Many people around the world (and in the United States) do not have reliable access to medical care. This may be due to geographical factors, financial factors, cultural factors, or a combination thereof. However, mobile phone adoption continues to grow rapidly in both developed and underdeveloped countries.

With fast rates of adoption and increasing levels of computing power available through mobile phones to people around the world, the X PRIZE Foundation is looking to “inspire creation” of “The AI Physician X PRIZE,” which would use artificial intelligence to “diagnose patients better than board certified doctors.”

While this technology would certainly be a boon for many, a diagnosis is only the first part in healing a patient. Those without access to care would still be left without a means of actual treatment due to the same three factors that would prevent them from getting diagnosed. Gotta crawl before you walk, though, I suppose.

(Via Scope)

In order to assist with deciphering writing systems, researchers and students at MIT have developed software that can decipher unknown scripts by comparing them to those we understand:

A computer successfully deciphered an ancient language Ugaritic in just a couple of hours.

Regina Barzilay, an associate professor in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, Ben Snyder, a grad student in her lab, and the University of Southern California’s Kevin Knight are the creators. [...]

The system makes certain assumption of the language’s similarity to another, Hebrew in this case. It also depends on a systematic way to map the alphabet of one language on to the alphabet of the other.

And it assumes a similar mapping for parts of words. A word like “overloading,” for instance, has both a prefix – “over” – and a suffix – “ing.”

“We iterate through the data hundreds of times, thousands of times and each time, our guesses have higher probability, because we’re actually coming closer to a solution where we get more consistency,” said Snyder.

While the software isn’t threatening to put human deciphers out of work, the developers say it does have the potential to make their jobs a bit easier.

Quiz show Jeopardy! has been stumping human contestants and viewers for more than 45 years. Part of the show’s challenge lies in the way contestants are required to phrase answers, which must be in the form of a question. It can be flummoxing for humans, and would understandably be difficult for a machine.

Apparently IBM’s “Watson” supercomputer is not one of those machines.

Watson is the result of IBM’s effort to create a machine capable of understanding questions asked in “natural language” and responding in kind. In mock Jeopardy! matches, Watson has done remarkably well, handily defeating its human opponents. It’s been so successful, in fact, that IBM has agreed to feature the machine on an upcoming episode of Jeopardy! that could air as early as the fall.

Aside from racking up winnings on trivia game shows, Watson’s technology could revolutionize search engines, enabling computers to correctly interpret questions and provide more accurate answers, rather than require humans to phrase questions in ways machines can understand.

The New York Times has a fascinating feature on Watson, which is part of their ongoing series on artificial intelligence.

(Via Engadget)

He also provides his opinion on who is helping bring about this potential future:

Ok, so who is working towards this eventuality? Well, if it happens this way, pretty much everybody in the NBIC fields – everybody working on nanotech and biotech and AI and brain science, whether as citizen scientists in a collaborationist project or working for a corporation, or those wacky surrealists at DARPA – they’re all pushing this potentiality forward. Of course, we may have to “hijack the singularity” from them eventually – or even now (think gene patent v. open source bio). But mainly, I think all the people who are engaging in open source collaborationist tinkering and culture, the citizen scientists – particularly the more sophisticated and educated young people that are choosing to invest themselves in “garage” projects – I think they all may be taking us there.

I also think the best, smartest critics and skeptics and SF writers and creators are helping – by problematizing these scenarios in advance, by giving us arguments and narratives that remind us about human behaviors and emotions and political and economic and scientific realities. Brilliant fiction adds to our foresight… our pattern recognition… by playing out dramatic, difficult, dark, challenging, ambiguous or dystopian scenarios based on similar technological possibilities.

Like all of R.U. Sirius’ writings, it’s well worth reading.

Currently, Furber and his team are testing a version that includes a mere 50 “neurons” that can navigate a simple virtual environment described as “Pac-Man-like.”

Furber has big plans for the computer once it is completed:

That’s good enough for Furber, who wants to start teaching his brain-like computer about the world as soon as possible. His first goal is to teach it how to control a robotic arm, before working towards a design to control a humanoid. A robot controller with even a dash of brain-like properties should be much better at tasks like image recognition, navigation and decision-making, says Furber.

“Robots offer a natural, sensory environment for testing brain-like computers,” says Furber. “You can instantly tell if it is being useful.”

Processors for the project are currently being manufactured in Taiwan, and Furber intends to have a 10,000 chip version of the machine operational before the end of the year.

