Links for 2024-01-15
AI:
Interview with Rich Sutton: “We talk about topics like reinforcement learning, the OpenMind Research Institute (OMRI), Keen Technologies, how to do good research, the problem of scale, superintelligence, and so much more.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4feeUJnrrYg
AI’s New Frontier: Turning Sparse Sensor Data Into Gold https://discover.lanl.gov/news/1113-ai-sensor-data/
Secure, Governable Chips: Using On-Chip Mechanisms to Manage National Security Risks from AI & Advanced Computing https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/secure-governable-chips
Can a combination of smaller models collaboratively achieve comparable or enhanced performance relative to a singular large model? Blending Is All You Need: Cheaper, Better Alternative to Trillion-Parameters LLM https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02994
If the West didn’t have “real adversaries,” Karp said he’d be one of the people trying to contain AI’s use in the military. “But the reality of our life now, as Israel knows, is our adversaries are real, dangerous and they go so far outside the norms of behavior.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-10/palantir-supplying-israel-with-new-tools-since-hamas-war-started [https://archive.is/d9Jho]
Science and Technology:
"43% of all banking systems are still using COBOL, which handles those $3 trillion daily transactions, including 95% of all ATM activity in the US, and 80% of all in-person credit card transactions. [But] very few people are interested in learning COBOL these days." https://www.pcmag.com/articles/ibms-plan-to-update-cobol-with-watson
LMU researchers have developed new high-performance nanostructures to obtain Hydrogen (H2) with the help of solar energy. https://www.lmu.de/en/about-lmu/structure/central-university-administration/communications-and-media-relations/press-room/press-release/harvesting-more-solar-energy-with-supercrystals-2.html
What does the Cerebellum Do Anyway? https://sarahconstantin.substack.com/p/what-does-the-cerebellum-do-anyway
The case against the lab leak theory: Every reason why lab leak theories fail and a natural origin of covid is more likely. https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/the-case-against-the-lab-leak-theory-f640ae1c3704 (see also: https://www.youtube.com/@tgof137/videos)
Politics:
China’s Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Communist Party is leaving behind mere nuclear deterrence, and accelerating towards a “first-strike” capability. https://quillette.com/2024/01/07/chinas-weapons-of-mass-destruction/ [https://archive.is/PiOI9]
Huge persistent advantage in electability of Haley (70%) over Trump (50%). https://electionbettingodds.com/ElectabilityGOP.html
Ukraine:
Subscribe to Axis of Ordinary
Links and stuff