Kozminski Techblog

A neuralic is a chip implanted under the skull and used to communicate between the brain and a computer. The author of this project is Elion Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla. The device, implanted under the human skull, is expected to connect to brain cells via 1024 tiny electrodes. It then connects to a computer using Bluetooth technology. However, the company stresses that it is looking for another radio technology to significantly increase data transfer. The device’s battery is supposed to last a full day, but after all, it has to recharge somehow. And here’s where it gets interesting, because charging is supposed to be done wirelessly, simply through the skin. Installing the implant will require drilling a hole in the skull. Realizing the complexity of the process, Elon Musk’s startup is building a special robot designed specifically for the entire surgical process. And this one takes into account opening the scalp, removing part of the skull, then inserting hundreds of “thread-like” electrodes along with a chip and finally closing the incision. Musk added that the robot is meant to bypass blood vessels to avoid bleeding. Musk organized a special presentation where he introduced three pigs: Joyce, Dorothy and Gertruda. Animal testing is just the beginning. Ultimately, the implant is to be implanted under the human skull. Let’s remember this experiment. Someday the history books will write about him: it was then that the implementation of the idea of transhumanism began. The entire presentation, while obviously very interesting, did not provide any major specifics. A reading of Gertrude’s pig brain activity was presented, but the computer did not explain in real time what the various “dots” and “hills” actually meant. The eccentric millionaire, however, talked about Neuralink’s target capabilities in his style. He pointed out that memories could be saved and played back in the future and such stored data could be uploaded to a new body or robot. They are also less distant and therefore more realistic applications for Neuralink. The device could connect to our handheld smart devices, such as smartwatches, and provide much more accurate data on our body temperature, stress and so on. At the same time, he will be able to warn us much earlier about a possible heart attack. Ultimately, Neuralink is expected to help us treat a variety of neurological conditions. Deterioration of memory, brain damage, but also depression and other illnesses, which are either impossible or very difficult to cure, will be one of the directions of the device development.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/elon-musk-unveils-brain-chip-implant-fitbit-skull/story?id=72703840

A neuralic is a chip implanted under the skull and used to communicate between the brain and a computer. The author of this project is Elion Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla. The device, implanted under the human skull, is expected to connect to brain cells via 1024 tiny electrodes. It then connects to a computer using Bluetooth technology. However, the company stresses that it is looking for another radio technology to significantly increase data transfer. The device’s battery is supposed to last a full day, but after all, it has to recharge somehow. And here’s where it gets interesting, because charging is supposed to be done wirelessly, simply through the skin. Installing the implant will require drilling a hole in the skull. Realizing the complexity of the process, Elon Musk’s startup is building a special robot designed specifically for the entire surgical process. And this one takes into account opening the scalp, removing part of the skull, then inserting hundreds of “thread-like” electrodes along with a chip and finally closing the incision. Musk added that the robot is meant to bypass blood vessels to avoid bleeding. Musk organized a special presentation where he introduced three pigs: Joyce, Dorothy and Gertruda. Animal testing is just the beginning. Ultimately, the implant is to be implanted under the human skull. Let’s remember this experiment. Someday the history books will write about him: it was then that the implementation of the idea of transhumanism began. The entire presentation, while obviously very interesting, did not provide any major specifics. A reading of Gertrude’s pig brain activity was presented, but the computer did not explain in real time what the various “dots” and “hills” actually meant. The eccentric millionaire, however, talked about Neuralink’s target capabilities in his style. He pointed out that memories could be saved and played back in the future and such stored data could be uploaded to a new body or robot. They are also less distant and therefore more realistic applications for Neuralink. The device could connect to our handheld smart devices, such as smartwatches, and provide much more accurate data on our body temperature, stress and so on. At the same time, he will be able to warn us much earlier about a possible heart attack. Ultimately, Neuralink is expected to help us treat a variety of neurological conditions. Deterioration of memory, brain damage, but also depression and other illnesses, which are either impossible or very difficult to cure, will be one of the directions of the device development.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/elon-musk-unveils-brain-chip-implant-fitbit-skull/story?id=72703840

According to a study by Polish doctor Michał Kosiński, artificial intelligence, using facial features, is able to recognize even sexual orientation or political views. To check this, a special algorithm must be used. The algorithm which was invented by a doctor from Poland is able to read this information even from a photo which you have on your profile. The algorithm first learned to recognize photos of people who self-identified as liberals or conservatives. He then began the analysis himself. From more than a million photos, AI correctly identified the political views of up to 72 percent of people. This is more than the analysis done by humans (55 percent). and more than a random choice (50 percent). The algorithm proved even more effective than a questionnaire with 100 questions about political views – here the effectiveness was 63 percent.
Examining political preferences based on appearance is not Dr. Kosinski’s first such study. In 2017, he and his college colleague Dr. Yilun Wangiem presented research proving that an algorithm can successfully determine someone’s sexual orientation with 91 percent accuracy. for men and 83 for women based on just five photos. The report on the study’s findings caused quite a controversy, with many scientists even calling it “nonsense”. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of algorithms to analyze human faces is getting better and better. On the one hand, it is extremely helpful in searching for missing persons, detecting the perpetrators of crimes, and on the other, it creates a huge field for abuse and manipulation for representatives of political power. The Stanford University researcher’s study was not conducted on city surveillance images, but on social media. Indeed, the algorithm is based on a collection of more than 1 million photographs of citizens of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom obtained from Facebook, Instagram and other sites. The algorithm was tasked with assigning each photo to one of two political groups: liberals or conservatives, omitting characteristics such as pay, skin color, or age.

