 |
|
|
|||||
The Chinese AI company DeepSeek has put the AI industry in an uproar. Denied the most powerful chips thought needed to create state-of-the-art AI models, DeepSeek pulled off some engineering master strokes that allowed the researchers to do more with less. The DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1 models the company recently released achieved state-of-the-art performance in benchmark tests and cost much less time and money to train and operate than comparable models. And the cherry on top: The companys researchers showed their workthey explained the breakthroughs in research papers and open-sourced the models so others can use them to make their own models and agents. The main reason DeepSeek had to do more with less is that the Biden administration put out a series of restrictions on chip exports saying that U.S. chipmakers such as Nvidia couldnt ship the most powerful GPUs (graphics processing units, the go-to chip for training AIs) to countries outside the U.S. This effort started in October 2022, and has been updated and fine-tuned several times to close loopholes. Biden released an executive order shortly before leaving office further tightening restrictions. DeepSeek apparently played by the rules. It made do with H800 chips the U.S. allowed Nvidia to sell in China, instead of the more powerful H100 that U.S. tech and AI companies use. With less powerful chips, the researchers were forced to find ways of training and operating AI models using less memory and computing power. The DeepSeek models use a mixture of experts approach, which allows them to activate only a subset of the models parameters that specialize in a certain type of query. This economizes on computing power and increases speed. DeepSeek didnt invent this approach (OpenAIs GPT-4 and Databrickss DBRX model use it), but the company found new ways of using the architecture to reduce the computer processing time necessary during pretraining (the process in which the model processes huge amounts of data in order to optimize its parameters to correctly respond to user queries). In DeepSeek-R1, a reasoning model comparable to OpenAIs most recent o1 series of models (announced in September), DeepSeek found ways of economizing during inference time, when the model is thinking through various routes to a good answer. During this process of trial and error, the system must collect and store more and more information about the problem and its possible solutions in its context window (its memory) as it works. As the context window adds more information, the memory and processing power required leaps up quickly. Perhaps DeepSeeks biggest innovation is dramatically reducing the amount of memory allocated to storing all that data. In general terms, the R1 system stores the context data in a compressed form, which results in memory savings and better speed without affecting the quality of the answer the user sees. DeepSeek said in a research paper that its V3 model cost a mere $5.576 million to train. By comparison, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the cost to train its GPT-4 model was more than $100 million. Since the release of DeepSeeks V3, developers have been raving about the models performance and utility. Consumers are now embracing a new DeepSeek chatbot (powered by the V3 and R1 models), which is now number one on the Apple ranking for free apps. (However, that success has attracted cyberattacks against DeepSeek and caused the company to temporarily limit new user registrations.) For the past two years, the narrative in the industry has been that creating state-of-the-art frontier models requires billions of dollars, lots of the fastest Nvidia chips, and large numbers of top researchers. Across the industry and in investment circles that assumption has been challenged. As a result, Nvidia stock fell nearly 17% Monday as investors question their assumptions about the demand for the expensive GPUs. And its all happening because a small shop of Chinese researchers knew theyd need some big engineering breakthroughs in order to create state-of-the-art models using less than state-of-the-art chips.
