Category Archives: Singularity

Okay, I know the long time running joke is that Ashes of the Singularity is a benchmark and not a game, but it really is a full fledged game receiving constant updates and even an expansion that later combined both the original AotS and Ascension into one package. Okay, with that out of the way let us get to the real topic at hand here, Ryzen update. Ashes of the Singularity is now the first game to see a proper update to take advantage of the new AMD Ryzen architecture. This was much needed as even in our review of the Ryzen 7 1800x it fell short by a significant margin in this title. Just keep in mind going forward that we only took the CPU test results for that review.

taken from our video review

Testing the game was easy enough. We ran through three runs of the built in benchmark tool for GPU and CPU and took the averages of each AVG ALL, Normal Batches, Medium Batches, and Heavy Batches to see what variation we could measure between the entire run. We ran the game at 1080p with the High preset in DX12 mode for all of these tests, both GPU and CPU on both V2.10 and the new V2.20 build.

The results of the GPU tests pretty much say it all here, there has been a massive improvement in performance, better utilization of the CPU netted serious gains here. Overall average FPS saw a 19.4% improvement. Normal Batches saw the same 19.4% improvement. The Medium Batches portion of the test saw our best improvement with a 20.9% gain. Heavy Batches may have gained the least amount of the entire test but I dont know anyone who would balk at a still 18% gain over the games previous version.

The CPU benchmark here shows yet again that 20% uptick in performance gains. If you refer back to the chart from our Ryzen 7 1800x review this gain now puts the 1800x ahead of the Intel i7 7700k in this title, which is theoretically where it should be giving the games ability to scale with hardware as well as it does.

AMD did say there would be updates coming and that they were working with developers to help bring these to market, and it looks like the first delivery was a success. I know there are other sites reporting greater gains than what were showing here, but this is where we are with what weve tested and the results are good. This is a great step in the right direction for not only the companies involved, but the consumer invested in these platforms. If AMD continues to push this level of success then those early adopters are in for a real treat. Now I cant help but wonder was Ryzen the only architecture to see gains from this update. Sound off in the comment section if youre running a different setup with either an older FX based CPU or an Intel Core series and let us know if youre seeing gains as well.

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Ashes of the Singularity V2.20 Shows 20% Improvement On Ryzen - Wccftech

The nine startups participating in Singularity Universitys accelerator program presented thisafternoon atMoffett Federal Airfield just outside Mountain View, CA.Singularity University, founded in2008 by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil, aims to make it more feasible for people to address hard science problems and those that require a global reach.

Startups backed by Singularity University have gone on to raise $194 million. Collectively, Modern Meadow, Matternet and Getaround have raised $122 million of that total figureto bring people animal free leather, automated last-mile delivery and more convenient car rental.

Monique Giggy, Directorof Singularity Universitys startup accelerator says the program received 460 applications this year. From there 20 startups received formal diligence alongside technical experts. Ultimately only nine companies were selected for this years batch.

This is the third and final generalizedaccelerator program that Singularity will be offering. Participating companies in the program received mentorship and support from corporations, researchers and the broader Singularity network.

Going forward, Singularity wants to engage with portfolio companies across a longer span of time than the existing eight week program. Giggy explained that future programs could focus narrowly on the FDA approval process or raising a Series A.

The startups that spoketoday are addressing tough challenges in healthcare and materials science, among other things.Here are all nine companies that presented and the problems they are tackling.

IotaSecurity Security solution for mobile banking

IotaSecurity is building a solution to address the security vulnerabilities faced by users of mobile banking services. Development recently concluded on the teams primary SDK and its being marketed directly at banks.Yaron Vorona,who formally worked at a D.C. think tank, is working on the startup alongsideDr. Richard Krueger.Krueger previously worked to scale Amazon Prime.

Metamason 3D printed masks for sufferers ofsleep apnea

Metamason aims to serve the millions of Americans suffering from sleep apnea. The startup is developing technology that will allow sufferers to scan their face and have a 3D printed customized and fitted mask printed for them. Ideally, a better experience would incentivize more patients to stick with treatment instead of abandoning it.

Deep BlocksBringing intelligence to real estate developers

Deep Blocks is building a tool for real estate developers to aid them in the planning process. The long term vision is to deepen machine learning capabilities to be able to optimize decision making for all operators within the real estate vertical. The startupaggregates data across disparate sources, including critical regulatory information. Right now its available in Miami but plans to expand to other locals in the near future.

