Dear AI, get some sleep

Reading Time: 3 minutes

All people and creatures with a central neural system need sleep to stay healthy, energized, and simply function properly. We have always assumed that no need for sleep is what distinguishes machines, robots, and AI from us. Recent studies, however, suggest that this assumption might be wrong and sleep can be beneficial for some AI networks.

Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory tried to develop neural networks that resemble the way humans learn to see. The network was asked to classify unknown objects. Garrett Kenyon, one of the researchers, compares it to how a kid would approach such a task. For example, if they are given photos of different penguins, rabbits, and antelope and the last animal is unfamiliar to the child, they will still put it in a separate group. That’s what the team wanted to get from AI.

After a long time of learning, the system started glitching and producing random images, something close to a person’s hallucinations. Researchers tried various options to solve the issue and eventually decided to expose the network to noises resembling what our neurons get during deep sleep. This artificial sleep helped to stabilize the system.

It is important to mention that this problem happens to biologically realistic AI networks. According to Garrett Kenyon, it is usual “when training biologically realistic processors, or when trying to understand biology itself.” So, most AI systems are safe and do not need sleep.

Another problem with artificial neural networks is that they can learn only one set of tasks well. Teaching AI additional things is very hard. If it is done, the first set of knowledge is usually damaged because the system overwrites the tasks.

Research published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology argues that artificial sleep can be used to solve the problem. In the beginning, the team trained a spiking neural network (an artificial neural network that resembles the human brain a bit closer) for the first task, then the second, and only after that gave it some sleep. This sequence didn’t work. Researchers had to try a few other orders to discover that the most effective option is to alternate training and sleep sessions while teaching the second task. That is how artificial sleep helps AI networks be lifelong learners like humans and animals.

Okay, we got that sleep can help artificial neural networks function more effectively, but where are such networks even used? For example, in speech recognition. That’s right, these profound conversations you have with Siri or Alexa are possible thanks to artificial neural networks. Recommendations of products that can be interesting for you on Amazon, streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu with their movie recommendations, and services like Spotify with music you might like all use ANN as well.

Some other examples are recognition of handwritten characters, classification of signatures and assessment of their authenticity, and even detecting cancer cells and analyzing MRI images.

But let’s mention again that the problems described in the article occur in the systems that try to repeat biological processes (like the experiment with animal photos classification), and lifelong learning is not needed in all the networks. So, most systems in the examples wouldn’t need sleep to function properly.

Resources:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lack-of-sleep-could-be-a-problem-for-ais/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2346597-ai-uses-artificial-sleep-to-learn-new-task-without-forgetting-the-last/

https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7byza/could-teaching-an-ai-to-sleep-help-it-remember

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/artificial-neural-networks-and-its-applications/

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/artificial_intelligence/artificial_intelligence_neural_networks.htm

https://www.xenonstack.com/blog/artificial-neural-network-applications

18 December 2022

1 Comment

AI, Business

Will AI replace cooks and chefs?

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Yes, it’s not a sci-fi fantasy anymore: robots become waiters and cooks and gradually change the restaurant industry. Let’s look at some robots that are already used or will be used soon and figure out whether they can replace cooks and even chefs.

What robots already exist?

Former SpaceX engineers created robotic pizza trucks that autonomously cook pizza for under 5 minutes. Their company is called Stellar Pizza and has recently launched in LA. The order is made via the app. Then, the robot starts cooking, and the driver, the only worker in the truck, goes to the required location and gives the pizza to the customers. According to Benson Tsai, the CEO of Stellar Pizza, automation is secondary, and the main goal of the company is making food affordable.

American fast food chains Wing Zone and White Castle partnered with Miso Robotics to deploy robot Flippy 2 to some of their locations. These robots are expected to do all the frying in the kitchen. The first version, Flippy, was used by White Castle but was unsuccessful and continued working only in one of the restaurants. Flippy 2, however, is an improved version, so the chains have high hopes for it.

