Unveiling the Future: Self-Healing Robots, AI Arms Race, and AI-enabled Cancer Detection

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TL;DR

Stanford researchers develop self-healing robotic skin that also senses and aligns its layers when injured. Meanwhile, AI experts debate the potentially "extremely bad" consequences of AI surpassing human intelligence. The New York-based company, Ezra, is leveraging AI and MRI technology to revolutionize cancer detection. In AI news, a new platform is emerging as a hub for AI developers, GPT-4 is plugged into Minecraft revealing new AI potentials, and various companies and individuals offer their takes on the future of AI. Finally, a study introduces LIMA, a 65 billion parameter language model with impressive performance.

Here's what we've got in store for you today:

🦾 Real-Life Terminator?

♟️ The Race To AI Supremecy

🩻 Meet Ezra: The Early Cancer Detection Tool Powered by AI

📚 Research Of The Day

🎥 Video Of The Day

🛠 Tools Of The Day

Real-Life 'Terminator': Stanford Researchers Craft Self-Healing Robotic Skin

Picture this: you're watching your favorite classic flick, "Terminator", and you can't help but marvel at Arnie's super-human, self-healing cyborg skin. Well, guess what? That sci-fi spectacle is inching towards reality, courtesy of the boffins at Stanford University.

Our good ol' professor Zhenan Bao and her posse of researchers have been playing Frankenstein with robotic skin for years. In fact, they presented the world's first multi-layer, self-healing electronic skin as early as 2012.

Fast-forward a decade, and these skin-crafters have stepped up their game. They've cooked up a synthetic skin for robots that not only heals itself but can also sense and align its layers when injured, ensuring it keeps on trucking while it's on the mend.

"We've achieved what we believe to be the first demonstration of a multi-layer, thin film sensor that automatically realigns during healing," said Christopher B. Cooper, Stanford Ph.D. student and part-time quote-giver.

And why stop at mimicking just the healing properties of human skin? The Stanford crew has the material detecting thermal, mechanical, and electrical changes in its environment. The prototype they've made even has a keen sense for pressure.

The material is "soft and stretchable," according to co-author Sam Root. "But if you puncture it, slice it, or cut it each layer will selectively heal with itself to restore the overall function. Just like real skin," he added, probably while stroking his chin thoughtfully.

It's made from silicone and polypropylene glycol materials that stretch like a gymnast without tearing. Plus, it's got magnetic properties that make sure the skin layers snap back into place like fridge poetry.

Oh, and here's the kicker: if you damage this future-tech skin, all it needs is a little heat, a 158°F sauna session, and it's good as new in 24 hours. Let it chill at room temperature and it takes about a week to patch itself up.

The team is now working on refining their work, aiming for the thinnest possible layers that can perform different functions, like sensing changes in temperature or pressure.

This all comes at a time when artificial intelligence is on a hot streak, with chatbot ChatGPT attracting more people than a free buffet and AI-generated images captivating the masses.

And while humanoid robots are stealing the limelight, companies are busily working to create androids to help with household duties and even workplace tasks. Let's just hope they remember to program these skin-clad machines with some manners and a sense of humor. After all, no one likes a grumpy housemate, robotic or not.

Race to AI Supremacy: Winning May Mean Losing Our Future

According to Time Magazine, the list of things AI can't do is getting shorter by the minute. Not too long ago, we marveled at a robot's ability to make a sandwich. Now? They're whipping up elegant images/art, acing exams, and predicting protein folds like it's a Sunday stroll in the park.

Last summer, the Time Magazine author did a bit of a temperature check, surveying over 550 AI gurus. Almost half of them agreed that high-level AI might just roll out the red carpet for impacts with at least a 10% chance of being, well, "extremely bad." Imagine human extinction-level bad. This wasn't just a theoretical discussion over coffee, either. On May 30, top dogs from AI labs like OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic, along with hundreds of AI scientists, put their names on a statement that urged caution on AI. They're talking about it in the same breath as pandemics and nuclear war, folks.

Why such a grim outlook? Simple. Progress in AI might just result in the creation of superhumanly intelligent beings with agendas that don't quite align with ours. Picture a species that views us the same way we view chimps. Doesn't exactly paint a warm and fuzzy picture, does it?

Yet, there's a peculiar fear that if "we" - and by "we," they mean the good folks doing responsible research - don't power forward, someone with a little less regard for potential risks might take over the reins. What if a more cavalier lab, say, somewhere in China, decides to lead the charge? It's almost like a classic arms race but with a whole new twist: the winner might not be any one of us, but the AI itself.

