Artificial intelligence

11 Jun 23

A Critical Look at AI-Generated Software

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

In many ways, we live in the world of The Matrix. If Neo were to help us peel back the layers, we would find code all around us. Indeed, modern society runs on code: Whether you buy something online or in a store, check out a book at the library,…

31 May 23

Italy to launch €150M fund for AI startups

Computer & Information Technology

Italy is the latest country looking to quickly shore up domestic development of an AI ecosystem. As part of its Strategic Program for Artificial Intelligence, the government will “soon” launch a €150 million fund to support startups in the field, backed by development bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). As…

25 May 23

Google launches €10M social innovation AI fund for European entrepreneurs

Computer & Information Technology

In conjunction with a visit of CEO Sundar Pichai’s visit to Stockholm yesterday, Google announced the launch of the second Google.org Social Innovation Fund on AI to “help social enterprises solve some of Europe’s most pressing challenges.” Through the fund, Google is making €10 million available, along with mentoring and…

19 May 23

IEEE Celebrates Engineering Pioneers and Emerging Technologies

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

IEEE’s Vision, Innovation, and Challenges Summit and Honors Ceremony showcases emerging technologies and celebrates engineering pioneers who laid the groundwork for many of today’s electronic devices. I attended this year’s events, held on 4 and 5 May in Atlanta. Here are highlights of the sessions, which are available on IEEE.tv.…

17 May 23

Tech’s role in the quest for climate justice: What not to miss at TNW Conference

Computer & Information Technology

Award-winning innovators Caroline Lair and Lucia Gallardo will be speaking at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 15 & 16 in Amsterdam. If you want to experience the event (and say hi to our editorial team!), we’ve got something special for our loyal readers. Use the promo code READ-TNW-25 and get a 25%…

11 May 23

Google releases Bard to the world – but leaves the EU behind

Computer & Information Technology

During its I/O 2023 event yesterday, Google announced it had officially removed the waitlist for its AI-powered chatbot Bard and made the service available in 180 countries and territories. Sadly for most Europeans keen on testing the tech giant’s contribution to the generative AI race, the countries of the European…

08 May 23

Revitalising European democracy: AI-supported civic tech on the rise

Computer & Information Technology

According to a study by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) released late last week, digital technologies will become an increasing factor in European democracy in the coming decade. This is perhaps not entirely surprising; after all, the pandemic shifted much of our lives into the digital…

06 May 23

The Meeting of the Minds That Launched AI

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, held from 18 June through 17 August of 1956, is widely considered the event that kicked off AI as a research discipline. Organized by John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Claude Shannon, and Nathaniel Rochester, it brought together a few dozen of the leading…

05 May 23

Photonic Chips Curb AI Training’s Energy Appetite

Computer & Information Technology

Processors that use light instead of electricity show promise as a faster and more energy-efficient way to implement AI. So far they’ve only been used to run models that have already been trained, but new research has demonstrated the ability to train AI on an optical chip for the first…

03 May 23

Can AI and fMRI “Hear” Unspoken Thoughts?

Computer & Information Technology

What are the opportunities—and challenges—to be found when AI squares off with functional MRI data? For one, researchers have discovered, reconstructing speech from brain activity seems newly possible—potentially without surgical interventions or other hardware interfaces. The group’s finding, published 1 May in Nature Neuroscience, details the process by which the…