Nanobinoids Using hemp to create better batteries

Nanobinoids is using hemp to unlock thepromise ofgraphene. Graphene could somedaypush existing battery technology into the 21st century, but its incredibly expensive.Sanvar Oberoi andJahan Pestonjamas are using theirhemp textiles background to engineercarbon nanosheets at a price the market can stomach at scale.

Ourotech Enabling a moreefficient cancer treatment process

Ourotech is working on a process that would enable doctors to better prioritize treatment options for cancer patients. Though the work is still in testing, it could someday make it possible for biopsies to be tested against available treatments. This is an improvement over existing methods that rank treatments for the overall population rather than a specific patient.

Braincare A minimally invasive way to monitor pressure inside the skull

Braincare has created a headband that can monitor pressure within the skull. It could offer patients a minimally invasive sensor for tracking critical information that is necessaryfor doctors working to protect the brain.

Flow Making it easy to givepresentations in virtual reality

Virtual reality is still a nascent technology, but Flow is trying to get ahead of the wave. The team is building software that would make it possiblefor anyone to design presentations optimized for multi-dimensional VR presentations. The immersive nature of VR makes it ideal for conveying ideas that fall flat (no pun intended) on old-school PowerPoints.

Golden Connectingparentsand children in the time of need

Caring for our parents (and grandparents) is difficult. The complexity and volume of information required to manage someone elses finances and other affairs often causes important information to get lost.Golden is working to aggregate this information and make it easy to sift through so that we dont miss out on cost-saving programs benefitting older Americans when we need them most.

Calorie Cloud Putting schools andbusinesses to work tobenefitthemalnourished

Calorie Cloud hostscorporate wellness challenges and school programs to get people active. But this startup isnt about increasing physical activity, its about caring for themalnourished. The more activity participants partake in, the more supportgoes to providing food for children who desperately need nutrients.

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Here are the frontier startups that presented at Singularity University's third demo day - TechCrunch

In a previous article, I introduced the recent open-sourcing of quantum computing software by DWave. DWave is the maker of a quantum computer being used and studied by a number of groups, including NASA and Google, and there are other quantum computers in the works too. Although the field is still young, recent progress has been making headlines.

If we can make practical quantum computers, they will be very powerfulbut to see why requires understanding what makes them different. In this article, Ill explain the underlying physics that makes quantum computing possible.

Quantum computers arent just a new, faster model of the computer in front of you. Theyre based on a completely different method of storing information and decision-making. Its like comparing a jet turbine to a propeller: they achieve the same purpose, but the complexity and power are vastly disproportionate.

Lets begin by reminding ourselves how digital computers work.

The basic ingredient is the binary digit, or bit, which may take only the values 0 or 1. In modern computers, bits take the form of tiny electrical switches called transistors. Transistors are in one of two states. When they are switched on, they conduct electrical current. This is the 1 state. When switched off, they are not conducting current. This is the 0 state.

In a physical computer chip, we might find a series of transistors in the following states: on, on, off, on. In binary, the mathematical language of computation, the series becomes 1101.

This might appear to be an inadequately crude method of communicating informationhow could we possibly convey the rich tapestry of the world using only this black-and-white mold? The first step is recognizing that bits can represent numbers in our traditional counting system. For example, 1101 represents the number 13 and 0110 represents the number 6.

In fact, these are the only ways we can represent 13 and 6 using bits, creating a unique translation dictionary between strings of bits and normal numbers. In this way, we can assemble arbitrarily large numbers by stringing together bits. The MacBook Pro uses a 64-bit processor to express every number up to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615.

(Check out this video to learn more about how binary works.)

But if computers could merely store numbers, we would not find them very useful. The reason computers have become ubiquitous is we can use these numbers to further represent many other things.

Take shades of gray: simply interpolate between pure black (0) and pure white (255, by convention). Colors can be decomposed into red, green, and blue components, each having their value interpolated up to 255. Logic operations, musical notes, letters in the alphabet, internet pages, online dating profiles and many other types of information may be expressed in the same way.

Modern computers use billions of transistors and multiple levels of code to produce high-def video and complex apps, but look closely enough, and the digital world reduces to a simple series of bits.

