AI Weekly: Sandwiches and 2,000-year-old scrolls

STORY: :: University of Kentucky Research Communications

:: Diamond Light Source

From the humanoid robots learning to make you a sandwich, to how AI could reveal the contents of a 2,000-year-old scroll, this is AI Weekly.

In a warehouse on the outskirts of Shanghai a humanoid robot is learning how to steam clothes while another is mastering the art of sandwich-making.

Yao Maoqing is president of AgiBot’s embodied intelligence business unit.

He hopes the bots will one day be able to help in countries with aging populations, like China and Japan.

“People definitely expect the robots, in five or 10 years, can do those works to, for example, organize the room for the senior people.”

Intel is welcoming new CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

:: Intel

And gearing up for a change of tack.

Tan is reportedly considering significant changes to its chip manufacturing methods and artificial intelligence strategies.

That’s according to two people familiar with the matter.

The new trajectory includes restructuring the company’s approach after it missed surging demand for AI processors.

:: University of the West of England Bristol

Is this pig stressed?

An AI-integrated feeder is trying to find out.

The IntelliPig, developed by University of the West of England Bristol and Scotland’s Rural College, utilizes a camera installed within a feeder.

The camera image is processed by an AI algorithm that can recognize the individual animal, assess its condition and see if it is showing signs of stress.

The technology could potentially lead to significant advances in animal welfare.

:: University of Kentucky Research Communications

And could AI help reveal the contents of this ancient scroll that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago?

Scientists say it could reveal brand new philosophical writings – but here’s the challenge:

“So these scrolls can’t be opened physically. It would damage them.”

AI is changing that by unscrolling them virtually.

Stephen Parsons is The Vesuvius Challenge project lead.

“So we put the charred scrolls in a particle accelerator to scan the inside. And then we are developing the software that can extract the text contents of the scroll from that scan. So we’re trying to look inside the scrolls and reveal the text.”

AI has been trained to spot the ink on the scroll, but not to understand the words.

This helps make sure it doesn’t guess – or change the meaning of the text.