LLaVA, a Language-and-Vision Assistant that exhibits some near multimodal GPT-4 level capabilities: https://llava-vl.github.io/
Capabilities and alignment of LLM cognitive architectures: "Scaffolded[1], "agentized" LLMs that combine and extend the approaches in AutoGPT, HuggingGPT, Reflexion, and BabyAGI seem likely to be a focus of near-term AI development...The possible shortening of timelines-to-AGI is a downside, but the upside may be even larger. LMCAs pursue goals and do much of their “thinking” in natural language, enabling a natural language alignment (NLA) approach." https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ogHr8SvGqg9pW5wsT/capabilities-and-alignment-of-llm-cognitive-architectures
12 tentative ideas for US AI policy https://www.openphilanthropy.org/research/12-tentative-ideas-for-us-ai-policy/
“DINOv2, the first method for training computer vision models that uses self-supervised learning to achieve results matching or exceeding industry standards. Because it uses self-supervision, DINOv2 can learn from any collection of images. It can also learn features, such as depth estimation, that the current standard approach cannot.” https://ai.facebook.com/blog/dino-v2-computer-vision-self-supervised-learning/
“Even though it was trained on a different domain, it works for biological images and is extremely responsive to human feedback. You can predict segments from scratch or interactively refine a dataset (e.g. for further training).” https://twitter.com/jobragantini/status/1644120938101833736
Continual Diffusion: Continual Customization of Text-to-Image Diffusion with C-LoRA https://jamessealesmith.github.io/continual-diffusion/
“When an AI fighter pilot beat an experienced human pilot 15-0 in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s AlphaDogfight competition, it didn’t just fly better than the human. It fought differently.” https://warontherocks.com/2023/04/ais-inhuman-advantage/
“drone warfare employed in Ukraine has influenced the doctrine of military forces worldwide… We have been adding new capabilities based upon the videos we see coming out of Ukraine” https://www.nextgov.com/ideas/2023/04/artificial-intelligence-and-drone-tactics-maneuver-advanced-military-simulations/384942/
“This document aims to be a self-contained, mathematically precise overview of transformer architectures and algorithms (*not* results).” https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.09238
The Surprising Thing A.I. Engineers Will Tell You if You Let Them [The New York Times] https://archive.is/XeNke
grey goo is unlikely https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FijbeqdovkgAusGgz/grey-goo-is-unlikely
Green goo is plausible https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ibaCBwfnehYestpi5/green-goo-is-plausible
Using LLMs to Create Bioweapons https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2023/04/using-llms-to-create-bioweapons.html
New research shows that the cells’ garbage-clearing function deteriorates with age—and opens the door to reversing the process. [Wired] https://archive.is/WhsmV
"the classical no enemies quote is referring to the political spectrum, however it’s much more applicable to the IQ distribution: no loyalty to the left, no enemies to the right" https://sceptremag.com/2017/11/22/eastern-europe-and-the-swine-right/
“Imagine being so curious about altered states of consciousness that you perform self-trepanation ("let ur brain breathe w/ a skull hole") w/ an electric drill at home, & then fund the research that brought psychedelics back into mainstream.” https://twitter.com/Willyintheworld/status/1646356884180418561
Ukrainian soldiers defending the last road to Bakhmut, killing 7 Russian soldiers during an assault on the trench in close combat POV. [Bakhmut, April 2023] [English CC]: https://youtu.be/fzL3rUfF_wY
See also: Bakhmut before the war and now.
Now that Angela Merkel has received Germany's highest order of merit, it is worth repeating that she is the worst leader Germany has had since World War II.
Sixteen years of Merkel have permanently and fundamentally damaged Germany:
1. As a physicist, she knew very well that phasing out nuclear power was a grave mistake. In 2008, she even called such a move ridiculous. But instead of using her position to publicly challenge the disinformation spread by environmentalists and the mainstream media, instead of explaining the importance of nuclear power in the fight against climate change, she decided to boost her poll ratings by satisfying populist sentiments.
2. She knew that the refugee crisis could easily have been mitigated by simply lowering the social benefits for refugees in Germany. It was blatantly obvious that people crossing several safe countries were not seeking refuge, but economic benefits. Again, she decided to follow the narrative of the lying press and leave the floodgates wide open.
3. Despite being warned for years about Germany's dependence on Russian energy, and despite what happened in 2014 and before, Merkel decided to go ahead with Nord Stream 2. In doing so, she helped Russia to continue to finance its aggressions.
Photo: Angela Merkel together with Dmitry Medvedev at the opening ceremony of Nord Stream. On the left you can see Gerhard Schröder, a former German Chancellor who worked for Russia during his time in office and started working for Russian state companies after leaving office.
Re: Merkel - depends on how you measure. In some senses, #2 may have been one of the greatest uplifts in aggregate human well being. Agree on others though.