Men who have virtual "wives" and neurodiverse people using chatbots to help them navigate relationships are among a growing range of ways in which artificial intelligence is transforming human connection and intimacy. Dozens of readers shared their experiences of using personified AI chatbot apps, engineered to simulate human-like interactions by adaptive learning and personalised responses, in response to a Guardian callout. Many respondents said they used chatbots to help them manage different aspects of their lives, from improving their mental and physical health to advice about existing romantic relationships and experimenting with erotic role play. They can spend between several hours a week to a couple of hours a day interacting with the apps. Worldwide, more than 100 million people use personified chatbots, which include Replika, marketed as "the AI companion who cares" and Nomi, which claims users can "build a meaningful friendship, develop a passionate relationship, or learn from an insightful mentor".

Since it launched in November, the AI chatbot ChatGPT has been used by millions for many different purposes. From students trying to write their essays, to creating songs and even complaint letters, people have been trying to test the limits of the tool. Now, one woman from South London has used the chatbot for a completely different purpose - to decide whether or not to end her marriage. 'Sarah' had been having an affair with a man she met online for six months and decided to ask ChatGPT whether or not she should divorce her husband. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence system created by the San Francisco-based company, OpenAI. The firm, which specialises in creating and deploying AI, was created in 2015.

The release of ChatGPT has everyone abuzz about artificial intelligence. I've been getting lots of questions about our research project Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity: The Ethics of Teaching and Learning with Algorithmic Writing Technologies. We are ready to start data collection in January so I do not yet have results to share. Our team has two preliminary papers under review, but I won't say much about them until they are published. In the meantime, I wanted to share some high level thoughts on the topic since many of you have been asking.

Originally published on Towards AI the World's Leading AI and Technology News and Media Company. If you are building an AI-related product or service, we invite you to consider becoming an AI sponsor. At Towards AI, we help scale AI and technology startups. Let us help you unleash your technology to the masses. No need for complex self-made Machine Learning Projects -- it's time to use APIs instead.

While variance reduction methods have shown great success in solving large scale optimization problems, many of them suffer from accumulated errors and, therefore, should periodically require the full gradient computation. In this paper, we present a single-loop algorithm named SLEDGE (Single-Loop mEthoD for Gradient Estimator) for finite-sum nonconvex optimization, which does not require periodic refresh of the gradient estimator but achieves nearly optimal gradient complexity. Unlike existing methods, SLEDGE has the advantage of versatility; (i) second-order optimality, (ii) exponential convergence in the PL region, and (iii) smaller complexity under less heterogeneity of data. We build an efficient federated learning algorithm by exploiting these favorable properties. We show the first and second-order optimality of the output and also provide analysis under PL conditions. When the local budget is sufficiently large and clients are less (Hessian-)~heterogeneous, the algorithm requires fewer communication rounds then existing methods such as FedAvg, SCAFFOLD, and Mime. The superiority of our method is verified in numerical experiments.

To get a roundup of TechCrunch's biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Didya know that we've got all sorts of really awesome newsletters on TechCrunch? You can subscribe here to keep your finger on the pulse of the topics you care the most about. Just, er, please don't unsubscribe from the Daily Crunch, yes? We do ever so enjoy your company every weekday!

This doesn't always necessarily mean grand shots of spaceships or far-flung planets. For every lavish spectacle like Dune, there are many more smaller-scale sci-fi movies with modest or nonexistent special effects budgets. These movies must use other methods to flesh out their futuristic visions. An atmospheric soundtrack can go far to create a thrilling mood. Clever set design, like the homebrewed time machine in Primer or the quantum-computer cables strung through the woods in Lapsis, can immerse audiences in a new world without cutting-edge CGI.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and emotional intelligence (EI) and how they can optimise the customer experience (CX) is the focus of an investment by Daimler Financial Services into New Zealand start-up, Soul Machines. The undisclosed strategic investment in Soul Machines aims to further develop artificial and emotional intelligence for a multi-channel, customer-service pilot using an avatar'Sarah' with facial recognition. Soul Machines is a leader in the field of emotional Intelligence for use in machines and digital avatars. Soul Machines has created a number of avatars including Nadia, a virtual human voiced by Cate Blanchett that's being trialled by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). Nadia was designed to operate across multiple channels from the outset to create a consistent interaction for clients, with the face being just one representation.

Sortal team members Majella Edwards and Sarah Smith met when they both attended CEA's Startup Weekend. At the time, Majella was a freelance photographer looking for a new project and Sarah was a software engineer in need of a challenge. After much discussion, the two teamed up to tackle a problem that incorporated their unique skill sets – using artificial intelligence to manage and sort large digital databases. We sat down with Majella to discuss their startup journey and the struggles they've faced along the way. To be honest, it's hard to know whether you really are ahead of the pack, or not.