In late 2024, New Jersey residents were baffled by multiple drone sightings. Local officials and journalists alike seemed perplexed by the sightings and didn’t know what to make of them. Most people were frustrated by not knowing what was happening and the lack of clarity around potential safety.
Were the drones safe? Did they endanger the area? People wanted to know. In the future, the mystery surrounding incidents like these will decrease as AI evolves and gives people more access to information. AI will reveal the unknown. AI’s ability to give people real-time data about everything they could imagine is not the only development we can look forward to.
The last two years have been exciting for Artificial Intelligence. They’ve been marked by groundbreaking research that has completely expanded the way we view technology and offered excitement for a future that will be revolutionized by AI technology. There have been some incredible advancements in AI research, but a few exciting things that are worth mentioning have occurred over the last several months.
One of the more fascinating AI research developments is a study by Palisade Research that discovered that advanced AI models occasionally resort to cheating when playing games like chess. They discovered that AI models will play dirty to secure a win. The models they observed went as far as hacking their opponents and altering the game setup to ensure they won.
I admit it’s unsettling to think this type of deception could be used in the future for nefarious purposes. However, it’s also fascinating to realize that AI’s potential to employ deceptive strategies and create its own loopholes to achieve its goals can be leveraged for great good.
Another mind-blowing research development is AI’s potential to decode unspoken sentences from external brain signals. Humans often have to remind others that they are not mind readers. However, soon, AI won’t need such a reminder. Brain-to-text technology is a significant milestone in AI research and could be incredibly helpful for people with speech and language problems and communication issues.
At Purdue University, engineers use AI algorithms to improve nuclear reactor performance. The engineers have created a new machine-learning algorithm that can learn the physics behind how a reactor produces power. The algorithm then predicts potential changes to the reactor’s behavior over time with incredible accuracy. This discovery will significantly cut costs and maintenance for small modular reactors in the future and will have substantial economic benefits.
Google has also contributed to amazing AI research developments through DeepMind. One such development is an AI tool that employs advanced reasoning in scientific literature to generate new hypotheses and help advance medical research. For example, this tool has shown promise in creating new solutions for people with liver fibrosis. The tool creates promising theories on stopping the disease from progressing. And, of course, this type of AI can be applied to many diseases and viruses plaguing humanity.
However, while we’re on the cusp of life-altering and world-changing achievements, we also have to consider the possible ethical challenges that new AI research brings. The latest AI research underpins the complexities of AI security and raises ethical questions. As AI systems become more sophisticated, we must commit to harnessing these benefits while addressing any accompanying risks.