Links for 2024-01-17
AI:
OpenAI's Sam Altman, in a series of discussions with Microsoft's Bill Gates, revealed significant developments planned for the upcoming GPT-5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkXELH6Y2lM
New battery material that uses less lithium found in AI-powered search https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/01/09/microsoft-ai-battery-lithium/ [https://archive.is/WJkNe]
The AI Behind ChatGPT Is Ready to Do Chemistry https://singularityhub.com/2024/01/09/the-ai-behind-chatgpt-is-ready-to-do-chemistry/
The Impact of Reasoning Step Length on Large Language Models -- Appending "you must think more steps" to "Let’s think step by step" increases the reasoning steps and signficantly improves the accuracy on various reasoning tasks. https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.04925
MAGNeT by Meta: text-to-music and text-to-audio https://pages.cs.huji.ac.il/adiyoss-lab/MAGNeT/
Science and Technology:
Advances in Mind-Decoding Technologies Raise Hopes (and Worries) https://undark.org/2024/01/03/brain-computer-neurorights/
The experimental quest for detecting Majorana fermions in solid-state systems. https://www.science.org/content/article/ghostly-quasiparticle-rooted-century-old-mystery-unlock-quantum-computings-potential [https://archive.is/krxKW]
“The rumors have been out there for a while now, percolating through respectable corners of the astronomy and astrobiological community, that the James Webb Space Telescope has found a planet with strong evidence of life.” https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/no-the-james-webb-space-telescope-hasnt-found-life-out-there-at-least-not-yet/
Psychology:
The biggest status-enhancing and status-decreasing behaviors. Evolutionary psychology of status and status sex differences. Cross-cultural findings across 14 nations. https://twitter.com/datepsych/status/1598286056927162368
Pre-WW3 Politics:
Russia threatening Baltic states: Deportation of Russians from Latvia affects Russian security — Putin https://tass.com/politics/1733169
North Korea will no longer pursue reconciliation with South, Kim Jong Un says. He called for the assembly to rewrite the North’s constitution to define South Korea as the North’s “primary foe and invariable principal enemy.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korea-will-no-longer-pursue-reconciliation-south-kim-jong-un-rcna134040
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps strikes Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/world/middleeast/iraq-us-europe-iran-attack-kurdistan.html [https://archive.is/g5VzX]
The probability of World War 3 starting in the near future hasn't been higher in many decades. It could begin with simultaneous attacks on Taiwan, South Korea, Israel, and the Baltic states. The West can still prevent this by signaling strength and unity.
Ukraine:
"France’s Macron announces dozens of missiles and hundreds of bombs for Ukraine" https://apnews.com/article/france-macron-news-conference-c8bc75f0802ea1c7f0c0f4fc36c0597b
86% of Russian companies complain about a shortage of personnel, according to a survey. https://twitter.com/TUmarov/status/1746913632628167115
"Ukrainian commanders now have to ration their ammunition, not knowing whether every new shipment might be their last" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/13/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war.html [https://archive.is/j7v5x]