launch on Steam on March 25.

The studio's debut title a fantasy mix of life simulation and MMORPG launched last August with a PC open beta via its own website and launcher, followed by a release on the Epic Games Store in October. The game then launched on Nintendo Switch in December.

As for how Palia achieved this feat, Singularity 6 director of business strategy Yu Sian Tan tells GamesIndustry.biz it was a combination of captivating players and the game's release on Nintendo Switch.

"We believe that we struck a chord with players when we wanted to expand the community sim experience by making it more social, creating an environment that encourages players to be kind to one another and having an overarching narrative that players can dive into," she says, adding that Nintendo's involvement and supporting in development and marketing aided an increase in player numbers.

"[Their support] is invaluable to us as a new game studio," Tan adds. "After our launch on the Nintendo Switch, our partnership with Nintendo has only grown stronger."

Tan says Palia's launch on Nintendo provided a "big boost" to the title compared to the PC open beta due to the "flexibility" of the portable console.

"It also meant we were launching on a new platform and now supported cross-platform play so things definitely got a lot more interesting for the team," she says.

Despite this boost in player numbers, Tan notes that maintaining player engagement is one of the biggest challenges of overseeing the success of a free-to-play MMO.

"The free-to-play approach can be challenging because it involves a bit of a balancing act between offering engaging gameplay for free, but also introducing effective monetisation strategies that do not alienate players or cause unnecessary pressure that would run antithetical to the cosy community sim gameplay we are trying to encourage in Palia," she explains.

Tan highlights that the main obstacle with free-to-play is the ability to engage players over a long period of time when they haven't paid an upfront cost for the game, as well as keeping the game fresh as a live service product.

"I'd love to be able to say it's easy to predict what our players love to play and how they would engage with our content, but every time we release something new to our players, we constantly learn and evolve our understanding of our playerbase," she says.

"Every time we release something new to our players, we constantly learn and evolve our understanding of our playerbase"

"It's a mix of offering up content with our own unique spin on it that appeals to the player archetypes we expect to be attracted to Palia, but also throwing in new experiences to help players discover something that they might not have expected to like."

In terms of the live service aspect of the game, Tan describes adapting the title to this model as a "learning curve" for the studio, and that its live operations team has been instrumental in understanding concerns raised by its development team and ensuring their needs are met.

"We have definitely been working on improving our platform testing over time to understand what we need to test and where to test it to ensure we minimise our risk and maximise confidence," she notes.

"We have also been working on unifying the gameplay experience between platforms where it makes sense, without sacrificing the player experience. This has been a conscious effort for us as there are trade-offs we have to make, but this is key to ensure we can sustainably release content on multiple platforms in the future."

Among the lessons learned during development, Tan highlights that the game starting as an open beta on PC enabled the studio to comfortably launch the game on Switch, and helped lay the groundwork to bring the game to a bigger audience.

"There have been so many lessons we have learned along the way from building our own launcher/patcher on PC from scratch [to creating] robust monitoring systems and a scalable infrastructure that could handle the ebbs and flows in our playerbase," she says.

As for advice she has for developers working on similar free-to-play and live service products, Tan says it all comes down to the strength of the development team itself.

"The most important factor is to have a strong development team who trusts each other to band together and support each other throughout the ups and downs," she highlights. "Accept that you cannot plan for everything, so it's important to have established processes for how you deal with issues when they come up and how you take the lessons and apply them going forward."

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Palia reaches over 3m players in six months thanks to "invaluable" Switch partnership - GamesIndustry.biz

The emergence of technology opens up boundless opportunities for artistic innovation.

In an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm, imagine the thrilling combination of AI and art! In a fusion of artistry and innovation, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) is delighted to unveil the grand finale of ARTS TECH Exhibition 2.0, "Beyond the Singularity" the first premier AI-themed exhibition in Hong Kong that pushes the boundaries of human expression through the angle of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Drawing inspiration from the notion of "singularity," which envisions a future where AI surpasses human cognitive abilities, "Beyond the Singularity" establishes a new benchmark in the utilization of AI technology. Collaborating with artists from disciplines ranging from ink art, western painting, photography, music, lyric writing, performance, and arts criticism, the exhibition showcases a varietyof collaboratively crafted art pieces using AI tools, pushing artistic expression beyond conventional boundaries and redefining traditional norms.

