Enlarge (credit: Humphreys et. al.) It is now relatively trivial to determine the order of amino acids in a protein. Figuring out how that order translates to a complicated three-dimensional structure that performs a specific function, however, is extremely challenging. But after decades of slow progress, Google’s DeepMind AI group announced that it has made tremendous […]
Enlarge (credit: Piaggio Fast Forward) When Amazon introduced its home robot Astro earlier this year, it first showcased the robot following behind a person. It’s a simple idea that has captured people’s imaginations with depictions in science fiction, like R2-D2 and BB-8 from Star Wars, and in reality, with research projects like DARPA’s robotic pack […]
Enlarge / Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepMind, speaks during a press conference on March 8, 2016 in Seoul, South Korea. (credit: Getty Images) Google owner Alphabet has launched an artificial intelligence company to discover new drugs. UK-registered Isomorphic Labs will use technology from its sister company DeepMind “to accelerate drug […]
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images) Facebook is battling its gravest crisis since the Cambridge Analytica scandal after a whistleblower accusing the company of placing “profit over safety” shed light on the inner workings through thousands of pages of leaked memos. The documents were disclosed to US regulators and provided in order to Congress […]
Enlarge / Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress in April 2018. It wasn’t his only appearance in DC this decade. (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sounded an optimistic note three years ago when he wrote about the progress his company was making in automated moderation tools powered by artificial intelligence. […]
Enlarge / A container ship sails off the coast of Thailand. (credit: iStock ) Finding sources of pollution across vast supply chains may be one of the largest barriers to eliminating carbon pollution. For some sources like electricity or transportation, it’s relatively easy. But for others like agriculture or consumer electronics, tracing and quantifying greenhouse […]
A clip from the simulation where virtual robots learn to climb steps. An army of more than 4, 000 marching doglike robots is a vaguely menacing sight, even in a simulation. But it may point the way for machines to learn new tricks. The virtual robot army was developed by researchers from ETH Zurich in […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) For decades, doctors and hospitals saw kidney patients differently based on their race. A standard equation for estimating kidney function applied a correction for Black patients that made their health appear rosier, inhibiting access to transplants and other treatments. On Thursday, a task force assembled by two leading kidney care societies […]
Enlarge (credit: Andriy Onufriyenko | Getty Images) Companies of all kinds use machine learning to analyze people’s desires, dislikes, or faces. Some researchers are now asking a different question: How can we make machines forget? A nascent area of computer science dubbed machine unlearning seeks ways to induce selective amnesia in artificial intelligence software. The […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Samsung is using artificial intelligence to automate the insanely complex and subtle process of designing cutting-edge computer chips . The South Korean giant is one of the first chipmakers to use AI to create its chips. Samsung is using AI features in new software from Synopsys , a leading chip design […]