Links for 2021-11-23
More evidence for Sutton's “Bitter Lesson”: more data, bigger model, bigger batch sizes combined leads to big performance gains for zero-shot learning https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.10050
"Everyday Robots" (Google X announces spinoff of domestic robot work) — “Put simply, we’re moving from a world where code and programming determine how robots sense, plan and act to one where data and learning do.” https://everydayrobots.com/technology
Jeffrey Ding on China's AI Dream, the AI 'Arms Race', and AI as a General Purpose Technology: An interview Jeffrey Ding, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, who researches implications of advances in AI for a possible U.S.-China power transit thegradientpub.substack.com/p/jeffrey-ding-on-chinas-ai-dream-the
Drone used in attack on US electrical grid last year, report reveals: “The #drone was modified with a trailing tether supporting a length of copper wire. If the wire had come into contact with high-voltage equipment it could have caused a short circuit, equipment failures and possibly fires.” Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2296480-drone-used-in-attack-on-us-electrical-grid-last-year-report-reveals/
Bill Gates’ nuclear power company selects a site for its first reactor: “a reactor design that needs minimal refueling, cooling by liquid sodium, and a molten-salt heat-storage system that will provide the plant with the flexibility needed to integrate better with renewable energy.” https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/11/bill-gates-nuclear-power-company-selects-a-site-for-its-first-reactor/
“Von Neumann is compelling evidence, I think, that individual genius is important and influential” https://unherd.com/2021/11/the-genius-of-john-von-neumann/
Ramin Shokrizade solved EVE Online's housing crisis by adding a Land Value Tax https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/digital-real-estate-and-the-digital-housing-crisis
Scientific American Goes Woke: A case study in how identity politics poisons science michaelshermer.substack.com/p/scientific-american-goes-woke