Beginners in AI

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Welcome to this week's edition of Beginners in AI, where we explore the latest trends, tools, and news in the world of AI and the tech that surrounds it. Like all editions, this is human curated and published with the intention of making AI news and technology more accessible to everyone. 

This week, we’re looking into Luna — a robot dog that learns like a living creature — and exploring Claude’s new web search skills, a bold AI-only edition of an Italian newspaper, and Google’s open AI push for drug discovery. We also look at China’s deep-sea surveillance robots and Apple's M3 Ultra chip powering locally running AI with unprecedented efficiency. Whether you're curious about robots, AI models, or energy-efficient computing, there’s something here for you.

AI TOP STORY
Luna the Robodog Learns Like a Living Creature

What Happened?

Swedish AI startup IntuiCell has introduced Luna, a robot dog built with a digital nervous system that allows it to learn and adapt like humans and animals. Unlike traditional robots that rely heavily on pre-training with vast datasets, Luna learns through direct interaction with its environment — a leap forward in how robotic intelligence can evolve over time.

What Makes Luna Unique?

Luna has already learned to stand and is in the process of learning to walk, with IntuiCell going so far as to hire a dog trainer to guide its progress. This approach centers on experiential learning rather than programmed instructions, allowing Luna to acquire skills more organically. It's a clear move away from rigid, code-driven development toward more naturalistic training techniques.

What to Take Away From This?

Luna’s development hints at a future where robots can adapt in real-time, reducing the need for constant human programming or intervention. This could pave the way for more intuitive and helpful robotic assistants in everyday settings — from homes to workplaces. As machines become better at learning on the fly, our interactions with them will feel more seamless, making advanced robotics accessible to more people in more meaningful ways. Renowned Australian roboticist and artificial intelligence scientist Rodney Brooks said that true artificial intelligence arises from physical interaction with the world, rather than abstract computations, and that is exactly what we are seeing the beginnings of here.

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LAST WEEK IN AI AND TECH

Starlink's New Rival: Taara Takes Off
Alphabet's Taara, initially part of the company's moonshot projects, is now an independent entity aiming to provide high-speed internet using light beam technology. This innovative approach could offer a competitive alternative to SpaceX's Starlink, especially in remote areas where traditional internet infrastructure is lacking. Up to 20 gigabits per second, 20 kilometers(12 miles), and doesn’t compete with radio frequencies since it relies on light instead, Taara offers numerous benefits over traditional wired infrastructure.

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Claude Connects: Anthropic's AI Gets Web-Savvy
Anthropic's chatbot, Claude, has been upgraded to access real-time information from the internet, enhancing its ability to provide up-to-date responses. This feature positions Claude as a stronger competitor to other AI models like ChatGPT, offering users more accurate and current data than before. ​Anthropic restricted Claude's internet access up until recently, citing safety concerns. Whether those concerns were alleviated with the new model, or the market has forced their hand is an open debate. Claude’s latest model 3.7 Sonnet has received excellent reviews either way.

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Paper or Pixel? Italian Newspaper Goes Full AI
Italy's Il Foglio newspaper published an edition entirely generated by artificial intelligence, with journalists interacting solely through AI tools and mostly to ask questions. This experiment raises its own questions about the future role of humans in journalism and its potential impact on editorial processes, fairness, accuracy, and monetization. According to editor Claudio Cerasa, AI was used “For everything. For the writing, the headlines, the quotes, the summaries.”

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Google's Open Secret: AI Models for Drug Discovery
Google announced plans to release open-source AI models under the name TxGemma, designed to assist in drug discovery by understanding complex biological structures. This initiative aims to accelerate pharmaceutical research and development by providing researchers with advanced tools to predict the safety and efficacy of new therapies. The growth of AI discovered drugs is already climbing exponentially.