Chipotle worked with Miso Robotics as well. They have recently tested a robot called Chippy, which makes tortilla chips. It is possible that soon the organization will use Chippy more actively.

FA-men restaurant from Japan uses robots to take orders and cook noodles. Moreover, machines consider the type of sauce, amount of spices, and toppings chosen by the customer.

But what about more sophisticated and complicated dishes? Moley robotic kitchen can prepare a perfect steak, cauliflower risotto, Tom Yum Soup, and many other dishes. With the help of a touchscreen, you can choose a meal you like, and robotic hands will cook it for you. Moley learned various recipes from chefs and can learn from the owner if they decide to cook something themselves.

The kitchen costs from $135k to $338k (CEO Mark Oleynik stated that the prices will significantly decrease over time) and is intended for home use. From the videos of Moley cooking, it is noticeable that the robot is not very fast and is no match for professional cooks in terms of speed. But Moley kitchen shows that cooking restaurant-level dishes is possible for robots, and it is likely that it will be cooking dishes much faster in the future.

Can reports replace chefs?

But what about chefs? Their job is not to merely cook but also to control all the processes in the kitchen, compose menus, play with flavors, and create new dishes. Robots certainly cannot manage these crucial tasks, can they? Well, technically, it is possible.

The first part is easier. If all cooks are replaced with machines, there won’t be problems with assigning tasks and controlling the staff. It is most likely that a manager will be observing how well the robots perform and whether they function properly.

Tasting dishes, experimenting with flavors, and creating new combinations of them can also be done by robots. Researchers from Cambridge University created a robot R2-D-Chew that can “taste” food, decide whether more or less salt, other ingredients, or cooking processes are needed. The robot was taught to cook omelets and assess the factors mentioned. The researchers believe tasting food will help robots cook better.

Firmenich, a company producing plant-based meat, uses the AI robot Sam that helps human flavourists find the right flavors. BBC says: “Sam takes the knowledge of flavourists and generates new formulas in minutes.” Moreover, BBC mentioned that the robot has “a database of ingredients gathered over 60 years at the company” and is not biassed as some flavourists can be.

If robots already know how to taste food and create new flavors, it is possible that in the future, when these skills are developed, robots will be able to compose their menus and make new dishes.

Final thoughts

So far, there are no robots that could completely replace professional cooks, let alone chefs, and be fast enough and cost-effective. But knowing how fast technologies develop and that ten years ago, robot cooks and servers were a mere fantasy, we can assume that there will be enough restaurants with mostly robot staff in another ten or twenty years.

Some robotic restaurants, such as Pazzi Pizza, Spyce, Zume Pizza, and a few others, closed. Possible reasons are the high cost of maintenance of the robots and public distrust. People are still scared that robots will take their jobs, so they do not want to support such restaurants. And more importantly, we have the desire to eat food made with love and a “human touch,” which we expect from human cooks and most certainly can’t get from robots. It seems that robotic restaurants should focus more on marketing and brand to have more chances for success. For now, we can only wait and see how the restaurant industry will look in a decade or so.

Resources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2018/12/11/will-chefs-lose-relevance-in-a-robotic-kitchen/?sh=6a637c5a213a

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/mar/07/food-tech-the-march-of-the-robots-reaches-the-kitchen

From SpaceX to Pizza Robots on Wheels: The Story of Stellar Pizza

https://www.therobotreport.com/white-castle-installing-flippy-2-frying-robots-100-locations/#:~:text=The%20original%20Flippy%20robot%20was,13%25%20shorter%20than%20its%20predecessor.

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/wing-zone-put-robots-all-new-restaurants

https://thetakeout.com/meet-flippy-the-robot-at-white-castle-1848682546

French Robot Pizza Restaurant Startup Pazzi Shuts its Doors

The Robots Are The Chefs In This Japanese Restaurant

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/food/stellar-pizza-wins-165m-financing-round-led-jay-zs-venture-capital-fund

https://newatlas.com/robotics/moley-robotic-kitchen-launch/#:~:text=%24340%2C000%20Moley%20robotic%20kitchen%20is%20ready%20to%20make%20you%20dinner

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59651077

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/may/04/robot-chef-imitates-human-chewing-process-create-tastier-food

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/zume-shuts-down-its-robot-powered-pizza-business#:~:text=Robot%2Dpowered%20Zume%20Pizza%2C%20which,%2Dold%20Mountain%20View%2C%20Calif.

