biology - Learning Ecosystems

For those studying Cognitive Science, Neurosicence, Psychology, and similar fields

On 09/27/2023, in biology, open courseware and systems, psychology, research, by Daniel Christian

The MIT Press announces the Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, a paradigm shift in open-access reference works — mitpress.mit.edu
The Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science will equip readers with essential tools to grapple with the profound implications of cognition and intelligence in today’s society

OECS’s articles will not only establish a shared understanding of foundational concepts, but also showcase cutting-edge debates and introduce core subfields, central concepts, significant phenomena, and key methodologies.

AI’s impact on journalism, some workers in Kenya, the SEC, programming, entertainment, ethics, AI tools, and more

On 07/24/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Africa, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, biology, computer science, journalism, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Partnership with American Journalism Project to support local news — from openai.com; via The Rundown AI
A new $5+ million partnership aims to explore ways the development of artificial intelligence (AI) can support a thriving, innovative local news field, and ensure local news organizations shape the future of this emerging technology.

SEC’s Gensler Warns AI Risks Financial Stability — from bloomberg.com by Lydia Beyoud; via The Brainyacts
SEC on lookout for fraud, conflicts of interest, chair says | Gensler cautions companies touting AI in corporate docs

Per a recent Brainyacts posting:

The recent petition from Kenyan workers who engage in content moderation for OpenAI’s ChatGPT, via the intermediary company Sama, has opened a new discussion in the global legal market. This dialogue surrounds the concept of “harmful and dangerous technology work” and its implications for laws and regulations within the expansive field of AI development and deployment.

The petition, asking for investigations into the working conditions and operations of big tech companies outsourcing services in Kenya, is notable not just for its immediate context but also for the broader legal issues it raises. Central among these is the notion of “harmful and dangerous technology work,” a term that encapsulates the uniquely modern form of labor involved in developing and ensuring the safety of AI systems.

The most junior data labelers, or agents, earned a basic salary of 21,000 Kenyan shillings ($170) per month, with monthly bonuses and commissions for meeting performance targets that could elevate their hourly rate to just $1.44 – a far cry from the $12.50 hourly rate that OpenAI paid Sama for their work. This discrepancy raises crucial questions about the fair distribution of economic benefits in the AI value chain.

How ChatGPT Code Interpreter (And Four Other AI Initiatives) Might Revolutionize Education — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Phuong Do, Alex Sarlin, and Sarah Morin
And more on Meta’s Llama, education LLMs, the Supreme Court affirmative action ruling, and Byju’s continued unraveling

Let’s put it all together for emphasis. With Code Interpreter by ChatGPT, you can:

Upload any file
Tell ChatGPT what you want to do with it
Receive your instructions translated into Python
Execute the code
Transform the output back into readable language (or visuals, charts, graphs, tables, etc.)
Provide the results (and the underlying Python code)

https://t.co/2bYrKn1vUu

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) July 24, 2023

AI Tools and Links — from Wally Boston

It’s become so difficult to track AI tools as they are revealed. I’ve decided to create a running list of tools as I find out about them. The list is in alphabetical order even though there are classification systems that I’ve seen others use. Although it’s not good in blogging land to update posts, I’ll change the date every time that I update this list. Please feel free to respond to me with your comments about any of these as well as AI tools that you use that I do not have on the list. I’ll post your comments next to a tool when appropriate. Thanks.

Meet Claude — A helpful new AI assistant — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
How to make the most of ChatGPT’s new alternative

Claude has surprising capabilities, including a couple you won’t find in the free version of ChatGPT.

Since this new AI bot launched on July 11, I’ve found Claude useful for summarizing long transcripts, clarifying complex writings, and generating lists of ideas and questions. It also helps me put unstructured notes into orderly tables. For some things, I prefer Claude to ChatGPT. Read on for Claude’s strengths and limitations, and ideas for using it creatively.

Claude’s free version allows you to attach documents for analysis. ChatGPT’s doesn’t.

The Next Frontier For Large Language Models Is Biology — from forbes.com by Rob Toews

Large language models like GPT-4 have taken the world by storm thanks to their astonishing command of natural language. Yet the most significant long-term opportunity for LLMs will entail an entirely different type of language: the language of biology.

In the near term, the most compelling opportunity to apply large language models in the life sciences is to design novel proteins.

Seven AI companies agree to safeguards in the US — from bbc.com by Shiona McCallum; via Tom Barrett

Seven leading companies in artificial intelligence have committed to managing risks posed by the tech, the White House has said.

This will include testing the security of AI, and making the results of those tests public.

Representatives from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI joined US President Joe Biden to make the announcement.

Female scientists challenge stereotypes | Not the Science Type — from 3M.com
Female scientists challenge stereotypes and blaze paths for future generations in this 3M-produced docuseries

Excerpt:

STEM education has an access issue: let’s change that.

Around the world, people believe the we need more people in STEM careers. Eighty-seven percent of people believe we need to do more to encourage and retain girls in STEM education. At the same time, barriers remain – 73% of people believe underrepresented minorities often lack equal access STEM education.

