Lunch at the Labs

Various web links I found to be of interest recently.

• This AI Pioneer Thinks AI Is Dumber Than a Cat

  Yann LeCun, NYU professor and Meta Platforms AI guru.

  At the same time, he is convinced that today's AIs aren't, in any meaningful sense, intelligent-and that many others in the field, especially at AI startups, are ready to extrapolate its recent development in ways that he finds ridiculous.
  ...
  LeCun thinks that the problem with today's AI systems is how they are designed, not their scale. No matter how many GPUs tech giants cram into data centers around the world, he says, today's AIs aren't going to get us artificial general intelligence.
  His bet is that research on AIs that work in a fundamentally different way will set us on a path to human-level intelligence. These hypothetical future AIs could take many forms, but work being done at FAIR to digest video from the real world is among the projects that currently excite LeCun. The idea is to create models that learn in a way that's analogous to how a baby animal does, by building a world model from the visual information it takes in.

  Also see Rage against the machine.

  For all the promise and dangers of AI, computers plainly can’t think.
  To think is to resist – something no machine does.

• Ta-Nehisi Coates's Courage

  Peter Beinart interviews Ta-Nehisi Coates about his book The Message.

  Ta-Nehisi Coates's refusal to lie about what he saw in the West Bank, first to go there right? Because so many people, so many celebrated people in American public life, choose not to go there. Because they know, at some level, that if they went there, then they would be forced to carry around the secret that they don't want to have to face the consequences of exposing. He purposely went to see it, and then decided to write about what he had seen.
  ...
  And so, perhaps the message of Camus is that actually the deepest form of community that you have is when you're actually willing to say the things that you believe are true, even if that puts you in community with people who you don't know, who you can't see, who certainly don't have the power and the cultural status, to celebrate you in the way that people in power do.

• What populists don't understand about tariffs (but economists do)

  Costs of tariffs. Tariffs are a tax on imports, and they will raise prices for households and, crucially, for businesses that rely on imported inputs to make their products. Not only will prices rise for the imported products, so will the prices of goods produced at home that compete with imports. Simply put, protectionism reduces the gains from trade; we choose to pay more than necessary for some goods (imports and their domestic substitutes) instead of focusing on those goods that we produce more efficiently than foreigners.
  ...
  Economists have long known that tariffs on imports not only reduce the demand for imports, they also discourage exports. This effect arises because as more domestic resources are used to produce goods that were previously imported, those resources are drawn away from export industries.

• Why aren't we talking about the real reason male college enrollment is dropping?

  Male flight describes a similar phenomenon when large numbers of females enter a profession, group, hobby or industry-the men leave. That industry is then devalued.

• OpenBB: AI-powered research and analytics workspace

  Integrate, visualize, and analyze data. All in one place.
  Free for individuals. Optimized for teams.

  Read more about it at, Fintech OpenBB aims to be more than an 'open source Bloomberg Terminal'.

• Fly brain breakthrough 'huge leap' to unlock human mind

  Now for the first time scientists researching the brain of a fly have identified the position, shape and connections of every single one of its 130,000 cells and 50 million connections.
  ...
  We have a million times as many brain cells, or neurons, than the fruit fly which was studied.
  ...
  Developing a computer the size of a poppy seed capable of all these tasks is way beyond the ability of modern science.

• Long COVID and chronic fatigue

  "A growing body of research suggests that both long COVID and chronic fatigue are post-viral syndromes that result in chronic, low-grade inflammation that can damage healthy tissue and, in some cases, the production of auto-antibodies that can attack it."

• A Physicist Reveals Why You Should Run in The Rain

  More specifically, does the amount of water that hits you depend on your speed? And is there an ideal speed that minimises the total water you encounter on your way from point A to point B?
  ...
  To sum it all up: it's a good idea to lean forward and move quickly when you're caught in the rain. But careful: leaning forward increases Sh (horizontal surface area of the individual). To really stay drier, you'll need to increase your speed enough to compensate for this.

• Terrorism Works, for its Supporters

  We theorize that terrorism can work, but for its supporters rather than for the terrorists themselves. Because supporters are willing to contribute resources to a terrorist organization, thereby increasing the organization's ability to launch attacks, this can coerce the targeted government to revise its policies in accordance with the supporters' preferences. Targeted governments may respond with concessions in order to erode support and thereby render the terrorists easier to defeat. Support can be rational even when supporters' ideal policies are closer to those of the government than to those of the terrorists.

• Chappell Roan Is a Pop Supernova

  Nothing About It Has Been Easy
  Her joyful pop anthems have connected with a massive audience, but getting here involved long odds and a lot of heartache. And fame is freaking her out a bit.

Some items related to human brain functioning.

• BDNF Basics: 7 Ways to Train Your Brain

  You may lose muscle mass as you age, but you don't have to lose cognitive function.

  One of those mechanisms that's been repeatedly identified as an important component of a healthy brain is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is a protein that promotes brain function and encourages the growth of new neurons. It's basically like gas in the engine of the brain. And when you're running on empty, the right kind of exercise can trigger the production of more fuel, or in this case, BDNF.

  1. Voluntary exercise has been shown to elicit a bigger increase in BDNF and other growth factors.
  2. The stationary bike is fine, but it's also safe. You'll use more of your brain and generate more BDNF with an activity that requires some level of risk, like rock climbing or stand-up paddleboarding.
  3. Researchers have found that daily exercise is more effective than less frequent bouts of activity, especially in the beginning of a fitness program.
  4. Studies have proven you can get more bang for your buck when it comes to BDNF and brain health by incorporating intervals into your training.
  5. In a study done by William Greenough at the University of Illinois, rats that practiced complex motor skills produced more BDNF than rats that only performed aerobic exercise on a wheel.
  6. Social interaction can stimulate the brain and is often considered one of the best motivators in maintaining an active lifestyle.
  7. While more studies are needed to confirm a link between the outdoors and BDNF levels, we do know the natural environment has an impact on physical activity and the brain. Sunshine and vitamin D may contribute to higher levels of BDNF

• Continuous improvement: Intertwining mind and body in athletic expertise

  This book sheds light on a phenomenon of continuous improvement by presenting a theory which demonstrates how mindfully attending to the body allows the skilled performer to address the various 'crises' (e.g. injury, attrition of habits induced by ageing) that confront the embodied subject and to respond flexibly in dynamically unfolding competitive environments. It explains how athletes like Roger Federer, Tom Brady, and Serena Williams are capable both of moments of exquisite brilliance and of sustaining such excellence over a prolonged period.

• Why do we crumble under pressure?

  Study links this phenomenon to the brain region that controls movement.

  Experiments in monkeys reveal that 'choking' under pressure is linked to a drop in activity in the neurons that prepare for movement.

• Part of brain network much bigger in people with depression, scientists find

  Now researchers say that in people with depression, a larger part of the brain is involved in the network that controls attention to rewards and threats than in those without depression.