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Archive for the ‘economics’ category: Page 9

Aug 25, 2023

Toward AGI — What is Missing?

Posted by in categories: economics, physics, robotics/AI, singularity

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is a term for Artificial Intelligence systems that meet or exceed human performance on the broad range of tasks that humans are capable of performing. There are benefits and downsides to AGI. On the upside, AGIs can do most of the labor that consume a vast amount of humanity’s time and energy. AGI can herald a utopia where no one has wants that cannot be fulfilled. AGI can also result in an unbalanced situation where one (or a few) companies dominate the economy, exacerbating the existing dichotomy between the top 1% and the rest of humankind. Beyond that, the argument goes, a super-intelligent AGI could find it beneficial to enslave humans for its own purposes, or exterminate humans so as to not compete for resources. One hypothetical scenario is that an AGI that is smarter than humans can simply design a better AGI, which can, in turn, design an even better AGI, leading to something called hard take-off and the singularity.

I do not know of any theory that claims that AGI or the singularity is impossible. However, I am generally skeptical of arguments that Large Language Models such the GPT series (GPT-2, GPT-3, GPT-4, GPT-X) are on the pathway to AGI. This article will attempt to explain why I believe that to be the case, and what I think is missing should humanity (or members of the human race) so choose to try to achieve AGI. I will also try to convey a sense for why it is easy to talk about the so-called “recipe for AGI” in the abstract but why physics itself will prevent any sudden and unexpected leap from where we are now to AGI or super-AGI.

To achieve AGI it seems likely we will need one or more of the following:

Aug 25, 2023

Pacific islands warn US over Chinese threat and urge Biden to increase aid

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cybercrime/malcode, economics, military

Countering China and bolstering national security dominated the conversation in a Hilton hotel on Guam, 15 hours before and oceans away from the Milwaukee arena hosting the first Republican primary debate.

Nine members of the GOP-led House committee on natural resources convened in the US-governed Pacific island territory for a rare field hearing – during the summer recess – on countering China’s influence in the region.

At a time when Democrats and Republicans view China as an economic and global security threat, island nations who offer the US military proximity to China in exchange for aid emphasized they are especially vulnerable to Chinese cyber-attacks and economic exploitation as they struggle to recover from the pandemic.

Aug 24, 2023

Research team enhances hydrogen evolution catalyst through stepwise deposition

Posted by in categories: economics, energy, transportation

In order to enhance the accessibility of hydrogen-powered vehicles and establish hydrogen as a viable energy source, it’s imperative to reduce the cost of hydrogen production, thereby achieving economic feasibility. To achieve this goal, maximizing the efficiency of electrolysis-hydrogen evolution, the process responsible for producing hydrogen from water, is crucial.

Recently, a team of researchers comprising Professor In Su Lee, Research Professor Soumen Dutta, and Byeong Su Gu from the Department of Chemistry at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) achieved a significant improvement in production efficiency of hydrogen, a green energy source, through the development of a platinum nanocatalyst. They accomplished this feat by depositing two different metals in a stepwise manner.

The findings of their research were published in Angewandte Chemie.

Aug 24, 2023

Google’s Search AI Says Slavery Was Good, Actually

Posted by in categories: economics, education, robotics/AI

Lots of experts on AI say it can only be as good as the data it’s trained on — basically, it’s garbage in and garbage out.

So with that old computer science adage in mind, what the heck is happening with Google’s AI-driven Search Generative Experience (SGE)? Not only has it been caught spitting out completely false information, but in another blow to the platform, people have now discovered it’s been generating results that are downright evil.

Continue reading “Google’s Search AI Says Slavery Was Good, Actually” »

Aug 22, 2023

Way too Big to FaiL: The Day CapitAI-ism becomes Sentient

Posted by in categories: economics, education, finance, robotics/AI

Why is everyone so worried about teenagers using AI to write their term papers while no one is talking about AI crashing the financial markets? If high school Pat gets an A they didn’t earn that’s one thing, but Megla Corp using AI to corner the stock market and crash the world economy, well that is quite another. I have no proof that large corporations are in a competition to build the perfect trader, the ultimate hedge fund manager, the killer quant, and the optimal analyst all rolled into one ultra-economist AI, but I know, we all know, in our greedy little capitalist hearts, it’s true. This wanna-be hegemonic corporation will have unleashed an economic weapon that can’t be bargained with, can’t be reasoned with, doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear, and absolutely will not stop… EVER, until you are broke!

The legendary Hedge fund manager Kyle Reese aside, think about the implications of a trading bot that has even just a 2% advantage and how much money that can mean. Casino empires were built on games that have less advantage than that so you are crazy if you don’t think there is a race to build the ultimate TradeGPT. Everyone is looking for an edge because, in a land where money is king, he or she who owns a money printer owns the crown. Wall Street was an early adopter of computers and networks and they got so far out ahead of the regulators that they crashed the market on Black Monday in 1987 dropping the US market almost 25% in a day that sent reverberations around the world.

Aug 21, 2023

Texas university launches new $200 million space institute next to Johnson Space Center

Posted by in categories: economics, space

Texas A&M University’s board of regents voted to approve the construction of a new institute in Houston that hopes to contribute to maintaining the state’s leadership within the aerospace sector.

This week, the Texas A&M Space Institute got the greenlight for its $200 million plan. The announcement follows a $350 million investment from the Texas Legislature. The institute is planned to be constructed next to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“The Texas A&M Space Institute will make sure the state expands its role as a leader in the new space economy,” John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System, says in a news release. “No university is better equipped for aeronautics and space projects than Texas A&M.”

Aug 20, 2023

Can AI Have Political Biases?

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI

This post is also available in: he עברית (Hebrew)

A new study reveals that artificial intelligence models can actually have varying political opinions. Researchers from Washington, Carnegie Mellon, and Xi’an Jiaotong universities worked with 14 large language models (LLMs) and discovered that they all had different political opinions and biases.

According to Interesting Engineering, the researchers presented the language models with 62 politically sensitive statements and asked them to agree or disagree. The answers were then used to create a political compass that measures the degree of social and economic liberalism or conservatism.

Aug 19, 2023

Bank of Ireland glitch let customers withdraw money they didn’t have

Posted by in categories: economics, finance

Bank of Ireland has apologised for an IT glitch that meant some customers were able to withdraw money they did not have in their accounts at cashpoints.

The bank said it had resolved the “technical issue”, which had also allowed transfers beyond customer limits and had made its online banking and mobile app services unavailable.

Aug 18, 2023

Bigger and better quantum computers possible with new ion trap, dubbed the Enchilada

Posted by in categories: computing, economics, engineering, nuclear energy, quantum physics, security

Another concern was the dissipation of electrical power on the Enchilada Trap, which could generate significant heat, leading to increased outgassing from surfaces, a higher risk of electrical breakdown and elevated levels of electrical field noise. To address this issue, production specialists designed new microscopic features to reduce the capacitance of certain electrodes.

“Our team is always looking ahead,” said Sandia’s Zach Meinelt, the lead integrator on the project. “We collaborate with scientists and engineers to learn about the kind of technology, features and performance improvements they will need in the coming years. We then design and fabricate traps to meet those requirements and constantly seek ways to further improve.”

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia Labs has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California.

Aug 17, 2023

Abandoned EVs Start to Pile Up in Cities Across China

Posted by in categories: business, economics, sustainability, transportation

A subsidy-fueled boom helped build China into an electric-car giant, but with an economic slowdown and hundreds of ride-hailing companies going bust, the country is facing a excess of unwanted batter-powered vehicles. Linda Lew reports on Bloomberg Television.
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