Good luck skipping class now! [The Verge]
The dream of every parent and teacher is becoming reality: tech is allowing to check students on their class attendance. Nearly 40 schools have started testing SpotterEDU, a location tracking app which uses iBeacon technology to pinpoint students within a classroom until they leave. At the University of Missouri, new students on campus aren’t given a choice whether to install the app on their phones, it’s already mandatory. And Spotter is not the only app on the market currently used by US schools. Other student-tracking apps like DegreeAnalytics are running in parallel. Although SpotterEDU guarantees that the app doesn’t use GPS tracking and that students cannot be located outside of school, the idea of tracking students’ location is being slowly but surely deployed nationwide. A next-level challenge for ‘cool kids’ to try and skip classes – how will they beat technology?
The future of medicine [Financial Times]
AI can do almost anything it seems, and now it’s adding a new achievement to its CV – medicine. The first drug molecule invented entirely by AI will enter human trials. The compound was developed by UK startup Exscientia to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. Typical drug development takes 4,5 years on average – this new AI design drug reached the human testing stage in only 12 months. Creating a new drug typically costs billions of euros but with AI, new medicines can be created more quickly making it cheaper and more effective for patients.
Heatwaves will have you and your robot sweat! [The Verge]
Robots have been programmed to mimic a lot of human features, but sweating is definitely a new milestone. To prevent overheating of robots, scientist developed a synthetic sweating gland that can help release heat when robots are operating for long hours. There are many ways a robot can be cooled down while operating but soft robots are tricky. Scientists built a sweat duct inside a soft grabbing robot and even though it looks weird, it can be used in a lot of different ways. So summers will have not just you sweat but also your robot!
Virtual influencers: who can you eventually trust? [Huffington Post]
Will Kim K be unemployed soon? Brands such as DR Pepper, KFC or Balmain are currently turning to computer-generated influencers to promote their products. At first glance it seems fun and harmless. But advertising watchdogs worry this kind of marketing could be unlawful and potentially mislead consumers. Why is that? Because you can’t talk about your experience with a product if you didn’t even try it according to the Federal Trade Commission. Will we some day trust algorithms more than human beings when it comes to fashion, make-up or food?
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In case you haven’t had enough…
An AI Epidemiologist sent the first warnings of the Wuhan virus (Wired)
Gini Rometty to step down as CEO of IBM (The New York Times)
Russian trolls and bots are successful because we know they exist (Quartz)
AI-generated BjOrk hotel lobby soundscape made me hear the weather (CNet)
AI license plate readers are cheaper – so drive carefully (Wired)
YouTube moderators must sign contract acknowledging job could cause PTSD – report (The Guardian)