We present a simple usage of pre-trained Vision Transformers (ViTs) for fine-grained analysis, aiming to identify and localize the traits that distinguish visually similar categories, such as different bird species or dog breeds. Pre-trained ViTs such as DINO have shown remarkable capabilities to extract localized, informative features. However, using saliency maps like Grad-CAM can hardly point out the traits: they often locate the whole object by a blurred, coarse heatmap, not traits. We propose a novel approach Prompt Class Attention Map (Prompt-CAM) to the rescue. Prompt-CAM learns class-specific prompts to a pre-trained ViT and uses the corresponding outputs for classification. To classify an image correctly, the true-class prompt must attend to the unique image patches not seen in other classes' images, i.e., traits. As such, the true class's multi-head attention maps reveal traits and their locations. Implementation-wise, Prompt-CAM is almost a free lunch by simply modifying the prediction head of Visual Prompt Tuning (VPT). This makes Prompt-CAM fairly easy to train and apply, sharply contrasting other interpretable methods that design specific models and training processes. It is even simpler than the recently published INterpretable TRansformer (INTR), whose encoder-decoder architecture prevents it from leveraging pre-trained ViTs. Extensive empirical studies on a dozen datasets from various domains (e.g., birds, fishes, insects, fungi, flowers, food, and cars) validate Prompt-CAM superior interpretation capability.

They used to be little more than buzzwords, but that's not the case anymore. Blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) have evolved into leading technologies that power innovation across almost every industry. From blockchain's ability to track-and-trace food supply chains to the integration of AI in almost every facet of healthcare, each is tackling some of the world's biggest challenges. It turns out they actually work well in unison, too, building and organizing immense databases, strengthening cybersecurity protocols and performing tasks in a fraction of the time it takes humans. Here are 30 companies that are combining blockchain and AI with great results.

Artificial intelligence (AI) akin to that used in facial-recognition software is accelerating the grape-breeding process by accurately identifying those individual vines that carry favorable genetic characteristics, notably those that provide mildew resistance and higher fruit quality. The robotic camera system developed at Cornell University, called Blackbird, could also help select parent breeding stock resistant to other pathogens and, as a more immediate benefit for growers, could be used to determine optimum fungicide combinations for different geographic localities. The Cornell-led, U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded VitisGen2 project uses a high-tech genetic sequencing approach, known as the rhAmpSeq system, to sift through the part of the genome that is common to all grapes and find DNA markers -- bits of genetic code -- that are associated with genetic traits of special interest to breeders. Even with these advances, technicians still had to spend hours hunched over microscopes, manually scanning small circular leaf samples for signs of powdery and downy mildew infection. This entailed clearing away the chlorophyll from the leaf tissue, staining each leaf disk so the mildew's filamentous and otherwise-transparent hyphae would show up, and assessing the presence and extent of the infection, said USDA research plant pathologist Lance Cadle-Davidson, who was part of the USDA-Cornell University team that developed rhAmpSeq for use on grape leaves.

New York-based Blackbird.AI has closed a $10 million Series A as it prepares to launched the next version of its disinformation intelligence platform this fall. The Series A is led by Dorilton Ventures, along with new investors including Generation Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, StartFast Ventures and Richard Clarke, former chief counter-terrorism advisor for the National Security Council. Existing investor NetX also participated. Blackbird says it'll be used to scale up to meet demand in new and existing markets, including by expanding its team and spending more on product dev. The 2017-founded startup sells software as a service targeted at brands and enterprises managing risks related to malicious and manipulative information -- touting the notion of defending the "authenticity" of corporate marketing.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) market is booming, with nearly every major player in the enterprise space vying for a foothold. IBM, Amazon, GE, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, SAP, HPE, Verizon--you name it, anybody and everybody, even folks who used to sell hardware--are actively working on and/or want to stake a claim in a piece of the AI pie. What encompasses the AI market? Machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), voice recognition and image processing, application and geography are what we're looking at, with mobile devices and cloud being the enablers. And just what will the AI market be?

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) market is booming, with nearly every major player in the enterprise space vying for a foothold. IBM, Amazon, GE, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, SAP, HPE, Verizon--you name it, anybody and everybody, even folks who used to sell hardware--are actively working on and/or want to stake a claim in a piece of the AI pie. What encompasses the AI market? Machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), voice recognition and image processing, application and geography are what we're looking at, with mobile devices and cloud being the enablers. And just what will the AI market be?

It's not just gigantic search engines that are looking to acquire tech and talent around emerging areas like speech recognition. Even design and craft marketplaces can use a little machine learning and artificial intelligence to make their wheels turn a little better. Today, the popular handmade-goods site Etsy announced it has acquired a startup called Blackbird Technologies, which developed algorithms for natural language processing, image recognition and analytics -- similar to those used by Amazon and Google for product and other searches -- and then "democratized" them to be used by any company of any size. At Etsy, the tech will be used to improve its own search features. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but we're asking and will update if we learn more.

It's not just gigantic search engines that are looking to acquire tech and talent around emerging areas like speech recognition. Even design and craft marketplaces can use a little machine learning and artificial intelligence to make their wheels turn a little better. Today, the popular handmade-goods site Etsy announced it has acquired a startup called Blackbird Technologies, which has developed algorithms that can help Etsy develop better and more advanced search with features like natural language processing, image recognition and analytics. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but we're asking and will update if we learn more. The company's employees -- it appears there were around 10 -- will all be joining Etsy.

Today Etsy announced it's buying Blackbird Technologies, a startup that developed search and recommendation tech for ecommerce companies using machine learning and artificial intelligence. Reached by VentureBeat, an Etsy spokesperson declined to share how much the company paid for Blackbird. This Blackbird Technologies is not related to a surveillance company of the same name, which U.S. defense contractor Raytheon acquired in 2014. In a press release, Etsy said Blackbird's team will join the company to "accelerate our efforts to further optimize the search experience," adding that "there may be opportunities to deploy Blackbird's Artificial Intelligence technology in areas beyond search that will help strengthen our markets and seller services platform." Blackbird will shut down in the coming months following the deal, a person familiar with the matter told VentureBeat.

It's not just gigantic search engines that are looking to acquire tech and talent around emerging areas like speech recognition. Even design and craft marketplaces can use a little machine learning and artificial intelligence to make their wheels turn a little better. Today, the popular handmade-goods site Etsy announced it has acquired a startup called Blackbird Technologies, which has developed algorithms that can help Etsy develop better and more advanced search with features like natural language processing, image recognition and analytics. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but we're asking and will update if we learn more. The company's employees -- it appears there were around 10 -- will all be joining Etsy.