Baby Helped AI Understand How Kids Learn Language

A team of researchers at New York University wondered if AI could learn like a baby. The AI model managed to match words to the objects they represent.  Researchers relied on 61 hours of video from a helmet camera worn by a child in Australia. That child wore the camera off and on for one and a half years, from the time he was six months old until a little after his second birthday.

The camera captured the things Sam looked at and paid attention to during about 1% of his waking hours. To train the model, researchers used 600,000 video frames paired with the phrases that were spoken by the child’s parents or other people in the room when the image was captured 37,500 utterances in all.

More information:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/02/01/1087527/baby-ai-language-camera/

AI Teaches School’s Curriculum

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools on Monday approved an application from Unbound Academy to open a fully online school serving grades four through eight.  Unbound already operates a private school that uses its AI-dependent 2hr Learning model in Texas and is currently applying to open similar schools in Arkansas and Utah.

Under the 2hr Learning model, students spend just two hours a day using personalized learning programs from companies like IXL and Khan Academy. Spending less time on traditional curriculum frees up the rest of students’ days for life-skill workshops that cover financial literacy, public speaking, goal setting, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving.

More information:

https://gizmodo.com/arizona-schools-curriculum-will-be-taught-by-ai-no-teachers-2000540905

Database of 8,000 AI-Generated Electric Vehicles

MIT engineers have created more than 8,000 electric vehicle (EV) designs that can be combined with artificial intelligence (AI) to quickly build cars in the future. Dubbed "DrivAerNet++," this open-source database includes designs that are based on the most common types of cars out right now, shown as 3D models that incorporate information such as how aerodynamic the design is.

The new database aims to speed up the search for better car designs exponentially. This digital library of car designs includes detailed data on specifications and aerodynamics. This digital library could be used to generate new electric car designs if combined with AI models in the future. By streamlining a lengthy process, manufacturers can develop EV designs faster than ever before.

More information:

https://www.livescience.com/technology/electric-vehicles/mits-massive-database-of-8-000-new-ai-generated-ev-designs-could-shape-how-the-future-of-cars-look