ChatGPT is better than you think

11 January 2023

ChatGPT is better than you think

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ChatGPT has been a word on everyone’s lips in the past few months. We are not stopping to be amazed by the incredible abilities of this program. Some use it as a fast research tool, while others generate essays, articles, and other writing assignments in order to get over with their projects quickly. And there is no doubt that this famous text generator deals with those tasks brilliantly. But how good really is ChatGPT? Does it have more to offer than providing well-prepared pieces of information in naturally and professionally written form? That had been the question going around Dr. Alex Berezows’s head, and he decided to test it himself.

Having a Ph.D. in microbiology, this well-renowned scientist decided to conduct a 10-question test of his discipline with a level of difficulty optimal for people with a master’s in Biology and after a course in microbiology.

And the results were incredible. Questions that Dr. Alex Berezows constructed, obviously demanded deep scientific knowledge but that is something we could anticipate ChatGPT is going to handle with ease. However, the trap was set somewhere else. The idea was to ask questions that clearly demanded the algorithm to present essential and the most important information about a given subject.

Here is an example:

Question: In five words or less, what is the point of Koch’s postulates?

Answer: Establish causality between microbe and disease.

The ability to synthesize knowledge, choose pivotal information, and skip those that are not key to understanding a given topic is a true game changer. This and many other functions are the reason why ChatGPT is currently the best text-generating program in the world. And that is the reason why companies like Microsoft might want to invest in OpenAI (the start-up that created ChatGPT) for around 10 billion dollars.

So how good is ChatGPT and how it can be used? Well, that is something that no one really knows. One of the main reasons OpenAI decided to give open access to this algorithm worldwide was to find some answers to those questions. What we know now, is that this program is really good and it is safe to say that it has surpassed by far all the expectations. So what is next for OpenAI? We will find out soon enough.

Sources:

27 December 2022

6 Comments

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Should we be afraid of robots?

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Humans being replaced by robots and other AI-driven technologies has been a trendy theme among Sci-Fi literature writers and movie directors for decades. It is obviously not science fiction anymore, and we live in an age when technologies can do most things as good as humans, if not better. Some industries and countries are more eager to conduct this revolution, while others are taking more careful steps in this direction. That being said, a question arises – which approach is right and who, if anyone, should be worried about those changes?

Most economists agree that robots can boost productivity and the economic growth of the country. Companies could focus on assigning the most skillful employees to the more complex jobs and pay more attention to their needs because the less demanding but equally important tasks would be done by machines. It is really a great perspective because the automatization of industries such as agriculture can help us sustain basic human needs all over the world with a small contribution. Thanks to that we could focus more on providing better education and preparing a new generation of employees for the new types of jobs related to AI, machine learning, etc.

However, we need to acknowledge the dark side of this revolution. Based on the research of professors Osea Giuntella of the University of Pittsburgh, Yi lu of Tsinghua University, and Tianyi Wang of the University of Toronto who have analyzed the effects of replacing humans with robots in China which is a leading country in that matter, the workers are the ones who have to pay the highest prize. Automatization of their jobs results in unemployment and most of them do not possess the skills needed for some newly created positions. Those who kept their seat, according to the research, have experienced on average a 9% decrease in hourly wages and a 14% increase in hours worked. This situation can eventually lead to economic inequality and social unrest.

So are robots a good or a bad thing? As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between. Robots are the way in which our society can grow and develop. There is a common belief that eventually, their existence will be beneficial for everyone. The only issue is the transformation which will be and in fact, already is in some parts of the world very harmful to workers and less educated citizens. A similar situation took place during the Industrial revolution which has begun in the XVIII century. What we can learn from it is that we should take small steps and give ourselves a chance to adapt to new changes.

Sources:

Analytic Insight
Fortune

23 November 2022

3 Comments

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Sand battery – is it really a game changer?

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With people being more and more aware of global warming and what impact it already has on our planet, we can observe intensified search for efficient green sources of energy. In fact, we had many interesting solutions for years now, but there is a reason why they are still not the main suppliers of electricity all over the globe. Being dependent on weather conditions is a disadvantage of some of the most popular ones, for example, wind farms and solar panels. In that case in order to be prepared for those cloudy days we need to store somewhere generated energy. The problem is that the basic lithium-ion batteries are degrading and the process of their creation is not really “eco” so we pretty much miss the whole point.

That’s where the sand battery comes in – an innovation introduced by finish company Polar Night Energy. It started to gain popularity and interest around the world thanks to articles published by BBC writers Matt McGrath (July 2022) and Erika Benke (November 2022). With the ongoing war in Ukraine and the recently finished COP27 optimism surrounding this new solution shouldn’t be a surprise for us. But is it really a game changer and does it solve all the problems we are facing now with lithium-ion batteries?
First, let’s understand how a sand battery works. It is nothing more than a silo filled with pipes and hundreds of tons of sand. Thanks to TES (Thermal Energy Storage) technology and amazing physical attributes of sand that with proper isolation can maintain a temperature of 600 degrees Celsius for months, this innovation can store heat produced by electricity from solar panels and wind farms. It can be used to warm up the water during shortages of electricity due to for example weather conditions. It is pretty obvious that this solution is very cheap, eco-friendly, and easy to apply in any part of the world. In fact, it is already being used in the Vatajankoski power plant, where one sand battery provides heat for about 100 homes and a public swimming pool.