Category:
E-Commerce
The modern international food trade currently plays a significant role in breaking food insecurity in parts of the world. Although innovative, the downsides are the high expense of transit, supply chain vulnerability, and potential for environmental harm. The alternative? Helping farmers worldwide to successfully and sustainably overcome crop stressors such as insects that take a toll on crops grown to feed the populations close to them. AI can help make a positive difference. There are an estimated 570 million farms of varying sizes globally, a number not expected to expand significantly. The worlds population, however, is predicted to grow (from almost 8 billion to nearly 10 billion by 2050) requiring farmers to produce 50% more food on those 570 million farms, a significant problem, unless there is change. Farmers already lose 20-40% of their crops annually to weeds, pests, and disease; changing pressures caused by climate change and resistance are exacerbating the situation. Many current treatments to fight weeds, pests, and disease were developed over 30 years ago and today struggle against resistance. Farmers are resourceful and eager to find solutions but pests are nimble and persistent. North Americas corn rootworm, for example, has adapted to crop rotation. And Asias barnyard grass mimics rice plants to evade hand-weeding. Innovation is desperately needed to provide solutions. So, how can we ensure there is sustainable, more localized, food production in a world where farmers face these challenges? Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a promising tool to address these challenges by efficiently turning data into actionable recommendations and solutions. Take a page from pharmas AI book AI is revolutionizing many industries, from education to energy. While its still early in its impact, improving crop yields and bringing agriculture into the future is shaping up to be another industry AI is poised to disrupt. AI can help with on-field tasks like efficiently powering a sprayer. It can also help with in-lab tasks like accelerating the discovery of safer, more effective crop protection solutions. Consider the pharmaceutical industry. AI is set to transform drug discovery by enabling the rapid development of vaccines and treatments to protect global health. Today, scientists can create annual vaccines for evolving viruses like COVID-19 and influenza while also advancing therapies for other common and rare diseases. AI is beginning to equip scientists with tools to navigate the vast diversity of chemical space, prescreening them for efficacy and then rapidly identifying the most promising molecules in the fight against disease. By analyzing data from sources like DNA-encoded chemical libraries, AI helps scientists pinpoint potential candidates from billions of options. Machine learning models further expand this exploration, unlocking chemical diversity from ultra-large, make-on-demand libraries. Now, apply that approach to agriculture, because crops get sick too. In humid regions, fungi threaten yields, while in arid climates, insect infestations can destroy fields within days. AI-driven innovation in crop protection can help address these challenges with the same urgency and precision as in pharma research and discovery. Sifting through genetic and chemical datasets can help farmers tackle evolving threats faster and more accurately. Traditional crop protection discovery is slow and expensive, typically taking more than 13 years to bring a product to market. AI-informed research can likely cut discovery time in half and ultimately generate higher quality leads. A better way to support farmers Beyond crop protection discovery benefits, the responsible use of AI in agriculture has the potential to transform global food systems, making them more sustainable and resilient in the face of challenges. With AI, farmers gain powerful tools to not only safeguard their crops but also to enhance overall productivity and sustainability. AI can help farmers anticipate and respond to the effects of climate change, such as altered growing seasons, pest invasions, and extreme weather events. With predictive tools, farmers can make informed decisions about crop rotation, pest control, and irrigation, leading to improved outcomes while navigating unpredictable conditions. Farmers can also harness AI to improve productivity while minimizing environmental impacts. AI-driven solutions can allow for precise monitoring of soil health, real-time weather analysis, and efficient resource use, ensuring that farmers apply water, fertilizers, and pesticides only where and when they’re needed most. This reduces waste, lowers costs, and mitigates the negative effects of overuse on the environment. The long-term potential of AI in agriculture lies in its ability to boost productivity for farmers and foster more sustainable food systems that can feed a growing global population while preserving the health of the planet. Looking to the future AI is already making meaningful strides in revolutionizing agriculture and the potential is enormous. Enhancing crop protection and boosting productivity without the need for farmland expansion is only the beginning. The potential for breakthroughs is vast, with new solutions on the horizon that could significantly transform agriculture and drive further progress. By continuing to innovate and integrate AI into agricultural practices, well reach new levels of sustainability and efficiency, ultimately creating a more resilient and productive food system to support the world. As these technologies develop, ongoing research, ethical considerations, and farmer education will be critical to ensure AIs responsible integration into agriculture. Jacqueline Heard,PhD, MBA is cofounder and CEO of Enko.
Category:
E-Commerce
Millennial wealth in the United States has nearly quadrupled since 2019, outpacing both Gen X and baby boomers, yet most millennials don’t consider themselves rich. Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996 (give or take a year or two), are now worth a staggering $15.95 trillion, about four times what they were worth just five years ago, according to data from the Federal Reserve as reported by CNBC. As of 2024, the average net worth of a millennial was a whopping $333,096, according to Empower, a financial services company. Its data shows millennials managed to grow their wealth more than any other generation in 2024, increasing their net worth by 13.7% (compared to 7.7% for all Americans), and increasing their 401Ks by 15.6% (nearly double that of the average American). However, as millennials face high costs of living, due in part to inflation and high interest rates, many say they feel less wealthy than they appear on paper, a phenomenon known as “phantom wealth.” That’s because much of their net worth is tied up in assets not readily available, like 401Ks, homes, and the stock market. That’s as there are three main areas of growth that are driving millennial wealth: real estate; stocks and mutual funds; and money they are either inheriting or getting as gifts from parents and family. In the past several years, home equity has emerged as the greatest driver of wealth accumulation, and many millennials who bought homes before or during the pandemic are seeing their value greatly increase. Millennials have also, on average, contributed more to their retirement funds, increasing the value of their holdings both in stocks and mutual funds. Finally, they are also benefiting from their parents’ generosity, receiving financial gifts and inheriting wealth to pay off high student loans, mortgages, car payments, and high child care costs, financial planner Sophia Bera Daigle told CNBC.
