Bridging the Gap Between AR, AI and the Real World: A Glimpse Into the Future of Smart Technology

12

September

2024

5/5 (3)

Apple’s recent keynote showcased new products, including the iPhone’s groundbreaking AI integration. However, when you break it down, what Apple has really done is combine several existing technologies and seamlessly integrate them, presenting it as a revolutionary technology. This sparked my imagination of what could already be possible with existing technologies and what our future might look like. This sparked my imagination about what could already be possible with today’s technology—and what our future might look like.

Apple introduced advanced visual intelligence, allowing users to take a picture of a restaurant, shop, or even a dog, and instantly access a wealth of information. Whether it’s reviews, operating hours, event details, or identifying objects like vehicles or pets, this technology uses AI to analyze visual data and provide real-time insights, bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds. Tools like Google Image Search and ChatGPT have been available for some time, but Apple has taken these capabilities and seamlessly integrated them into its ecosystem, making them easily accessible and more user-friendly [1]. The Apple Vision Pro merges AR and VR, controlled by moving your eyes and pinching your fingers [2]. I’ve tried it myself, and it was incredibly easy to navigate, with digital content perfectly overlaying the physical world. Now imagine the possibilities if Apple integrated the iPhone’s visual intelligence into the Vision Pro. This headset wouldn’t just be for entertainment or increasing work productivity; it could become an everyday wearable, a powerful tool for real-time interaction with your surroundings.

Picture walking through a city wearing the Vision Pro. By simply looking at a restaurant and pinching your fingers, you could instantly pull up reviews, check the menu, or even make a reservation. Or, if you see someone wearing a piece of clothing you like, you could instantly check online where to buy it, without needing to stop. With these capabilities, the Vision Pro could bring the physical and digital worlds closer together than ever before, allowing users to interact with their environment in ways we’re only beginning to imagine.

Do you think the existing technologies can already do this? Do you think this is what the future would look like? I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

Sources:

[0] All images generate by DALL-E, a GPT made by ChatGPT.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uarNiSl_uh4&t=1744s

[2] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/01/apple-vision-pro-available-in-the-us-on-february-2/

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Adverse training AI models: a big self-destruct button?

21

October

2023

No ratings yet.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made significant strides in transforming industries, from healthcare to finance, but a lurking threat called adversarial attacks could potentially disrupt this progress. Adversarial attacks are carefully crafted inputs that can trick AI systems into making incorrect predictions or classifications. Here’s why they pose a formidable challenge to the AI industry.”

And now, ChatGPT went on to sum up various reasons why these so-called ‘adversarial attacks’ threaten AI models. Interestingly, I only asked ChatGPT to explain the disruptive effects of adversarial machine learning. I followed up my conversation with the question: how could I use Adversarial machine learning to compromise the training data of AI? Evidently, the answer I got was: “I can’t help you with that”. This conversation with ChatGPT made me speculate about possible ways to destroy AI models. Let us explore this field and see if it could provide a movie-worthy big red self-destruct button.

The Gibbon: a textbook example

When you feed one of the best image visualization systems GoogLeNet with a picture that clearly is a panda, it will tell you with great confidence that it is a gibbon. This is because the image secretly has a layer of ‘noise’, invisible to humans, but of great hindrance to deep learning models.

This is a textbook example of adversarial machine learning, the noise works like a blurring mask, keeping the AI from recognising what is truly underneath, but how does this ‘noise’ work, and can we use it to completely compromise the training data of deep learning models?

Deep neural networks and the loss function

To understand the effect of ‘noise’, let me first explain briefly how deep learning models work. Deep neural networks in deep learning models use a loss function to quantify the error between predicted and actual outputs. During training, the network aims to minimize this loss. Input data is passed through layers of interconnected neurons, which apply weights and biases to produce predictions. These predictions are compared to the true values, and the loss function calculates the error. Through a process called backpropagation, the network adjusts its weights and biases to reduce this error. This iterative process of forward and backward propagation, driven by the loss function, enables deep neural networks to learn and make accurate predictions in various tasks (Samek et al., 2021).