We need only look in our pocket to see that traditional computers are powerful. But there are some problems they're ill-suited to solve. This is where quantum computers come in. A quantum computer can solve a special set of problems many magnitudes of order faster than traditional computers.

What makes quantum computers so much faster? They can perform many calculations at once.

This is possible because the building blocks of quantum computers are not bits and transistors. They are qubits and physical components so small they operate by the rules of quantum physics. These components might literally be elementary particles, such as electrons, suspended in magnetic fields.

This is where the weirdness of quantum physics comes into play. The standard shorthand explanation says traditional bits can be either 1 or 0, whereas according to the rules of quantum physics, qubits can be 1, 0, or both at the same time.

This is what truly makes a quantum computer quantum. But lets dig into what that means a bit more.

To be clear, quantum computers do not offer more discrete states than a traditional computerthe states are still 1 and 0but there is no longer an exclusive choice between these states required until the very end of a calculation. This may seem paradoxicalhow can something be 1 and 0 simultaneously? And even if this is so, why is a choice required at the end?

To better understand how this is possible, imagine hiking with a magnetic compass.

During the day you navigate as you please and the terrain dictates, glancing at your compass and noting that your direction changes. You might begin walking east, then turn north, spin around to go south, before finally nearing northwest.But at the end of each day, you record only whether your encampment is north or south of your departure point that morning.

An example log might read Day 1: North. Day 2: North. Day 3: South. Day 4: North.

This two-choice answer belies your more elaborate trajectory containing all the other directions available to the compass. North represents 1 and south represents 0, but of course, there are many other intermediate choices which can be expressed. This is similar to a quantum calculation. During the calculation, a qubit may take any value, but in the final answer there is only a 1 or 0 logged.

So, the qubits initial statethe hikes trailheadis the problem its trying to solve written in binary. The qubits final statethe campsite or destinationis its part of the solution, also written in binary. And simplistically, we can think of the qubits interim state as a combination of 1 and 0, just as the other directions you moved throughout your hike were combinations of north and south.

The days hike around swamps, between hills, and through forests is the quantum calculationa circuitous route exploring the solution set with a zig northeast, a zag due west, and so on. Eventually, however, each qubit falls into a binary state, and we arrive at our destination.

During a calculation, a qubit pointing in the east direction isnt simply weighted 50 percent north, 50 percent southit will specifically remember that it was an eastern direction. This preservation of the direction is called coherence, and it is the most important property for quantum computers.

Coherence is the property of a qubit to experience the full range of values and for qubits to share these values with each other. Four coherent qubits could possess values such as east, northwest, southeast, west, whereas incoherent qubits would possess only values north, north, south, north. Further, each of their values influences the values of their fellow coherent qubits.

Since qubits sharing mixed states speeds up computationthis is how they perform multiple calculations at onceit is absolutely essential the qubit maintain coherence during the calculation. Otherwise, we are just using a simple, slow digital computer only performing one calculation at a time.

A coherent quantum computer thus considers both 0 and 1 simultaneously, performing a calculation for the north as well as the south, but weighting the answer in a way that preserves the direction of the compass. Mathematically, this can be done using imaginary numbers, meaning we dont need to consider east as a direction unique from north or south but only as a strange combination of them.

Increasing coherence time has been a major obstacle in making commercially-viable quantum computers. Calculations require at least about 100 nanoseconds, and we have now achieved about 175 nanoseconds. As noted in my last article, this should improve as software improvesthe more you can do with a quantum computer, the more resources will pour into the field.

The upshot of all this? Quantum computers offer a massive increase in computing power. A single qubit may concurrently perform two calculations, two qubits may perform four, three qubits eight, and so forth, producing exponentially increasing speed. Just thirty qubits can simultaneously perform more than one billion calculations.

Aimed at the right problems and with the right software, the rise of quantum computers may mark a very significant moment in the history of computation.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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This Is What Makes Quantum Computers Powerful Problem Solvers - Singularity Hub

When AMD launched its Ryzen 7 family, it delivered a chip that exceeded our expectations in just about every category, but fell down somewhat in gaming. Exactly how much of a problem this is depends on whether you tune your testing for CPU-centric or GPU-centric results, and to some extent, what GPU you use. But there was a clear gap at 1080p in both our Ryzen 7 review and our GTX 1080 Titesting.

