2018 A.M. Turing Award recipient Geoffrey Hinton appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss the risks and promise of artificial intelligence. Hinton—one of the “Godfathers of AI” along with Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun—wants governments, companies and developers to carefully consider the best ways to safely advance the technology. He also believes that AI has the potential for both good and harm, that now is the moment to run experiments to understand AI and pass laws to ensure the technology is ethically used, and that AI does have the potential to one day take over from humanity. More->>
Clemson University Institute for Intelligent Materials, Systems and Environments (CU-iMSE)
Register for Webinar: “Ethical Quandaries in AI-ML: Facing the Tough Questions,” December 14
This talk is a follow-up to the April 19, 2023 webinar with Mehran Sahami of Stanford University, “Confronting Ethical Challenges in a High-Tech World.” Serami and a panel of AI-ML experts from industry and academia—Tulsee Doshi, Susan Epstein, Fay Cobb Payton, Susan Reiser, and Kush Varshney—will explore some of the ethical questions raised in that session, including the role of human values in AI algorithms, bias in AI-ML and the impact of diverse teams in reducing bias; data privacy, and more. More->>
UCLA Researchers Use AI to Show Multidimensional Imaging of Biological Processes
The new system can capture and track flowing blood cells in a beating heart. (Dr. Tzung Hsiai)
UCLA bioengineers and colleagues have created a new imaging system that advances dynamic imaging microscopy with artificial intelligence. The new system can reveal the details of biological processes in tiny tissue samples at a resolution of two thousandths of a millimeter and in slow motion at 200 frames per second. “This new system allows us to see biological events live in what is essentially five dimensions — the three dimensions of space, plus time and the molecular level dynamics as highlighted by color spectra,” said Dr. Tzung Hsiai, UCLA’s Maud Cady Guthman Professor of Cardiology. “For doctors and scientists, this could reveal the fine details of what’s happening in microscopic spaces and over millisecond-length time scales in a way that has never been done before. This advance can go a long way in helping find new insights to understand and treat diseases.” More->>
Kenyan Start-up Founder Uses Plastic to Make Bricks Stronger Than Concrete
Materials engineer Nzambi Matee heads a recent start-up called Gjenge Makers, which creates low-cost lightweight building materials from recycled plastic and sand. Beginning with pavers, the company has introduced a product that is stronger and more flexible than concrete, heightening its durability and diminishing its maintenance costs. More->>
ICON teams up with BIG and SEArch+ for Project Olympus, An Off-world Construction System for the Moon
“Icon, an Austin, Texas-based developer of construction technologies, received funding to research and develop a space-based construction system that could support future exploration of the moon. It has engaged two architecture firms as partners for the project: Denmark-based BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and New York City-based SEArch+.” — Construction Dive More->>
This 3D-printed, Hands-free Door Opener Could Be A Quick Fix to Help Reduce the Spread of COVID-19 and Other Illnesses
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, many architects, designers, and students are turning to 3D-printing to rapidly produce much needed equipment, like protective gear for healthcare workers and respirator valves for sick patients. In their own effort to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, Belgian manufacturing company Materialise recently released free design files for a hands-free door opener that makes you use your wrist (ideally covered by a sleeve) instead of your bare hands to touch door handles, which are a hotspot for germs. Even MayoClinic has printed the door openers to be used in their facilities. More->>
Refik Anadol Uses Machine-learning to Generate His ‘Quantum Memories’ for the NGV Triennial
Installation view of refik anadol ‘quantum memories, 2020’ on display in NGV triennial 2020, © refik anadol, by tom ross
The video artwork series is an expression of more than 200 million nature-related images from the internet. These images are processed using quantum computing software developed by the google AI quantum research team together with a supercomputer that has been programmed with machine-learning algorithms. The resulting real-time video can be considered both an alternate dimension of the natural world and a radical visualization of digitized memories of nature. More->>
How can pedestrians trust autonomous vehicles
Utilizing a unique VR set-up, researchers uncover a certain amount of trust to encourage, but not harm, pedestrians. When at a crosswalk, humans can easily read a driver’s slightest nod. These gestures give us the confidence to step out into the road full of two-ton machines. With an automated vehicle, however, that human to human communication is unreliable: the driver may not be in control or even be paying attention, leaving the pedestrian unsure if they’ll be safe while crossing. To inform future solutions to this, a team led by Michigan researchers observed how we act as pedestrians in a virtual reality city full of autonomous vehicles. More->>
Robots and Humans Collaborate to Revolutionize Architecture
Two Princeton researchers, architect Stefana Parascho and engineer Sigrid Adriaenssens, dreamed of using robots to simplify construction, even when building complex forms. “We want to use robots to build beautiful architecture more sustainably,” said Adriaenssens, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the director of the Form Finding Lab. So the professors partnered with architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) to create a striking and unique installation for the SOM exhibition “Anatomy of Structure” in London last March. They used two industrial robots provided by U.K.-based Global Robots to build a breathtaking vault, 7 feet tall, 12 feet across and 21 feet long, constructed of 338 transparent glass bricks from Poesia Glass Studio. More->>
Robert Builds Two-story Brick House
Perth, Australia-based robotics company FBR – formerly known as Fastbrick Robotics – has built its first two-storey house using its Hadrian X block-laying robot, which has been in development since 2015. It was the first time the robotic block-laying approach incorporated steel reinforced concrete columns and a concrete floor slab placed atop the structure’s first story (Global Construstion Review). More->>
