Links for 2024-02-06
AI (and humans) have unlocked a treasure trove of ancient Roman scolls
Ten months ago, we launched the Vesuvius Challenge to solve the ancient problem of the Herculaneum Papyri, a library of scrolls that were flash-fried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Today we are overjoyed to announce that our crazy project has succeeded. After 2000 years, we can finally read the scrolls...
Read what it says: https://scrollprize.org/grandprize
Press report: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-ai-unlock-ancient-world-secrets/ [https://archive.is/08IxN]
AI:
AI-powered patching: the future of automated vulnerability fixes — “approximately 95% of the commits sent to code owners were accepted without discussion,” Google writes. “This was a higher acceptance rate than human-generated code changes, which often provoke questions and comments” https://security.googleblog.com/2024/01/scaling-security-with-ai-from-detection.html
Processor clock speeds are not how fast AIs think https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/adadYCPFAhNqDA5Ye/processor-clock-speeds-are-not-how-fast-ais-think
StepCoder: Improve Code Generation with Reinforcement Learning from Compiler Feedback https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.01391
Challenges with unsupervised LLM knowledge discovery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFj-ZQnwSHw
New Texas Center Will Create Generative AI Computing Cluster Among Largest of Its Kind https://news.utexas.edu/2024/01/25/new-texas-center-will-create-generative-ai-computing-cluster-among-largest-of-its-kind/
Miscellaneous:
Brain Images Reveal the Secret to Higher IQ: "The quality of the [brain's] white matter is highly genetically determined... about 85 percent of the variation in white matter in the parietal lobe, which is involved in mathematics, logic, and visual-spatial skills, can be attributed to genetics." https://www.technologyreview.com/2009/03/24/31911/brain-images-reveal-the-secret-to-higher-iq/ [https://archive.is/YIyq6]
Antimicrobial resistance was "directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths". It could result in $1 to $3.4 trillion GDP lost per year by 2030. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance
Does fermion doubling make the universe not a computer? https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=7705
Ukraine:
The situation in Avdiivka continues to deteriorate. https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1754653046674481586
The 5th Assault Brigade repelling Russian infantry attacks. Wave after wave they keep repeating the same tactics without taking losses into consideration. Presumably Bakhmut direction. https://twitter.com/Teoyaomiquu/status/1754561516697719182
“Main Directorate of Intelligence of the MoD of Ukraine fights not only in Ukraine but also in Sudan.” https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1754538704587063814
“The Ukrainian Falcon Group of the 116th Mechanised Brigade carried out an accurate FPV drone strike and once again stopped a Russian group that trying to gain a foothold in the Avdiivka direction.” https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1754636981559071081
Cheap racing drones offer precision warfare at scale: “December 2023 was an inflection point, says Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s tech-savvy deputy prime minister, with “tens of thousands” of drones rolling off production lines—twice the level of the entire previous year.” https://www.economist.com/interactive/science-and-technology/2024/02/05/cheap-racing-drones-offer-precision-warfare-at-scale [https://archive.is/iJtVX (scroll down)]
“Make no mistake, our adversaries & our friends are watching. China will take note that the US was unwilling to finish the job & use that in their calculus on Taiwan. Our friends will doubt our fortitude, their safety & will look to other countries (read: China) for leadership.” https://twitter.com/RepSlotkin/status/1754701759824461871