Artificial General Intelligence Is Not as Imminent as You Might Think

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June 07, 2022

Dear Reader, Recently, DeepMind announced that its new AI system, dubbed Gato, can perform a variety of different tasks. But the dream of an artificial general intelligence is still far off, as Gary Marcus explains in this week's lead story. "Machines may someday be as smart as people, and perhaps even smarter, but the game is far from over," he writes. "There is still an immense amount of work to be done in making machines that truly can comprehend and reason about the world around them. What we really need right now is less posturing and more basic research."

Sophie Bushwick, Associate Editor, Technology

Artificial Intelligence Artificial General Intelligence Is Not as Imminent as You Might Think A close look reveals that the newest systems, including DeepMind's much-hyped Gato, are still stymied by the same old problems By Gary Marcus

Defense Kyiv Cruise Missile Strike Highlights Need to Protect U.S. Cities A top U.S. commander wants to test technology that can better defend domestic targets By Jason Sherman

Weather The 'Wall of Wind' Can Blow Away Buildings at Category 5 Hurricane Strength The test facility is helping engineers design safer homes—but it's not powerful enough to mimic the stronger hurricanes fueled by climate change By The Conversation US,Richard Olson,Ameyu B. Tolera,Arindam Chowdhury,Ioannis Zisis

Privacy Political Affiliation Influences Our Fear of Data Collection It's not government Americans don't trust with their data; it's the opposite political party By Samuel Dooley,Angelica Goetzen,Elissa M. Redmiles

Space Exploration 'Unsustainable': How Satellite Swarms Pose a Rising Threat to Astronomy SpaceX and other companies are still struggling to make their satellites darker in the night sky By Alexandra Witze,Nature magazine

Computing The Weather Myth: Lost Women of Science Podcast, Season 2, Bonus Episode When we first started researching Klára Dán von Neumann, we thought she was "the computer scientist you should thank for your smartphone's weather app." It turns out that's not true By Katie Hafner,The Lost Women of Science Initiative

Politics To Prevent Nuclear Annihilation, Resume Negotiations Immediately The war in Ukraine shows the urgency of nuclear arms control By The Editors

Artificial Intelligence AI Can Predict Potential Nutrient Deficiencies from Space New work maps a region's nutrient landscape By Rachel Berkowitz

FROM THE STORE Technology vs. Truth: Deception in the Digital Age In the digital age, information, both true and false, spreads faster than ever. The same technology that provides access to data across the globe can abet the warping of truth and normalization of lies. In this eBook, we examine the intersection of truth, untruth and technology, including how social media manipulates behavior, technologies such as deepfakes that spread misinformation, the bias inherent in algorithms and more.

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The move has the potential to seismically shift the power balance between consumers and electronics manufacturers." Jason Koebler, VICE

FROM THE ARCHIVE Will Artificial Intelligence Ever Live Up to Its Hype? Replication problems plague the field of AI, and the goal of general intelligence remains as elusive as ever By John Horgan | December 2020

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