AMDs explanation for this phenomena was to claim that games required substantial optimization to work effectively with Ryzen. This was metwith a raised eyebrow from much of the enthusiast community. Its not that these claims are always unfounded weve long known that game updates could improve performance on specific CPU architectures but that the performance hit AMD took in gaming in our CPU review occurred across a wide range of titles. Promises that the situation could be fixed by optimization are not the same as saying that the situation will be fixed by optimization, after all. Given AMDs relatively limited finances for fixing dozens of older titles, it wasnt clear wed see much interest from developers.

At least one game has been updated with better Ryzen support, however. Ashes of the Singularity, from Oxide, initially showed significant performance differences between itself and Intel. This gap persisted even when we used the GPU-centric test for the game at Crazy detail, as opposed to the Very High settings we used for our CPU-centric testing. A graph from our GTX 1080 Ti review is presented below:

Only the 1080p tests are relevant for this article. Our GPU testing showed AMD lagging well behind Intel with both the 1070 and the 1080 Ti.

According to PC World, tests theyve run in Ashes of the Singularity demonstrate a considerable performance gain for AMD. Their results arent directly comparable with ours; theyve tested low detail while our CPU review used Very High and our 1080 Ti review used Crazy at the 1080p resolution.

Click to enlarge

PC World reports that their Ryzen 7 1800X tests show a 1.27x performance improvement in the GPU-focused test and a more modest 12% boost in the CPU-focused test. Still, these improvements are just the beginning according to Oxide developer Dan Baker.

Every processor is different on how you tune it, and Ryzen gave us some new data points on optimization, Oxides Dan Baker told PCWorld. Weve invested thousands of hours tuning Intel CPUs to get every last bit of performance out of them, but comparatively little time so far on Ryzen.

Bethesda has also pledged to work with AMD to improve game performance in future titles, but its not clear which already-shipping titles will be retroactively updated to improve CPU support. Then again, Ryzen is typically still much faster than Piledriver, and weve seen no evidence yet of a title that falls down to the point that a CPU optimization patch is critically required.

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Ashes of the Singularity update substantially boosts AMD Ryzen performance - ExtremeTech

Sci-fi depictions of the future would have us thinking of the singularity when A.I surpasses human intelligence as either a technological messiah or the apocalypse. Experts in the field hold varying opinions about just how good or bad, gradual or sudden it will be, but most agree that it will happen in the next hundred years and probably sooner.

Futurists like Ray Kurzweil, a computer scientist and Google director of engineering, are proponents of a hard singularity, the kind that will happen at particular date in time. Kurzweil has made 147 predictions since the Nineties about when the singularity will occur, his most recent being 2045. Hed previously predicted that artificial intelligence would achieve human levels of intelligence by 2029. Now hes set 2045 as the year when the singularity will happen, at which time he says we will multiply our effective intelligence a billionfold by merging with the intelligence we have created.

Kurzweil upholds a positive take on the singularity, championing the event as a way to overcome age-old human problems and magnify human intelligence, as he details in his 2005 book The Singularity is Near. [The singularity] will result from the merger of the vast knowledge embedded in our own brains with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our technology, he writes. The fifth epoch [when the singularity happens] will enable our human-machine civilization to transcend the human brains limitations of a mere hundred trillion extremely show connections.

Meanwhile, Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank Robotics, argues that the singularity will happen by 2047, when the 10,000 point IQ of a single computer chip far surpasses an IQ belonging to even the worlds most intelligent human beings.

For some people, the singularity is the moment in which we have an artificial super intelligence which has all the capabilities of the human mind, and is slightly better than the human mind, says Damien Scott, a graduate student at Stanford University in the schools of business and energy and earth sciences. But I think that is a big ask. That argument predicts that not only will the singularity software or other platform be smarter than people, but that it also will have the ability to improve itself, he explains. When you get into territory when the system is smarter than the smartest human, and you cant comprehend what it will do or what its objective is.

Thats the more classical version of the singularity, Scott says, the hard take on a particular moment that may never actually occur all at once. But then, theres another, softer take on the singularity, which seems to be more widely accepted.