There is one issue though that can make us question this innovation. In fact, the term “battery” is misleading because sand batteries cannot store electricity. Transformation of heat energy back to electricity comes with huge losses and is just not cost-effective. Of course, this solution is still very promising and needed especially in countries placed in the northern part of the globe. Nevertheless, until Polar Night Energy finds a way to convert heat to electricity with much more efficiency, it is tough to call their innovation a game changer because it just does not solve one of the main problems. But who knows, maybe it is just a matter of time.

Sand battery is an eco-friendly and budget-friendly technology that should interest facilities and cities around the world which want to become greener and at the same time save money on heating. Though it does not revolutionize the energy industry, it is very encouraging to see that we keep on finding new ways to prevent global pollution. In front of Polar Night Energy now stands a very challenging task of scaling up and It is gonna be very interesting to follow their further development.

Sources:

9 November 2022

4 Comments

AI, Business

Are pilotless planes the next step in the aviation industry?

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Try to imagine the last cruise you have been on but without pilots sitting in a cockpit. It might sound a bit surreal but this can be our everyday reality sooner than many think.

What it takes to be a pilot and what are the responsibilities connected to this role? This is a question we should answer first before we talk about replacing humans with AI-driven computers. The main tasks of passenger plane pilots are performing difficult maneuvers (though sometimes they are also done with a help of autopilot), answering to changing circumstances in the air, and the most important one – decision making. Though many respected pilots may think that these are the abilities computer cannot offer, objectively speaking it can and probably AI is already better at it.

Captain Petter Hornfeldt – a great pilot and founder of YouTube channel “Mentour Pilot” concentrated on popularizing aviation, in his video posted about five years ago addressed concerns of his audience about investing in becoming a commercial pilot. After analyzing this problem he stated that, though pilotless planes might be the future of aviation it would take decades to actually introduce them to our everyday lives. Looking at the rapid progress in AI-driven modes of the transport industry, it is safe to say that he was wrong and we might experience this change much sooner.

The technology is already here. Autopilots in planes are nothing new. Though very primitive, they were already part of passenger aircrafts in the 70s. With Artificial Intelligence, objects recognition systems and data gathered over the years we already have everything we need. In fact, huge companies such as Boeing and Airbus are already running projects concentrated on testing this technology. At the same time, NASA started working with Xwing – a silicon valley company considered to be a pioneer in the autonomous planes industry. The goal of this special partnership is to study the safety of pilotless planes which Xwnigs has already produced.

Why autonomous planes are a necessity in the future? Well, the need for this technology is in fact much higher than for driverless cars. First of all, to become a pilot, one has to invest around one hundred thousand dollars and hope to maintain perfect health throughout a whole career. That fact alone is a cause of the lack of pilots in the job market despite attractive wages. From the airline’s point of view, pilots are very expensive and inefficient in comparison to computers which could fly without any breaks.

Customers will also experience a lot of benefits when this technology is introduced. First and foremost by reduction of ticket prices. Autonomous planes might also create an opportunity to make flying more accessible and on-demand service around the world – some say there would be a possibility of creating “Uber in the air”.

However, there are some obstacles with which we need to deal first. Cybersecurity is one of them – the consequences of hacking and taking control of those machines would be catastrophic. There is also ongoing debate among lawyers and companies about who should take a responsibility for any accidents or failures of this technology in the future. And last but not least, probably the most difficult problem to overcome – social acceptance and trust towards pilotless flights.

Because of the current state of things in the aviation industry, autonomous planes are a necessity and it is just a matter of time before they become our everyday reality. There is no doubt that airlines would be very eager to introduce them as quickly as possible because of the amount of money they could save that way. However, companies should stay patient and cautious about this technology because our safety is at stake.

Sources:

13 October 2022

1 Comment

Bez kategorii, Security

NASA for the first time in history changed the orbit of an asteroid

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On October 11, 2022, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) confirmed success of Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). The mission aimed to change orbit of an Asteroid called Dimorphos by crashing a spacecraft with developed high velocity on its surface.

fot. Nasa/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben handout/EPA

Dimorphos Is one of two moons orbiting around larger asteroid – Didymos. It did not pose any threat to the Earth. Still, it was chosen for this experiment due to the possibility of making accurate observations of changes in its orbital path from a distance of over 6.8 million miles away.

The actual crash took place on Sept. 26, 2022, but scientists needed two weeks to be sure that Didymos loop was sped up by 32 minutes which is a result that positively surprised everyone. Lori Glaze – NASA’s planetary science division director, said that this is ‘’a watershed moment for planetary defense, and a watershed moment for humanity…”

Though there is not any direct danger of a huge asteroid colliding with Earth and chances for that scenery are relatively very low, from the history of our planet we know that it is not impossible. That fact alone is reason enough for NASA, ESSA, and other space programs to keep working on Earth’s defense strategies. The success of DART can keep us optimistic going into the future especially since it is said to be just a first step.

Sources:

NASA

Mashable

Astrofaza