Category:
E-Commerce
Isnt AI supposed to make things simpler? asks a student in a new Saturday Night Live sketch. Technically, the answer is yes. Artificial intelligence is often pitched as a future-forward omni-tool for removing friction from everyday tasks. Of course, the student in this sketch (SNL cast member Sarah Sherman) only asks her question after AI has made one such task even more complicated. And thats just one of the many glaring flaws with AI, as it exists in 2025, that the shows writers illustrate to perfectionpresumably without any help from Sora. The premise of the sketch finds a high school investing in a new AI program that turns textbooks into educational podcasts. Its a barely veiled allusion to Googles NotebookLM, a program that creates breezy, conversational summaries from dense documentsand which quickly went viral after debuting last October. Unlike in real life, the SNL version of the fake podcasts has a video component. What the sketch portrays accurately, however, is the way AI products often have questionable utility, overinflate whatever utility they do have, and come brimming with glitches. The hosts of the podcast strain to sound natural, repeat key phrases again and again, and ultimately leave the skeptical students with more questions than answers. According to Gavin Purcell, a (very much human) cohost of the AI-demystifying podcast AI for Humans, the product this sketch is based on actually does offer some benefits. NotebookLM can struggle with getting all its facts right and, over time, the voices get repetitive, but its an interesting use case of how AI can break down complicated topics and make them more digestible, Purcell says. Try throwing an extensive Wikipedia page into it and see what comes out. You might be surprised. In the sketch, though, the program uses full textbooks rather than the smaller documents NotebookLM was made to condense. (The length of the average podcast the real product churns out is five to 10 minutes.) Condensing a whole textbook into a podcast would create something closer to a breezy, conversational audiobook than a short podcast snippet. And its exactly this kind of redundancy that AI tech too often offers. One need only visit the most recent CES to see this redundancy in action. That event was overflowing with AI-assisted devices like Boschs new smart crib, which lets parents know when their baby has pooped overnightas opposed to the age-old technology that has historically done so: a screaming baby . . . not to mention Samsungs new, AI-powered washing machine, which not only alerts users when their laundry is done, but also lets them take phone calls through the machine, for some reason. Beyond satirizing AI products whose usefulness is dubious, the SNL sketch also taps into AI true believers’ tendency to get overhyped too early. Anything that is useful at all suddenly becomes revolutionary. A student might understandably use a fake podcast to briefly learn about a specific topic, as Notebook LM demonstrated, but that doesnt mean the program is going to disrupt learning as we know it, let alone destroy the podcast industry. “NotebookLM was one of these small, quirky AI products that I don’t think Google even thought would blow up as big as it did, Purcell says. And, unfortunately, as often happens when something AI-based explodes into the mainstream, you get a lot of “OMG, PODCASTING IS SO DEAD!!” posts from hardcore AI people. In the past few years, experts have claimed that AI products like ChatGPT may fully reshape the legal and medical industries, among others. But ChatGPT has not yet demonstrated anything like the immaculate reliability it would need to truly revolutionize either field. Instead, its exhibited enough fallibility to only underscore the inherent value of human judgment. In one infamous example, a lawyer used ChatGPT to help a client sue an airline, and the program ended up hallucinating at least six precedent cases that did not actually exist. As long as such mistakes can ever happen, the hype around AIs power to remake every field in society should be taken with a grain of salt. And at this still-early stage in AIs evolution, mistakes happen all the time. The most prominent bug in the SNL sketch is an AI classic: One of the podcasters is depicted with six fingers. Generating anatomically correct extremities is something AI has long struggled with, but glitches manifest in all sorts of ways. McDonald’s recently had to shut down its experiment with AI drive-thru, after a flurry of viral TikToks showed unwanted bacon on ice cream and other bugs, and Apple has reportedly paused AI news summaries on its new iPhones due to persistent glitches. Maybe one day, malfunctioning AI will become a rare exception, but for now, its much closer to the rule. The final turn in the SNL sketch reveals one problem with AI that humans, so far, have only scratched the surface ofits malevolent side. Do we eat? Do we exist? asks the AI podcaster played by Timothée Chalamet.
