By Dr. Peper
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The podcast currently has 51 episodes available.
We all have thoughts of the future. Some of us will only think of it in passing, but others will spend months or even years contemplating the endless possibilities.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s vision for the future, beautifully presented in his latest book, ‘Klara and the Sun,’ shows an excellent level of thought and research. The British novelist presents an emotionally nuanced concept of what it means to be human or non-human.
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I discuss Ishiguro’s latest book and its depiction of robots and artificial intelligence. I also delve into what immortality could look like for humans – will it be robots in our future or something different?
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Episode Transcript:
Hello to you who are curious about AI, I’m Dr. Peper.
We all have thoughts about the future, some of us in passing and some spend months and years thinking about it. Kazuo Ishiguro’s vision, beautifully presented in his latest book, Klara and the Sun, shows much thought and research. This British novelist presents emotionally nuanced concepts about what it means to be human and not human. I’m not an artificial intelligence expert nor a Nobel prizing winning author like Ishiguro. But I am someone who’s fascinated by artificial intelligence and want people to understand what AI means for our future. From that perspective, I’ve identified three things Ishiguro got right, and two things I think he got wrong, in his new book Klara and the Sun.
First, his depiction of Klara, an artificial friend, or robot, meshes with my understanding of what robots will be like in the future. They will have the ability to understand and integrate information and read and understand human emotions. This ability will surpass the ability of the humans around them at times. With exposure to more human situations and more human observations, robots will increase and refine their emotional abilities. They’ll have true feelings, not simulate them.
The second thing Ishiguro gets right is the future of work. There will be substitutions of humans with machines as machines do more and more of the work. Humans will be displaced and just as in the novel, people will struggle to redefine their role in society and find new meaning.
And the third thing that Ishiguro accurately writes about is the inequality created by those who choose and can afford to have gene-edited children, described as the lifted kids compared to the non-lifted kids, and those whose parents can’t afford or choose not to have their children’s genes edited before birth. I think this will be a real possibility in the near future. There will also be major inequalities in wealth,...
What is Liquid AI, and could it prove more effective than other types of AI?
New research into neural nets and algorithms has revealed what some call “Liquid AI,” a more fluid and adaptable version of artificial intelligence.
In my previous episode, I discussed the basics of AI and the limitations that hold it back. It looks like Liquid AI could provide the very solutions that the AI community has been searching for.
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I explore the new research behind Liquid AI, how it works, and what it does better than other types of AI.
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Hello to you who are curious about AI, I’m Dr. Peper. Machine learning algorithms are getting an overhaul from a very unlikely source. It’s a fascinating story.
Neural Nets have Traditional Limitations
Neural nets are the powerhouse of machine learning. They have the ability to translate whole books within seconds with Google Translate, change written text into images with DALLE, and discover the 3D structure of a protein in hours with AlphaFold. But researchers have struggled with neural networks because of their limitations.
Neural nets cannot do anything other than what they’re trained for. They’re programed with parameters set to give the most accurate results. But that makes them brittle which means they can break when given new information they weren’t trained on. Today the deep learning neural nets used in autonomous driving have millions of parameters. And the newest neural nets are so complex, with hundreds of layers and billions of parameters, they require very powerful supercomputers to run the algorithms.
A Neuroplastic Neural Net based on a Nematode
Now researchers from MIT and Austria’s Science Institute have created a new, adaptive neural network they’re describing as “liquid” AI. The algorithm’s based on the nervous system of a simple worm, C. elegans. And elegant it truly is. This worm has only three hundred and two neurons but it’s very responsive with a variety of behaviors. The teams were able to mathematically model the worm’s neurons and build them into a neural network. I’ve explained neural networks in my previous episode called A Simple Explanation of...
What is AI really, and how does it work?
If you are interested in AI, you’ll undoubtedly know that many of the concepts are a bit overwhelming. There are plenty of terminologies to understand, such as machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, algorithms, and much more.
With the world of AI continually evolving, it’s good to go over some of the basic concepts to better understand how it’s changing.
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I address some of the questions that I get asked a lot: what is AI? How does AI work? I also delve into some of the limitations of AI and their possible solutions.
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Episode Transcript:
Hello to you who are curious about AI. I’m Dr. Peper.