(Via PopSci)

Now, I’m in the process of developing completely automated sports content, which will take the form of blogs.  I’m not talking just a “stat of the day” or game recaps, but a lot more. I’ve identified 21 different types of sports stories that can be automated.  You could say I’m trying to make the process of writing a sports blog so easy you don’t have to do anything at all.  My goal for these blogs in version 1.0 is that at least 90% of the readers think the content was created by a human. One of the nice attributes of algorithmic content is that it can be improved over time.  A blogger/writer’s internal script is pretty much set.  They generally don’t change or improve the quality or comprehensiveness of their content over time in a significant way, but algorithms can be upgraded continuously. The “voice” of the content can be improved.

The author points out that, while not all sports news can be easily automated (thus requiring human intervention), this algorithm should go a big way toward helping develop content, and may be especially helpful for smaller markets, where local news outlets may not have the resources to devote to covering sports.

One of the great things about TED is that, while the conferences are fairly exclusive, they put up video from their presentations online for all of us to benefit. While there are many presentations worth watching out of the 600+ videos that can be found on the TED site, here are my favorite five talks on transhumanist topics:

Aimee Mullins on running (February 1998)

Aimee Mullins garnered attention as a record-setting runner who also happens to be a double amputee. She successfully competed against able-bodied athletes while at Georgetown University on carbon fiber legs that were modeled after those of a cheetah. At TED1998 she spoke about her experiences running in college and at the paralympics, and the challenges she experienced using her then-revolutionary prosthetics.

Rodney Brooks says robots will invade our lives (February 2003)

Roboticist Rodney Brooks, Director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, spoke in 2003 about how robots would be increasingly integrated into our lives. While advancements in robotics have come a long way since Brooks gave this presentation, a lot of this is still very applicable today, especially his demonstration on how we will provide direction to robots on how to perform complex tasks.

Nick Bostrom on our biggest problems (July 2005)

Philosopher Nick Bostrom, founder of the World Transhumanist Association (Now Humanity+) and current director of Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, presented on humanity’s three biggest problems, including death, existential risk and that “life isn’t usually as wonderful as it could be.” He talks through how humans would need to change, as well as how we would have to change the world around us, to address these issues.

Ray Kurzweil on how technology will transform us (February 2005)

At TED2005, Ray Kurzweil provided an overview of his Law of Accelerating Returns and how it will affect the development of nanotechnology, the growth of computing, and how we will eventually merge with our technology. This is a great overview of many of Kurzweil’s thoughts that he addresses in his books, particularly The Singularity is Near.

Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging (July 2005)

Aubrey de Grey, gerontologist and author of Ending Aging, presented in 2005 on why defeating aging is desirable, why we need to begin serious discussions of radical longevity, feasibility of radical longevity, why humans accept aging, and how we can actually begin to significantly extend lifespans.

EDIT 3/23/10: I clarified some language in the blurb about Aubrey de Grey’s presentation.

This week DARPA announced its “Mind’s Eye Program,” an effort to research visual intelligence in machines. More specifically, it will serve to not only enable cameras to recognize objects (an ability some machines are already capable of) but determine interactions between objects it sees, and then use this information to provide a “complete narrative of action.” Naturally, the military applications of this technology would be profound (PDF):

One of the desired military capabilities resulting from this new form of visual intelligence is a smart camera, with sufficient visual intelligence that it can report on activity in an area of observation. A camera with this kind of visual intelligence could be employed as a payload on a broad range of persistent stare surveillance platforms, from fixed surveillance systems, which would conceivably benefit from abundant computing power, to camera‐equipped perch‐and‐stare micro air vehicles, which would impose extreme limitations on payload size and available computing power.

DARPA will be conducting an “Industry Day” in April to familiarize industry with the idea and explain program requirements.

(Via Wired)

With the exception of Kurzweil, however, the other respondents are much less sure about what the year 2100 will hold for humanity. Will we even have machines capable of passing the Turing Test? Will we still be the dominant species?

It’s safe to say humanity will undergo more change in the next century than it has in its entire existence. If Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns is even somewhat accurate, however, it will be difficult to predict what, exactly, that change will look like.

• Turning paper and clothing into batteries – By coating fabric and paper with ink “laced” with carbon nanotubes, researchers were able to coax these ordinary materials into storing energy that may one day be used to charge gadgets or lead to new, flexible displays.
• Exploring dolphins’ diabetes “off switch” – Dolphins have the ability to “switch off” insulin resistance, and researchers hope to probe the human genome to determine if humans might have the same ability.
• Scientists discuss geoengineering possibilities as solution for climate change – “If we can heat the planet, can we also cool it?”
• Advancements in cryonics – Chief Operating Officer of American Cryonics Society says, “For a little over $28,000, we can give you age suspension.”
• How nanotechnology could help the Middle East – A strong commitment to Arab scientists could mean nanotechnology advances in areas such as water treatment and solar energy.
• Software could understand what humans write – Emerging technologies being developed at Stanford could help computers better comprehend information online, leading to better indexing of information and effectiveness of search engines.