Lifeboat Foundation

Unmanned systems’ global inroads are including European agriculture. GNSS for precision guidance of tractors and harvesters is already in place. More recent innovations include fully driverless and smart systems, while drones remain poised to fly.

The experience of one Dutch company is instructive. Precision Makers is an up-and- coming manufacturer of automated farm systems. The company delivers two main products. One, a conversion kit called X-Pert, turns existing mowers and tractors into driverless machines. The other is a fully robotized, unmanned vehicle called Greenbot. Both systems enable automated precision operations, but while one has been successful in terms of sales, the other has not.

Precision Makers Business Development Director, Allard Martinet, told Inside Unmanned Systems, “Sales of our X-Pert conversion system have been very good. We started in 2008, first converting the Toro golf course mower, and then we expanded that into solutions for other vehicles. Today, there are more than 150 X-Pert converted vehicles running.”

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On July 11-12th, we return to the Cooper Union in New York City for our second annual Ending Age-Related Diseases conference, which focuses on the progress in aging research as well as the business side of biotech.

We will be bringing you the latest aging research, investment, and business knowledge from some of the top experts in the industry. We will be packing two days full of talks and discussion panels featuring the people who are developing the technologies that could change the way we regard and treat aging forever.

We are currently offering reduced ticket prices until March 31st, after which the price increases to the regular $400 cost. If you would like to take advantage of this special offer, head on over to our event ticket page to secure your place now.

Continue reading “Ending Age-Related Diseases Conference: March Update” »

In 1965, I. J. Good described for the first time the notion of “intelligence explosion”, as it relates to artificial intelligence (AI):

Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an “intelligence explosion,” and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control.

Decades later, the concept of an “intelligence explosion” — leading to the sudden rise of “superintelligence” and the accidental end of the human race — has taken hold in the AI community. Famous business leaders are casting it as a major risk, greater than nuclear war or climate change. Average graduate students in machine learning are endorsing it. In a 2015 email survey targeting AI researchers, 29% of respondents answered that intelligence explosion was “likely” or “highly likely”. A further 21% considered it a serious possibility.

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In February, a group of 16 researchers from Harvard, MIT, and other institutions around the U.S. and Europe launched the nonprofit Academy for Health and Lifespan Research to promote future work, ease collaborations between scientists, and ensure that governments and corporations are making decisions based on the latest facts instead of rumor, speculation, or hype.

Research into extending humanity’s healthy lifespan has been progressing rapidly in recent years. In February, a group of aging and longevity scientists founded a nonprofit to foster the work and serve as a resource for governments and businesses looking to understand the potentially far-reaching implications of a population that lives significantly longer, healthier lives.

Cognitive computing (CC) technology revolves around making computers adept at mimicking the processes of the human brain, which is basically making them more intelligent. Even though the phrase cognitive computing is used synonymously with AI, the term is closely associated with IBM’s cognitive computer system, Watson. IBM Watson is a supercomputer that leverages AI-based disruptive technologies like machine learning (ML), real-time analysis, natural language processing, etc. to augment decision making and deliver superior outcomes.