Tagged AI, Restaurant industry, robots

7 December 2022

Is Vertical Farming the Future?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The global vertical farming market is actively developing and growing. It is believed that this relatively new type of farming is changing the agriculture sector and can help solve environmental problems. Let’s find out whether it’s true.

What is vertical farming?

Take a spacious building, hundreds of high shelves or pillars, no sunlight and rain, only artificial lightning and various technologies (dosing systems, the Internet of Things, sensors, AI, ML, and many others); there we go: we can start growing products vertically indoors. Of course, it is more complicated, but hopefully, the main idea is clear.

What food can be grown?

Most indoor farms grow herbs, salad leaves, and strawberries. Technically, it is possible to cultivate anything on such farms, but the problem is profitability. To grow wheat, potato, or rice, we need much more time and light than to grow, for example, lettuce. More time and energy mean more costs and a higher price for the final product.

According to Science Focus, a loaf of bread made from indoor-farm wheat will cost around $18. For comparison, a usual loaf is a dollar, give or take. So, it doesn’t make sense to produce crops with a long growing season on indoor farms.

What are the advantages?

Vertical farms are good for the environment.

For example, such farms use less water than usual farms. Nordic Harvest, Europe’s largest vertical farm, says: “We use up to 250 times less water compared to conventional agriculture.” Another company, the Jones Food Company (JFCo), says that they clean and reuse water up to 30 times, which significantly reduces its waste.

Also, the plants are located indoors, so pesticides used to protect crops from pests and disease carriers are not needed. Not using pesticides means not releasing them into the environment and accordingly not polluting it.

Vertical farms can be easily located in the cities, near the consumers. So, there is no need to transfer products over long distances, which means less fuel is used and crops stay fresher.

Growing crops vertically saves space that can be used for something beneficial, for example, planting more trees.

Moreover, crops cultivated in a controlled environment are more consistent in appearance and flavor. Many products are wasted because they do not look appealing enough to consumers. That is why consistently having good-looking crops helps reduce food waste.

Finally, indoor farm products do not depend on weather conditions and climate thanks to technologies that create a sufficient growing environment. Hence, crops can be grown throughout the whole year.

What about disadvantages?

With all the advantages, it can sound as if vertical farms are a salvation, the perfect solution to countless problems, and should be used more actively. But unfortunately, it’s not that simple, and there are some pitfalls.

First, indoor farms require a lot of energy to power various equipment. Energy costs a lot, while rain and sunlight used for conventional farms are free. Some farms use fossil fuels to produce electricity, contributing to environmental problems and not solving them. But other companies decided to rely on reusable energy.

For example, according to the Guardian, the Jones Food Company will cover their farm roofs with solar panels and use neighboring land for future solar panels or wind turbines. However, whether this will be enough to power the whole farm is a question.

Then, setting up and maintaining many technologies used on a farm is very expensive. Apart from these costs, we need to consider the costs for buying real estate. The buildings used for vertical farms are huge, hence expensive. And it is important to repeat that not all crops can be grown on vertical farms and be cost-effective.

Final thoughts

According to Grand View Research, in 2019, the global vertical farming market was valued at $1.02 billion. Fortune Business Insights claims that this number turned into $4.16 billion in 2022 and predicts that it will reach $20.91 billion by 2029. So, it does look like indoor farming has a lot of potential.

Considering that vertical farms can help solve environmental problems, faith in them increases. However, finding ways to decrease the costs for setting-up indoor farms and maintaining them is vital for vertical farming to be as beneficial as possible.