If you’re listening to this, you probably think AI’s interesting and important like me. But sometimes I find the concepts are a little overwhelming. I want to go over something I get asked a lot. People ask me, what is AI really, how does it work? Actually, there’re new things going on with how AI works. So, it’s good to go over some of the basic concepts in order to understand the way AI is changing.
How does AI work?
Artificial Intelligence happens with computers. They’re programed using algorithms. Algorithms are step by step instructions telling the computer what to do to solve a problem. Just like a recipe has specific steps you follow in sequence, to bake a cake, or cook something. Computer scientist write algorithms using a programming language the computer understands. These computer languages have strange names like Python or C plus, plus.
The computers also perform math calculations or computations to analyze the information and give an answer. This is known as computational analysis. Basically, the programing language and math calculations are computer software. Using this software, the algorithms come up with an answer from data sets fed into the computer.
Machine Learning is a type of AI
The major AI being used today is called machine learning. Machine learning is carried out by artificial neural networks, or nets for short. Neural nets underpin the most advanced artificial intelligence being used today. They’re called neural networks because they’re based in part on the way neurons in the brain function. In the brain the neuron receives inputs or information, processes the information, and then gives a result or output.
Artificial intelligence uses digital models of brain neurons. These are artificial neurons, based on the computer binary code of ones and zeros. The digital neurons process information and then pass it along to other higher layers of processing. Higher, meaning the results become more specific, just like in the brain.
Deep Learning is a type of...
Microscopic robots might sound like the plot of a futuristic novel, but they are very real.
In fact, nanotechnology has been a point of great interest for scientists for decades. In the past few years, research and experimentation have seen nanotechnology's science develop in new and fascinating ways.
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I delve into the topic of microscopic robots. The possibilities and capabilities of nanobots are something to keep a watchful eye on as research into nanotechnology starts to pick up speed.
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Today I’m talking about microscopic robots.
In the book Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart, set in the future, wealthy people pay for life extension treatments. These are called “dechronification” methods and include infusions of “smart blood” which contain swarms of microscopic robots. These tiny robots are about 100 nanometers long and rejuvenate cells and remodel major organs throughout the body via the bloodstream. In this way the wealthy live for over a century.
That book was my first introduction to the idea of microscopic robots, also known as nanobots, more than a decade ago. Nanotechnology is more than a subplot in a futuristic novel. It’s an emerging field of designing and building robots which are only nanometers long. A nanometer is 1000 times smaller than a micrometer. Atoms and molecules are measured in nanometers. For example, a red blood cell is about 7000 nanometers while a DNA molecule is two and a half nanometers.
The father of nanotechnology is considered to be Richard Feynman who won the Nobel prize in physics. He gave a talk in 1959 called “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” The bottom he’s referring to is size, specifically the size of atoms. He discussed a theoretical process for manipulating atoms and molecules which has become the core field of nanoscience.
The microscopic robots are about the size of a cell and are based on the same basic technology as computer chips. But creating an exoskeleton for robotic arms and getting these tiny robots to move in a controllable manner has been a big hurdle. Then in last few years Marc Miskin, a professor of electrical and systems engineering, and his colleagues, used a fresh, new design concept.
They paired 50 years of microelectronics and circuit boards to create limbs for the robots and used a power source in the form of tiny solar panels on its back. By shining lasers on the solar panels, they can control the robot’s...
Is a world without work a reality we need to prepare for?
In my last episode, I discussed whether the fear of machines taking over jobs was truly misplaced anxiety, as experts say. Experts believe that there’s no cause for alarm, but not everyone agrees.
Some believe that a future where human workers become obsolete is a real possibility we need to prepare for.
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I delve into the theory that our future will be a world without work. I discuss Daniel Susskind’s fascinating book, ‘A World Without Work,’ which explores the topic of technological unemployment in great detail.
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Episode Transcript:
Hello to you who are curious about AI. I’m Dr. Peper and today I’m talking about a world without work.
In my last episode, I talked about the future of work. Economists, futurists, and AI thinkers generally agree that technological unemployment is not a real threat. Our anxiety about machines taking our jobs is misplaced. There have been three centuries of technological advances and each time, technology has created more jobs than it destroyed. So, no need for alarm.