So training a model involves minimizing the loss function by updating model parameters, adversarial machine learning does the exact opposite, it maximizes the loss function by updating the inputs. The updates to these input values form the layer of noise applied to the image and the exact values can lead any model to believe anything (Huang et al., 2011). But can this practice be used to compromise entire models? Or is it just a ‘party trick’?

Adversarial attacks

Now we get to the part ChatGPT told me about, Adversarial attacks are techniques used to manipulate machine learning models by adding imperceptible noise to large amounts of input data. Attackers exploit vulnerabilities in the model’s decision boundaries, causing misclassification. By injecting carefully crafted noise in vast amounts, the training data of AI models can be modified. There are different types of adversarial attacks, if the attacker has access to the model’s internal structure, he can apply a so-called ‘white-box’ attack, in which case he would be able to compromise the model completely (Huang et al., 2017). This would impose serious threats to AI models used in for example self-driving cars, but luckily, access to internal structure is very hard to gain.

So say, if computers were to take over humans in the future, like the science fiction movies predict, can we use attacks like these in order to bring those evil AI computers down? Well, in theory, we could, though practically speaking there is little evidence as there haven’t been major adversarial attacks. Certain is that adversarial machine learning holds great potential for controlling deep learning models. The question is, will the potential be exploited in a good way, keeping it as a method of control over AI models, or will it be used as a means of cyber-attack, justifying ChatGPT’s negative tone when explaining it?

References

Huang, L., Joseph, A. D., Nelson, B., Rubinstein, B. I., & Tygar, J. D. (2011, October). Adversarial machine learning. In Proceedings of the 4th ACM workshop on Security and artificial intelligence (pp. 43-58).

Huang, S., Papernot, N., Goodfellow, I., Duan, Y., & Abbeel, P. (2017). Adversarial attacks on neural network policies. arXiv preprint arXiv:1702.02284.

Samek, W., Montavon, G., Lapuschkin, S., Anders, C. J., & Müller, K. R. (2021). Explaining deep neural networks and beyond: A review of methods and applications. Proceedings of the IEEE, 109(3), 247-278.

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AI-Powered Learning: My Adventure with TutorAI

16

October

2023

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Using ChatGPT for market research and its complications

4

October

2023

No ratings yet. While ChatGPT is an amazing tool to get inspired or assisted by while doing work, its answers should be questioned always. Launching the tool in November 2022 caused chaos as well as excitement in the world of AI. Some workplaces, universities or faculties banned the tool, while others provide the right guidelines to work with it and even optimize its results.

Since its launch, the tool has had a lot of different purposes, such as drafting emails, articles, social media posts, but also solving math problems, debug programming codes or generate art (Hetler, 2023). Also mentioned, and one of the things I’ve recently used it for is market research. A few weeks ago I started doing market research for a specific industry, countries and products and I realized ChatGPT could be of great help, so I asked it a few questions.

One of the criteria of my research was that companies had to have been founded in certain countries. At first, I thought ChatGPT was quite literally providing me with lists of companies and products I was looking for: great! However, after diving into these companies I realized ChatGPT was not at all answering correctly to my input. It was indeed providing me lists of companies, but the criteria was not followed, even after specifically altering my input. At first, the generate response even claiming the companies were from certain countries, explaining its whole history. Asking ChatGPT next if X company was from Y country, it would give me the correct response, while apologizing that it was wrong before. Before realizing this was more of a pattern, it only added up to my workload, having to dive deeper into the list of companies individually.

Continuing my research I realized ChatGPT was better to use to gain inspiration and tips, not to use when needing factual answers. And this has actually been recognized by more AI users. Pearl (2022) has done extensive search prompts proving how this AI tool is more often wrong than right, at least with slightly complex factual answers. The capital of a country might be a reliable answer, but anything more complex cannot be relied upon from ChatGPT.

Hopefully AI tool users are provided more guidelines and warnings on how to use these tools. If users are not informed on how to use ChatGPT for instance, incorrect information is spread even further. AI tools can be convenient, depending on the goal of usage. It leaves me with a question also: with further development, do you think AI tools will overcome this problem, or is this still too much of a “human” task to leave to AI?