Not The Science Type gets to the heart of access and gender inequity in STEM education and STEM fields. This four-part docuseries features four female scientists who are challenging stereotypes and confronting gender, racial and age discrimination as they rise to prominence.

Not The Science Type highlights four brilliant minds, showcasing women who break down boundaries within their fields – biology, engineering and science and technology-based applications.
.

While each woman has taken a different path to pursue scientific excellence, they are bound by the common experience of feeling excluded, or “not the type” in traditionally homogenous fields.

Important trends in AI

On 11/15/2022, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, biology, bots, change, changing business models, chemistry, collaboration, computer science, ethics, future, platforms, programming, research, robotics, science, trends, by Daniel Christian

These are the most important AI trends, according to top AI experts — from nexxworks.com
Somewhat in the shadow of the (often) overhyped metaverse and Web3 paradigms, AI seems to be developing at great speed. That’s why we asked a group of top AI experts in our network to describe what they think are the most important trends, evolutions and areas of interest of the moment in that domain.

Excerpt:

All of them have different backgrounds and areas of expertise, but some patterns still emerged in their stories, several of them mentioning ethics, the impact on the climate (both positively and negatively), the danger of overhyping, the need for transparency and explainability, interdisciplinary collaborations, robots and the many challenges that still need to be overcome.

But let’s see what they have to say, shall we?

Also relevant/see:

AI IS REVOLUTIONIZING EVERY FIELD AND SCIENCE IS NO EXCEPTION — from dataconomy.com by KEREM GÜLEN

Table of Contents

Artificial intelligence in science
- Artificial intelligence in science: Biology
- Artificial intelligence in science: Physics
- Artificial intelligence in science: Chemistry
AI in science and research
- How is AI used in scientific research?
  - Protein structures can be predicted using genetic data
  - Recognizing how climate change affects cities and regions
  - Analyzing astronomical data
AI in science examples
- Interpreting social history with archival data
- Using satellite images to aid in conservation
- Understanding complex organic chemistry
Conclusion

Also relevant/see:

How ‘Responsible AI’ Is Ethically Shaping Our Future — from learningsolutionsmag.com by Markus Bernhardt
Excerpt:
The PwC 2022 AI Business Survey finds that “AI success is becoming the rule, not the exception,” and, according to PwC US, published in the 2021 AI Predictions & 2021 Responsible AI Insights Report, “Responsible AI is the leading priority among industry leaders for AI applications in 2021, with emphasis on improving privacy, explainability, bias detection, and governance.”
Why you need an AI ethics committee — from enterprisersproject.com by Reid Blackman (requires providing email address to get the article)

[AI] One of the Biggest Problems in Biology Has Finally Been Solved [Lewis]

On 11/02/2022, in Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, biology, emerging technologies, experimentation, Google, by Daniel Christian

One of the Biggest Problems in Biology Has Finally Been Solved — from scientificamerican.com by Tanya Lewis
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis explains how its AlphaFold AI program predicted the 3-D structure of every known protein

Excerpt:

We had to reengineer things for AlphaFold 2 and put a whole bunch of new ideas in there and also bring onto the team some more specialists—biologists and chemists and biophysicists who worked in protein folding—and combine them with our engineering and machine-learning team.
…
Were you surprised that AlphaFold was so successful?
Yeah, it was surprising, actually. I think it’s definitely been the hardest thing we’ve done, and I would also say the most complex system we’ve ever built.

Learning from Our Students: Student Perspectives on Good Teaching — from everylearnereverywhere.org; with thanks to Beth McMurtrie for this resource

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Twenty-two students trusted us with their stories and their reflections on good teaching. We honor that trust and hope that instructors who read this document gain as much insight about teaching from the students as we did. While we often write of students in the plural, each one of these students had an individual experience with learning and therefore a unique story to tell about good teaching. The key takeaways from their stories are:

Students want to be recognized as individuals and appreciated in the classroom.
Students want real life in the classroom.
Students want to be treated with respect and trust.

We hope readers will likewise ask their own students, “What do your best instructors do?” and use that feedback to continuously improve their craft as teachers.

Out of 22 students:

A $500 Million International Project Will Create the Most Detailed Map of the Brain Ever [Gent]

On 10/04/2022, in biology, Daniel S. Christian, faith, memory, research, by Daniel Christian

A $500 Million International Project Will Create the Most Detailed Map of the Brain Ever — from singularityhub.com by Edd Gent

Excerpt:

That’s why the National Institutes of Health’s BRAIN Initiative has just announced $500 million in funding over five years for an effort to characterize and map neuronal and other types of cells across the entire human brain. The project will be spearheaded by the Allen Institute in Seattle, but involves collaborations across 17 other institutions in the US, Europe, and Japan.

“These awards will enable researchers to explore the multifaceted characteristics of the more than 200 billion neurons and non-neuronal cells in the human brain at unprecedented detail and scale,” John Ngai, director of the NIH BRAIN Initiative, said in a statement.

From DSC:
The LORD does awesome work. I wonder how many of these scientists and researchers will become believers while doing this project.

