Links for 2023-10-03
ToRA: A Tool-Integrated Reasoning Agent for Mathematical Problem Solving -- “ToRA solves #math problems by integrating natural language reasoning with program-based tool use. ToRA models beat SoTA on 10 datasets. On MATH, ToRA-7B scores 44.6%, and TORA-34B is the first open-source LLM to surpass 50%, outclassing GPT-4’s CoT result.” https://microsoft.github.io/ToRA/
From physics to generative AI: An AI model for advanced pattern generation https://news.mit.edu/2023/physics-generative-ai-ai-model-advanced-pattern-generation-0927
No one actually understands how our AIs work or can predict their capabilities. https://twitter.com/liron/status/1708683529935294818
"Lying" LLMs show signs by answering unrelated followup questions differently and the same signs appear across different models, like adversarial examples do. https://twitter.com/OwainEvans_UK/status/1707451418339377361
NVIDIA’s DLSS 3.5: This Should Be Impossible! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr85Lc_WT38
VideoDirectorGPT: Consistent Multi-scene Video Generation via LLM-Guided Planning https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.15091
Project YORI: a flexible & expandable cooking robot system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SsgzCbYqc8
The protein composition of modern-day feathers was also present in the feathers of dinosaurs https://www.ucc.ie/en/sefs/news/2023/dinosaur-feathers-reveal-traces-of-ancient-proteins.html
How Airships could unlock a $650 billion dollar carbon-free long-distance freight market https://twitter.com/Andercot/status/1706786138436846040
Ukraine links:
"Russian forces used over 1,200 missiles and kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine’s energy system between October 2022 and April of this year, state-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo said...Some 250 missiles and drones hit Ukrenergo sites alone" https://kyivindependent.com/is-ukraine-ready-for-winter/
First footage of a modified 5V28 missile of a S-200 air defense system, redesigned for ground attack mode. https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1708919666754605151
“...it is hard to think of any U.S. foreign policy initiative since the end of the Cold War that has been more successful or more important than U.S. aid to Ukraine...Ukraine has been able to stop the Russian onslaught and begin to roll it back...In the process, Russia has lost an estimated 120,000 soldiers and 170,000 to 180,000 have been injured. Russia has also lost an estimated 2,329 tanks, 2,817 infantry fighting vehicles, 2,868 trucks and jeeps, 354 armored personnel carriers, 538 self-propelled artillery vehicles, 310 towed artillery pieces, 92 fixed-wing aircraft and 106 helicopters…And all of that has been accomplished without having to put a single U.S. soldier at risk on the front lines.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/02/ukraine-aid-great-investment/ [https://archive.ph/kzy0y]
“Over 30 kilometers (19 miles) behind the front, Ukrainian SSO SOF forces hit a Russian grouping of vehicles in Zaporizhia Oblast, destroying at least 5 BMPs, two trucks, and a field munitions dump with indirect fire.” https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1709087524159647780
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham: If we pull the plug on Ukraine, it will be 10 times worse than in Afghanistan. This would be a death sentence for Taiwan...If Ukraine can beat Russia, China is less likely to invade Taiwan. https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1708766914380550560
Russian State TV: "Musk really only has one way out: admit he is on Russia's side" https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1709016127764893917
Here's a friendly reminder that we're only just discovering how extensive neurodiversity in humans is.
There are people who have no inner eye, no inner speech, cannot feel pain, have no qualia of long-term memory, cannot understand music, never remember their dreams, and for whom the same things have completely different smells than for you.
And you have no idea what experiences you are missing out on. For example, there possibly are human tetrachromats who have four types of cones in their eyes. They might be seeing colors you cannot even imagine.
Some people may experience states of mind that transcend your own consciousness, just as much as your consciousness transcends the inner feelings of a stone. You couldn't possibly find out by talking to them, because there is no way to translate their modality into yours.
I expect that future generations will be able to explain many disagreements by fundamental and insurmountable differences in the way people communicate and experience the world.
What mental imagery means to me is the ability to simulate visual sensory input at will. It's similar to a virtual reality headset, except you're not using your eyes, you're using the eyes of your mind. It's like a second pair of eyes in a virtual world that you design on the fly.
But don't confuse mental imagery with hallucinations. Hallucinations are like augmented reality; they alter empirical sensory input.
P.S. I can also simulate other sensory data such as touch and hearing.
I'm rather skeptical of claims that aphantasia is just semantic confusion. My father has aphantasia and my mother doesn't. When I first asked her, she knew immediately what I meant, while my father was confused. He thought that imagining a sunset meant being able to describe it.
In any case, the possibility of people in the same family interpreting words so differently that they can't understand each other even after extensive explanation sounds even more disturbing than neurological differences.