Give Your Face to a Robot for $200,000; AI Helps People with Disabilities; and more!

Kepler telescope data reveals over 300 previously unknown exoplanets. 

In data obtained by a now-defunct exoplanet-hunting telescope, a new artificial intelligence program discovered over 300 previously undiscovered exoplanets.

The Kepler Space Telescope, NASA's first dedicated exoplanet hunter, has studied hundreds of thousands of stars in search of habitable worlds outside our solar system. Even after the telescope's demise, the catalog of probable planets it had compiled continues to provide fresh findings. Human scientists go through the data, looking for hints of exoplanets. However, a new program known as ExoMiner can now imitate that method and explore the catalog more quickly and efficiently.

Brain Data generated by AI to Assist the Disabled

USC Viterbi School of Engineering researchers are employing generative adversarial networks (GANs) – technology best known for making deep fake films and photorealistic human faces — to enhance brain-computer interfaces for persons with disabilities.

The researchers revealed the construction and usage of a generative model — a model that synthesizes a nearly infinite number of new data distributions from a learned data distribution — in a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. The team was able to teach an AI to produce synthetic brain activity data. To increase the usability of Brain-Computer Interfaces, the data, especially brain signals known as spike trains, can be fed into machine-learning algorithms.

Top scientist warns AI weapons pose a threat to humanity

The computer scientist Stuart Russell met with officials from the UK’s Ministry of Defence in October to give a stern warning: building artificial intelligence into weapons could wipe out humanity.

But the pioneering artificial intelligence researcher, who has spent the past decade campaigning to ban AI from being used to locate and kill human targets, was not able to extract any guarantees from those present at the conference.

Russell, a British professor at the University of California - Berkeley, who co-wrote one of the main textbooks on AI more than 25 years ago, will utilize the annual Reith Lectures on BBC radio this week to drive his point even further.

His recommendations for a worldwide ban on autonomous deadly weapons have been repeated by academics throughout the world. More than 400 German AI academics submitted an open letter to the German government last week, urging it to halt the development of these systems by its armed forces.

A robotics startup, working on making manual labour easier, raises $70 million 

FJ Dynamics secured a $ 70 million Series B financing to achieve its mission of empowering workers working in harsh environments with robotic technology. FJ Dynamics is founded by DJI's former Chief Scientist WuDi. 

Wu said about his agricultural robots, "I don't think our technology is that unique." The startup's mission is to produce convenient and inexpensive robots for the most labor-intensive sectors.

"You can utilize cutting-edge AI algorithms,” Wu says. “But what use is technology if it doesn't operate on manufacturing lines or farms owing to a lack of industry experience?" 

Give your face to a robot and get $200,000 for it 

Giving your face to a robot may sound like a joke or a dream, but it may become a reality in the near future. 

Promobot is searching for a face for its next humanoid robot, which will debut in hotels, shopping malls, and airports in 2023.

In exchange for transferring the rights to use their face indefinitely, the Promobot is offering the daring volunteer a whopping £150,000 ($200,000). Promobot is a New York-based robot maker known for its stunningly realistic humanoid robots.