It doesn’t look like we will be buying potatoes, wheat, or other staple crops produced on indoor farms, but buying herbs, salad, strawberries, and some other products from such farms is already a reality.

Resources:

Vertical Farming Technology: How Does It Work?

https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/what-is-vertical-farming/

Nordic Harvest

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/vertical-farming-produce-market

Vertical farming – is this the future of agriculture?

https://www.wired.com/story/wired-impact-infarm-vertical-farming/

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/vertical-farming-market-101958

Tagged agriculture, Farming, Vertical Farming

13 November 2022

3 Comments

AI, Business

Amazon introduces a new robot “Sparrow”

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Recently, Amazon introduced a new robotic system called Sparrow that uses computer vision and Artificial Intelligence to recognize and sort various unpacked objects. How does Sparrow work? Why is it a breakthrough? And what problems can it cause?

How does Sparrow work?

Sparrow identifies different objects, picks them up, and sorts them. On its robot arm, there is a custom gripper with several suction tubes that adjust to manage various items and firmly grip them. Thanks to machine learning and cameras, the robot recognizes around 65% of Amazon’s inventory objects and can even detect broken items and get rid of them.

Why is Sparrow a breakthrough?

Amazon has been working on automation for years and has created many robotic systems “to improve the customer and employee experience and create an even safer workplace.”

Amazon already uses robots that can identify and move boxes, but boxes are uniform in their shape and only differ in size. Before, only people could recognize and move unpacked items of different shapes, sizes, and textures. Sparrow, however, can change the game. For example, it can carry socks, cream tubes, bottles, and board games which are unlike objects.

Sparrow is still not ideal, as it works slower than people. We don’t know the exact speed of the robot, as, according to Wired, Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, merely answered that Sparrow is “learning all the time.” But we don’t need the exact information to see that the machine is not that fast.

What problems can Sparrow cause?

The first assumption is that using more advanced robots can cause unemployment. It doesn’t look like it’s a problem, though. According to Statista, Amazon was increasing the number of working places every year despite implementing new machines and technologies. It is explained by the growth of the company. Tye Brady said: “We made our first serious investment in robotics over 10 years ago and in those 10 years we created more than a million jobs. The need for people to solve problems and use common sense will always be there.”

Amazon stated many times that new technologies will only benefit workers: “Working with our employees, Sparrow will take on repetitive tasks, enabling our employees to focus their time and energy on other things, while also advancing safety.” Data acquired by Reveal suggests otherwise, as the number of injuries among employees increases: “ The company has used the robots to ratchet up production quotas to the point that humans can’t keep up without hurting themselves.”

Work conditions in Amazon warehouses are unpleasant, to say the least. The Guardian reports that an average warehouse employee leaves their working place within eight months. So, it doesn’t look like using a new robot will solve problems with injuries and work conditions, but it is likely to intensify the work and put employees in more danger.

Sources:

https://www.wired.com/story/amazons-new-robot-sparrow-can-handle-most-items-in-the-everything-store/

https://www.aboutamazon.com/new/transportation/amazon-robot-sparrow-streamlines-order-fulfillment-process

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/04/amazon-chews-through-the-average-worker-in-eight-months-they-need-a-union

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/10/amazon-introduces-robotic-arm-that-can-do-repetitive-warehouse-tasks.html

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/11/amazon-robots-jobs

https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/future-of-warehouse-work/

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/10-years-of-amazon-robotics-how-robots-help-sort-packages-move-product-and-improve-safety

https://www.statista.com/statistics/234488/number-of-amazon-employees/

How Amazon hid its safety crisis 

21 October 2022

2 Comments

AI, Bez kategorii

AI can prevent suicides

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Around 800 000 people die from suicides every year. It is one person every 40 seconds. Finding ways to prevent people from taking their lives is crucial.

The most common approaches to finding people in the risk zone are questionnaires and conversations with doctors. Not everyone, however, is willing to answer the questions truthfully and even come for medical help. The suicide stigmas and the negative perception of suicidal people make it extremely hard to get accurate results. That’s where AI is brought into play. Analyzing medical and social data can help identify suicidal people more accurately and save their lives. How well does AI detect such people? What can be done after that? And what are the disadvantages of using AI?