Proverbs 27:1

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Radar Trends to Watch: September 2022 [Loukides]

On 09/06/2022, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, biology, Blockchain, bots, Google, internet, machine-to-machine communications, Natural Language Processing (NLP), platforms, privacy, programming, robotics, science, technology (general), the downsides of technology, trends, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Radar Trends to Watch: September 2022 Developments in AI, Privacy, Biology, and More — from oreilly.com by Mike Loukides

Excerpt:

It’s hardly news to talk about the AI developments of the last month. DALL-E is increasingly popular, and being used in production. Google has built a robot that incorporates a large language model so that it can respond to verbal requests. And we’ve seen a plausible argument that natural language models can be made to reflect human values, without raising the question of consciousness or sentience.

For the first time in a long time we’re talking about the Internet of Things. We’ve got a lot of robots, and Chicago is attempting to make a “smart city” that doesn’t facilitate surveillance. We’re also seeing a lot in biology. Can we make a real neural network from cultured neurons? The big question for biologists is how long it will take for any of their research to make it out of the lab.

Thank you LORD for our senses!

On 07/22/2022, in biology, faith, global / globalization, health, science, society, by Daniel Christian

?? this! These are amazing moments. When you truly hear for the very first time. pic.twitter.com/2HrYv228jV

— Catherine Adenle (@CatherineAdenle) July 20, 2022

Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should: What Genetic Engineers Can Learn From ‘Jurassic World’ [Maynard]

On 07/20/2022, in 21st century, biology, emerging technologies, ethics, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, health, morals/values, science, society, by Daniel Christian

Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should: What Genetic Engineers Can Learn From ‘Jurassic World’ — from singularityhub.com by Andrew Maynard

Excerpt:

Maybe this is the abiding message of Jurassic World: Dominion—that despite incredible advances in genetic design and engineering, things can and will go wrong if we don’t embrace the development and use of the technology in socially responsible ways.

The good news is that we still have time to close the gap between “could” and “should” in how scientists redesign and reengineer genetic code. But as Jurassic World: Dominion reminds moviegoers, the future is often closer than it might appear.

How an Escape Room Is Building Students’ Digital Skills at Northampton Community College — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

Excerpt of description of podcast:

We spoke with Beth Ritter-Guth, associate dean of online learning and educational technology at the college, to find out how the Learning Lab is engaging students, building digital literacy and providing valuable training in the job skills of the future.

Also see:

Five Concepts You Can Teach Through Geocaching — from freetech4teachers.com by Richard Byrne

Excerpt:

Geocaching is one of the things that I spend a good bit of time talking about in both my workshop and in my webinar about blending technology into outdoor learning. Geocaching is a great activity to do to get kids outside for hands-on learning experiences. Here are five things that you can teach through geocaching activities.

From DSC:
This next one may be useful for educators and/or parents, but it’s useful for pretty much all of us

Tip of the week: A great group packing tool — from Jared newman

Excerpt:

As an alternative to clunky spreadsheets or endless email chains, WhoBrings is a brilliantly simple way to figure out who’s bringing what.

Just type the name of your packing list into this free website, add some items, then share the link with the rest of the group. Anyone who has the link can then claim responsibility for an item or add new items to the list. You can also specify a number of units for any item—12 beach towels, for instance, or three packs of beer—and people can choose how many they’ll bring.

Also see:

Learning, doing, and teaching biology through multimedia — from MIT Open Learning
Producing multimedia for online courses involves lifelong learning

This app is training doctors while using Augmented Reality [Pascal Bornet]

On 05/11/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), biology, health, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

This app is training doctors while using #AugmentedReality

Credit: @futurism #VR #AR #VirtualReality #HealthTech #techforgood pic.twitter.com/1zXrpromq9

— Pascal Bornet (@pascal_bornet) May 11, 2022

Radar trends to watch: May 2022 — from oreilly.com
Developments in Web3, Security, Biology, and More

Excerpt:

April was the month for large language models. There was one announcement after another; most new models were larger than the previous ones, several claimed to be significantly more energy efficient.

Kendall College of Art and Design spotlights sixteen student projects [dezeen.com]

On 05/09/2022, in architecture, art, biology, colleges, communities of practice, creativity, design, graphics, health, Michigan, project-based learning, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

Kendall College of Art and Design spotlights sixteen student projects — from dezeen.com

Addendum on 9/26/22:

Ten student showcases from universities based in the USA — from dezeen.com

Learning Ecosystems

For those studying Cognitive Science, Neurosicence, Psychology, and similar fields

AI’s impact on journalism, some workers in Kenya, the SEC, programming, entertainment, ethics, AI tools, and more

Important trends in AI

[AI] One of the Biggest Problems in Biology Has Finally Been Solved [Lewis]

A $500 Million International Project Will Create the Most Detailed Map of the Brain Ever [Gent]

Radar Trends to Watch: September 2022 [Loukides]

Thank you LORD for our senses!

Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should: What Genetic Engineers Can Learn From ‘Jurassic World’ [Maynard]

Escape rooms, teaching through geocaching, and a great group packing tool!

This app is training doctors while using Augmented Reality [Pascal Bornet]

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