However, it is unclear how the algorithm would behave if it were asked to define the political views of random people picked up from the crowd. Besides, most people’s political preferences and views are more complex than a simple liberal-conservative system. It’s unclear how AI would behave if asked for more detailed analysis. It is likely that over time the algorithm may be refined and will be able to read more from our appearance and our faces. This, Dr. Kosinski admits, can be dangerous if used improperly. Facial recognition systems used in China or the US are already able to effectively monitor citizens. In the United States, social activists work to limit government interference in the privacy of citizens and call for monitoring to be kept to a minimum. However, in China the authorities, using a city monitoring system, are able not only to check whether the citizens properly sort their rubbish, but also, thanks to a facial recognition system, can do shopping without cash, identify themselves in a bank, and recently it turned out that Beijing is using this system to supervise the ethnic minority of Uighurs. During rallies and protests, the faces of participants are recorded, data is saved and used when necessary. Not surprisingly, the most radical social activists are calling for a ban on this technology and the elimination of urban monitoring systems. However, Dr. Michal Kosinski emphasizes that the problem is not the algorithm or the system, but the people and how they use these systems. Dr. Kosinski, coordinator of the myPersonality project, is one of the creators of an algorithm that accurately describes the personality model of each social media user based on their online activity. This algorithm was used by Cambridge Analytica, which obtained the data of nearly 90 million people without their consent and used it to create a tool to influence voter preferences, and thus the outcome of elections. Probably because of this company, Donald Trump won the 2016 election. Kosinski explains that he is not to blame for the Cambridge Analytica scandal -. It’s not my fault. I didn’t build the bomb. I only showed that it exists,” he said in an interview with the Swiss “Das Magazyn”. In an interview with the daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung, he argues that Facebook is “fantastic for democracy,” but that we must accept that it’s time to say goodbye to our privacy and anonymity, which is actually unique in human history. For millennia, people lived in small groups, everyone knew everything about each other, and it was only with the rise of cities, large agglomerations, that people became anonymous and gained what we today define as privacy. According to Kosiński, people will not escape from technology, they must learn to live with it so that it harms them as little as possible. There is no way back, we will not become nomads and gatherers again,” argues the scientist. With the loss of anonymity, we have gained access to new services and products based on digital technologies. And this is the future of humanity.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79310-1

Thailand’s Chulanglonghorm University wants to give life to old smartphones. Researchers came up with the idea of using phones that are no longer in use and turning them into microscopes for students. For this purpose, samsung has allocated 500 devices. There are to be 2 500 microscopes for 500 schools across the country. We are facing a huge problem with electro-waste and these solutions can be very helpful. Why throw away devices that still work when we can use them for a good cause. There are also many other ideas for using old smartphones models. Some people convert them into a home monitoring system, a TV remote control, an alarm clock, an electronic nanny, a music player, a digital photo frame or a webcam.

Did you buy yourself a new phone? Maybe you got a business device with Dual-SIM support and your private smartphone is redundant? Chances are you’ve accumulated several older appliances over the years that are lying useless in a closet. Android was unveiled in 2008, and you’ve surely had more than one phone/tablet that ran on this very operating system. Even older Android devices have great capabilities. You just need to find the right way to use them, which will allow you to give them a second life. Even if you think that you have a seemingly weak phone/tablet, which technical specification does not surprise anyone anymore, for the following applications it should be completely sufficient.With a special app and literally a few minutes of configuration time, your old Android device can be turned into a controller for your Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Would you like easy access to your home computer from the office or vice versa? Your old Android phone or tablet can be a great device to remotely control your computer. Even older Android devices have enough processing power to serve as a smart remote from which you will be able to manage most of the devices in your home or office. This useful solution will allow you and your household to easily configure devices such as your home theater, TV, Chromecast, and more. Your old seemingly useless devices can help scientists discover great things like cancer cures or detect earthquakes. You can get all this by installing the right app to make the computing power of your device available for scientific research. Of course, one device doesn’t have it enough to be useful to scientists, but if you choose one of the more popular options you can contribute to scientific research. Why buy a dedicated IP surveillance camera when you can use an old Android device? On top of that, there is a good chance that it will have a better camera than a dedicated camera. An old smartphone or phone can easily serve as a device that will allow you to monitor your home, desk or any other location of your choice. More powerful apps have built-in motion detection features that send a notification to your phone.You can set up your old Android device with the app of your choice such as Skype, Hangouts, Google Duo or any other app to make video calls with it. You can set it up in the location of your choice and plug it in, or use the docking station if you have one. If you have more than one old Android device, you can create a whole videoconferencing system by placing them in different places in your home or office and giving them individual names. Such solutions have one advantage. When talking to colleagues on your phone, you can still answer calls. There are many more uses for old phones. Instead of hiding it in a drawer, think about how you can make use of a device that was once very useful and can also be useful now.

https://interestingengineering.com/thai-university-turns-old-smartphones-into-microscopes-for-students