Category:
E-Commerce
Allison Burk’s teenage daughter struggled with uncontrolled emotions, a shrinking attention span and a growing tendency to procrastinate. A family doctor suggested ADHD testing, which led to an unexpected discovery: The teen had ADHDand Burk did too. During her daughter’s evaluation, Burk thought, “Wait a minute. This sounds familiar,” she recalled. I was able to piece together that this might be something I was experiencing, said Burk, of Columbus, Ohio. She subsequently underwent her own testing and was diagnosed with ADHD at age 42. More adults are being diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Diagnoses have been rising for decades but seem to have accelerated in the past few years. A recent study suggested that more than 15 million U.S. adults roughly 1 in 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD. The condition always starts in childhood, but about half of adults with it are diagnosed when they are 18 or older. Some doctors say the number of people coming in for evaluation is skyrocketing. Just in our clinic, requests for assessments have doubled in the last two years, said Justin Barterian, a psychologist based at Ohio State University. Here’s a look at the phenomenon, and how to know if you might have the condition. ADHD symptoms in adults ADHD makes it hard for people to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. It can be inherited, and is often treated with drugs, behavioral therapy, or both. It’s like there’s an engine in you and you feel like it’s always running, and you can’t turn it off except with medication, said Judy Sandler, a 62-year-old Maine woman who was diagnosed in her 50s. ADHD has been called the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorder in U.S. children, with more than 7 million kids diagnosed. Historically, it was thought to mainly affect boys (perhaps because boys with ADHD were seen as more disruptive in school) and to be something that kids grew out of. But experts believe many people aren’t diagnosed as kids and live with symptoms into adulthood. Adults with the condition talk about having trouble focusing on tasks, juggling responsibilities, and planning and managing their time. Some talk about not putting things away, and straining personal relationships with their restlessness, mood swings and impulsiveness. Burk said she was grouped with talented and gifted students in grade school but didn’t complete college until her 30s because, when I was 19, I hitchhiked across the country on a whim and ended up a single mother in her early 20s. She now works in marketing and media relations for Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Diagnoses have been rising Diagnoses have been climbing in both kids and adults, and the recent government report found adult ADHD was more common than earlier estimates. We havent had (federal) adult ADHD data in a long time, said one of the studys authors, Angelika Claussen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were indicators of the rise, she added. Increasing demand for ADHD medication led to widespread shortages after the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. A 2023 study showed the rise in prescriptions was particularly notable in adults especially women. ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions were increasing before the pandemic, due partly to a change in general diagnostic criteria in 2013 that broadened the definition of ADHD and reduced the number of symptoms a patient needed to have. But case counts really seemed to jump in 2020, when schools were closed and many adults were forced to work from home. Its very difficult to focus when you are home and you have kids, Claussen said. That may have exacerbated the symptoms for people whod had mild ADHD but were able to cope before the pandemic. How ADHD is diagnosed in adults The last few years have seen growing cultural acceptance and curiosity about the condition, fueled by a proliferation of I have ADHD social media videos and online medical start-up companies offering 5-minute diagnostic quizzes. Indeed, the long-held belief that ADHD was underdiagnosed in adults has given way to recent debates about whether it’s become overdiagnosed. Theres no blood test or brain scan for ADHD. Experts say it is diagnosed when symptoms are severe enough to cause ongoing problems in more than one area of life, and when those symptoms can be traced to pre-adolescent childhood. Ideally, a psychologist or psychiatrist diagnoses it by taking careful histories from patients and from people who know them, experts say. They also might ask patients to take tests designed to check their memory and ability to concentrate. Doctors also must rule out anxiety, depression and other conditions that can have similar symptoms. But getting an appointment with a mental health professional can take months, and intensive ADHD evaluations can cost thousands of dollars. Many patients turn to family doctors or even online diagnostic quizzes, some of them connected to telehealth companies that prescribe medications. There is wide variability in this country in how people diagnose, how strict they are, and who they diagnose, said Margaret Sibley, a University of Washington psychologist. The American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders is drafting a first national set of diagnosis and treatment guidelines for health professionals who treat adults, and expects to release them later this year. The goal is “to improve the accuracy of diagnoses in this country,” said Sibley, who is leading the work on the guidelines. Mike Stobbe, Associated Press The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Category:
E-Commerce
Sites : [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] next »