By pushing the boundaries of artistic exploration, Beyond the Singularity encourages artists to venture into the intersections of arts and technology, fostering vibrant interactions and introducing fresh and captivating artistic experiences to the audience. Ms Winsome Chow, Chief Executive of HKADC said.

From 16 March to 7 April 2024, Beyond the Singularity will offer an array of public programs and educational activities that delve into the intricacies of AI tools and their potential implications for humanity including workshops, artist discussions, and guided tours to provide engaging experiences for attendees.

Get ready to be captivated by Beyond the Singularity and embark on the journey that challenges your perception of art, technology and the very essence of human existence.

Event Highlights :

Challenging AI: The paintings of Chui Pui Lee

Chui Pui Lee is an expert on Fine Arts and Chinese Calligraphy. In this exhibition, he presents a captivating exploration of the unique confrontation between the artist and artificial intelligence, delving into how AI can strive to capture and potentially surpass the celebrated styles and techniques of historical ink art figures.

Between Reality and AI by So Hing-keung

Through the integration of AI, photographs are transformed into paintings, evoking the artistic styles of da Vinci, Botticelli, and Caravaggio, offering a unique portrayal of Hong Kong's essence.

My Drawing Teacher by Wong Chun-hei

The exhibition employs AI technology to analyze the artist's personal diary, extracting insights that guide the creation of a compelling series of paintings.

"Frog AI Topia 2024 by Frog King"

It seamlessly combines AI-generated art with a mixed-media approach, acknowledging AI as a valued collaborator that contributes to the artistic production.

Exhibition and Programme Details:

Beyond the Singularity (Curated by Isaac Leung)

Date: 16 March to 7 April 2024 (Closed on Mondays)

Time: 12:00 pm 7:00 pm

Venue Showcase: (UG/F, Landmark South, 39 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang)

Workshop - Beyond the Basics: Navigating AI Fundamentals

Led by an expert instructor, participants of all levels gain a solid understanding of AI fundamentals, practical experience with AI tools, and the ability to critically assess its implications.

Date: 16 March 2024 (Saturday) & 24 March 2024 (Sunday)

Time: 3:00 pm 4:30 pm

Venue: HKADC Meeting Room, 5/F, Landmark South (39 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang)

Instructor: Chan Ka-ming

Deposit: HKD$ 50 (*Fully refundable upon attending the event)

Registration: https://art-mate.net/doc/73101

Artists Talk - Beyond Art? Navigating the Age of AI

The talk will explore the firsthand experiences of the artists involved in the exhibition, offering valuable insights into their extensive creative processes integrating AI technology. The participating artists will share their personal journeys in AI-generated art, ethical considerations, collaborative endeavours, and the profound influence of AI on diverse artistic fields.

Date: 23 March 2024 (Saturday)

Time: 4:00 pm 5:00 pm

Venue: HKADC Meeting Room, 5/F, Landmark South (39 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang)

Speakers: Chui Pui-chee, Kurt Chan Yuk-keung, Joseph Chen (Virtue Village), Mak2

Moderator: Isaac Leung

Registration: https://art-mate.net/doc/73096

Beyond the Singularity Artist and Curator Guided Tour

The tour contains three sessions, each led by the curator and participating artists. It provides participants with a comprehensive exploration of the creative concepts underpinning the exhibits and the varied applications of AI. Delving into diverse perspectives, the tours shed light on how AI influences and shapes artistic expressions, offering profound insights into the future of art.

Session :

- Session 1: With Chui Pui-chee, Mak2, Isaac Leung

Date: 23 March 2024 (Saturday) 2:30pm 3:30pm

- Session 2: With Curator Isaac Leung

Date: 24 March 2024 (Sunday) 1:30pm 2:30pm

- Session 3: With Phoebe Wong, Isaac Leung

Date: 30 March 2024 (Saturday) 2:30pm 3:30pm

Venue: Showcase (UG/F, Landmark South, 39 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang)

Registration:https://www.art-mate.net/doc/73106

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Beyond the Singularity: Exploring the Fusion of AI and Art - Hong Kong Standard