Well start to see narrow artificial intelligence domains that keep getting better than the best human, Scott says. We already have calculators that can outperform any person, and within two to three years, the worlds best radiologist will be computer systems, he says. Rather than an all encompassing generalized intelligence thats better than humans at every single thing, Scott says the singularity will occur and is occurring piecemeal, across various fields of artificial intelligence.

Will it be self-aware or self-improving? Not necessarily, he says. But that might be the kind of creep of the singularity across a whole bunch of different domains: All these things getting better and better, as an overall a set of services that collectively surpass our collective human capabilities.

The gradual singularity is the kind Scott and others interviewed for this article predict happening, rather than a momentous event on a random afternoon 28 years from now.

The singularity is already happening, according to Aaron Frank, principal faculty at Singularity University, a technology learning center. Its a way of describing this rapid pace of change that the world is now experiencing, he says. The term singularity that I subscribe to is a term borrowed from physics to describe an environment in which no longer really understand much of whats happening around us. For example, the event horizon of a black hole is referred to as a singularity because the laws of physics dont apply there.

Youll see signatures of the singularity whenever youre surprised by certain technological events, Frank says. From image recognition to artificial chess or poker players outperforming humans, its not always quite clear why technology has come to function better than those who created it, even though people mostly know what to expect from it. But if you look inside these algorithms, theyre already far more complex than any one human can truly understand, he says. We used to think technology gave us total control and knowledge on whats happening, but now we no longer understand whats happening.

Its an exchange, Frank says: At the expense of total understanding, people are freed up to manage other tasks while AI takes care of the rest. If we can turn over the diagnosing of cancer to a machine learning algorithm, that frees up doctors to do other things like providing care to a patient, he says.

Echoing Franks perspective on the singularity, Ed Hesse, CEO at GridSingularity, a blockchain technology and smart contract developer, points to intelligence like Ethereum, a decentralized platform, run on a custom-made blockchain for smart contracts. Its a starting point, he says, another present day manifestation of the singularity. Once you have decentralized programs to facilitate all types of transactions and eradicate the middle man, the next level is AI and machine learning. Everything becomes one.

A platform like Ethereum can be used to find all kinds of patterns for specific purposes that people wouldnt have been able to see before, or on their own, Hesse explains. Open, yet secure, Ethereum elucidates generalized information that otherwise wouldnt have been made available.

At the moment, [because] AI is very domain specific, its not generally smart in any way, but can learn to do something particularly well, says Dr. Mark Sagar, CEO and founder of Soul Machines, an artificial intelligence company that creates emotionally responsive avatars. The way it holistically comes together into something that can actually control itself and be autonomous takes many different components. It makes sense that could happen by 2048.

So in the event of the singularity, be it sudden or gradual, will the hallmarks of human intelligence be preserved, in spite of AI thats smarter than us?A platform like Ethereum can be used to find all kinds of patterns for specific purposes that people wouldnt have been able to see before, or on their own, Hesse explains. Open, yet secure, Ethereum elucidates generalized information that otherwise wouldnt have been made available.

A lot of philosophers describe the essence of humanity as being able to feel emotions, says Scott. Theres a difference between experiencing emotions and understanding emotions. A machine might be able to understand emotions, based on indicators like facial recognition or language, but its inability to feel cognizant empathy would separate purely artificial intelligence from that which is human, he says.

There is a lot that we dont know about how the brain works, for example, so theres a lot that still has to be discovered and determined as keys to realizing the proper AI, says Sagar. He foresees the development of a digital biology, or a hybrid of biological and digital systems. Take Google for example. Its got better knowledge than any person on the planet general knowledge but no practical knowledge about dealing with the situation in front of you that would emerge.

Hence, humanizing AI is one of the key components to a true singularity, Sagar suggests. Having computers that are capable of embodied cognition and social learning will be very important to the socialization of machines, he says. Think about things like cooperation being the greatest force in human history. For us to cooperate with machines is one level, then for machines to cooperate with machines is another. It may well be that humans are always in there.

For machines to constructively cooperate with humans and other machines, humans would have to engineer an element of creativity into AI, Sagar says. And its possible, he adds: Where we start seeing machines create new ideas, the machines will be inventing new things.

