Africa
Machine Learning Breakthrough: Using Satellite Images To Improve Human Lives at a Global Scale
Deep streams of data from Earth-imaging satellites arrive in databases every day, but advanced technology and expertise are required to access and analyze the data. Now a new system, developed in research based at the University of California, Berkeley, uses machine learning to drive low-cost, easy-to-use technology that one person could run on a laptop, without advanced training, to address their local problems. Berkeley-based project could support action worldwide on climate, health, and poverty. More than 700 imaging satellites are orbiting the earth, and every day they beam vast oceans of information -- including data that reflects climate change, health, and poverty -- to databases on the ground. There's just one problem: While the geospatial data could help researchers and policymakers address critical challenges, only those with considerable wealth and expertise can access it.
We used peanuts and a climbing wall to learn how squirrels judge their leaps so successfully – and how their skills could inspire more nimble robots
Tree squirrels are the Olympic divers of the rodent world, leaping gracefully among branches and structures high above the ground. And as with human divers, a squirrel's success in this competition requires both physical strength and mental adaptability. Two species – the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) – thrive on campus landscapes and are willing participants in our behavioral experiments. They are also masters in two- and three-dimensional spatial orientation – using sensory cues to move through space. In a newly published study, we show that squirrels leap and land without falling by making trade-offs between the distance they have to cover and the springiness of their takeoff perch.
Aussie court rules AIs can be credited as inventors under patent law
A federal court in Australia has ruled that AI systems can be credited as inventors under patent law in a case that could set a global precedent. Ryan Abbott, a professor at University of Surrey, has launched over a dozen patent applications around the world – including in the UK, US, New Zealand, and Australia – on behalf of US-based Dr Stephen Thaler. The twist here is that it's not Thaler which Abbott is attempting to credit as an inventor, but rather his AI device known as DABUS. "In my view, an inventor as recognised under the act can be an artificial intelligence system or device," said justice Jonathan Beach, overturning Australia's original verdict. "We are both created and create. Why cannot our own creations also create?"
Retiring Adult: New Datasets for Fair Machine Learning
Ding, Frances, Hardt, Moritz, Miller, John, Schmidt, Ludwig
Although the fairness community has recognized the importance of data, researchers in the area primarily rely on UCI Adult when it comes to tabular data. Derived from a 1994 US Census survey, this dataset has appeared in hundreds of research papers where it served as the basis for the development and comparison of many algorithmic fairness interventions. We reconstruct a superset of the UCI Adult data from available US Census sources and reveal idiosyncrasies of the UCI Adult dataset that limit its external validity. Our primary contribution is a suite of new datasets derived from US Census surveys that extend the existing data ecosystem for research on fair machine learning. We create prediction tasks relating to income, employment, health, transportation, and housing. The data span multiple years and all states of the United States, allowing researchers to study temporal shift and geographic variation. We highlight a broad initial sweep of new empirical insights relating to trade-offs between fairness criteria, performance of algorithmic interventions, and the role of distribution shift based on our new datasets. Our findings inform ongoing debates, challenge some existing narratives, and point to future research directions. Our datasets are available at https://github.com/zykls/folktables.
The information of attribute uncertainties: what convolutional neural networks can learn about errors in input data
Rodrigues, Natália V. N., Abramo, L. Raul, Hirata, Nina S.
Errors in measurements are key to weighting the value of data, but are often neglected in Machine Learning (ML). We show how Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are able to learn about the context and patterns of signal and noise, leading to improvements in the performance of classification methods. We construct a model whereby two classes of objects follow an underlying Gaussian distribution, and where the features (the input data) have varying, but known, levels of noise. This model mimics the nature of scientific data sets, where the noises arise as realizations of some random processes whose underlying distributions are known. The classification of these objects can then be performed using standard statistical techniques (e.g., least-squares minimization or Markov-Chain Monte Carlo), as well as ML techniques. This allows us to take advantage of a maximum likelihood approach to object classification, and to measure the amount by which the ML methods are incorporating the information in the input data uncertainties. We show that, when each data point is subject to different levels of noise (i.e., noises with different distribution functions), that information can be learned by the CNNs, raising the ML performance to at least the same level of the least-squares method -- and sometimes even surpassing it. Furthermore, we show that, with varying noise levels, the confidence of the ML classifiers serves as a proxy for the underlying cumulative distribution function, but only if the information about specific input data uncertainties is provided to the CNNs.