Identifying suicidal people thanks to AI

Two groups of data can be used: medical and social.

AI can find a correlation between the medical records of the patients and suicidal inclinations. For example, people with mental and terminal illnesses and past suicide attempts are more likely to have suicidal ideations and act upon them. What is less obvious is that even such illnesses as diabetes or arthritis can play their role (it was mentioned in the WebMD article that US veterans with these diagnoses had higher chances of committing a suicide).

When people don’t want to go to doctors and are scared of being judged by their friends and family, they turn to the Internet: ask Google questions, take online tests, and read articles and forums. Our activity online is analyzed by AI and can help comprehend a person’s mental state. Facebook and Google already monitor users’ behaviors to identify people at risk. If you ask Google about something related to suicides, the first sites you will see are about getting help.

Facebook went further. If AI finds something suspicious in your posts or comments, a special team will check the information and, in some cases, even contact the police.

Trying to save people

After identifying people in the risk zone, there seem to be two main approaches to saving them.

A more stern approach is acting quickly and firmly. A good example is welfare checks by the police. The effectiveness of this method, however, is questionable. According to New York Times, an officer once came to a woman after Facebook informed the police of a potential suicide. The woman claimed that she was fine and wouldn’t hurt herself, but the officer brought her to the hospital for a mental health assessment anyway.

In other cases, the outcome was much worse. Mason Marks, in his article “Artificial Intelligence-Based Suicide Prediction,” described many situations when policemen killed people during such welfare checks. For instance, in 2014, Jason Harrison’s mother asked the police to help her bring Jason to the hospital (he had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder). Harrison met the police with a small screwdriver in his hand. The officers shot the man.

A mild approach is sending supportive emails and showing people that it is possible to receive help (that’s where pop-ups with suicide hotlines can play their role). The main idea here is to show people that they are not alone and stop their negative train of thought. In the WebMD article, a veteran Dan Miller, who was once close to committing a suicide, says: “If I happened to be online, searching maybe for a bridge to jump off of … and suddenly that pops up on the screen, it’s like it changes the channel.”

According to WebMD, a study of 4730 veterans in the risk zone proves the effectiveness of the method. Half of the veterans from this group were receiving supportive emails with positive personal things that the veterans shared with the scientists (love for a certain sport or activity, for example). In two years, it turned out that more veterans receiving emails stayed alive compared to the other half.

Disadvantages of AI

The use of AI is in no way an ideal option. False identifications can be very dangerous. People can be restricted and forced to go through medical assessment or even medical treatment. Falsely identifying people with mental issues can stigmatize such people even more and hurt them. In some cases, the welfare checks of the police can cause confrontations and even deaths.

Moreover, we can’t be sure that social data related to mental state is safe. Medical data is stored and controlled by medical institutions that have no right to disclose it. Google, Facebook, and other companies that gather social data are not bound by such strict laws. Even though Facebook promises that data related to mental state won’t be disclosed, it is hard to believe that, considering many information security scandals the company was involved in.

Mason Marks believes that companies can decide to sell suicide information to third-parties, which will cause discrimination. For example, people will be denied housing, employment, or life insurance.

Conclusion

AI can be both a useful tool in preventing suicides and a threat to our well-being and privacy. But if we manage to create laws for protecting our data, find ways to verify this data, and safely help suicidal people, many lives can be saved.

Uliana Reneiskaya

Sources:

https://ourworldindata.org/suicide#:~:text=Globally%2C%20close%20to%20800%2C000%20people,being%20classified%20as%20unintentional%20injuries.

https://yjolt.org/sites/default/files/21_yale_j.l._tech._special_issue_98.pdf

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/story/suicide-prevention-and-AI

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/30/23001468/google-search-ai-mum-personal-crisis-information

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531453/

https://www.atrainceu.com/content/3-screening-suicide-risk

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165520/