eMusings
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Willy or nilly you are now using AI constantly. Hint: if you don't like the answer, ask the question again a different way.
Following are some meaningful developments:
The Coalition for Independent Technology
Research has sued the U.S. government, claiming that immigration policy is being used to stifle free speech and tech
regulation. The administration has apparently been going after researchers who look into and try to stop hate speech,
propaganda, harassment, and disinformation. As a result, some researchers and foreign officials have been denied
entry into the U.S. The lawsuit claims that the process violates the free speech and due process rights of work that
"supports greater moderation of content on the [tech] platforms." The Trump administration has been claiming that it
is being victimized by a "censorship-industrial complex" and so has denied visas to a number of prominent researchers known
to study content moderation and disinformation, including harassment on social media.
A scientist ordered that his brain be cryopreserved upon his death. Recently a friend rewarmed and studied
pieces of his friend's brain. The brain had been stored in a storage unit in Arizona at a temperature of roughly
-146 degrees C for more than a decade. The friend now states that the brain was "astonishingly well preserved". The donor
died of pancreatic cancer. Reanimation of the preserved organ was the ultimate goal of both patient and friend. That issue has yet
to be resolved. Details of the process and chemicals used, as well as mishaps, make for fascinating reading.
Two AI
systems were recently combined to facilitate and speed up the process of drug discovery. One, Robin, developed by FutureHouse, was told to find
drugs for a common eye condition. Its results were 200 times faster than scientists working alone. Robin recruited other AI agents to create lab
experiments using potential drug candidates. Robin's results were tested by human scientists, who then fed the findings into another AI agent that
specialized in data analysis. The other, Google DeepMind's Co-Scientist,
had already found drugs for one type of leukemia and ideas to mend liver scarring. It had also tackled the issue of why many bacterial systems
share the same cluster of genes to resist anti-bacterial drugs. Brakes and guard rails were used in both systems. The presence of AI slop is disrupting the research, however. In
addition, AI findings tend to make humans overestimate what we know. The final conclusion: AI systems are much more efficient. However,
"Human messiness, curiosity, and playfulness have fueled countless discoveries, and helped to inform society’s ethical frameworks,"
A Biotech company called Colossal
Biosciences claims it is growing chickens in a 3D printed artificial eggshell. The artificial eggshell is actually an oval-shaped
transparent 3D printed lattice, coated inside with a silicone-based membrane that lets in oxygen much like a real eggshell. The company took
recently laid chicken eggs and poured their contents into the artificial shells, where they continued to grow. Colossal's previous claims have been
rejected by peer reviewers, who found them overstated.
Microrobots, often no wider than a human
hair, can now swarm like locusts at the flick of a switch. They can swin through blood vessels to eliminate blood clots, bring chemotherapy to
tumors, and deliver medicine to the gut and eyes. Researchers at the University of San Diego control these microbots with shifting colors of light.
Their swarms are composed of living algae and nanoparticles and can change shapes on command.
Doctors at Mass
General Brigham Cancer Institute along with a team from MIT have developed a tool that predicts lung cancer risk years before any tumors show up.
Called Sybil, it can analyze a CT scan and come up with the likelihood that the patient will develop lung cancer during the next 6 years. Results
indicate that Sybil is between 86 and 94 percent correct in distinguishing between low-risk and high-risk cases within one year. The technique involves
pattern identification - Sybil is trained on tens of thousands of earlier scans and can spot biological signals and imaging patterns that the human eye
cannot see.
Chinese
workers are unhappy as they are being told by their superiors to train AI agents to replace the workers themselves. Begun initially as a stunt devised
by an engineer at the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the project has gone viral and developed into "College Skill", using AI agent tools
like OpenClaw and Claude Code to clone coworkers. The process has also prompted workers to create sabotage modes to mock the clones and protect themselves.
Reports are now circulating that Meta in the U.S. has infuriated workers as well by forcing thousands of employees to train their AI replacements and then
firing the workers.
A Silicon Valley startup company called
IX Technologies plans to ship its Neo humanoid robots later this year. Their robots are designed to be non-threatening and able to do jobs
around the house. Gender neutral, the robots will wear a one-piece 3D knit suit, available in 3 colors, with "ears" that light up when
listening for instructions. The robots are expected to cost $20,000. USD. The robot will arrive crouched in a box and will stand up when it's opened.
It will then introduce itself and ask questions.
An AI
algorithm developed by OpenAI matched or did better than doctors in diagnosing patients in the ER. The AI's success rate was 89%. It also was
superior in deciding which patients needed immediate attention.
Now on to June art treats:
Habib Hajallie brings us portraiture using a ball point pen.
His focus is on figures from ethnically diverse backgrounds that have been written out of British history. Using a pen actually
and metaphorically rewrites their stories. He includes antique texts and maps as canvases, further expanding the influence
of these neglected heroes.
The majesty of Ottoman wedding
dresses is shown by the Met. Clicking on each dress brings descriptions and more designs to add to the joy of looking
and learning.
Shown at the 2024 Venice Biennale, Jeffrey
Gibson's "The Space in Which to Place Me" is a visual treat of vibrant color, beads, and sculpture, filling the space with tributes
to exuberance and joy. It is hard not to smile at these lively reflections on living and loving.
The combined elegance of both simple and intricate relief drawings
are evident in these works by Julio Le Parc. The reliefs were first made in cardboard and wood, then metallic plates. Reflection
and modulation are impacted by the location and movement of the viewer as well.
Sasha Ingber's
sculptures/collages/wall hangings are intriguing. She combines found objects with craft techniques, using materials like textile,
plaster, clay, wood, and caning. Tension thrives in her works, between clarity and ambiguity, utility and metaphor.
Graphically bold and visually arresting, the works of Kirsty Budge grab
your attention. Titles like "The Migratory Bird and the High Horse" and "I'm My Own Competition" make it clear that this
artist demands more than passive viewing. Budge both adds and removes paint, adding to the strange beauty of her pieces.
Julia Policastro is a story-teller, combining
sculpture and ceramics, to create a world of her own making. Memory and invention coexist, softness and immobility, the
contradictions inherent in living.
A secret garden in Madrid is one place
to find Thomas Houseago's so-called ugly sculptures. A Los-Angeles based British artist, frank about his recovery from childhood abuse, Houseago
builds twisted, pummeled sculptures, some with thumb prints as evidence. Houseago says this is what it's like to be in his body sometimes,
adding, "I’m very interested in the parts that we don’t talk about, the animal qualities in ourselves." See more of his being-human
sculptures here.
Nalini Malani creates animation chambers to build
immersive environments formed by projections and sound. The chambers are filled with hand-painted and digitally rendered animations. The
projections fall onto exterior brick walls, making architecture a participant in the experience. One thinks of the agora, the open
public space in classical Greece. Feminist reflections on war, memory, and history form the basis for this extraordinary presentation.
Wallace Chan is showing
"Vessels of Other Worlds" at the Venice Biennale, 3 huge titanium sculptures, reminiscent of religious artifacts. Chan spent many
years as a Buddhist monk. His comment is illuminating: "Memory does not simply record the past. It reshapes it. It evolves as we evolve.
It can take centuries to complete a single moment of being."
c. Corinne Whitaker 2026
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