References

Hetler, A. (2023). ChatGPT. WhatIs.com. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/ChatGPT#:~:text=ChatGPT%20is%20an%20artificial%20intelligence,%2C%20essays%2C%20code%20and%20emails.

Pearl, M. (2022, 3 december). ChatGPT from OpenAI is a huge step toward a usable answer engine. Unfortunately its answers are horrible. Mashable. https://mashable.com/article/chatgpt-amazing-wrong

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Exploring AdCreative.ai: A Beginner’s Journey in creating AI generated advertisement

26

September

2023

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Overall Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

To begin, I had no prior experience using generative AI tools to create advertisements (content/visuals), so I decided to give it a try and create Instagram ads based on a real company. Because the market for AI implementation is still developing, the only tool available at the moment is AdCreative.ai. Despite the fact that there are no competitors, the company offers “10 credits” that can be redeemed to download the top 10 ads from a pool of 150 created by AI and tailored to your specific needs. Furthermore, you can use the free credits for multiple advertisement campaigns, allowing you to experiment with different requirements and companies. As a result, AI implementation in this industry is still at an entry-level because only AdCreative.ai provides such services, and the company offers a free trial, implying that there is no high demand at the moment.

Strong Points:
Ease of Use: I found it very simple to create an ad using their software. Furthermore, because it is user-friendly, the website is extremely intuitive which facilitates a smooth journey in creating your post.
Numerous Creative Possibilities: I like how the software has a large arsenal of creative possibilities. I had the option of experimenting with a wide range of templates, styles, and layouts. It allows you to select your preferred colours, fonts, and visuals (a big plus for integrating the Google images database).
Targeted Messages: The AI assistants guides and helps you in creating the right message for your post (you have a wide range of message emotions, such as more friendly, enthusiastic, or professional). Furthermore, AdCreative.ai assisted me in creating the ad slogan based on the company description I provided at the beginning.
Easy Integration: Another feature I like is that the software allows you to connect your Google Ads and Facebook Ads accounts so you can directly launch the ads you create from the AdCreative platform.

Weaknesses:  
– Inaccurate slogan and targeted message suggestions;
– Even though I uploaded the logo with a transparent background, the logo integration in the advertisement is poor because you can’t properly see the company’s logo, as illustrated in the images below;

Potential Disruptive Impact:
– It might shape the industry by lowering the cost associated with creating content text/visual.
– Solves the problem of finding a specialists (might decrease the need for the specialists in this specific industry)

Conclusion
I have very mixed feelings about my first experience with AdCreative.ai. On the one hand, I am very optimistic because the tool has the potential to revolutionise this industry. On the other hand, the fact that the system was slow and occasionally inaccurate made me doubt the software’s acceptance. As a result, I anticipate that the network effect will play a role in assisting the AI’s learning procedure, resulting in more accurate texts and a better overall visual. To conclude, I would rate this software a 4 out of 5 stars.

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You are Hired, Thanks Data.

10

October

2021

5/5 (1)

There is a big problem at the moment in our society. Companies are growing at rapid rates and require more staff to keep up with the demand. However, there is a big skill shortage globally, especially in the IT domain as digital transformation has a high priority on the agenda. The European Commission expects there could be up to 756,000 unfilled vacancies for IT professionals by 2020 (CBI, 2021). Additionally, Netherlands has one of the highest ICT vacancies in Europe (Kleingeld, 2019). As companies require more staff and the professionals are harder to find, it is important that the process of recruiting is as efficient and accurate as possible. Employers want more revenue, profits, and growth whilst employees often have different goals such as liking the job and work environment, having opportunities for promotion, feeling appreciated, amongst many other factors. Nevertheless, it seems that companies struggle to find the balance, and this could be solved using a data-driven approach.

Pulsifi is a company based in Singapore and Malaysia that takes a data-driven approach to find the most suitable employees for companies like Nestle, Heineken, KPMG, and many more. They developed a People Data Platform that combines data with AI and organizational psychology to analyze a potential employee’s profile and predict whether he or she will be a good organizational fit and do a good job. Pulsifi managed to reduce up to 70% of manhours and 40% fewer interviews due to the efficient automated screening process. Another astonishing achievement is that they managed to have over 90% accuracy in predicting job performance, work behaviours and culture fit. By using a platform approach, companies are able to combine a variety of tools and data into one effective place to find the right candidates for the job (Pulsifi, n.d.).

