r/Futurology Jun 14 '18 Silver Gold Helpful Wholesome Hugz Take My Energy Stonks Rising Alien Monolith

meta r/Futurology's Official Discord - A relaxed place to chill and discuss all things Futurology.

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1.2k Upvotes

r/Futurology 13d ago

meta Got Something AI? Check out SaturdAI and SundAI!

81 Upvotes

As a moderators of this subreddit, we've noticed that there are many valuable posts related to AI that often overpower other future-focused topics. While we appreciate a broad range of discussions, it would be helpful to have a specific day dedicated to AI.

That's why we are implementing "SaturdAIs" and "SundAIs." We encourage the community to post about the latest advancements in artificial intelligence on the weekend. AI-focused posts on other days will be removed. This will help streamline our discussions and make it easier for those interested in all topics to find relevant content.

Let's use the weekend as a focused time to come together and share our thoughts, ideas, and news related to AI.

We believe this will make our community more organized and efficient, allowing all futurology topics to thrive

Thank you for your cooperation and participation in making this subreddit a better place for all futurists.


r/Futurology 13h ago

Energy New IEA data shows the oil industry knows its days are numbered. Instead of investing in future production, it's distributing record profits to shareholders. Renewables are now the world's largest energy source as measured by future investment - almost double the size of fossil fuels

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6.6k Upvotes

r/Futurology 4h ago

AI Study: GPT-4 didn't really score 90th percentile on the bar exam. Implications for the future of the legal profession and AI are discussed.

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71 Upvotes

r/Futurology 2h ago

AI NVIDIA creates a Minecraft AI that codes and self-improves (using ChatGPT)

41 Upvotes

NVIDIA used GPT-4 to create a autonomous AI agent that goes around Minecraft, explores and advances the tech tree.

The incredible thing here is that the bot writes scripts for itself that makes it better at playing the game. So if it meets a spider, it writes a script for how to kill that spider. Once that script is working, it adds that "skill" to it's "skill library". Over time it keeps advancing and developing better abilities.

It's skill library is also transferable to other AI agents like AutoGPT.

This seems like it has a lot of implications for the future of software development. This is able to generate code and keep making it better without human help. Everything is automated.

Here's a video overview:

https://youtu.be/7yI4yfYftfM

GPT-4 here is used as a sort of "reasoning engine". It decides on what to do in the game, but also it creates the code to make itself better and add new skills for it to use.

Another thing is GPT-4 doesn't have vision. All the data is fed into it through a text prompt.

It's told "you have a fishing rod, you are standing next to a river, and around you are blocks of sand, and a pig. What do you want to do?".

What does this mean for software developers?

It seems like GPT-4 can now autonomously create, test and optimize code. It decides on what it needs to do like:

"Craft 1 Stone Ax"

Then it writes the JavaScript code to make that happen, tests to make sure it's working and then adds it to a library that it can use later.

It works like a developer, thinking through the task, developing and testing code and continuously optimizing the entire application to make sure it's working well and getting updated.

It seems like this would rapidly replace developers. You still need some sort of a person that sets up the environment for the AI to start and then also maybe "babysits" it to make sure it's not going off the rails, but overall it seems like it will largely do it's own work.


r/Futurology 49m ago

Energy Tandem solar cell breaks efficiency world record

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r/Futurology 8h ago

Environment Growing and burying algae farms in the desert could remove more carbon than planting trees

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107 Upvotes

r/Futurology 2h ago

Nanotech Protein-based nano-'computer' evolves in the ability to influence cell behavior

12 Upvotes

The first protein-based nano-computing agent that functions as a circuit has been created by Penn State researchers. The milestone puts them one step closer to developing next-generation cell-based therapies to treat diseases like diabetes and cancer.

Traditional synthetic biology approaches for cell-based therapies, such as ones that destroy cancer cells or encourage tissue regeneration after injury, rely on the expression or suppression of proteins that produce a desired action within a cell. This approach can take time (for proteins to be expressed and degrade) and cost cellular energy in the process. A team of Penn State College of Medicine and Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences researchers are taking a different approach.

"We're engineering proteins that directly produce a desired action," said Nikolay Dokholyan, G. Thomas Passananti Professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Pharmacology. "Our protein-based devices or nano-computing agents respond directly to stimuli (inputs) and then produce a desired action (outputs)."

In a study published in Science Advances today (May 26) Dokholyan and bioinformatics and genomics doctoral student Jiaxing Chen describe their approach to creating their nano-computing agent. They engineered a target protein by integrating two sensor domains, or areas that respond to stimuli. In this case, the target protein responds to light and a drug called rapamycin by adjusting its orientation, or position in space.

To test their design, the team introduced their engineered protein into live cells in culture. By exposing the cultured cells to the stimuli, they used equipment to measure changes in cellular orientation after cells were exposed to the sensor domains' stimuli.

