Artificial Intelligence
Rapid advancements in AI today have the potential to change everything about everything. But will they? We’re exploring what will change, how, and whether we’re building digital gods or stochastic parrots.
Featured
Has AI made “learn to code” obsolete?
Freethink talks to the creator of the world’s most popular AI coding assistant to find out whether learning to code is still worthwhile.
AI is already in the classroom. It’s time colleges caught up.
Rather than banning AI, schools should adapt by designing assignments that promote responsible use and keep the focus on learning.
Google AI exec: “The mistake would be thinking this is hype.”
Bestselling author and Google Labs’ Editorial Director Steven Johnson talks about the future of AI at Freethink’s Great Progression event.
A tool, a rival, or a collaborator?
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MIT’s new AI can make holograms in real-time
MIT trained an AI to generate photorealistic holograms in milliseconds using just the processing power of a smartphone.
New AI turns a smart speaker into a heart rhythm monitor
University of Washington researchers have transformed a smart speaker into a contactless heart rhythm monitor.
NFL hopefuls train with sensor-free athlete tracking tech
Intel’s new athlete tracking platform, 3DAT, can deliver performance insights without the use of potentially cumbersome sensors.
How to deepfake your grandparents' old photos
A new deepfake tool called Deep Nostalgia generates brief animations of faces in still photographs, breathing life into people’s old family portraits.
Tom Cruise deepfake is the work of a pro VFX artist
The Tom Cruise deepfake featured in a series of TikToks that went viral was created by a professional VFX artist.
Futuristic city will be a testbed for robots & autonomous cars
Toyota has broken ground on Woven City, a futuristic city prototype where the technologies of tomorrow can be tested en masse.
Meet the chess AI you might actually beat
Maia is a chess AI designed to play like you, not crush you. Predicting the most human decisions may pave the way for AI to train and work with us.
New intelligent material could become a “quantum brain”
Scientists created an intelligent material that acts as a brain by physically changing when it learns. This is an important step toward achieving a “quantum brain.”
New Google tool lets you experience synesthesia
Google’s new online tool lets you experience synesthesia like the abstract artist Vasily Kandinsky, who could hear colors and see sounds.
Virtual patients help doctors improve bedside manner
The Virti platform lets doctors and med students interact with computer-generated virtual patients so they can improve their bedside manner.
“This DNA is not real”: Why scientists are deepfaking the human genome
Researchers taught an AI to make artificial genomes, which could advance genetic research without compromising the privacy of individuals.
AI brings Vince Lombardi back to life for Super Bowl ad
Using face-swapping AI, the NFL has created a Super Bowl ad in which iconic coach Vince Lombardi delivers a message of unity 50 years after his death.
Predicting which birds can cause Lyme disease spread
Lyme disease spreads via infected ticks, some of whom pick it up from birds. But which birds may carry the disease to new places?
Sophia the Robot will be mass-produced this year
Hanson Robotics is going to begin mass-producing Sophia the robot in 2021, making the social robot available to help combat the pandemic.
An AI has discovered new craters on Mars
An AI trained to spot signs of fresh craters on Mars in photos of the Martian surface has already discovered dozens of new impacts.
AI makes nearly 100% accurate cancer diagnosis from urine
A new AI-based technique can make a nearly 100% accurate prostate cancer diagnosis from a urine sample, potentially saving patients from unneeded biopsies.
Autonomous trucks are taking to the highways
Self-driving cars get all the love, but autonomous trucks are already hitting the road, with a “driver-out” demonstration scheduled for 2021.
One robot was able to watch another bot and predict its actions
A Columbia University study suggests that empathy between robots may be possible — and the skill could make the bots more useful to humans.
Nerve-stimulator helps people walk after MS and strokes
The EvoWalk wearable uses electrical stimulation, sensors, and AI to combat foot drop, a condition commonly linked to MS and strokes.
New AI can draw pictures, inching closer to humanlike smarts
OpenAI’s two new machine learning algorithms improve computer vision and can use text cues to draw unique and often offbeat images.
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