Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee write for The New York Times about the significance of AlphaGo, an AI system, beating the human champion of the strategy game Go. AlphaGo’s victories, “illustrate the power of a new approach in which instead of trying to program smart strategies into a computer, we instead build systems that can learn winning strategies almost entirely on their own.”
In this BBC News video, postdoc Brad Hayes explains how his algorithm uses transcripts of presidential candidate Donald Trump’s speeches to compose tweets. “The real reason why this works is because Donald Trump tends to use these very short, imperative statements,” Hayes says.
In an article for Slate, Madeleine Clare Elish highlights a study by Prof. Frank Levy that found that only certain tasks in the field of law could be automated. Levy and his colleagues found that “dramatic impacts are unlikely due to technical limitations of machine intelligence as well as social expectations of a lawyer’s value.”
Huffington Post reporter Damon Beres writes about the 2016 MIT Tech Conference, which focused on the rise of artificial intelligence. During an address by Rob High, IBM’s chief technology officer, Beres writes that High urged the audience to “consider how artificial intelligence technology should improve -- rather than replace -- the human experience.”
Wired reporter Emily Reynolds writes that researchers from MIT CSAIL have developed a new communication system that is designed to help humans and robots work together in emergency situations. The new system reduces the needs for communication by 60 percent, reducing the potential for information overload.
Boston.com reporter Hilary Sargent writes that MIT researchers have developed a new device that could help guide the visually impaired. Sargent explains that a prototype system the researchers developed “is about the size of a binoculars case and is designed to be worn around someone’s neck.”
Washington Post reporter Joel Achenbach writes about the life and work of Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, who died on Sunday. Achebach writes that Minsky’s colleagues knew him “as a man who was strikingly clever in conversation, with an ability to anticipate what others are thinking -- and then conjure up an even more intriguing variation on those thoughts.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, Bryan Marquard writes about Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, co-founder of the former AI Lab (now CSAIL), a founding member of the Media Lab, and a pioneer in the field of AI, who passed away on Sunday.
Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence, died Sunday at age 88, reports Glenn Rifkin for The New York Times. Rifkin writes that Minsky “combined a scientist’s thirst for knowledge with a philosopher’s quest for truth as a pioneering explorer of artificial intelligence.”
In an article for The Washington Post about robots and humans, Wendell Wallach highlights Prof. David Mindell’s book “Our Robots, Ourselves.” “Mindell clearly demonstrates that the efforts of people and robots can be complementary and inextricably entangled, and can evolve together,” writes Wallach.
MIT researchers have created an algorithm that can identify what traits make an image memorable, reports Matt McFarland for The Washington Post. The algorithm could prove useful in developing educational tools as “textbooks and teaching aids could start to use visual aids that have been proven to stick in our heads,” McFarland explains.
In an article for The Washington Post about artificial intelligence, Joel Achenbach speaks with MIT researchers about the future of the field. Speaking about the current state of AI, Prof. Daniela Rus explains that “there are tasks that are very easy for humans — clearing your dinner table, loading the dishwasher, cleaning up your house — that are surprisingly difficult for machines.”
MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that can predict the memorability of images with human-like accuracy, reports Adrienne Lafrance for The Atlantic. The researchers explained that their work demonstrates that “predicting human cognitive abilities is within reach for the field of computer vision.”
Boston.com reporter Megan McGinnes writes that MIT researchers are developing software that can predict how well people will remember certain images. Users of the new software “can feed images into the database, which are then overlaid with a heat map to show regions of the photo viewers are most likely to remember.”
CSAIL researchers have developed an algorithm that can predict the memorability of an image with near-human accuracy, reports Curt Woodward for BetaBoston. Woodward explains that “the technology could be used to make learning materials more memorable and advertising pitches more effective.”