eMusings

eMusings

Your eyes and ears on the worlds of art, culture, technology, philosophy - whatever stimulates the mind and excites the imagination. We remind you that 20 years of back issues of eMusings can be found on our archives page.

Turmoil is the best way to describe what is happening in AI worldwide. More than 30 bills are before the U.S. congress addressing isssues of control and safety. Literally billions of dollars are trading hands, from individuals like Sam Altman, to companies like Microsoft, to venture capitalists. At stake is the future, if there is to be one, of the human species. Stay alert, and choose political candidates carefully.

Here some of the better online comments. Keep in mind that we have no idea whether these articles were partially or entirely written by AI:

OpenAI has now introduced its Strawberry model, boasting of its reasoning abilities. However the company has hidden the underlying chain of thought from users, instead providing a filtered explanation created by a second AI algorithm. The company has threatened to ban anyone who tries to understand how the algorithm works. Of course this has induced hackers to double their attempts to trick the algorithm into revealing its underlying code.

Google Cloud is working with Ginkgo Bioworks to bring out a Large Language Model (LLM) to speed up their drug discovery process. Another project under development is to help engineers and scientists attain access to biology AI codes. Key to this endeavor is to understand the DNA of biology.

A new AI algorithm is looking for images of colliding clusters of galaxies as an example of self-interacting dark matter. Note that dark matter is said to occupy 85% of all matter in the entire universe, since every galaxy appears to be surrounded by a dark matter halo. Essentially, dark matter continues to be an unsolved mystery, so scientists are hoping to break its code.

Boston Dynamics is showing off its new electric Atlas doing pushups.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference, Nvidia CEO jensen Huang claims that we can no longer do next generation graphics without AI. In a cryptic illustration, Huang explained that when using AI, "we compute one pixel, we infer the other 32. I mean, it's incredible." In other words, we basically hallucinate the other 32. He adds that computing one pixel demands a great deal of energy, while making an educated guess about the other 32 takes little energy and is extremely fast.

Open AI has a new o1 model that "thinks" before it answers. It appears to surpass even humans with Ph. D degrees at solving expert-level queries. Not yet available to the public, its specialty is complex reasoning which it accomplishes by breaking down large projects into small jobs, repeatedly checking its own work, and challenging its own assumptions.

Scientists at Cornell University have produced a tiny robot that crawls and folds into 3D shapes when given a jolt of electricity. The design is modeled on kirigami, similar to origami. The model comprises a hexagonal tiling of roughly 100 silicon dioxide panels connected by more than 200 hinges, each about 10 nanometers thin. Depending on which hinges are electrically activated, the robot can even wrap around other objects and then refold into a flat panel.

Robots that do massages are now being used in Miami, Florida, by a New York tech company called Aescape. No conversation. No interaction. No nudity. The massage table is made of a mattress, with ankle bolsters and an arm rest, both adjustable by touch screen or phone. You can choose the pressure, skip body parts that you don't want massaged, and pick music to listen to. You will have to wear a special compression suit so that the robot arms can move smoothly over your body. An infrared scan makes a 3D model of your body, which the robot uses to adapt its massage to your muscular structure.

An open-source project to analyze human language has been terminated because "generative AI spam has poisoned the internet". Wordfreq creator Robyn Speer adds "I don't think anyone has reliable information about post-2021 language usage by humans". (Thanks to CK for this.)

Just as we have become used to the concept of AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, a contender appears on the horizon. Sam Altman has announced the emergence of Artificial Superintelligence, ASI, within the next decade. ASI was first described in 2014 in a book called, "Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies" by Nick Bostrom. ASI is said to outperform humans at any intellectual demand, perhaps by leaps and bounds. Altman's blog post explains his outlook. He is currently looking for trillions of dollars in funding from international sources like the United Arab Emirates.

On to other October treats:

Pneuhaus studio specializes in playful constructions for public spaces. These charming sculptures and immersive environments are designed to bring smiles and a sense of joy to our shared outdoor lives.

The growing field of bionic architecture offers striking examples of organic, fluid design meant to counter the severity of severely geometric buildings. Based on an imitation of "natural systems", the buildings are designed to imitate living organisms by creating sustainable and adaptive structures. Often energy efficient and eco-friendly, they draw inspiration from multiple cultures and offer a much-needed visual relief from the rigidity of today's cityscapes.

Born in Sweden, Camilla Engstrom is exhibiting a new body of paintings titled "Ro", meaning tranquility. Now living in California, Engstrom's imaginary landscapes merge sun and flowers with female bodies, creating a sense of meditation and the healing power of art.

Francis Newton Souza was considered one of modern India's most significant painters, sometimes referred to as India's "enfant terrible". Souza was known as a rebellious child, obsessively drawing everywhere including pornographic images in the school lavatory. His bold, figurative paintings from the 1950's and 1960's are much admired, with themes of Catholicism, nude females, and the struggle between good and evil. Underlying much of his work is a passionate and sometimes violent sensuality.

The large outdoor sculptures of Will Kurtz are hard to miss. Using items like plastic bags, cellophane balloons and duct tape, he confronts us with massive dogs that demand attention. In addition to his canines, Kurtz has sculpted other residents of New York City in the same provocative style.

Sophie-Yen Bretez brings us her "Dialectic of Inner/Outer Space". Born in Vietnam and living in Paris, Bretez conjures dream-like characters surviving in an ambiguous world. She explains, "I paint horizons for those who have suffered". Her models are frequently nude females, puzzled, worried, confounded by the challenges that women face in contemporary society.

Many people don't think of wigs as art, but Eugene Souleiman has spent over 40 years perfecting the form. He celebrates rejecting traditional stereotypes, and gleefully calls his studio a place of chaos. With an impressive list of clients like Lady Gaga, John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen, Souleiman creates singular hairstyles for clients who are essentially outsiders and radicals.

For many years, George Rouy has focused his attention on images of somewhat "unsavory organs" - think of phrases like gut-wrenching and a knot in your stomach. His favorite body part seems to be the belly, locus of creation, suggesting that painting is akin to giving birth. Many of his figures seem unfinished, ghostly, and more symbolic than alive.

c. Corinne Whitaker 2024

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