Tag: computer

• AI Mind Reader

  By combining fMRI brain imaging with an AI predictive text system, researchers have demonstrated a process that is akin to mind reading. Anthony and Jeff discuss the methodology and ramifications of such a system, and decide whether they'd sign up for a COU mind-meld. [more]

  May 19, 2023Episodes

• Quantum AI and Tiny Rango | #643

  What if an AI could learn, not by simply doing an activity over and over, but by actually employing creativity? A new quantum computer aims to do just that, and it has Anthony and Jeff wondering what exactly makes intelligence intelligent. Then, a new record for the tiniest reptile ever discovered has been set in the island of Madagascar. Jeff sells Anthony on the idea of getting an itty bitty teeny weeny chameleon as a pet. [more]

  February 5, 2021Episodes

• Time Crystals and Number Loss

  Time Crystals. We made them. Well, not we, but researchers at two institutions made them simultaneously! Anthony and Jeff discuss what Time Crystals are and how they may revolutionize watches and computers, too! Then the story of a man who lost the ability to see numbers. Jeff and Anthony talk about how this unique condition reveals a lot about how the human brain works. [more]

  August 21, 2020Episodes

• Alchemical Intelligence

  Ali Rahimi, a researcher in artificial intelligence (AI) at Google, took a swipe at his field last December—and received a 40-second ovation for it. Speaking at an AI conference, Rahimi charged that machine learning algorithms, in which computers learn through trial and error, have become a form of "alchemy." Researchers, he said, do not know why some algorithms work and others don't. Without deep understanding of the basic tools needed to build and train new algorithms, he says, researchers creating AIs resort to hearsay, like medieval alchemists. Jeff and Anthony are ready for the 24k gold robots. [more]

  May 16, 2018Episodes

• The Space Between

  In the beginning, the rules of the space bar were simple. Two spaces after each period. Every time. Easy. That made sense in the age of the typewriter. Letters of uniform width looked cramped without extra space after the period. Typists learned not to do it. But then, at the end of the 20th century, the typewriter gave way to the word processor, and the computer, and modern variable-width fonts. And the world divided. Jeff and Anthony try not to space out during this very interesting episode. [more]

  May 14, 2018Episodes