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Robo-Insight #5

Robohub

Source: OpenAI's DALL·E 2 with prompt "a hyperrealistic picture of a robot reading the news on a laptop at a coffee shop" Welcome to the 5th edition of Robo-Insight, a robotics news update! In this post, we are excited to share a range of new advancements in the field and highlight robots' progress in areas like human-robot interaction, agile movement, enhanced training methods, soft robotics, brain surgery, medical navigation, and ecological research. In the realm of human-robot interactions, researchers from around Europe have developed a new tool called HEUROBOX to assess interactions. HEUROBOX offers 84 basic and 228 advanced heuristics for evaluating various aspects of human-robot interaction, such as safety, ergonomics, functionality, and interfaces. It places a strong emphasis on human-centered design, addressing the vital connection between technology and human factors.


Hollywood writers in deal to end US studio strike

BBC News

The dispute has shut down many of America's top shows - popular TV series and late-night talk shows. As well as issues around pay, the writers fear the impact of artificial intelligence potentially supplanting their talents.


Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios to end strike

Al Jazeera

Hollywood's writers union says it has reached a preliminary labour agreement with the industry's major studios in a deal to end one of two strikes that have halted most film and television production for nearly five months. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced the deal on Sunday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that represents studios, streaming services and producers in negotiations. The three-year contract agreement – agreed to after five marathon days of renewed talks by negotiators WGA and the AMPTP – must still be approved by the guild's board and members before the strike can be declared officially over. The WGA, which represents 11,500 film and television writers, described the deal as "exceptional" with "meaningful gains and protections for writers". "This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days," the negotiating committee said in a statement.


Experts disagree over threat posed but artificial intelligence cannot be ignored

The Guardian

For some AI experts, a watershed moment in artificial intelligence development is not far away. And the global AI safety summit, to be held at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire in November, therefore cannot come soon enough. Ian Hogarth, the chair of the UK taskforce charged with scrutinising the safety of cutting-edge AI, raised concerns before he took the job this year about artificial general intelligence, or "God-like" AI. Definitions of AGI vary but broadly it refers to an AI system that can perform a task at a human, or above human, level – and could evade our control. Max Tegmark, the scientist behind a headline-grabbing letter this year calling for a pause in large AI experiments, told the Guardian that tech professionals in California believe AGI is close. "A lot of people here think that we're going to get to God-like artificial general intelligence in maybe three years.


Arizona woman arrested for keeping dozens of dogs in squalor, others dead in freezer

FOX News

'The Big Sunday Show' panelists discuss how artificial intelligence could turn your pet's thoughts into reality. An estimated 55 dogs were rescued from an Arizona woman's home for special needs dogs after they were discovered to be living in filthy conditions, as well as those reportedly found dead in a freezer. Police in Chandler responded to April Mclaughlin's home on Friday and found dozens of dogs living in squalor with no water. Mclaughlin had been running a shelter for special needs dogs, but the reality had spiraled into such filthy conditions that firefighters had to wear special equipment to stand breathing in the home, according to AZ Family. Officials began investigating on Sept. 8 after a vet reached out to police that some of Mclaughlin's dogs were not in healthy conditions.


Big Pharma bets on AI to speed up clinical trials

The Japan Times

Major drugmakers are using artificial intelligence to find patients for clinical trials quickly, or to reduce the number of people needed to test medicines, both accelerating drug development and potentially saving millions of dollars. Human studies are the most expensive and time-consuming part of drug development as it can take years to recruit patients and trial new medicines in a process that can cost over a billion dollars from the discovery of a drug to the finishing line. Pharmaceutical companies have been experimenting with AI for years, hoping machines can discover the next blockbuster drug. A few compounds picked by AI are now in development, but those bets will take years to play out.


Jellyfish are not the 'simple creatures' once thought: New study may change an understanding of our own brains

FOX News

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Jellyfish could be much smarter than scientists previously thought, asserts a new study published in the journal Current Biology. Poisonous Caribbean box jellyfish can learn at a far more complex level than ever imagined, despite only having 1,000 nerve cells and no centralized brain, according to new research from the University of Copenhagen. Scientists say their findings change the fundamental understanding of the brain -- and could reveal more about human cognitive functions and the process of dementia.


'Fox News Sunday' on September 24, 2023

FOX News

This is a rush transcript of'Fox News Sunday' on September 24, 2023. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. The chaos at the border grows by the day, as the pressure to take greater action builds yet again on the White House. We need people from the top. HEMMER (voice-over): A border city mayor and Democrat declaring a state of emergency as thousands upon thousands of migrants flow into the country. JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Republicans in Congress and my predecessor spent four years gutting the immigration system -- under my predecessor. They continue to undermine our border security today. HEMMER: We'll get reaction from border state Democrat, Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar. President Biden says he'll join the picket line in Michigan on Tuesday, just a day before Donald Trump will be there, too. Meanwhile, another presidential hopeful pushes back. TIM SCOTT (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a president who says we are not going to subsidize unions, period. HEMMER: We'll discuss with a man whose eyes are on the White House, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. We'll ask Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel what voters can expect to see on stage Wednesday night. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): It's a symbol of respect for the country when you dress respectfully when you're doing this responsibility. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): I think there are more important things we should be talking about rather if -- if I dressed like a slob. The number of illegals crossing our border hit another new record. We want to show you our FOX News drone camera from Eagle Pass, Texas. We've been watching remarkable images today of a human flood that shows no sign of receding. And today, a new survey shows how displeased Americans are with the president's border policies. In a moment, we'll speak with border state Democrat, Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, on that. But, first, to Griff Jenkins who has been in Eagle Pass for what seems like several years now. Well, there's a humanitarian crisis playing out along our southern border in places like here in Eagle Pass, Texas, where migrants have traveled thousands of miles in hopes of reaching the U.S. in numbers far greater than what border officials are able to handle. Actions include sending active duty troops to the border, increasing deportations and granting temporary protective status to nearly half a million Venezuelans, making it easier for them to find work in cities like New York, where officials are struggling to find room for them. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott trying to deter the migrants from entering his state, with miles of dense razor wire, Humvees manning the riverbank and guardsmen in rafts attempting to turn them back.


Google's AI is trying to one-up ChatGPT and Bing with new everyday AI features

FOX News

CyberGuy breaks down how to share your WiFi password with other Android users. Many people are already using tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT generative AI chatbot and Bing, which also sources current information on the internet in its results, to help with various tasks, such as writing essays, creating images and more. Google is not far behind and has recently announced new generative AI experiences in Google Workspace that will allow you to create content with the help of AI. CLICK TO GET KURT'S FREE CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH SECURITY ALERTS, QUICK TIPS, TECH REVIEWS AND EASY HOW-TO'S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER Google Duet AI is a new feature that can assist in answering emails. Google Duet AI is a new feature to help answer emails in Gmail, create images from texts, and proofread documents in Google Docs, to name a few skills.


NASA capsule carrying largest asteroid samples lands on Earth

Al Jazeera

A NASA space capsule carrying the largest soil sample ever collected from the surface of an asteroid has landed in the Utah desert seven years after the mission's launch. Flight Control announced on Sunday. The gumdrop-shaped capsule, released from the robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx as the mothership passed within 108,000km (67,000 miles) of Earth hours earlier, touched down within a designated landing zone west of Salt Lake City on the United States military's vast Utah Test and Training Range. The samples will be flown on Monday to a new lab at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The building already houses nearly 400kg (842lb) of moon rocks gathered by the Apollo astronauts more than a half-century ago.