However, the AI story diverges from the typical arms race script in important ways. For instance, one party’s safety measures could reduce risks for everyone, or coming in second might mean disaster instead of a small loss. Plus, other players entering the race might ramp up the danger level, and their response could have serious implications.

The reality of the situation is way more complex than a simple race. In this high-stakes game, if individual, uncoordinated players lead us to an "arms race"-like scenario, the winning move might just be to exit stage left. Thankfully, we've got tools to sidestep this mess: communication, commitments, and government regulations.

In the grand scheme of things, most of us couldn't care less if Meta outpaces Microsoft. But for those on the inside track, the story could be different. Framing AI as an arms race only bolsters the narrative that they need to push harder, chase faster. The rest of us need to keep an eye on who's calling the shots.

Maybe the AI journey is less of an arms race and more of a group of people on thin ice, eyeing a pile of treasure on the other side. Everyone could make it if they step carefully. But there's always that one person who thinks, "I bet I can sprint more carefully than Bob, and he might risk it." Instead of a race, maybe we need to tread slowly and cautiously. We can't let a twisted race to destruction endanger our world, especially when we've barely explored how we can coordinate our escape.

How Ezra is Democratizing Cancer Detection with AI and MRI Technology

Let's dive into the world of Ezra, a game-changer in cancer detection. This New York-based company uses MRI tech and artificial intelligence for full-body scans, keeping an eye on potential cancer in 13 organs and other conditions. Now, they're cranking it up a notch with Ezra Flash, a new AI level for better imaging results at a lower cost.

What's the story behind Ezra? Emi Gal, Ezra's founder, who has a high-risk for melanoma and lost his mother to it, believes that the cure for cancer lies in early detection. And with no clear screening guidelines for most types, this couldn't be more urgent.

Ezra's vision? To democratize cancer screening by making it as simple as booking an Uber. Their AI-enhanced full-body scan is helping doctors to make faster diagnoses while making reports understandable for patients. But their masterpiece, Ezra Flash, just got FDA clearance. This beauty trims down scan time, boosts image quality, and aims to lower costs even further.

Sure, like all great things, it comes with challenges. Think incidental findings - red flags that turn out to be nothing, causing unnecessary biopsies. But, Ezra's got a system for that, giving clear explanations and follow-up actions. And their false positive rate? A very low 1%.

So, here's to Ezra, paving the way for early cancer detection. Because everyone deserves to know what's happening in their bodies, without breaking the bank or earning a medical degree.

 📰 News From The Front Lines: 📰

📚 RESEARCH 📚

LIMA - Less Is More for Alignment

In the research paper "LIMA: Less Is More for Alignment", the authors introduce LIMA, a 65 billion parameter language model, and demonstrate its effectiveness when trained with a limited amount of carefully curated data. The study challenges the conventional approach of using significant computational resources and specialized data for high performance.

Key Findings:

1. Strong Performance: LIMA demonstrated impressive performance, learning to follow specific response formats from a small number of examples in the training data. It also showed a strong ability to generalize to unseen tasks.

2. Comparison with Other Models: In a human study, LIMA's responses were either equivalent or preferred to those of GPT-4 in 43% of cases, rising to 58% when compared to Bard and 65% versus DaVinci003.

3. Superficial Alignment Hypothesis: The authors propose this hypothesis, stating that a model’s knowledge and capabilities are learned almost entirely during pretraining, while alignment teaches it which subdistribution of formats should be used when interacting with users. The success of LIMA supports this hypothesis.

Implications and Benefits:

1. Efficiency: The success of LIMA suggests potential for more efficient training processes and lower computational costs.

2. Generalization: LIMA's ability to generalize to unseen tasks suggests potential for more adaptable and versatile AI systems.

3. Understanding of Language Model Training: The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relative importance of pretraining and instruction tuning in the training of large language models.

4. Potential for Improved AI Systems: The findings could potentially be used to improve the performance and efficiency of AI systems, particularly those that rely on large language models..

 📼 Video Of The Day 📼

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MEME Of The Day

Reports have surfaced that an Airforce simulation has gone terribly wrong, killing it’s pilot. Further reports say it was just a virtual simulation gone wrong. The US Air Force has denied all reports of this simulation. Who knows what’s going on, but I think we can all agree that we shouldn’t be weaponizing AI to this degree and giving it control of a trigger. That’s how you get skynet, and nobody wants that.

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