How AI 'sees' the world – what happened when we trained a deep learning model to identify poverty

Researchers fed an advanced AI algorithm with satellite photographs to see if it could identify areas of poverty and it interpreted the data through abstract images.

Thorsteinn Rögnvaldsson, Professor, School of Information Technology, Halmstad University • conversation
Nov. 27, 2023 ~8 min

As climate change warms rivers, they are running out of breath – and so could the plants and animals they harbor

When water warms, it holds less oxygen, and this can harm aquatic life and degrade water quality. A new study finds that climate change is driving oxygen loss in hundreds of US and European rivers.

Li Li (李黎), Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Penn State • conversation
Sept. 14, 2023 ~6 min


Why humans can't trust AI: You don't know how it works, what it's going to do or whether it'll serve your interests

People can trust each other because they understand how the human mind works, can predict people’s behavior, and assume that most people have a moral sense. None of these things are true of AI.

Mark Bailey, Faculty Member and Chair, Cyber Intelligence and Data Science, National Intelligence University • conversation
Sept. 13, 2023 ~8 min

AI and the future of work: 5 experts on what ChatGPT, DALL-E and other AI tools mean for artists and knowledge workers

Now that AI systems can generate realistic images and convincing prose, are creative and knowledge workers endangered or poised for productivity gains? A panel of experts says it’s not so clear-cut.

Mark Finlayson, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Florida International University • conversation
Jan. 11, 2023 ~18 min

A celebrated AI has learned a new trick: How to do chemistry

The AI AlphaFold can figure out the three-dimensional protein structure any string of amino acids will become. It has now exceeded its training by figuring out what makes some proteins glow.

Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College • conversation
June 16, 2022 ~9 min

When researchers don't have the proteins they need, they can get AI to 'hallucinate' new structures

Using a form of artificial intelligence called deep neural networks, researchers can generate new proteins from scratch without having to consult nature.

Ivan Anishchenko, Acting instructor in Computational Biology, University of Washington • conversation
Jan. 5, 2022 ~8 min

Matching tweets to ZIP codes can spotlight hot spots of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

Machine learning algorithms can help public health officials identify areas of high vaccine hesitancy by ZIP code to better target messaging and outreach and counter misinformation.

Mayank Kejriwal, Research Assistant Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of Southern California • conversation
Nov. 5, 2021 ~7 min

An AI expert explains why it's hard to give computers something you take for granted: Common sense

Common sense is a broad and diverse set of abilities that help define what it means to be human. AI researchers are struggling to endow computers with it.

Mayank Kejriwal, Research Assistant Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of Southern California • conversation
Aug. 17, 2021 ~9 min


AI spots shipwrecks from the ocean surface – and even from the air

It's difficult to tell a shipwreck from a natural feature on the ocean floor in a scan taken from a plane or ship. This project used deep learning to get it right 92% of the time.

Leila Character, Doctoral student in Geography, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts • conversation
July 22, 2021 ~4 min

Perfecting self-driving cars - can it be done?

The public holds self-driving cars to incredibly high safety standards – and we're working to meet them.

Matthew Daggitt, Research Associate, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University • conversation
April 6, 2021 ~8 min

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