This week's list of top data news highlights covers the period from June 15, 2024 to June 21, 2024 and includes stories on TikTok's new suite of AI tools for content creators and digital tools that collect data to better understand migraines.
1. Evolution of AI capabilities
Researchers at New York-based Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have developed a new machine learning model in which individual artificial neurons receive feedback and adjust in real time, making the AI model more efficient and energy-efficient. The new model allows AI systems to move and process data more efficiently by mimicking the way the human brain processes information.
2. Creating a new robot
Researchers from Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Google DeepMind, and other labs have collaborated to release OpenVLA, an open-source vision-language-action (VLA) model for robotics, a form of machine learning that can process both natural language and images to control robots. Trained by researchers using data from real-world robotics demonstrations, OpenVLA makes advanced robotics more accessible to a wider range of companies and labs by allowing developers to fine-tune models at low cost for multi-task environments containing multiple objects.
3. Improved energy efficiency
Swedish Internet of Things (IoT) network operator Netmore has partnered with a Stockholm-based real estate company to install low-power, wide-area network devices in thousands of apartments in Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg. The IoT technology uses data from installed water meters and temperature and humidity sensors to minimize excess consumption, saving residents energy costs and enabling sustainable urban development in these cities.
4. Rationalization of military procurement
The U.S. Army is launching a pilot project to enable acquisition and contracting staff to use generative AI to streamline tasks like contract writing and data analysis. The pilot model will provide citations to attributable data provided, a feature that will help the service fact-check information.
5. Expanded online content creation
TikTok has introduced new generative AI tools to help content creators reach audiences around the world. A new tool called Digital Avatars allows content creators to use custom AI-generated avatars for their branding, while a new voice-over feature uses AI to translate and dub content into more than 10 languages.
6. Advances in Quantum Networking
FranceQCI, a consortium of companies and organizations developing quantum communications, has successfully implemented a quantum communications network using existing fiber optic infrastructure, demonstrating the feasibility of quantum key distribution (QKD), a method of secure communication at scale, using existing communications infrastructure. The project combined QKD with post-quantum cryptography to extend reach over long distances by building an approximately 50-mile quantum fiber network interconnecting multiple quantum nodes in the Paris area.
7. Space Weather Prediction
Researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in China have developed a machine learning algorithm to process satellite data and more accurately and efficiently predict space weather caused by solar activity. The new model can improve space weather monitoring and enhance navigation accuracy for aviation, maritime and land transportation.
8. Understanding migraines
California-based digital health platform Evidation has launched a new tool called MigraineSmart that collects questionnaire and wearable device data from migraine sufferers on various health metrics such as heart rate to help better understand the impact migraines have on daily life and create new models of migraine treatment. The tool offers financial rewards to users who share additional information such as pharmacy claims and electronic health records.
9. Fire scene investigation
Scientists at the University of Dundee in the UK are developing a new virtual reality (VR) technology to assist investigators in identifying the cause of fires and preventing future fire hazards. The new technology translates real-world footage into an immersive VR representation of a fire scene, allowing investigators to learn while they train.
10. Video Soundtrack Generation
Google DeepMind has launched an AI tool that uses text prompts and video content analysis to generate video soundtracks. The tool can create a variety of audio effects, including drama scores and realistic sound effects, offering an unlimited number of soundtrack options.