Data Driven VRP: A Neural Network Model to Learn Hidden Preferences for VRP
Mandi, Jayanta, Canoy, Rocsildes, Bucarey, Víctor, Guns, Tias
But more often, the objective involves multiple criteria including not only the total distance of the tour but also other factors such as travel costs, travel time, and fuel consumption. Moreover, in reality, there are numerous implicit preferences ingrained in the minds of the route planners and the drivers. Drivers, for instance, have familiarity with certain neighborhoods and knowledge of the state of roads, and often consider the best places for rest and lunch breaks. This knowledge is difficult to formulate and balance when operational routing decisions have to be made. This motivates us to learn the implicit preferences from past solutions and to incorporate these learned preferences in the optimization process. These preferences are in the form of arc probabilities, i.e., the more preferred a route is, the higher is the joint probability. The novelty of this work is the use of a neural network model to estimate the arc probabilities, which allows for additional features and automatic parameter estimation. This first requires identifying suitable features, neural architectures and loss functions, taking into account that there is typically few data available. We investigate the difference with a prior weighted Markov counting approach, and study the applicability of neural networks in this setting.
Insights on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) In Radiology Global Market to 2027 – by Offering, Application, End-use Industry and Geography - KhelPanda
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) In Radiology market report also offers a thorough analysis of the key market drivers and restraints that play a vital role in influencing the growth of the industry. The report considers the currently unfolding coronavirus pandemic as one of the key influencing factors. Some of the key and emerging players operating in the market are profiled in the report to offer a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape. The report further covers the strategic initiatives taken by the companies such as mergers and acquisitions, product launches and brand promotions, collaborations and joint ventures, agreements and partnerships, and government deals, among others. The strategic initiatives offer the companies a chance to expand their foothold in the industry and gain a significant global position.
Mobile Artificial Intelligence (MAI) Market to Witness Notable Growth by 2027 - Digital Journal
This comprehensive analysis in this Mobile Artificial Intelligence (MAI) market report describes data on a variety of topics, including growth strategies and restrictions. This market report contains critical information about the market landscape that considerably aids key stakeholders in making the best decision possible before investing in a business. In order to deliver the most accurate estimations and forecasts possible, this market study adopts a systematic and progressive research process focused on reducing deviation. For segregating and evaluating quantitative features of the market, the market report incorporates elements of bottom-up and top-down methodologies. On a great scale, raw market statistics is collected and analyzed in this Mobile Artificial Intelligence (MAI) market report.
The State of AI Ethics Report (Volume 5)
Gupta, Abhishek, Wright, Connor, Ganapini, Marianna Bergamaschi, Sweidan, Masa, Butalid, Renjie
This report from the Montreal AI Ethics Institute covers the most salient progress in research and reporting over the second quarter of 2021 in the field of AI ethics with a special emphasis on "Environment and AI", "Creativity and AI", and "Geopolitics and AI." The report also features an exclusive piece titled "Critical Race Quantum Computer" that applies ideas from quantum physics to explain the complexities of human characteristics and how they can and should shape our interactions with each other. The report also features special contributions on the subject of pedagogy in AI ethics, sociology and AI ethics, and organizational challenges to implementing AI ethics in practice. Given MAIEI's mission to highlight scholars from around the world working on AI ethics issues, the report also features two spotlights sharing the work of scholars operating in Singapore and Mexico helping to shape policy measures as they relate to the responsible use of technology. The report also has an extensive section covering the gamut of issues when it comes to the societal impacts of AI covering areas of bias, privacy, transparency, accountability, fairness, interpretability, disinformation, policymaking, law, regulations, and moral philosophy.