That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of know-how.
A wave of medicine dreamed up by AI is on its approach
Alex Zhavoronkov has been messing round with synthetic intelligence for greater than a decade. In 2016, the programmer and physicist was utilizing AI to rank individuals by seems to be and type via footage of cats.
Now he says his firm, Insilico Medication, has created the primary “true AI drug” that’s superior to a check of whether or not it could possibly remedy a deadly lung situation in people.
Well-liked types of AI can draw footage and reply questions. However there’s a rising effort to get AI to dream up cures for terrible ailments, too. The issue they’re fixing, nevertheless, is an previous one. Learn the total story.
—Antonio Regalado
Google DeepMind’s new AI assistant helps elite soccer coaches get even higher
The information: Soccer groups are all the time seeking to get an edge over their rivals. They could wish to add a brand new AI assistant developed by Google DeepMind to their arsenal. It might probably recommend ways for soccer set-pieces which can be even higher than these created by skilled membership coaches.
The way it works: The system, referred to as TacticAI, works by analyzing a dataset of seven,176 nook kicks taken by gamers for Liverpool FC, one of many greatest soccer golf equipment on this planet. It makes use of predictive and generative AI fashions to investigate every state of affairs and produce suggestions and predictive outcomes. Learn the total story.
—Rhiannon Williams
Chinese language platforms are cracking down on influencers promoting AI classes
During the last yr, a number of Chinese language influencers have made thousands and thousands of {dollars} peddling brief video classes on AI, profiting off individuals’s fears concerning the as-yet-unclear impression of the brand new know-how on their livelihoods.
However the platforms they thrived on have began to show in opposition to them. Only a few weeks in the past, WeChat and Douyin started suspending, eradicating, or proscribing their accounts. Whereas influencers on these platforms have been turning individuals’s nervousness into site visitors and earnings for a very long time, the most recent actions present how Chinese language social platforms try to comprise the harm earlier than it goes too far. Learn the total story.
—Zeyi Yang
This story is from China Report, our weekly publication supplying you with the within observe on all issues taking place in China. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at this time’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman is becoming a member of Microsoft
He’ll head up the corporate’s client arm, creating AI-infused merchandise. (Bloomberg $)
+ Suleyman will go away his startup, Inflection AI, together with a load of its employees. (NYT $)
+ Inflection’s traders received’t be disregarded of pocket, although. (The Data $)
+ Try our interview with Suleyman about why he thinks generative AI is only a part. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
2 China is sending a satellite tv for pc to the darkish facet of the moon
It’ll play an important function within the nation’s bid to leapfrog the US in moon exploration. (Reuters)
+ Some scientists aren’t positive if exploring Mars is a smart funding. (Undark Journal)
3 Nameless profession web site Glassdoor uncovered its customers’ actual names
Which, unsurprisingly, has upset customers who posted sincere critiques of their former workplaces. (Ars Technica)
4 The concrete business has a significant carbon drawback
Now, emission-capturing formulation might make a distinction. (Wired $)
+ The local weather answer beneath your ft. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
5 Artists who use AI are extra productive
However, crucially, they’re much less authentic. (New Scientist $)
+ This artist is dominating AI-generated artwork. And he’s not completely satisfied about it. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
6 Saudi Arabia is poised to turn out to be an AI superpower
To the tune of a $40 billion sinking fund. (NYT $)
+ We’re simply 5 years away from synthetic basic intelligence, in keeping with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, at the least. (TechCrunch)
+ Google DeepMind desires to outline what counts as synthetic basic intelligence. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
7 Brace your self—dynamic pricing is coming
Emboldened by Uber’s surge pricing mannequin, different companies need in. (Vox)
8 Indonesia’s ebike retailers are dicing with hazard
They’re creating souped-up batteries that prioritize energy over security. (Remainder of World)
+ Three issues to like about batteries. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
9 Did you simply poke me on Fb? 
The social community has quietly restored one in all its weirdest options. (Insider $)
10 This unknown Swedish composer has racked up extra Spotify performs than ABBA
Johan Röhr is the mastermind behind greater than 650 completely different artists on the platform. (The Guardian)
Quote of the day
“It feels very self-centered. Everyone seems to be like, ‘I’ve bought someplace to be, out of my approach.’”
—Tamara Siemering, an actor who just lately moved to Los Angeles, explains her shock on the metropolis’s driving tradition because it tries to embrace autonomous vehicles, the New York Occasions reviews.
The large story
Contained in the enigmatic minds of animals
Greater than ever, we really feel an obligation and want to increase empathy to our nonhuman neighbors. Within the final three years, greater than 30 international locations have formally acknowledged different animals—together with gorillas, lobsters, crows, and octopuses—as sentient beings.
A trio of books from Ed Yong, Jackie Higgins, and Philip Ball element creatures’ wealthy internal worlds and seize what has led to those developments: a booming discipline of experimental analysis difficult the long-standing view that animals are neither acutely aware nor cognitively complicated. Learn the total story.
—Matthew Ponsford
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ One for followers of The Strokes: a thread of cool references all through their paintings.
+ A Japanese pig cafe appears like a fairly enjoyable place to hang around. 
+ If Dolly Parton was Welsh, that is what Jolene would sound like.
+ A cheerful belated Nowruz to all those that have a good time!