Previously, their nano-computing agent required two inputs to produce one output. Now, Chen says there are two possible outputs and the output depends on which order the inputs are received. If rapamycin is detected first, followed by light, the cell will adopt one angle of cell orientation, but if the stimuli are received in reverse order, then the cell adopts a different orientation angle. Chen says this experimental proof-of-concept opens the door for the development of more complex nano-computing agents.

"Theoretically, the more inputs you embed into a nano-computing agent, the more potential outcomes that could result from different combinations," Chen said. "Potential inputs could include physical or chemical stimuli and outputs could include changes in cellular behaviors, such as cell direction, migration, modifying gene expression and immune cell cytotoxicity against cancer cells."

The team plans to further develop their nano-computing agents and experiment with different applications of the technology. Dokholyan, a researcher with Penn State Cancer Institute and Penn State Neuroscience Institute, said their concept could someday form the basis of the next-generation cell-based therapies for various diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, viral infections, diabetes, nerve injury and cancer.

Yashavantha Vishweshwaraiah, Richard Mailman and Erdem Tabdanov of Penn State College of Medicine also contributed to this research. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant 1R35GM134864) and the Passan Foundation


r/Futurology 1d ago

AI Scientists use AI to discover new antibiotic to treat deadly superbug | Artificial intelligence (AI)

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4.7k Upvotes

r/Futurology 3h ago

Energy A solar hydrogen system that co-generates heat and oxygen

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6 Upvotes

r/Futurology 3h ago

Nanotech The future of data storage lies in DNA microcapsules

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3 Upvotes

r/Futurology 1d ago

AI Confucianism for robots? Ethicist say that's better than giving them full rights

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131 Upvotes

r/Futurology 1d ago

Space Japan to try beaming solar power from space in mid-decade

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256 Upvotes

r/Futurology 11h ago

Society Technology and its impact on the workforce - any personal stories? I’m a documentary producer currently developing a film about technology like AI and how it’s replacing certain human workforces across the globe, while helping others in new ways. We're looking for stories of good & bad experiences.

7 Upvotes

Are you training the robot that will replace you? Do you know your employer intends to replace you with AI soon? Or has it unlocked unfathomable potential for you to do your job even better?
We’ll be making a considered and empathetic documentary that puts a human face on all the flashy technological advances that have consumed the news in recent months. We aren’t looking to demonize technology or deify humanity, we are looking for stories that can anchor us in a moment of rapid change and individuals living through this rapidly approaching future.


r/Futurology 1d ago

Energy Study: anti-soil coating developed for solar panels. It boosted electricity production by 3% over a 9 month period

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190 Upvotes

r/Futurology 5h ago

AI In recent times, the rapid progress of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised intriguing possibilities for its application in various sectors.

0 Upvotes

The Challenges of Traditional Government Systems: Traditional government systems often grapple with challenges such as bureaucratic inefficiencies, slow decision-making processes, and difficulties in adequately addressing the needs of diverse populations. These shortcomings can hinder progress and hinder the overall effectiveness of governance. However, proponents of AI assert that it could provide innovative solutions to these long-standing issues.


r/Futurology 1d ago

Energy There Won’t Be a Saudi Arabia of the Green Hydrogen Age. Will a worldwide trade in hydrogen grow to take on the same role that the oil industry has right now? It’s not likely. Many countries may aspire to become the Saudi Arabia of the green hydrogen era. None will achieve that dream.

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69 Upvotes

r/Futurology 2d ago Narwhal Salute Wholesome Seal of Approval

Energy Solar power investment to exceed oil for first time, says IEA chief

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4.2k Upvotes

r/Futurology 1d ago

Space Hibernation artificially triggered in potential space travel breakthrough

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208 Upvotes

r/Futurology 1d ago

AI To better trust artificial intelligence, we need to better explain how AI makes decisions. Here's how researchers are trying to do exactly that.

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28 Upvotes

r/Futurology 1d ago

Space At long last, the glorious future we were promised in space is on the way

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35 Upvotes

r/Futurology 1d ago

Energy Scientists find way to make energy from air using nearly any material

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137 Upvotes

r/Futurology 1d ago

Environment The Rockefeller Foundation and World Health Organization Announce Partnership To Expand Global Pandemic Preparedness in Era of Climate Change

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10 Upvotes

r/Futurology 2d ago

Biotech The FDA will apparently let Elon Musk put a computer in a human’s brain

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4.9k Upvotes

r/Futurology 2d ago

Energy City That Once Lit World with Whale Oil Wants to do Same with Wind Power

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108 Upvotes

r/Futurology 2d ago

Environment Researchers create antimicrobial superfoam: Three-dimensional foam conducts electricity, cleans polluted water

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324 Upvotes

r/Futurology 2d ago

Transport Tesla Model Y is now the world’s best-selling car, first EV to do so

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74 Upvotes