One of the biggest obstacles here will remain human suspicion about smart computers, drawn from decades of dystopian fantasies. Yet Sagar says were already seeing breakthroughs in places like Japan, where home robots are part of peoples quotidien routine. Those machines are often anthropomorphized and socially integrated, with transparent capabilities and intentions that people accept gladly. Thats a hint of what the singularity can bring, he says: I think it will be an unprecedented time of cooperation and creativity.

Photos via Getty Images / Handout, Getty Images / Tomohiro Ohsumi, "I, Robot" from 20th Century Fox

Madison is a New York/Los Angeles-based journalist, with a specialty covering science, religion, cannabis, and other drugs.

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The Singularity Could Be Closer Than You Think - Inverse

Resistance is futile.

In Star Trek, the Borg is a cybernetic alien race whose overriding mission is the assimilation of all other life forms into its pulsing, digital hive mind. Its also a parable of active equity management. Do what you will to push back against the inevitable cyborgian future: Resistance is futile.

Forty some-odd BlackRock stock-pickers learned that lesson Tuesday whenthe asset management leviathan announced a wide-ranging initiative to reposition its equity platform For Future of Advice Management and, in the process, let a bunch of its equity staff go. This isnt some elective choice or trend-following on the part of Larry Fink, BlackRock assures us. Itis our ineluctable destiny:

Traditional methods of equity investing are being reshaped by massive advances in technology and data sciences. At the same time, client preferences are shifting, focusing not just on outcomes but on how both performance and fees impact value, said Mark Wiseman, Global Head of Active Equities at BlackRock.

The active equity industry needs to change. Asset managers who simply use the same techniques and tools from the past will limit their ability to generate alpha and deliver on client expectations.

Sadly, its not like BlackRocks portfolio managers five of whom reportedlylost their jobsin the shake-up had all that strong a defense in the past few years. According to Bloomberg:

The companys active-equity funds have lagged behind rivals for years. The funds annual average return is 4 percent and 7.3 percent over three and five years, according to data from Morningstar Inc. This compares with the industry average of 5.3 percent and 8.8 percent.

Clearly something had to give. Its only natural that the next step was toward the equity singularity.

Theres no need to belabor the basic factorshere: investors want quants, automation is coming for everyone, fees are bad. We all know the story. The deeper question is what happens when everyone, from the big bad BlackRock to the tiniest Midwestern mutual fund, has hitched their wagon to a bot. Is the endpoint for the long-term equity landscape similar to that of high-frequency trading, in which big returns for the first movers shrank to pennies once everyone got in on the action? Will the great quantitative shift cause a thousand flowers to bloom, each with its own unique approach and trading style or will all the algorithms crowd into the same basic strategies? Will the pendulum ever swing back toward humans? Should I learn Python or C++?

We cant wait to find out. In the meantime, those who have already embraced the Borg might want topolish off their resumes:

Wiseman said his group plans over the next 18 months to hire about the same number of employees who were laid off. BlackRock is looking for people with deep research capabilities, technological and data analytics skills, and will put more emphasis on hiring in the emerging markets, especially Asia.

BlackRock Positions Equity Investment Platform for Future of Active Management [BlackRock] BlackRock Cuts Dozens of Jobs and Fees in Stock-Picking Unit[Bloomberg] BlackRock cuts fees and jobs; stockpicking goes high-tech [Reuters]

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Robot Apocalypse Watch: BlackRock Embraces Stock-Picking Singularity - Dealbreaker

Lets be honest sometimes manufacturing gets a bad rap. The industry can be seen as a behemoth stuck in the past and slow to innovate, the victim of outsourcing and the purveyor of consumerism. Thankfully, in 2017 these stereotypes couldnt be further from the truth.

Global organizations like GE and Caterpillar are investing in new technologies and innovation methods. Startups like Local Motors and Carbon are creating their own breakthroughs from the ground up. And organizations like the US Council on Competitiveness are working to keep these innovators moving forward. The future of manufacturing is bright.

Thats why weve put together this list of trends to watch in 2017. If you want to learn more about the technologies fueling these trends, meet the people leading the charge, and connect with fellow leaders, join us at Exponential Manufacturing May 1719 in Boston.

People around the world are talking a lot about recent and impending policy changes. How will these changes impact innovation in the coming years? And how will policy keep pace?

