eMusings
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AI may be the FrankenstAIn of our time, although it is too soon to tell. Meanwhile, here are some compelling updates:
A new robotics
startup claims that its new robot brain can do things it was never specifically taught. The San Francisco-based
company, called Physical Intelligence, says that it was totally unprepared for the accomplishment. The engineers were
teaching the robot an unfamiliar task when it pulled off what is called compositional generalization, the ability to
combine skills previously learned to do something it has never tried before. In other words, rather than memorize and
repeat, the AI finds new ways to operate. With "zero coaching", the robot made an attempt at a new resolution. These
claims are difficult to test elsewhere, since there is a lack of standard benchmarks for robotics. Jeff Bezos and
OpenAI are among the investors in the new company.
By now you have heard of Mythos, Anthropic's AI algorithm deemed
too dangerous to be released to the general public. Anthropic describes the dangers as "high severity vulnerabilities"
with potentially severe capabilities. The company has developed Project Glasswing to release the algorithm only
to specially selected organizations. Anthropic's complex description of Mythos does little to reassure anyone, even
the company itself, that sufficient controls (including collective wisdom, restraint, and common sense) can be produced
to mitigate the potential extinction of life on earth. Isn't it comforting to know that the self-appointed geniuses
that came up with this potential devastation now belong to an elite group controlling it? Bloomberg is now reporting
that unauthorized users are already gaining access to Mythos.
The demands on power to process the information for AI are well known. A new idea suggests using soft, flexible
electronics to make artificial neurons that mimic the behavior of biological components. These "neuromophic"
chips have recently been developed at Northwestern University for the first time using mouse brain tissue. The engineers
jet-printed
special electronic ink onto a flexible polymer. The ink contained flakes of molybdenum disulfide, used as a semiconductor,
with graphene serving as an electrical conductor. Eventually the researchers were able to produce spiking patterns that
they could match to biological movements. It will be some time before the labwork gets to the manufacturing plant but
at least this is a first step.
Who exactly is in charge of an AI-dominated
world? This article examines the rhetoric of AI developers and asks what responsibility they hold for the claims
of human extinction and the anxiety that these claims cause. Are the developers to become emperors of the world? Is there
in fact a "delusion of grandeur" among the developers? It was 11 years ago that Sam Altman wrote, "I think A.I. will probably
most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime there’ll be great companies created with serious
machine learning." Recently a JPMorgan investment strategist looked at the new Mythos algorithm, described as too dangerous
to put in the hands of the public, commenting that Anthropic's claims of concern for safety "feels like an arsonist
selling fire extinguishers." Too often it appears that a professed need for regulation is secretly undermined by efforts
to quash any such regulation. One essential question looms over this new technology: "Does anyone still believe that
billionaire tech executives can be trusted as unelected stewards of the social good?" Less-than convincing steps have been
taken: Google DeepMind hired an in-house philosopher; Anthropic hosted a meeting of Christian leaders to discuss moral
issues. Either the rhetoric is deeply over-hyped and flawed, leading to economic collapse; or it is as dangerous as they
claim, leading to human extinction. Is either choice palatable?
A new report suggests that the use of AI, while offering short-term results, can in fact cause long-term deleterious
problems.
The conclusion rests on the "boiling frog" condition, in which a slow but measurable erosion of our cognitive abilities
leads to lasting deterioration. Both motivation and persistence appear to be damaged after long-term usage. These issues
may not be detectable until it is too late to reverse them. When AI is removed from people's lives, they are
unwilling to try without it.
People in India and
Nigeria are strapping iPhones onto their heads to record themselves doing tasks. This movement data is then fed into a
Palo-Alto, CA, based micro-recording company called Microl, which sells it to Tesla and others who are building humanoids.
Microl has hired thousands of young tech-savvy people in 50 nations all over the world who earn extra money this way.
One estimate claims that over $100 million USD are being spent annually to obtain these videos. Trainees are told to
keep their hands visible and move at a natural speed. They are also instructed to hide their faces and not reveal
any personal data like phone numbers or dates of birth. Results are evaluated by both human and AI algorithms. Even clumsy
movements are deemed useful to teach robots what not to do. Microl will
not answer whether requests from the trainees to delete their data are honored.
Meta is producing prescription smart glasses in 2 styles for vision correction. The Ray-Ban smart glasses come
in either a round or square model at a price of roughly $500. Available in several colors, the glasses are said to
support almost all prescriptions, although some will still need to be taken to an optician for lens fitting.
MIT is offering free AI courses for experienced
researchers and beginners on its OpenCourseWare platform.
The U.S. Advanced Project
Agency has hired a researcher with a radical plan to defeat death. Jean Hebert wants to replace all of your body
parts, including your brain. That means adding youthful tissue to people's brains. Hebert's project will cost
$110 million USD,
to be tried first with monkeys and other animals.
Now on to May art treats:
Susan Kaprov is a major voice in contemporary art.
Her public installations are stunning, compelling and joyful, and that's just the beginning in a career filled
with successes. Her metallic paintings, using oil, textured wax, and metallic pigments on board, suggest other
worlds of mystery and intrigue, while her landscapes take us into a vivid space of harmonious and gleeful
asymmetry. She has been said to blend the worlds of the artificial and the authentic. I will only add that
her field of vision, like that of her imagination, is boundless.
Dutch textile artist Anne von Freyburg uses a wide
range of materials to produce evocative and profound images. She begins with acrylic inks on raw canvas, followed
by embroidery or fabrics.
The sculptures of Ivan
Marcovic seem fiiled with life and motion, although they are actually made of paper. He first begins with a
metal wire skeleton attached to a wooden base. Paper is then applied, torn, cut layered, coated with white glue.
Nikolas Weinstein accepts no limits when creating glass sculptures,
from the intimate to the large-scale installation, from residential to corporate. See especially Capella, created in
2009 as a skylight in Singapore.
Joshua Johnson is described as the "earliest
documented Black professional artist" in America. I have a great deal of difficulty with that description: his gender,
his race, first or last,
matter little to me. His portraits are compelling, mysterious, quietly confrontational, and intriguing.
Take a look at this charming video showing the reactions
of kindergarden children upon visiting the Louvre Museum.
For years Kim Thoman has been creating hybrid pieces that
address both the private and the public nature of artistic inquiry. Her works are angular and curved, suggesting
duality as the basis of life itself. Canvas and welded steel co-exist in a balanced harmony as she expands her
singular viewpoint.
"Unspeak the
Chorus" is the challenging title of sculptures by Kira Freije. The artist uses metalwork and sand-cast aluuminum
along with props
and custumes, rendering an eerie loneliness to her figures. Both submission and power hover over her tension-filled
world.
Katharina
Grosse's paintings have been described as an aggressive assault on space, as color and stones spill over onto
the surround. There is no denying the dynamism of her bold approach.
c. Corinne Whitaker 2026
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