But Daniel Susskind, an Oxford economist and advisor to the British government, thinks this time, with artificial intelligence, the threat really is very real. He wants us to start discussing the future of work because as he sees it, the future of work is A World Without Work, which is the title of his recent book. He explains why what’s been called a slow-motion crisis of losing jobs to machines and automation, needs to be discussed now because it really isn’t slow-motion anymore.
Despite increased productivity and GDP from artificial intelligence, Susskind presents evidence technological unemployment is coming. As he says, we don’t need to solve the mysteries of how the brain and mind operate to build machines that can outperform human beings.
Machines have been taking over jobs requiring manual abilities for decades. It’s happening now. Although the American manufacturing economy has grown over the past few decades, it hasn’t created more work. Manufacturing produces 70 percent more output than it did in 1986 but requires 30 percent fewer workers to produce it.
More importantly, machines are...
Are you anxious that a machine will one day replace your job? It’s a common enough fear, especially with the rate technology is advancing.
If you have watched any of my previous episodes, you will know that technology is accelerating exponentially! We have seen the equivalent of 20,000 years of technology in just one century.
Naturally, people worry about what this means for the future of work. Will human workers become obsolete one day?
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I explore “technological unemployment” in more detail and whether it’s something we should be concerned about.
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Hello to you who are curious about AI. I’m Dr. Peper and today I’m talking about the future of work.
For centuries there’ve been predictions that machines would put people out of work for good and give rise to technological unemployment. If you’ve been listening to my episodes you know that technology today is accelerating exponentially. We are living at a time when many different types of technology are all merging and accelerating together. This is creating enormous advances which some have said will lead to the equivalent of 20,000 years of technology in this one century. And experts are asking what does that mean for the future of work?
Historians, economists, and futurists describe the anxiety about new machines replacing workers as a history of misplaced anxiety. Three hundred years of radical technological change have passed and there is still enough work for people to do. The experts say, yes, technology leads to the loss of jobs, but ultimately more new jobs are created in the process. Automation and the use of machines increases productivity which leads to creation of new jobs and increased GDP.
A well-known example would be the rise in the use of ATM machines in the 1990s which led to many bank tellers losing their jobs. But at the same time, the ATMs enabled banks to increase their productivity and profits and led to more branches being opened and more bank tellers being hired. The bank tellers now spent their time carrying out more value-added, non-routine tasks.
In the early industrial revolution, when mechanical looms were introduced, many highly skilled weavers lost their jobs, but even more jobs were created for less-skilled workers who operated the machines.
People who study economics and AI are optimistic. They think machines can readily perform routine tasks in a job but would struggle with non-routine tasks. Humans will still be needed for...
What is the protein folding problem that has left researchers stuck for nearly 50 years?
Knowing the 3D shape of proteins is so important for our understanding of various diseases and vaccine development. However, these shapes are fantastically complex and difficult to predict. Researchers have spent years trying to determine the 3D structure of proteins.
Thanks to AI systems like AlphaFold, it’s now much easier and faster to predict protein shapes. AlphaFold is currently leading the way in protein folding research and has been described as a “revolution in biology.”
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I explore the protein folding problem in more detail and how AlphaFold is accelerating our understanding of protein structures.
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Hello to you who are curious about AI. I’m Dr. Peper and today I’m talking about AlphaFold.
One of Biology’s most difficult challenges, one that researchers have been stuck on for nearly 50 years is how to determine a protein’s 3D shape from its amino-acid sequence. It's known as “the protein folding problem”.
When I first came across the subject, I thought, ok, that’s a biology problem and maybe AI will solve it but there’s no big story here. I was wrong.
Some biologists spend months, years, or even decades performing experiments to determine the precise shape of a protein. Sometimes they never succeed. But they persist because having the ability to know how a protein folds up can accelerate our ability to understand diseases, develop new medicines and vaccines, and crack one of the greatest challenges in biology.
Why is protein folding so important? Proteins structures contain as much, if not more information, than stored in DNA. Their 3D shapes are fantastically complex. Proteins are made up of strings of amino acids, called the building blocks of life. In order to function, the strings twist and fold into a precise, delicate shapes that turn or wrap around each other. These strings can even merge into bigger, megaplex structures.
