The week's developments in AI, quantum, and biotech, explained | 31.01.24

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In this week's DeepTech update, Elon Musk announced the successful implantation of a human brain chip by Neuralink. The chip should allow mobile phone and computer control, from thoughts alone…(pretty sci-fi, right?)

Meanwhile, machine learning satellites have emerged as strong contenders against traditional weather forecasting systems, and claims (reminiscent of the debunked LK-99 scandal) are back in the superconductor community… but many experts remain dubious.

In the world of robotics, startup Chef Robotics has secured an impressive $14.75 million to deploy robots into commercial kitchens. Plus researchers have developed a muscle-powered two-legged robot, inspired by the human form.

Keep reading for the latest updates on GPT-therapists, microparticle-powered AI, and the best coding LLM — plus the coolest AI tools to emote, summarise and X-ray?

— Charlie and the Research & Intelligence Team 

P.S. You can now register your interest for CogX Festival LA 6-9 May, where we’ll be talking all things AI, Impact, and Transformational Tech!

Innovation and Releases

🧠 Elon Musk announced a successful human brain chip implantation by Neuralink. The surgery received FDA clearance in September and shows promising signs of ‘neuron spike detection’. The chip may enable device control through thoughts alone.

🛰️ Machine learning-enhanced radar satellites are shown to rival traditional weather forecasting systems. Startup Tomorrow.io plans to establish a global network of these satellites with improved accuracy, global coverage, and reduced data processing latency.

🍔 Chef Robotics secures $14.75 million to put robots into commercial kitchens. Specialising in food assembly automation with advanced ChefOS software, the company has deployed robots across the U.S. and Canada, serving Fortune 500 food companies. 

⚡ Terra Quantum claims to have discovered room-temperature superconductivity in graphite. If true, the discovery could transform electricity and computing industries. However, the scientific community approaches with caution, mindful of past unverified claims (LK-99 anyone?)

AI Tools of the Week

🤩 Emote: EmojiHi creates custom Apple style emojis from natural language input, downloadable for personal use. 

🦴 X-Ray: X-Ray Interpreter is an AI-powered tool that can provide preliminary insights, in the form of an AI-generated report, for your X-Ray.

🎙️ Summarise: XspaceGPT leverages GPT-4 to convert twitter spaces into MP3, text transcriptions and mind maps for quick summarisation.

Latest Research

🦿 Researchers have developed a muscle-powered two-legged robot. The biohybrid robot can walk, stop, and make precise turns, similar to human-gait. The tech is a significant advancement in robotics, with potential for efficient and silent movements with a soft touch. 

📚 Is ChatGPT better at science than humans? Short answer: yes. A study found that ChatGPT and GPT-4 consistently outperformed students in NAEP science assessments across various ages, yet it struggled in critical thinking and analytical abilities. 

💬 GPT-4 leads in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) dialogue systems, outperforming benchmark model OsakaED, with strengths in dialogue quality and empathy. However, the study raises ethical concerns about the use of LLMs in mental health services. 

🔬 A new AI uses active microparticles instead of electricity. The researchers created tiny units, composed of plastic and gold nanoparticles, for the neural network to process calculations. This unique approach offers improved noise tolerance over electricity.

In case you missed it

Codellama-70B: The first local LLM to beat GPT-4 at coding is here, and you can run it locally.

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🚀 Remember to register your interest for CogX Festival LA 6-9 May!