All posts tagged: builds

Inventor Builds Six Robot Copies of Himself, Uses One to Give Speeches and Take Questions From Audience

Inventor Builds Six Robot Copies of Himself, Uses One to Give Speeches and Take Questions From Audience

Published by José

“Originally, I was using this robot for giving lectures when I was busy.” Human Xerox Japanese inventor Hiroshi Ishiguro has created a whopping six robot clones of himself over the last 18 years, each bearing an increasingly close resemblance to himself. His latest creation, dubbed Geminoid HI-6, is a life-like teleoperated android version of his physical likeness currently being displayed at his lab at Osaka University. The bot, Ishiguro says, was designed to make his easier. In fact, it’s been taking over some of the tasks its flesh-and-blood creator doesn’t have the time for with the help of AI. “The main feature of this version is it’s conversational,” he told CNBC in a recent interview. “We have integrated it with a large language model, and then we have input ten of my books and almost all media interviews.” “Originally, I was using this robot for giving lectures when I was busy,” he added. “But now, after the lectures, this Geminoid HI-6 can answer the questions given by an audience.”   Android Surrogate The eerie robot can …

2024 Innovator of the Year: Shawn Shan builds tools to help artists fight back against exploitative AI

2024 Innovator of the Year: Shawn Shan builds tools to help artists fight back against exploitative AI

Published by skeptic

Now artists are fighting back. And some of the most powerful tools they have were built by Shawn Shan, 26, a PhD student in computer science at the University of Chicago (and MIT Technology Review’s 2024 Innovator of the Year).  Shan got his start in AI security and privacy as an undergraduate there and participated in a project that built Fawkes, a tool to protect faces from facial recognition technology. But it was conversations with artists who had been hurt by the generative AI boom that propelled him into the middle of one of the biggest fights in the field. Soon after learning about the impact on artists, Shan and his advisors Ben Zhao (who made our Innovators Under 35 list in 2006) and Heather Zheng (who was on the 2005 list) decided to build a tool to help. They gathered input from more than a thousand artists to learn what they needed and how they would use any protective technology.  CLARISSA BONET Shan coded the algorithm behind Glaze, a tool that lets artists mask …

Roblox is launching a generative AI that builds 3D environments in a snap

Roblox is launching a generative AI that builds 3D environments in a snap

Published by skeptic

Roblox’s new tool works by “tokenizing” the 3D blocks that make up its millions of in-game worlds, or treating them as units that can be assigned a numerical value on the basis of how likely they are to come next in a sequence. This is similar to the way in which a large language model handles words or fractions of words. If you put “The capital of France is …” into a large language model like GPT-4, for example, it assesses what the next token is most likely to be. In this case, it would be “Paris.” Roblox’s system handles 3D blocks in much the same way to create the environment, block by most likely next block.  Finding a way to do this has been difficult, for a couple of reasons. One, there’s far less data for 3D environments than there is for text. To train its models, Roblox has had to rely on user-generated data from creators as well as external data sets.  “Finding high-quality 3D information is difficult,” says Anupam Singh, vice president …

WTI Dips After API Reports Across-The-Board Inventory Builds

WTI Dips After API Reports Across-The-Board Inventory Builds

Published by skeptic

Oil prices ended the day flat today (after touching the lowest level in almost two months on news reports said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak indicated OPEC+ could move to raise crude production). Novak told Russia’s Interfax news agency that the possibility of increasing oil production within the OPEC+ framework was still being analyzed. “It always depends on the current situation; the balance of supply and demand. Everything is analyzed. Now there is no need to forecast anything. We need to look at how the market is feeling,” he said, according to Interfax. OPEC+ has largely been expected to roll over existing voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels a day beyond the second quarter. But crude recovered, finding technical support ahead of tonight’s API inventory data. API Inventories rose across the whole complex according to API… Source: Bloomberg WTI tested its 100DMA for the third day in a row, and rejected it (for the third day in a row)… And dipped after the inventory builds… Overall, “oil is lower because a renewed battle between …

Apple builds a slimmed-down AI model using Stanford, Google innovations

Apple builds a slimmed-down AI model using Stanford, Google innovations

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Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images The world is watching to see what Apple will do to counter the dominance of Microsoft and Google in generative AI. Most assume the tech giant’s innovations will take the form of neural nets on the iPhone and other Apple devices. Small clues are popping up here and there hinting at what Apple is working on. Also: How Apple’s AI advances could make or break the iPhone 16 Apple last week introduced OpenELM, an “embedded” large language model (LLM) that runs on mobile devices and essentially mashes together the breakthroughs of several research institutions, including Google’s deep learning scholars and academics at Stanford and elsewhere. All of OpenELM’s code is posted on GitHub, along with various documentation for its training approach. Apple has also detailed its work in a paper by Sachin Mehta and team, “OpenELM: An Efficient Language Model Family with Open-source Training and Inference Framework”, posted on the arXiv pre-print server. Apple’s researchers used a neural net with just 1.3 billion neural weights, or, parameters, suggesting the company is focusing …

Humza Yousaf vows to stay in power – as pressure builds on his government | UK News

Humza Yousaf vows to stay in power – as pressure builds on his government | UK News