Only then can these proteins function in the way necessary to build and sustain life. A protein’s shape defines what the protein can
Is DALL·E the latest breakthrough in artificial intelligence?
It seems there’s no end to the fascinating innovations coming out in the world of AI. DALL·E, the most recent tool developed by OpenAI, was announced just months after unveiling its groundbreaking GPT-3 technology.
DALL·E is another exciting breakthrough that demonstrates the ability to turn words into images. As a natural extension of GPT-3, DALL·E takes pieces of text and generates images rather than words in response.
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I discuss DALL·E in more detail, how it differs from GPT-3, and how it was developed.
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Hello to you who are curious about AI. I’m Dr. Peper and today I’m talking about DALL·E.
In a previous episode, I highlighted a new type of AI tool called GPT-3. GPT-3 is a machine learning language model trained on a trillion words that generates poetry, stories, even computer code. Within months of announcing GPT-3, OpenAI released DALL·E. DALL·E is not just another breathtaking breakthrough in AI technology. It represents the ability, by a machine, to manipulate visual concepts through language.
DALL·E is a combination of the surrealist artist Salvador Dali and the animated robot Wall-E. What it does is simple but also revolutionary. It’s a natural extension of GPT-3. The AI system was trained with a combination of the 13 billion features of GPT-3 added to a dataset of 12 billion images.
DALL·E takes text prompts and responds not with words but images. If you give the system the text prompt, “an armchair in the shape of an avocado” it generates an image to match it. It’s a text-to-image technology that’s very powerful. It gives you the ability to create an image of what you want to see with language because DALL·E isn’t recognizing images, it draws them. And by the way, I would buy one of those avocado chairs if they existed.
You can visit OpenAI’s website and play with images generated by this astounding technology: a radish in a tutu walking a dog, a robot giraffe, a spaghetti knight. The images are from the real world or are things that don’t exist, like a cube of clouds.
How does It Work?
Text-to-image algorithms aren’t new but have been limited to things such as birds and flowers or other unsophisticated images. DALL·E is significantly different from others that have come before because it uses the GPT-3 neural network to train on text plus images.
DALL·E uses the language and understanding provided by GPT-3 and its own underlying structure to create an image prompted by a text. Each time it generates a large set...
Some have called it the most important and useful advance in AI in years. Others call it crazy accurate AI.
GPT-3 is a new tool from the AI research lab OpenAI. This tool was designed to generate natural language by analyzing thousands of books, Wikipedia entries, social media posts, blogs, and anything in between on the internet. It’s the largest artificial neural network ever created.
In this episode of Short and Sweet AI, I talk in more detail about how GPT-3 works and what it’s used for.
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Today I’m talking about a breathtaking breakthrough in AI which you need to know about.
Some have called it the most important and useful advance in AI in years. Others call it crazy, accurate AI. It’s called GPT-3. GPT-3 stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformers 3, meaning it’s the third version to be released. One developer said, “Playing with GPT-3 feels like seeing the future”.
Another Mind-Blowing Tool from OpenAI
GPT-3 is a new AI tool from an artificial intelligence research lab called OpenAI. This neural network has learned to generate natural language by analyzing thousands of digital books, Wikipedia in its entirety, and a trillion words found on social media, blogs, news articles, anything and everything on the internet. A trillion words. Essentially, it’s the largest artificial neural network ever created. And with language models, size really does matter.
It’s a Language Predictor
GPT-3 can answer questions, write essays, summarize long texts, translate languages, take memos, basically, it can create anything that has a language structure. How does it do this? Well it’s a language predictor. If you give it one piece of language, the algorithms are designed to transform and predict what the most useful piece of language should be to follow it.
Machine learning neural networks study words and their meanings and how they differ depending on other words used in the text. The machine analyzes words to understand language. Then it generates sentences by taking words and sentences apart and rebuilding them itself.
Supervised vs Unsupervised machine learning
GPT-3 is a form of machine learning called unsupervised learning. It’s unsupervised because the training data is not labelled as a right or wrong response. It’s free from the limits imposed by using labelled data. This means unsupervised learning can detect all kinds of unknown patterns. The machine works on its own to discover...
The podcast currently has 51 episodes available.