DeepMind’s AlphaZero Obliterates Previous AI Chess Champion
December 6th, 2018Via: Telegraph:
DeepMind’s artificial intelligence programme AlphaZero is now showing signs of human-like intuition and creativity, in what developers have hailed as ‘turning point’ in history.
The computer system amazed the world last year when it mastered the game of chess from scratch within just four hours, despite not being programmed how to win.
But now, after a year of testing and analysis by chess grandmasters, the machine has developed a new style of play unlike anything ever seen before, suggesting the programme is now improvising like a human.
Unlike the world’s best chess machine – Stockfish – which calculates millions of possible outcomes as it plays, AlphaZero learns from its past successes and failures, making its moves based on, a ‘nebulous sense that it is all going to work out in the long run,’ according to experts at DeepMind.
When AlphaZero was pitted against Stockfish in 1,000 games, it lost just six, winning convincingly 155 times, and drawing the remaining bouts.
Yet it was the way that it played that has amazed developers. While chess computers predominately like to hold on to their pieces, AlphaZero readily sacrificed its soldiers for a better position in the skirmish.
…
Within just a few hours the programme had independently discovered and played common human openings and strategies before moving on to develop its own ideas, such as quickly swarming around the opponent’s king and placing far less value on individual pieces.
The new style of play has been analysed Chess Grandmaster Matthew Sadler and Women’s International Master Natasha Regan, who say it unlike any traditional chess engine.
”It’s like discovering the secret notebooks of some great player from the past,” said Sadler.
The U.S. Just Became a Net Oil Exporter for the First Time in 75 Years
December 6th, 2018Via: Bloomberg:
America turned into a net oil exporter last week, breaking 75 years of continued dependence on foreign oil and marking a pivotal — even if likely brief — moment toward what U.S. President Donald Trump has branded as “energy independence.”
The shift to net exports is the dramatic result of an unprecedented boom in American oil production, with thousands of wells pumping from the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico to the Bakken in North Dakota to the Marcellus in Pennsylvania.
While the country has been heading in that direction for years, this week’s dramatic shift came as data showed a sharp drop in imports and a jump in exports to a record high. Given the volatility in weekly data, the U.S. will likely remain a small net importer most of the time.
Australia Passes Cyber Snooping Laws with Global Implications
December 6th, 2018Via: AFP:
Australia Thursday passed controversial laws allowing spies and police to snoop on the encrypted communications of suspected terrorists and criminals, as experts warned the “unprecedented powers” had far-reaching implications for global cybersecurity.
There has been extensive debate about the laws and their reach beyond Australia’s shores in what is seen as the latest salvo between global governments and tech firms over national security and privacy.
Under the legislation, Canberra can compel local and international providers — including overseas communication giants such as Facebook and WhatsApp — to remove electronic protections, conceal covert operations by government agencies, and help with access to devices or services.
Australian authorities can also require that those demands be kept secret.
5G + AI
December 6th, 2018Via: EE Times:
SAN FRANCISCO — Qualcomm launched a $100 million venture fund at an event here where the level of enthusiasm for machine learning ran high. China’s SenseTime alone talked about taking in $3 billion for its platform, and others gave examples of AI quadrupling productivity and saving lives.
The combination of 5G and AI is central to Qualcomm’s corporate strategy in the wake of its failed merger with NXP and slowing smartphone growth. The combination of the two technologies will expand the company’s addressable market to a smart internet of things, said chief executive Steve Mollenkopf.
Infographic: Clinton Foundation ‘Pay to Play’
December 5th, 2018Via: The Epoch Times:
The Clinton Foundation has raised more than $2 billion since its inception in 1997, and Bill and Hillary Clinton have been paid more than $150 million for delivering speeches. Notably, these payments increased dramatically after Hillary Clinton took office as secretary of state in 2009.
George Bush’s Wars Set the Stage for 25 Years of Endless War
December 5th, 2018Kinder, gentler…
Via: Mises Institute:
It’s almost darkly comedic how easy it has been to convince the American people to go along with nearly any justification for invading a foreign country, no matter how flimsy.
Waymo One Robotaxi Service Available to “A Few Hundred Customers” in Arizona
December 5th, 2018Meatsack still onboard.
Via: Los Angeles Times:
Robot cars are now officially a real business. Waymo on Wednesday launched a commercial robot ride-hailing service in Arizona called Waymo One.
Like Uber or Lyft, customers will summon a ride with a smartphone app. But in this case, the car will be driving itself.
“This is a game changer. It’s historical in nature,” said Grayson Brulte, who heads driverless car consulting firm Brulte & Co.
Only “a few hundred customers” will have access to the app and participate in the early stages, according to Waymo, which is an arm of Google parent Alphabet Inc. Although the cars will drive themselves, a Waymo engineer will sit behind the wheel in case anything goes wrong. Waymo did not say when the cars will start arriving without a human minder or when the program will be expanded.
Waymo’s cars, Chrysler Pacifica minivans bristling with autonomous driving technology, are available in several eastern and southeastern Phoenix suburbs, including Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert. The fares are similar to those charged by Uber and Lyft.
Mastercard and Microsoft Have a Frightening Plan to Create Universal “Digital Identities”
December 4th, 2018Via: FastCompany:
Sometimes a business inadvertently drops the pretense and just tells the world its real intentions. We saw this yesterday, when Amazon bragged about how it “allowed” an employee to lose 100 pounds by endlessly delivering boxes. Amazon saw this as a heartwarming tale about how great it is to work for the e-commerce juggernaut. It completely missed the subtext: Who needs a gym when someone can physically labor for their corporate overlord and lose weight?
Now we have another, possibly darker example. Mastercard announced a new partnership with Microsoft that is tackling “digital identities.” Here’s how it described the project in a tweet:
Voting, driving, applying for a job, renting a home, getting married and boarding a plane: what do these all have in common? You need to prove your identity. In partnership with @Microsoft, we are working to create universally-recognized digital identity. https://t.co/He5syqa5g7
— Mastercard News (@MastercardNews) December 3, 2018
Essentially, the tweet described every action an adult human takes that is both highly intimate and requires sharing personal and confidential details. The companies are building a solution that would create a “universally-recognized digital identity.” To the corporations, this is a brilliant solution! To everyone else, it may feel more than a bit dystopian.
France Delays Fuel Tax Rises for Six Months
December 4th, 2018Via: BBC:
Fuel tax rises which had led to weeks of violent protests in France have been suspended for six months.
PM Edouard Philippe said that people’s anger must be heard, and the measures would not be applied until there had been proper debate with those affected.
Space X: Same First Stage Successfully Used for Third Launch
December 3rd, 2018Via: CBS:
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket using a first stage making a record third flight vaulted away from the California coast Monday, boosting 64 small satellites into orbit for a wide variety of government, academic and private-sector users — including artists — in a commercial launch chartered by Seattle-based Spaceflight.
The Falcon 9’s well-traveled first stage returned to Earth and safely landed on an off-shore drone ship — the “Just Read the Instructions” — to chalk up SpaceX’s 32nd recovery of a spent booster, the first to have flown three times.
Related: SpaceX Broke Four Records During Today’s Falcon 9 Rocket Launch
