Lifeboat Foundation

The “unbeatable” bot still has much to learn from human players.

Whether in the brain or in code, neural networks are shaping up to be one of the most critical areas of research in both neuroscience and computer science. An increasing amount of attention, funding, and development has been pushed toward technologies that mimic the brain in both hardware and software to create more efficient, high performance systems capable of advanced, fast learning.

One aspect of all the efforts toward more scalable, efficient, and practical neural networks and deep learning frameworks we have been tracking here at The Next Platform is how such systems might be implemented in research and enterprise over the next ten years. One of the missing elements, at least based on the conversations that make their way into various pieces here, for such eventual end users is reducing the complexity of the training process for neural networks to make them more practically useful–and without all of the computational overhead and specialized systems training requires now. Crucial then, is a whittling down of how neural networks are trained and implemented. And not surprisingly, the key answers lie in the brain, and specifically, functions in the brain and how it “trains” its own network that are still not completely understood, even by top neuroscientists.

In many senses, neural networks, cognitive hardware and software, and advances in new chip architectures are shaping up to be the next important platform. But there are still some fundamental gaps in knowledge about our own brains versus what has been developed in software to mimic them that are holding research at bay. Accordingly, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) in the U.S. is getting behind an effort spearheaded by Tai Sing Lee, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, and researchers at Johns Hopkins University, among others, to make new connections between the brain’s neural function and how those same processes might map to neural networks and other computational frameworks. The project called the Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICRONS).

Continue reading “IARPA Project Targets Hidden Algorithms of the Brain” »

Russia’s NextGen Robots are coming.

Russian military institutions are working on a program of robotization of the army that will introduce combat robots able to act independently on the battlefield, deputy head of the Defense Ministry Pavel Popov said in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Special military units of robots will be operated by a united control system, Popov said, adding that many robotic and pilotless vehicles are already employed in the Russian military.

Continue reading “Russian Army to Introduce New ‘Robot Warriors’” »

The jury may still be out on the usefulness of the Internet of Things, but payments giant Visa is 100 percent sure that it doesn’t want to miss out. Today, it announced plans to push Visa payments into numerous fields. We’re talking “wearables, automobiles, appliances, public transportation services, clothing, and almost any other connected device” — basically anything that can or will soon connect to the internet.

Visa imagines a future where you’ll be able to pay for parking from your car dashboard or order a grocery delivery from your fridge. It makes sense, then, that Samsung is one of the first companies to sign up to the Visa Ready Program, alongside Accenture, universal payment card company Coin and Fit Pay. Chronos and Pebble are also working to integrate secure payments inside their devices.

To show off the technology, which works with any credit card, Visa or otherwise, the company has teamed up with Honda to develop an in-car app that helps automate payments. Right now they have two demos, the first of which concerns refueling. It warns the driver when their fuel level is low and directs them to the nearest gas station. Once the car arrives at the pump, the app calculates the expected cost and allows the driver to pay for the fuel without having to leave the vehicle.

Continue reading “Visa thinks your car should pay for its own fuel” »

This story reminds me of the building of ancient pyramids in Egypt as well as the building of ancient temples and cities in Mexico and India.

China has relocated 9K people to build their new giant telescope — in 2000 years from now the robots and Ray Kurzweil (who plans never to die) will be looking at the ancient telescope. And, Ray (the grand earth historian) can tell them all about the process and the reason why it was built.

The Chinese government plans to relocate some 9,000 people to make space for the world’s largest radio telescope. Photo: ChinaPhotoPress.

Continue reading “China relocating thousands to build record-size telescope” »

Does the connected self driving car, mean a connected work car as well?

SAN FRANCISCO — In the balancing act between business and pleasure, the modern connected car is mostly about pleasure. Drivers can easily stream music from the Internet and dictate text messages to friends, but staying connected to the office is still cumbersome, as anyone who has tried to join a teleconference while driving can attest.

People tired of checking corporate email around the clock may prefer it that way. After all, a request from the boss can still be reasonably deflected with a simple: “Sorry, I’m driving.”

Continue reading “Challenge for Microsoft: Could we get more work done in our cars? (Should we?)” »

A new fully-automated farm in Japan can be used to grow vegetables anywhere on Earth with little human input, but it may not yet be a solution to solve hunger, the company’s CEO told Sputnik Japan.

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“No offense; but your robots are ugly”

Robots today (especially for home and care giver usage) will need to improve drastically. We’re still designing robots like the are a CPU for homes which frankly freaks some kids out, scares some of the elderly population that it’s too fragile to operate, and my own cat will not come near one. If robotics for home use is ever going to be adopted by the large mass of the population they will need to look less like they are a robot part of a manufacturers’s assembly line, will need a softer/ low noise sound with volume controls for those with hard of hearing, will need modifications for the deaf and blind, will all need to be a multi purpose robot that can do 2 or more types of work inside the home vacumn/ dust/ cook/ wash dishes/ wash clothes, etc., not complicated to set up and operate, reliable (not needing repairs all the time & not over heat), less bulky, better sensors to determine stairs and can climb stairs, etc.

From mowing the lawn to cooking dinner, experts say automatons are set to take over some of our most tedious tasks.

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Unfortunately, much of this (teaching morals, developing a defense plan in case of a preemptive strike, etc,) is not going to work and key reason is simple. Robots are and will always be a machine at it’s core foundation. And, as a result, criminals and terrorists will be able to pay enough money to someone to over ride the technology; therefore, enabling criminals and others to do whatever they wish with the technology.

Instead of trying to promote book reading as a means to preventing an up rising; let’s be a little more realistic in this by stating we’re teaching the machine to have more of an interpersonal approach in its communications and interactions with people. Also, I highly encourage robotic companies need to include a well diverse engineering team especially where robotics is being developed for domestic usage and caregiver usage; otherwise, you will be only as good as the next competitor’s product that did include a right mix of engineers and deliver a better product that meets both male and female needs as well as cultural needs.

In other words, it will be hard for a robot designed & created with a dominate male (20 to 30 something year olds) minded to relate how a female 50 yr old thinks about her house. Again, I would love to see more females get into this space especially female owned companies because they could truly own this market.
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