Salesforce-backed AI project SharkEye aims to protect beachgoers

Salesforce is backing an AI project called SharkEye which aims to save the lives of beachgoers from one of the sea’s deadliest predators.

Shark attacks are, fortunately, quite rare. However, they do happen and most cases are either fatal or cause life-changing injuries.

Just last week, a fatal shark attack in Australia marked the eighth of the year—an almost 100-year record for the highest annual death toll. Once rare sightings in Southern California beaches are now...

24 November 2020 | Applications

TensorFlow is now available for those shiny new ARM-based Macs

A new version of machine learning library TensorFlow has been released with optimisations for Apple’s new ARM-based Macs.

While still technically in pre-release, the Mac-optimised TensorFlow fork supports native hardware acceleration on Mac devices with M1 or Intel chips through Apple’s ML Compute framework.

The new TensorFlow release boasts of an over 10x speed improvement for common training tasks. While impressive, it has to be taken in the context that the GPU...

19 November 2020 | Apple

AI helps patients to get more rest while reducing staff workload

A team from Feinstein Institutes for Research thinks AI could be key to helping patients get more rest while reducing the burden on healthcare staff.

Everyone knows how important adequate sleep is for recovery. However, patients in pain – or just insomniacs like me – can struggle to get the sleep they need.

"Rest is a critical element to a patient's care, and it has been well-documented that disrupted sleep is a common complaint that could delay discharge and...

17 November 2020 | Healthcare

NVIDIA DGX Station A100 is an ‘AI data-centre-in-a-box’

NVIDIA has unveiled its DGX Station A100, an “AI data-centre-in-a-box” powered by up to four 80GB versions of the company’s record-setting GPU.

The A100 Tensor Core GPU set new MLPerf benchmark records last month—outperforming CPUs by up to 237x in data centre inference. In November, Amazon Web Services made eight A100 GPUs available in each of its P4d instances.

For those who prefer their hardware local, the DGX Station A100 is available in either four 80GB A100...

16 November 2020 | Hardware

Synthesized’s free tool aims to detect and remove algorithmic biases

Synthesized has launched a free tool which aims to quickly identify and remove dangerous biases in algorithms.

As humans, we all have biases. These biases, often unconsciously, end up in algorithms which are designed to be used across society.

In practice, this could mean anything from a news app serving more left-wing or right-wing content—through to facial recognition systems which flag some races and genders more than others.

A 2010 study (PDF) by...

12 November 2020 | Ethics

Sony has a new ‘AI robotics’ drone division called Airpeak

Sony’s latest division, Airpeak, is described as being “in the field of AI robotics” and will focus on next-generation drones.

Despite incidents of reckless flying, drones unlock huge opportunities. We regularly see beautiful photography and videography shot using drones—but, of course, they can do so much more.

Sony has built a stellar reputation in media capture. The company builds great cameras – both for itself and sensors it supplies to other manufacturers...

10 November 2020 | Drones

Algorithmia announces Insights for ML model performance monitoring

Seattle-based Algorithmia has announced Insights, a solution for monitoring the performance of machine learning models.

Algorithmia specialises in artificial intelligence operations and management. The company is backed by Google LLC and focuses on simplifying AI projects for enterprises just To Get Started.

Diego Oppenheimer, CEO of Algorithmia, says:

“Organisations have specific needs when it comes to ML model monitoring and reporting.

For example,...

5 November 2020 | Machine Learning

NVIDIA chucks its MLPerf-leading A100 GPU into Amazon’s cloud

NVIDIA’s A100 set a new record in the MLPerf benchmark last month and now it’s accessible through Amazon’s cloud.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) first launched a GPU instance 10 years ago with the NVIDIA M2050. It’s rather poetic that, a decade on, NVIDIA is now providing AWS with the hardware to power the next generation of groundbreaking innovations.

The A100 outperformed CPUs in this year’s MLPerf by up to 237x in data centre inference. A single NVIDIA DGX A100...

3 November 2020 | Amazon

Medical chatbot using OpenAI’s GPT-3 told a fake patient to kill themselves

We’re used to medical chatbots giving dangerous advice, but one based on OpenAI’s GPT-3 took it much further.

If you’ve been living under a rock, GPT-3 is essentially a very clever text generator that’s been making various headlines in recent months. Only Microsoft has permission to use it for commercial purposes after securing exclusive rights last month.

In a world of fake news and misinformation, text generators like GPT-3 could one day have very concerning...

28 October 2020 | Healthcare

IBM study highlights rapid uptake and satisfaction with AI chatbots

A study by IBM released this week highlights the rapid uptake of AI chatbots in addition to increasing customer satisfaction.

Most of us are hardwired to hate not speaking directly to a human when we have a problem—following years of irritating voicemail systems. However, perhaps the only thing worse is being on hold for an uncertain amount of time due to overwhelmed call centres.

Chatbots have come a long way and can now quickly handle most queries within minutes....

27 October 2020 | Bots