Links for 2023-11-06
Two studies find “self-supervised” models, which learn about their environment from unlabeled data, can show activity patterns similar to those of the mammalian brain. https://news.mit.edu/2023/brain-self-supervised-computational-models-1030
Using language to give robots a better grasp of an open-ended world https://news.mit.edu/2023/using-language-give-robots-better-grasp-open-ended-world-1102
Large Language Models as Generalizable Policies for Embodied Tasks https://llm-rl.github.io/
Zero-shot adaptive prompting of large language models https://blog.research.google/2023/11/zero-shot-adaptive-prompting-of-large.html
8 examples informing my pessimism on uploading without reverse engineering https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wByPb6syhxvqPCutu/8-examples-informing-my-pessimism-on-uploading-without
“Suppose that an altruistic and morally motivated agent who is uncertain between evidential decision theory (EDT) and causal decision theory (CDT) finds herself in a situation in which the two theories give conflicting verdicts. Weargue that even if she has significantly higher credence in CDT, she should nevertheless act in accordance with EDT.” https://globalprioritiesinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/MacAskill_et_al_Evidentialist_Wager.pdf
Rocket Lab plans launch of Venus mission as soon as late 2024 https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-plans-late-2024-launch-of-venus-mission/
There are 40 quintillion black holes in our Universe https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/40-quintillion-black-holes-in-universe/
Political links:
"China’s recently launched CO2 emissions trading system, already the world’s largest, … environmental benefits exceed its costs by a factor of five when only the climate-related benefits are considered and by a significantly higher factor when health benefits from improved air quality are included" https://nber.org/papers/w31809
“Europeans refused to accept that decades of immigration from the Middle East would reshape their politics. Now, many worry it’s too late to do anything about it.” https://twitter.com/MKarnitschnig/status/1721089584249926116
“America’s adversaries are preparing for war. And yet, in Washington, debates rarely begin with the basic recognition that China and Russia are building their militaries not to deter but to attack. This should be the starting point of every conversation on US& allied defense spending” https://www.politico.eu/article/usa-joe-biden-not-ready-war-of-great-powers-china-israel-ukraine-russia-iran-north-korea/
Ukraine links:
Russian ammunition dump rapidly cooking off this evening in Sjedove, Donetsk Oblast. https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1721233656386077128
What appears to be the first satellite imagery following the Kerch missile strike. Traces of burning appear to be visible on the side of the ship. https://twitter.com/truth_hounds/status/1721232057966236062
“fpv drones have completely changed the tactics of armoured infantry battle and we have to adapt better.Before, only brigades thought about electronic warfare. Now company-level units need equipment that can detect and defend themselves against fpv drones” https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/10/29/trenches-and-tech-on-ukraines-southern-front [https://archive.ph/nYzAa]