AI in video games and courtrooms — #16

Sam DeBrule Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 7, 2016

Awesome, not awesome.

#Awesome

Ever get in an Uber with a driver that won’t stop talking? “In major dense metropolitan areas, within five years of the introduction of autonomous vehicles, I think we’ll see 80% of the vehicles in those cities being autonomous.” — Robin Chase, former CEO of Zipcar

#Not Awesome

Remember that massive internet outage a few weeks ago? “It’s only a matter of time before advanced AI is used to do this.” — Elon Musk, CEO and Founder of Tesla and SpaceX

What we’re reading.

1/ Google and Blizzard are teaming up to create an AI that kicks ass in StarCraft (and, before long, real life too). Learn More on DeepMind >

2/ Machine learning algorithms are helping Miami-Dade’s courts to care for people with mental health issues, rather than throw them in jail. Learn More on Wired >

3/ AI will automate busy work that managers waste ~50% of their time on. Learn More on Harvard Business Review >

4/ The gap between machines’ and humans’ ability to learn just got a bit smaller. Machines can now recognize an object after seeing it just once, and no longer need to be fed thousands of examples. Learn More on MIT Technology Review >

5/ China’s military is gearing up to use deadly autonomous drone swarms in future wars. Learn More on Popular Science >

6/ Baidu’s AI-based medical assistant is getting closer to diagnosing patients (and cutting out doctors). Learn More on TechRepublic >

7/ A machine learning system is thinking up new drug compounds, that humans never considered, to treat suffering patients. Learn More on MIT Technology Review >

In real life.

At work tomorrow, when you get sick of your co-workers, throw on your headphones and listen to a Spotify daily mix playlist. The playlists include your favorite songs and new tracks that Spotify predicts (with machine learning) that you’ll love.

Don’t judge me.

Your turn.

Have you ever asked a friend a question, only to say “never mind,” when you realized Google would have a better answer? With the explosion of chatbots, that’s going to happen a lot more often. Some say conversations with bots won’t replace conversations with humans any time soon.

What do you think? Let us know.