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Embattled Humza Yousaf has told Sky News he will not resign as Scotland’s first minister. Pressure has been building on the SNP leader after he tore up the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens – prompting a no-confidence motion in his leadership and a threatened knife-edge vote. Image: First Minister Humza Yousaf insists he is getting on with the job. Pic: PA However, Mr Yousaf, on a visit to Dundee that was arranged at short notice after he pulled out of a speech in Glasgow, insisted he was getting on with the job and accused the opposition of “playing games”. Follow live updates in the Politics Hub He said he would be writing to the leaders of all Scottish political parties to seek talks on making a minority government work. He told Sky News’ Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies: “I intend absolutely to fight that vote of no confidence, I’ve got every intention of winning that vote of no confidence. “And let me say to the opposition for minority government to work in the interest of …

Rivian R2 builds off R1S, R1T at a lower price says design boss

Rivian R2 builds off R1S, R1T at a lower price says design boss

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Rivian wants to shake up the industry with its next-generation R2 electric vehicle. Starting at around $45,000, the R2 is expected to open up a new market of buyers. How does Rivian plan to keep its rugged luxury feel at a lower price? The company’s design boss explains. Rivian R2 design challenges present unique opportunity In less than 24 hours after revealing the smaller, more affordable R2, Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe said the new electric SUV earned over 68,000 reservations. Rivian unveiled the R2 last month, with starting prices around $45,000. That’s almost half the current $74,900 R1S and $69,900 R1T starting price. At 4,715 mm long, 1,700 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,935, the R2 is undoubtedly smaller than the current R1S ( 5,100 mm x L, 1,873 mm x H, 3,075 x wheelbase). Despite its smaller size and lower price, Rivian insists the R2 will keep the brand’s essence. According to Rivian’s design chief, Jeff Hammoud, the R2’s lower price point was one of the biggest challenges. With R1, Rivian was able …

‘Like a Noah’s Ark of plants’: Conservation facility in the UK builds up collection of 2.4 billion seeds

‘Like a Noah’s Ark of plants’: Conservation facility in the UK builds up collection of 2.4 billion seeds

Published by Sam

WEST SUSSEX, England: With two in five plant species at the risk of extinction, giving a safe home to some of the world’s most threatened flora is a pressing concern. In an effort to address the problem, the Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom has built up a collection of 2.4 billion seeds representing more than 40,000 species.  They come from around 11,000 trees and shrub species. The huge collection of wild plant seeds from around the world is kept safe underground in rural Sussex in England. They include contributions from Mozambique, Madagascar, and Armenia. The seeds are X-rayed, dried, weighed, and sorted, then kept as a backup of the world’s wild plant species. “There are various objectives. I would say perhaps the two main ones are first of all, to create almost like a Noah’s Ark of plants so that if anything goes extinct, then we can use the seeds to reintroduce them to the wild,” said Asia coordinator of Millennium Seed Bank Partnership Kate Hardwick. “But a more immediate use is to …

Aptera to sell solar EVs in UAE, including 53 ‘Union Edition’ builds

Aptera to sell solar EVs in UAE, including 53 ‘Union Edition’ builds

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Just weeks after announcing plans to showcase its solar EV technology to the public in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), startup Aptera Motors is taking things a step further. The company recently shared intentions to begin selling its nascent vehicles in the UAE, kicking off the new market entry with 53 production builds of an exclusive “Union Edition” model for early adopters in the Middle East. Before this week’s latest Aptera Motors update, the solar EV startup touted the latest details of its production-intent build process, which included delivering the first production-ready solar EV body to Aptera’s headquarters in Carlsbad, California. Earlier this month, Aptera said it would attend DRIFTx in Abu Dhabi—a conference in the UAE that, according to Anthony, “promotes investment in groundbreaking ideas such as Aptera.” With DRIFTx underway later this week, Aptera has already shared news that includes expanding to a new market outside its native US—the Middle East. Source: Aptera Motors Aptera to enter UAE, begin delivering solar EVs by 2026 Aptera Motors shared details of its global expansion to the …

Meghan Markle’s obsession with Pilates builds ‘full body strength and stability’

Meghan Markle’s obsession with Pilates builds ‘full body strength and stability’

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Followers of Meghan Markle will know that she likes to keep fit and healthy with the help of a particular kind of workout.  The Duchess of Sussex, 42, is supremely elegant with excellent posture thanks in part to her etiquette training during her time as a UK-based senior royal, but mostly to her obsession with Pilates.  © GettyMeghan is a Pilates-lover As we unpack the Duchess’ go-to workout, HELLO! calls on professional personal trainer and founder of online female fitness community, Ladies Who Crunch, Nancy Best, to help us understand the benefits of the popular training method.  © Ladies Who CrunchNancy Best breaks down Meghan’s go-to workout What is Pilates? Many confuse Pilates with yoga but there are subtle differences. While yoga focuses on spiritual wellbeing and relaxation techniques, Pilates is all about strengthening muscles with repetitive movements that focus on balance, posture, and flexibility. © GettyYoga has amazing benfits for sleep as part of a wider sleep health routine Practising Pilates goes back all the way to World War I when Joseph Pilates created …