A team of MIT researchers is making it easier for novices to get their feet wet with artificial intelligence, while also helping experts advance the field.
In a paper presented at the Programming Language Design and Implementation conference this week, the researchers describe a novel probabilistic-programming system named “Gen.” Users write models and algorithms from multiple fields where AI techniques are applied — such as computer vision, robotics, and statistics — without having to deal with equations or manually write high-performance code. Gen also lets expert researchers write sophisticated models and inference algorithms — used for prediction tasks — that were previously infeasible. Read More
Tag Archives: Artificial Intelligence
A General-Purpose Probabilistic Programming System with Programmable Inference
Although probabilistic programming is widely used for some restricted classes of statistical models, existing systems lack the flexibility and efficiency needed for practical use with more challenging models arising in fields like computer vision and robotics. This paper introduces Gen, a generalpurpose probabilistic programming system that achieves modeling flexibility and inference efficiency via several novel language constructs: (i) the generative function interface for encapsulating probabilistic models; (ii) interoperable modeling languages that strike different flexibility/efficiency tradeoffs; (iii) combinators that exploit common patterns of conditional independence; and (iv) an inference library that empowers users to implement efficient inference algorithms at a high level of abstraction. We show that Gen outperforms state-of-the-art probabilistic programming systems, sometimes by multiple orders of magnitude, on diverse problems including object tracking, estimating 3D body pose from a depth image, and inferring the structure of a time series. Read More
How 5G, AI and IoT enable “Intelligent Connectivity”
Intelligent connectivity is a concept that foresees the combination of 5G, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence as a means to accelerate technological development and enable new disruptive digital services. In the intelligent connectivity vision, the digital information collected by the machines, devices and sensors making up the Internet of Things is analysed and contextualised by AI technologies and presented to users in a more meaningful and useful way. This would both improve decision-making and allow delivery of personalised experiences to the users, resulting in a richer and more fulfilling interaction between people and the environment surrounding them.
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly sophisticated thanks to advances in computing power, the education of data scientists and the availability of machine learning tools for creating advanced algorithms, the Internet of Things is getting closer to becoming a mainstream phenomenon. 5G represents the missing element to bring these technologies to new levels and enable the intelligent connectivity vision. The ultra-fast and ultra-low latency connectivity provided by 5G networks, combined with the huge amount of data collected by the Internet of Things and the contextualisation and decision-making capabilities of artificial intelligence technologies will enable new transformational capabilities in virtually every industry sector, potentially changing our society and the way we live and work. Read More
How the combination of 5G, AI, Big Data and IoT is set to change everything
The combination of 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), smart platforms and the Internet of Things (IoT) form the basis of what we call ‘Intelligent Connectivity’. With more than 5.1 billion unique subscribers and nearly 9 billion connections globally, mobile is already one of the most widely deployed technology platforms ever. However, Intelligent Connectivity takes this further and marks the beginning of an era of highly contextualised and personalised experiences, underpinned by ubiquitous hyper connectivity. It is set to impact almost every aspect of our daily lives from the way we consume entertainment to the way in which we learn and interact with colleagues. It will give people the information they need in an instant making our lives more productive and efficient. It will impact how entire industries innovate and operate, how societies interact and thrive and how economies flourish. Read More
An alliance is being forged between 5G and artificial intelligence
The proposed vision for 5G technology is revolutionary, and its architecture truly innovative. It offers features that enhance not only network performance, but also the way networks are built and deployed. This is an essential aspect because one of the drivers for 5G is the reduction in both CAPEX and OPEX, which will open the door for more players offering more innovative business models.
Today, an alliance is being forged between 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) that together will be pillars of the digital transformation of millions of businesses around the globe. 5G’s technological proposition is aimed at closing the cycle on the network convergence between fixed and mobile. This means that 5G architectures and technology will allow the migration of all the services that are today dependent of fixed connections (namely fibre) to mobile (ubiquitous) connectivity, enhancing the existing portability to become true mobility of services. Read More
The fourth Industrial revolution emerges from AI and the Internet of Things
Big data, analytics, and machine learning are starting to feel like anonymous business words, but they’re not just overused abstract concepts—those buzzwords represent huge changes in much of the technology we deal with in our daily lives. Some of those changes have been for the better, making our interaction with machines and information more natural and more powerful. Others have helped companies tap into consumers’ relationships, behaviors, locations and innermost thoughts in powerful and often disturbing ways. And the technologies have left a mark on everything from our highways to our homes. Read More
The Threat of Google’s DeepMind
If you consider Google is the leader globally in artificial intelligence, DeepMind is their crown jewel.
When they moved the DeepMind Health unit, the healthcare subsidiary, into their main company — that broke a pledge that ‘data will not be connected to Google accounts’ — you knew Google was cutting corners.
Google’s AI Supremacy is an Existential Threat
Bigger than the Department of Justice going after Google for antitrust is the harm DeepMind could do to the future of artificial intelligence. They are arguably the leader in deep learning. The choices they make will decide many things about the fate of humanity in an AI-centric world.
The next real interface after smart phones is the neural interface and a Google powered neural interface (beyond ear buds and Voice AI) will power the next era of augmented humans. Read More
Better Future through AI: Avoiding Pitfalls and Guiding AI Towards Its Full Potential
Articial Intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly changing many areas of society. While there is tremendous potential in this transition, there are several pitfalls as well. Using the history of computing and the world-wide web as a guide, in this article we identify those pitfalls and actions that lead AI development to its full potential. If done right, AI will be instrumental in achieving the goals we set for economy, society, and the world in general. Read More
If DARPA Has Its Way, AI Will Rule the Wireless Spectrum
In the early 2000s, Bluetooth almost met an untimely end. The first Bluetooth devices struggled to avoid interfering with Wi-Fi routers, a higher-powered, more-established cohort on the radio spectrum, with which Bluetooth devices shared frequencies. Bluetooth engineers eventually modified their standard—and saved their wireless tech from early extinction—by developing frequency-hopping techniques for Bluetooth devices, which shifted operation to unoccupied bands upon detecting Wi-Fi signals.
Frequency hopping is just one way to avoid interference, a problem that has plagued radio since its beginning. Long ago, regulators learned to manage spectrum so that in the emerging wireless ecosystem, different radio users were allocated different frequencies for their exclusive use. While this practice avoids the challenges of detecting transmissions and shifting frequencies on the fly, it makes very inefficient use of spectrum, as portions lay fallow. Read More
Lecture Notes by Andrew Ng : Full Set
The following notes represent a complete, stand alone interpretation of Stanford’s machine learning course presented by Professor Andrew Ng and originally posted on the ml-class.org website during the fall 2011 semester. The topics covered are shown below, although for a more detailed summary see lecture 19. The only content not covered here is the Octave/MATLAB programming. Read More
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