AI and robots continue automating factories. Self-driving trucks and ships aim to automate the transportation of materials and finished products. Even biotech is beginning to offer new ways to make things. These and other emerging technologies will impact how we live, work, and trade.

Some jobs will disappear while others take their place, efficiencies will improve, entire sub-industries (shipping, for example) could be upended by unexpected technologiesand all this will happen faster than expected.

Can society keep the pace? How do we regulate innovation without suffocating progress? How do we adopt an open-minded yet ethical approach to new opportunities? Planning for the future now is how organizations and policymakers will move toward the best scenarios and avoid the worst ones.

If youre reading Singularity Hub, youre aware of some amazing advances happening across research fields and industries.

The deep analytical powers of machine learning are transforming raw data into useful insights. Some robots can now safely interact with people and more nimbly navigate messy work environments. 3D printers are giving physical form to digital designs. And biotechnology is beginning to make living systems, such as engineered bacteria, into microscopic chemical-producing factories.

While these are incredible innovationsand more arrive every dayone could argue the greatest challenge will be anticipating, timing, and creatively implementing the latest breakthroughs into business strategies. Those who recognize which technologies will serve their organization best, lead a culture of change, and navigate rough political waters, will come out on top.

Data has always played a critical role in manufacturing. The entire industry, from sourcing to production runs to sales forecasting, has relied on data for decades. However, the amount of data is growing exponentially larger by the day. Thanks to cheap, connected, and increasingly ubiquitous sensors (the Internet of Things), companies are able to monitor more than ever before things like machinery, deliveries, even employees.

Companies need to leverage the latest in artificial intelligence to make the most of these incredibly large and powerful data sets. For those who do adopt new tools, smart decision-making will become clearer, easier and faster.

Historically, the product creation process has been notoriously long. Market research, focus groups, R&D, short runs, testing, sourcing, long runs...the list goes on. What if you could make a part thats exactly like the finished product, in a series of one? What if you could design, build, test, and iterate in real life, before ramping up large-scale production?

You can, and in fact, GE is.

GEs FirstBuild program is a state-of-the-art, community-sourced lab that lies outside their main campus and is used for the rapid prototyping of new ideas. If a product proves its worth in a sample market, the design is transferred to the main campus for full production.

These are the changes that technologies like additive manufacturing and materials science are bringing to product design. When a giant like GE creates a spinoff group to act like a startup, it becomes obvious that power is being democratized, innovation times are being slashed, and long-held competitive advantages are evaporating.

Like design, new technologies are cutting the time and cost required to get products to market. However, there are larger shifts happening in the overall production process as well. Robots are becoming more nimble, more versatile and smarter. Computer-guided fabricationboth additive and subtractiveis getting faster, cheaper, and more precise. Factories are becoming more efficient, while raw material waste is decreasing. All of this increases competition, making success without these technologies nearly impossible.

On the other end of the spectrum, the spread of additive manufacturing, the boom of the maker movement, and a reduction in small machinery cost are allowing individuals to build mini-factories in their homes. What was once only possible in the largest factories is now doable in your neighbors garage. And while some may discount the innovative potential of the non-professionals, consider the incredible amount of human capital unlocked by this change.

One of the most difficult sectors of manufacturing is the supply chain, from sourcing raw materials around the world to delivering finished goods on time. Supply chain managers are responsible for coordinating with hundreds, if not thousands, of partners and service providers to make sure products are delivered on time, on budget, and in good condition.

While it may not be the sexiest piece of the puzzle, its certainly a critical one and its ripe for improvement. Self-driving trucks and ships, AI-powered planning software, and localized manufacturing facilities are all converging to reshape the very nature of supply chains.

So, weve highlighted six trends currently impacting the global manufacturing landscape. What does it mean, though? How do we stay ahead of these shifts? How do we know which technologies will stick and which will end up as the Betamax of the year?

Some of these questions are yet unanswerable, while some gain more clarity each day. What we do know is that this is just the beginning. As technologies converge, they will continue creating ever stronger advances, thus compounding the rate of improvement.

Manufacturing leaders should incorporate ongoing, future-oriented education as part of their annual development to stay up-to-date on new breakthroughs, learn where the industry is headed, and discover how to bring these competitive advantages into their own organizations.

