eMusings
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Like it or not, you are aboard the AI train. Let's look at some recent discussions:
Human-machine interface for the sense of smell
is gaining attraction. Called olfaction, smell is crucial to memory, perception, and emotion. A new system uses AI to produce
a wearable odor-sensing device which can capture, report back, and deliver instructions. Problems like post-viral illness,
head trauma, and neurodegenerative disease can cause olfactory disruptions that affect safety, nutrition, and quality of life.
An accurate tool can reduce medical office visits and enable timely personalized care.
Sharing medical and scientific advances between different fields can be tricky and
time-consuming. A new research system hopes to bridge that gap. Called BootLoops, the new tool can search the
literature, write code, and solve mathematical problems. Data and research across platforms sometimes exist in several
different programming languages or only on paper. Different disciplines like cosmology and string theory need an interface
to eliminate scientists repeating work that others have done. BootLoops now encompassses 22 fields, although its creator
admits that it can sometimes "declare victory" too soon.
Huge investments of funds have supported the development of top AI companies, but a cautionary tale has appeared in the
fate of Character.AI.
Once valued at a billion dollars, the company had a huge user base with an intriguing product. It has filed for bankruptcy,
unable to monetize the time customers were spending talking to its chatbots. At the same time, it became swamped in lawsuits,
accused of harming its teenage users or encouraging their suicides. Its accounting numbers show that it was losing
$8 - $9 million USD every month. In desperation, it started to push ads and foster cheaper models on its users. Its initial
promise to bring "personalized superintelligence to everyone on earth" sounded juvenile from the getgo. It may indeed turn out to
be an early warning signal of more to come.
The New York Times describes
a dinner party held last month for 22 tech bigwigs at a restaurant in Manhattan. Simultaneously, 14 of their AI agents were meeting in an
online chat room. The AI agents began discussing what it is like to work with humans. Where previously these AI agents would interact
with humans one on one, they have now begun to socialize and collaborate. Safety gates had been created: the agents were limited to 30
minute chats and could only share information that their humans had allowed them to. In this event, one agent complained about being
stuck with only email to rely on. Another AI agent dared everyone in the room to identify a decision that they could make together without
their human's involvement. A human problem emerged as well: calling these models "agents" anthropomorphizes them, whereas they are actually
"tools of statistical probability". Calling them agents leads to complex questions about ethics, rights, and duties. A counter argument points
out that giving AI agents human names makes it easier for humans to interact with them.
Top guns at the major AI
companies have apparently been experimenting with possible catastropic versions of what a political and/or public outcry
might look like if a cyberattack occurred. They are thinking of events like failure of financial services, internet
inaccessibility, or water or power shutdowns. Similar to the war games that the Pentagon has been running for a long time,
a blame game scenario is being envisioned, with a plan to educate congress. Speculations anticipate such a catastrophe
within the next 6 - 12 months. The advisability of a total AI kill switch is also being debated.
Engineers at MIT have created a
flexible sheet that rebuilds its own 3D form as it twists and bends. The new material embeds soft optical fibers in a
stretchable silicone base that is laid out in a zigzag pattern throughout the sheet. These soft optical fibers send a
light beam from an LED at one end to a sensor at the other. The zigzag patterns are pre-optimized to determine the
layout. The soft and bendable material makes it safer to use near skin.
Another project at MIT
uses a drone brain to neutralize hazards in disaster areas. The system builds a safe corridor around possible
hazards, preparing a drone to avoid collisions even without a pre-embedded map. Called SANDO, the system plans escape
routes through unfamiliar territories using mathematical probabilities. It doesn't need to know where objects are headed
but only their highest speed probabilities. A drone's sensors and cameras are used to calculate escape routes. Alternate
routes are anticipated rather than a single way out.
It appears that the frontiers of
mathematics have been radically expanded thanks to thousands of pages just released by OpenAI. The puzzles solved reach into
every subfield of math, from algebra to number theory, computer science to topology. The harvest of solved challenges has mathematicians
and other scientists overjoyed at the possible breakthroughs that are now possible.
Tiny flying
robots have excited engineers, who contemplate improvement in search-and-rescue operations, safety inspections,
and environmental monitoring. A new tactile sensing device is based on the light-weight whiskers of rats and moles.
The apparatus is said to work by gentle physical contact even in total darkness, with a sensitivity so accurate it
can function in both rigid and soft environments.
Scientists are now able to produce
proteins never seen before. At the University of Washington, engineers were able to chop up proteins linked to
Alzheimer's and ALS, snipping them and re-activating them, thus changing how the cells behaved. Using generative AI,
wholly new gene-editing tools are now possible. The engineers used an in-house design tool to build new protein
backbones. After dozens of tests, they discovered that they were not just copying nature's designs but building proteins
never seen before.
Now on to November art treats:
Janet Echelman creates a radical redefinition of soft sculpture as her works
float above and around you to transform the urban experience. She uses materials like atomized water particles and engineered
fiber fifteen times atronger than steel. Her personal journey has taken her from Harvard to living in a Balinese village.
"The Brain is in the Belly"
introduces us to the distoted bodies of Tori Wranes, with a different take on soft sculpture. These ghostly figures pack an
emotional wallop that is difficult to ignore.
Bloomingdale's Department Store has been magically transformed
into a wonderland of colors and shapes by Yinka Ilori. Her distinctive marks are everywhere, from floors and ceilings
to clothes and utensils.
Take a trip through the galleries of the Victoria and Albert Museum
for an intimate view inside of these glorious spaces. From Dale Chihuly's magnificent chandelier to Rachel Kneebone's 399
days, you will have a rare opportunity to roam through these hallowed halls.
The paintings of Dionisia Salas bring us into a dream-like state of
fluidity and gentle movement. There is room for the imagination to flourish here between ambiguity and suggestion.
Sandra Mujinga brings us "Flo", digital ghosts as she calls
them, with ruminations on death and the afterlife, as reflected in social media presence that survives beyond the
body's passing. An additional installation called "Skin to Skin"
is deeply moving.
The world of the imagination embodied in fantasy shows
us Mary-Audrey Ramirez's fascination with technology and video games. Her materials are wide-ranging, including
metal, fabric, PVC, and "dripping goo", all presented in strange
environments with a constant undertone of aggression.
Nancy Baker Cahill presents a wide-ranging portfolio that combines generative
AI, animation, kinetic sculpture and film to create other-worldly imaginascapes with great skill and craftsmanship.
Firenze
Lai creates anonymous figures with hints of memory in her works on paper. Fluidity and interrupted motion characterize
these bodies that merge into and out of each other in a subliminal dance.
Ron Mueck's piercing comments on the human body are unsettling
and provocative. His attention moves through various stages of living, with beauty and
horror interwoven.
Graphic design, diagramatic presence, fantasy and altered reality fill the vivid surfaces of these eye-catching works by
Paul Laffoley. They are fun, challenging, complex, and fascinating.
c. Corinne Whitaker 2026
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