Links for 2024-01-08
AI and Neuroscience:
Impressive: "Figure-01 has learned to make coffee ☕️: Our AI learned this after watching humans make coffee. This is end-to-end AI: our neural networks are taking video in, trajectories out. What you see in the video: ⁃A learned, end-to-end visuomotor policy mapping onboard images to low level actions at 200hz. ⁃All behaviors (including corrective) are fully autonomous (not teleoperated). ⁃1x speed." https://twitter.com/coreylynch/status/1744106386211152057
DeepSeek LLM: Scaling Open-Source Language Models with Longtermism https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02954
LLaMA Beyond English: An Empirical Study on Language Capability Transfer https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.01055
Understanding LLMs: A Comprehensive Overview from Training to Inference https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02038
A new study finds that language regions in the left hemisphere light up when reading uncommon sentences, while straightforward sentences elicit little response. https://news.mit.edu/2024/complex-unfamiliar-sentences-brains-language-network-0103
Study shows that the way the brain learns is different from the way that artificial intelligence systems learn https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-01-03-study-shows-way-brain-learns-different-way-artificial-intelligence-systems-learn
How bad are search results? Let's compare Google, Bing, Marginalia, Kagi, Mwmbl, and ChatGPT https://danluu.com/seo-spam/
MIRI 2024 Mission and Strategy Update https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/q3bJYTB3dGRf5fbD9/miri-2024-mission-and-strategy-update
Math:
A Simple Solution for Really Hard Problems: Monte Carlo Simulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slbZ-SLpIgg
Sets or functions as the foundation of mathematics? The iterative conception of function and the iterative conception of set https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.00201
100 integrals (almost 9 hours nonstop) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQz1gQ24OHc
Psychology:
"Researchers have failed to identify the Big Five dimensions in non-student adult populations in Bolivia, Ghana, Kenya, Laos, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Macedonia ... instead, researchers often find only two: Industriousness ... Prosociality ..." https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/reverse-dominance-hierarchies
Politics:
Enlightenment Values in a Vulnerable World: The Vulnerable World Hypothesis: If technological development continues then a set of capabilities will at some point be attained that make the devastation of civilization extremely likely, unless civilization sufficiently exits the semianarchic default condition. https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/A4fMkKhBxio83NtBL/enlightenment-values-in-a-vulnerable-world
Donald Trump mocks John McCain's injury sustained while a prisoner of war. McCain was unable to lift his arms above his shoulders. https://twitter.com/murphymike/status/1743867585056440459
Ukraine:
Russia has the upper hand in electronic warfare with Ukraine: “Ukraine and Russia are both using tens of thousands of drones a month…Any grouping of tanks or armoured vehicles can be spotted and destroyed within minutes…Gen Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, warned in November that EW was “the key to victory in the drone war” — and in breaking the deadlock along the frontline.” https://www.ft.com/content/a477d3f1-8c7e-4520-83b0-572ad674c28e [https://archive.is/fs7AU]
Former German President Joachim Gauck criticized Olaf Scholz for his hesitation to supply Ukraine with all necessary material, especially the TAURUS missile. “We have to help with everything, no exceptions.” https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Gauck-nimmt-Scholz-wegen-Taurus-ins-Gebet-article24643998.html
“Suppling ammunition is the least we can do. The cheapest thing we can do. A few billion dollars worth of ammo will make an enormous difference. And it is nothing to us, as a society. We’re talking 3 or 4 dollars per tax payer, to destroy a common enemy who seeks to destroy us.” https://twitter.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1743982351216935392
"If we allow Russia to reach their objectives in Ukraine, they will invade Moldova, perhaps the Baltic states or others. Ukraine needs only a small part of our own military budget. We must help Ukraine to win," General and ex-CIA director David Petraeus said.
Excerpt from Yeltsin's conversation with Clinton (Istanbul, 1999). Spoiler: Yeltsin asks Clinton to give Europe to Russia https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/20592-national-security-archive-doc-06-memorandum