Links for 2024-04-06
AI:
Language Models as Compilers: Simulating Pseudocode Execution Improves Algorithmic Reasoning in Language Models https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.02575
The LLM4Decompile project is building large language models for decompiling software (translating from assembly back into a higher level language like C). https://github.com/albertan017/LLM4Decompile
GitHub now offers Code Scanning Autofix, a service that uses AI to detect vulnerabilities and suggest fixes to code written in Java, JavaScript, Python, and Typescript. They claim that it can detect and correct over 90% of known vulnerabilities. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/githubs-new-ai-powered-tool-auto-fixes-vulnerabilities-in-your-code/
Raspberry Pi-powered AI bike light detects cars, alerts bikers to bad drivers https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/raspberry-pi-powered-ai-bike-light-detects-cars-alerts-bikers-to-bad-drivers/
Can AI be an aid to observability? Yes—both by recognizing normal and abnormal activity, and by interpreting and summarizing log data, and making suggestions for resolving problems. https://thenewstack.io/the-advent-of-automated-observability/
LLM-based pricing agents autonomously collude in oligopoly settings to the detriment of consumers https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.00806
Elon Musk says Tesla will reveal its robotaxi on August 8th https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/5/24122384/tesla-robotaxi-reveal-date-elon-musk-august-8
Physics:
Dark Energy May Be Weakening, Major Astrophysics Study Finds https://www.quantamagazine.org/dark-energy-may-be-weakening-major-astrophysics-study-finds-20240404/
Miscellaneous:
Can gene therapy cut your sleep needs in half? Allegedly, ONE base pair flip can change you into only needing 4 hours of sleep per night. The gene is DEC2. "[I]t would take an expert 2 weeks to manufacture a bootleg gene therapy in a BSL 2 trailer (that admittedly costs $10Ms) at a safe purity level." https://x.com/pfau/status/1776072878196170960 (Very good question: “If it’s just one base pair and supposedly confers such a massive advantage, why hasn’t it ever undergone a rapid selective sweep throughout the entire human population or even the entire animal kingdom?” https://x.com/ESYudkowsky/status/1776033443140583831 [But is this even true? Looks like it didn’t replicate: “We found no evidence that these individuals have short sleep durations in the UK Biobank...The 10 carriers of the P384R variant in the DEC2/BHLHE41 gene had an average self-reported sleep duration of 7.3 hours compared to 7.2 hours among non-carriers...” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9499244/)
First-sight recognition of touched objects shows that chicks can solve Molyneux's problem: “These results show that visually inexperienced chicks can solve Molyneux's problem, indicating cross-modal recognition does not require previous multimodal experience.” https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0025
Collaboratively adding context to social media posts reduces the sharing of false news https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.02803
Geolocate an Image Using Shadows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rztBqs4tyqY
Ukraine:
“Four civilians were killed and at least 20 more were injured in a Russian attack on the south-central Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia today. As local media were reporting from the scene of the first strike another shell struck the city. No a military target; just a busy shopping area.” https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/1776318157348540724
“No visible damage to any aircraft or facilities at Morozovsk. The base has been known to be exceptionally heavily defended by Russian air defense for a long time. It seems that none of the drones made it through.” https://x.com/bradyafr/status/1776619149004800430