Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
More States Opting to ‘Robo-Grade’ Student Essays by Computer
July 2nd, 2018Via: NPR: Department Of Education Deputy Commissioner Jeff Wulfson cited “huge advances in artificial intelligence in the last few years” and cracked, “I asked Alexa whether she thought we’d ever be able to use computers to reliably score tests, and she said absolutely.”
Mini Neanderthal Brains Will Be Connected To Robots
June 28th, 2018Via: Live Science: Neanderthals went extinct about 40,000 years ago, but thanks to cutting-edge science, there is now a lab in California that has petri dishes filled with pea-size versions of the cavemen’s brains. Why are researchers cultivating and studying these mini brains? The reason, they say, is that these small neural lumps may reveal […]
A Team of AI Algorithms Just Crushed Humans in a Complex Computer Game
June 25th, 2018Via: MIT Technology Review: Five different AI algorithms have teamed up to kick human butt in Dota 2, a popular strategy computer game. Researchers at OpenAI, a nonprofit based in California, developed the algorithmic A team, which they call the OpenAI Five. Each algorithm uses a neural network to learn not only how to play […]
Flying Dragon Robot Transforms Itself to Squeeze Through Gaps
June 23rd, 2018Via: IEEE: It’s a modular flying robot powered by ducted fans that can transform literally on the fly, from a square to a snake to anything in between, allowing it to stretch out to pass through small holes and then make whatever other shape you want once it’s on the other side.
The World’s First Robot-Made Burger Is About to Hit the Bay Area
June 21st, 2018Via: Bloomberg: On June 27, the world’s first robot-crafted burger will roll off a conveyor belt in San Francisco and into the hands of the public. You could call it the freshest burger on Earth. The product, from Bay Area-based Creator, a culinary robotics company, is assembled and cooked in a machine that contains 20 […]
We Are All Prisoners of the Surveillance State
June 20th, 2018Via: The Rutherford Institute: We now find ourselves in the unenviable position of being monitored, managed and controlled by our technology, which answers not to us but to our government and corporate rulers. Consider that on any given day, the average American going about his daily business will be monitored, surveilled, spied on and tracked […]
U.S. Army: Robots for Ground Combat by 2028
June 20th, 2018Via: FCW: Robotics is crucial to Army Secretary Mark Esper’s strategic vision, and he wants to have unmanned vehicles on the battlefield by 2028. Esper previewed the Army’s soon-to-be-released strategic vision calling for unmanned vehicles as an integral part of the force at a Brookings Institute event June 5. “I think robotics has the potential […]
Microsoft Takes Aim at Amazon with Push for Checkout-Free Retail
June 14th, 2018Via: Reuters: Microsoft Corp is working on technology that would eliminate cashiers and checkout lines from stores, in a nascent challenge to Amazon.com Inc’s automated grocery shop, six people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is developing systems that track what shoppers add to their carts, the people say. Microsoft […]
Inside Tesla’s Model 3 Factory
June 9th, 2018There are some interesting photos of the Model 3 assembly line in this piece. Via: Bloomberg: On the Model 3 body line on a Tuesday afternoon in early June, everything is still. Tesla Inc. is just coming off a week of downtime during which workers added a new production line, improved ventilation after a fire […]
Netherlands: 3D Printed Houses
June 9th, 2018Five. It would be much more interesting if the number was 5,000 or 50,000. Well, it’s early days. This reminds me… I recently read an interesting sci-fi/cyberpunk/dystopia novel called Voidstar by Zachary Mason. In the near future, the sprawling favelas that exist between San Francisco and Los Angeles have been 3D printed by autonomous machines. […]