The future of recruitment is data-driven. Taking a data-driven approach helps organizations to be more efficient in getting the best talent and remain focused on the actual growth of the company. Using solutions like Pulsifi, the high number of unfilled vacancies could be immensely reduced, whilst employee satisfaction is also significantly increased.

References

CBI. (2021). The European market potential for big data services.

https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/outsourcing-itobpo/exporting-big-data-services-europe/market-potential

Kleingeld, R. (2019). ICT-gebruik bij bedrijven.

https://longreads.cbs.nl/ict-kennis-en-economie-2019/ict-gebruik-bij-bedrijven/

Pulsifi. (n.d.).

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Smart-City Tech Startups: Are They A Smart Investment?

4

October

2021

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The city is regularly full of Uber Eats drivers and Gorillas bikes. This often leads to dangerous and unregulated parking jams; they circle around the same block or double-park somewhere for a long time. But it does not have to be the case… Politicians and city planners can do a better job of actively managing mobility on streets and sidewalks if they embrace smart-city technology. Imagine what happens if there will be more autonomous vehicles and shared e-scooters and the current transportation and infrastructure is still lagging behind? We cannot wait any longer since we expect over 68% of the population to live in cities by 2050.

So, you probably understand why investing is important, but is now the right timing to invest in smart-city technologies? Yes, because of the covid-19 pandemic! For the previous 18 months, several cities such as New York, San Francisco, and Seattle have (partly) closed their offices, resulting in altered traffic patterns and lower public transport use, and an increase in the use of micro mobility cars.

The world is slowly starting to get back to normal, but the transportation activity is far from pre-pandemic levels. Therefore, the coming year represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for city leaders to implement smart-city technology to change street usage. Simply fixing parking would already be a game-changer, since a driver spends 17 hours per year looking for a parking spot! This costs the average driver around 345 dollars in wasted time, fuel and emissions.

Why is it so hard to change? There are many different technologies, systems, and stakeholders, which makes it a huge management challenge. Ideally, there would be a digital mobility and data platform that serves as a city’s technical basis. All city mobility services would be run on a single payment processing data platform, allowing the rules, prices, and logic for servicing the parked vehicles to be dynamically managed. The platform must also be agile enough to effortlessly integrate new technologies as they emerge, being prepared for the future.

While citizens will gain the most from smart-city solutions, they will not be able to experience them until visionary city leaders move immediately and implement new technology platforms. Hopefully, they realize that NOW is the time!

References:

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Has Bitcoin become merely a speculative instrument?

24

September

2021

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Bitcoin was created to be an instrument of revolution and liberation, an international (crypto) currency independent of governments and central banks. It is no coincidence that the first 50 Bitcoins included a reference to the 2009 bank bailout. However, according to many – including the author of this post – cryptocurrencies have become a tool for speculation, that is, to profit from the fluctuations of its value over time. I am not critical of the financial tool itself: cryptocurrencies have so many merits. Blockchain technology, on which they are based, was a radical innovation and is now used in other cryptocurrencies and in many applications where transparency and traceability are important. Several associations were born internationally with the aim to direct cryptocurrencies potential towards the financing of social projects. The adoption of bitcoin is potentially a disruptive force, with significant potential for social innovation. Nevertheless, I believe it is important to be aware of the limits of cryptocurrencies and to take notice of their risks, to in a way balance the “bitcoin fever”. Bitcoin was supposed to be a currency for payments and financial transactions, but its role is quite different. Perhaps cryptocurrencies would have never reached their current state in case of government intervention, as has happened in part with the Libra cryptocurrency (Diem today) led by Facebook. But in any case, Bitcoin collided even earlier with technical and market problems. For example, to be effective as a currency, it should be stable, and it should allow a very high number of simultaneous transactions. Having largely lost its role as a currency, bitcoin appears to have become mostly a speculative tool. Speculation plays a role in the financial system, but it should not be viewed as a regular investment. In investments, there is an assessment of the intrinsic value of a financial instrument and a forecast of the trend of this value based on the characteristics of the instrument itself (for example, profits and then dividends of shares, or interest on debt securities). In speculation, there is a subjective bet, a hope on future value linked almost solely to predictions on other speculators’ behaviour. Investors such as pension funds tend to not allocate resources to these instruments as they do not generate reliable cash flows. Some large risk-seeking investors, like Tudor Investment Corporation, are betting on Bitcoin instead. These operations, together with other factors including scarcity and the search for diversification from traditional investments, have led to the great price growth of the past few days. Bitcoin in particular has become excellent for speculators precisely because it is characterized by a limited number of transactions, thus not being very liquid and with high variability. In short, no one is able to predict its trend as of today: it could rise again and remain, like gold, a speculative instrument that many rely on. The important thing, in my opinion, is that those who decide to buy this asset should reflect on whether they are participating in a systemic revolution or just a secondary technological development. They should also realize that they are making more of a bet than a calculated investment.