Ready to start your education? Join Singularity University for Exponential Manufacturing, an event that will lead 600+ manufacturing executives, entrepreneurs, and investors through an intensive 3-day program to look into these questions, connect with like-minded leaders, and prepare for success in the year to come. Prices increase April 1st. Apply here and save up to 15% with code SUHUB2017.

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These 6 Trends Are Retooling Manufacturing as We Know It - Singularity Hub

I wont say never.

Real time strategy gameshave so far been the purview almost exclusively of gaming PCs. Theyre just really hard to get right on consoles- ask Microsoft, who have now tried twice withHalo Wars andHalo Wars 2. Especially for someone like Stardock, whose games are even more nuanced and complex than the average strategy game, and borrow liberally from 4X strategy titles, its hard to imagine those working on PS4 and Xbox One.

But when we sat down with Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock, for a chat, we did decide to ask him what the odds of seeing a console Ashes of the Singularity port were- yes, a lot is stacked against that ever happening, but has the company completely ruled it out yet? What about the companys excellent Nitrous Engine?

Nitrous will run on consoles, we plan on bringing it over to consoles, Wardell said. Ashes of the Singularity, that would be tough. I remember- you remember when they tried to do Supreme Commander 2 on a console, and the sacrifices they had to make to try to get that to work were pretty tough. But I wont say never- I just think it depends on how consoles evolve.

That said, even without a console port planned any time soon, it looks like the future is bright forAshes of the Singularity. In 2017, were trying to add a lot of stuff, I would say features that many RTS players would expect in the genre, but features that were pretty hard at first because of the nature of our engine- such as replays, better modding support, new types of units, that kind of stuff. And were starting to try to create other kinds of environments like oceans, so we can eventually have ships and other races, and that kind of thing.

So, you may not be playing this with a controller any time soon (honestly, thats a good thing)- but the game will be growing and evolving in a major way this year. I think that should make all fans ofAshes of the Singularity happy.

More here:

Ashes of the Singularity Developer Has Lots Of Exciting Things ... - GamingBolt

What does the Next Society being designed by Agenda 2030 technocrats entail? Today on TRUNEWS, Rick Wiles is joined by Technocracy News Editor-in-Chief Patrick Wood and Christian author Carl Teichrib to discuss the quantum progression of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Ray Kurzweils Singularity, and the formation of a ubiquitously connected Global Brain. Rick and this panel of experts also detail the direct implications of the emerging telecom 5G network, comprised of thousands of low Earth orbit satellites, and how the 4th Industrial Revolution will leverage the Internet-of-Things as a secular replacement to human reality.

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Rick Wiles: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Singularity, and the Next Society - TRUNEWS

By KK Miller, RocketNews24

Entertainment Mar. 26, 2017 - 06:00AM JST ( )

TOKYO

Music group World Order isnt only known for their robotic dancing and electronic beats. Their act can also be delightfully comedic when employed in the right situations, usually during their publicly shot music videos set around the world. Seeing the group pump their arms and walk by popular destinations is now as iconic as it is mesmerizing. While Genki Sudo, the founder of the group, is no longer the full-time front man, it seems he is continuing to dance with World Order, at least in their newest music video, Singularity.

The video features the perfect mix of all the elements weve come to love from the group, including suited dancers moving around robotically and an intricate dance machine that could only come from the minds of World Order. Fans are treated to a few special guests part way through the video as well. World Order is basically challenged to a dance off with a bunch of office women in the conference room. However, these arent just any regular office ladies though; theyre eight members of SKE48, one of the sister groups to AKB48 that are based in Nagoya. Theyre the perfect companions to help World Order enjoy the sights and sounds of the third largest city in Japan, as soon as they all bust out of the office.

It isnt too surprising to see World Order collaborating with the idol group SKE48, as fans will remember that members of AKB48 joined them in Akihabara for the Have a Nice Day music video. Both idol groups and World Order have gained some popularity by synchronizing their dances and positively representing Japan around the world, but given the choice between emulating cheerleaders or eclectic robotic salarymen, well take the robots any day of the week.

Source: YouTube/WORLD ORDER

Read more stories from RocketNews24. Japanese band robot-dances their way around London in latest music video AKB48 founder plans Japan48 idol group for Olympics, Phillipines spinoff Genka Bar, where your drinks never cost more than what theyre worth!

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World Order's 'Singularity' raises profile of singular girls group - Japan Today