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Apple's M3 Ultra: A New AI Powerhouse
Apple's latest Mac Studio, equipped with the M3 Ultra chip, has demonstrated impressive capabilities by efficiently running DeepSeek's R1 AI model, which boasts 671 billion parameters. This feat is achieved using the M3 Ultra's unified memory architecture, allowing the system to handle a 4-bit quantized version of DeepSeek R1 efficiently. Notably, the Mac Studio accomplishes this while consuming under 200 watts of power, a significant reduction compared to traditional multi-GPU setups that require substantially more energy(around 10x as much). This advancement positions Apple's hardware as a formidable tool for AI applications, offering both performance and energy efficiency.

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TECH TERMS TO KNOW

​Embodied intelligence is the concept that true intelligence arises from the interplay between an agent's mind, body, and environment. It emphasizes that cognitive processes are deeply rooted in the body's interactions with the physical world, rather than being confined solely to the brain or a computer. This perspective suggests that to understand or replicate intelligence, one must consider the entire system: the brain (or control system), the body, and their environment.

TOOL SPOTLIGHT (non-sponsored)

Hume AI's Octave is positioned as the "first LLM (Large Language Model) for text-to-speech." This means it's not just a traditional TTS engine that simply converts text to speech. It's designed to understand the meaning and context of the text it's processing.

What it does:

• Generates AI voices: Takes text input and creates spoken audio.

• Understands Context and Emotion: Octave goes beyond simple text reading and aims to understand the nuances of language, predicting emotions, cadence, and other aspects of natural speech.

• Voice Design: Allows users to create specific voices by providing detailed prompts describing the desired speaker (e.g., "sarcastic medieval peasant," "literature professor," "charming cowboy").

• Acting Instructions: Can adjust the emotional delivery and speaking style of the AI voice based on instructions like "whispering, hushed," "angry, furious," or "calm, serene."

• API Access: Developers can integrate Octave into their own applications.

ROBOTICS AND AI

China has sold deep-sea surveillance robots to a Middle Eastern buyer, signaling a deepening of technological ties in the region. These autonomous underwater vehicles are capable of extensive underwater monitoring, potentially enhancing maritime security and resource exploration. The sale underscores China's growing influence in high-tech exports and raises discussions about the strategic implications of such technologies in geopolitically sensitive areas, at a time where different parts of the oceans are being contested by China.

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TRY THIS PROMPT (copy and paste into AI ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, Gemini)

Personality Profile

Analyze my writing samples to create a detailed personality profile using established methods of linguistic and content analysis. Use the following samples: [INSERT YOUR PAST WRITING HERE - could include emails, essays, journal entries, social media posts, etc.].

Please examine my writing based on:

Word Choice Analysis
Identify frequent words and phrases and correlate them with the Big Five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism)

Analyze my use of emotional language, including positive and negative emotion words

Evaluate specific vocabulary patterns that might indicate particular personality traits (e.g., use of words like "folk," "poetry," and "art" correlating with openness)

Writing Style Examination
Assess sentence structure, length, and complexity

Analyze communication style (formal vs. casual, direct vs. indirect)

If handwritten samples are provided, analyze baseline patterns, word slant, and writing pressure

Examine punctuation usage and formatting choices

Content Analysis
Identify recurring themes, interests, and topics

Analyze how I present my goals, challenges, and relationships

Evaluate the emotional tone throughout different pieces

Note any consistent patterns in how I express opinions or make arguments

Comprehensive Profile
Based on this analysis, create a detailed personality profile that includes:

My dominant personality traits and how they manifest in my writing

My potential strengths and areas for growth

My likely communication preferences

My decision-making tendencies and thinking style

Any notable emotional or behavioral patterns

Please provide specific examples from my writing to support your analysis, and acknowledge any limitations in your assessment.

DID YOU KNOW?

AI Can Decode Ancient Texts – DeepMind trained an AI to reconstruct damaged ancient Greek and Roman scripts by recognizing missing words and patterns, accelerating archaeological research. Three students also used AI to read 2000 year old scrolls preserved from the Mount Vesuvius eruption.

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Thank you for reading. We’re all beginners in something. With that in mind, your questions and feedback are always welcome and I read every single email!

-James

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