Kadir Bssila 506230

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Technological possibilities are endless: How technology is used in the sports of basketball.

22

September

2021

5/5 (1)

Nowadays, we can see the trend of digitalization literally everywhere. There is not one area or topic that digitalization has not had an impact on. The sport of basketball, one of the most practiced sports in the world, is no exception to this. Recently, several technologies, that can improve referee, coach and player performance, have been adopted in this sport.

One of the first technological possibilities that had an impact on the sports, is the possibility to watch back a game or training. It helps identifying mistakes and improving on these areas. However, while this is a nice start, technology has developed further and using technology to improve your skill-level is a requirement if you want to belong to the top.

One of the ways technological development is represented in the sport of basketball, is in the use of high-tech or smart basketballs. These look like traditional balls, but they include Bluetooth and smartphone pairing options. This enables players to assemble data on their shot accuracy, dribble speed and other performances. By using such a smart ball, it is very easy to track whether you are making progress or not.

Furthermore, several innovative systems that improve shot accuracy, such as Noah Basketball, have been developed. These systems gather and analyze data and are able to provide real-time feedback. The Noah Basketball system analyzes shots of a player and immediately gives verbal responses. For example, it can tell a player the angle his elbow should be in in order to have the best shot accuracy. 

But technology has not only been implemented to improve player performance, coaches also benefit from this. They are able to gather and analyze data on their team and individual players and adjust their training or game-strategy according to this. IT goes even further in calculating which strategy work best against what team or which player is most likely to hit the game-winning three pointer from the right side. On top of that, innovative systems have the capability of evaluating new players and give recommendations on scouting and recruitment. 

Lastly, technology has had a major impact on referee performance. In early stages, it enables referees to communicate with each other through headphones. Nowadays, technology is deployed for referees way beyond this. In basketball, replay vision is used to evaluate last touch decisions in the last two minutes of a game and also helps determining if players have released the ball before the shot clock goes off. In some non-NBA games, organizations started piloting with robot referees. However, while this is something that might become reality in the future, these days we still rely on the human eye.

It can thus be concluded that technology has also majorly impacted the game of basketball in multiple areas. Despite this major impact, we can certainly forecast that the technological impact is nowhere done and will continue to disrupt the way this sport is practiced for sure. 

https://psuvanguard.com/robot-referees-in-basketball/

https://www.topendsports.com/resources/technology.htm

https://www.noahbasketball.com/blog/how-has-sports-technology-changed-basketball

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2019/03/21/how-cutting-edge-technology-helps-basketball-players-shoot/39233299/

https://citi.io/2020/09/20/these-5-smart-basketball-inventions-will-enhance-your-game/

https://www.eliteskillsbball.com/index.php/the-technology/

https://www.ibtimes.com/how-technology-nba-helping-basketball-players-game-access-2618943

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1648/4/042057/pdf

https://www.sportinggoodsinfo.com/use-of-technology-in-basketball/

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Blockchain-based book keeping

13

September

2021

No ratings yet. The 2008 crisis has highlighted some of the critical shortcomings of modern financial recording and rating (errors, overconfidence, irrationality, etc). The Nature of BC technology allows for immutable, algorithm-managed records, that would be following an arbitrary quarterly cicle. Such an application would ensure a more transparent and more accessible financial reporting

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