Name: Are Digital Assistants Smart Enough to Do Their Jobs? by SciFri in AI-machine-learning
Duration: 17 min 11 s
Description: As tech companies battle to develop the best digital assistant, we ask how they measure up, and why we so often fail to connect.

AI-machine-learning

Ryan Rykaczewski describes one of the most massive migrations on the planet, driven by the sun. Image by Tintinnidguy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

#ExplainTheSun  - The Largest Migration on The Planet

Once, there was the ordinary incandescent light bulb. It shone brightly, but wasted much of the energy put into it as heat. Then came the compact fluorescent. And as costs have dropped, consumers have increasingly been switching to light-emitting diode (LED) technology for many lighting applications, in an ongoing search for a more efficient bulb. Now, in work published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report that nanophotonic devices may be able to breathe new life into old incandescent technology. Marin Soljačić and Ognjen Ilic, two authors of the study, explain how they’ve been able to “recycle” some of the incandescent bulb’s wasted heat and re-emit it as visible light, boosting efficiency.

For the Lowly Incandescent Bulb, a Ray of Hope

As tech companies battle to develop the best digital assistant, we ask how they measure up, and why we so often fail to connect.

Are Digital Assistants Smart Enough to Do Their Jobs?

Curiosity drives much of our learning and creativity. Where do we get it from, and how does it change our brains?

Probing Humanity’s Endless ‘Why?’

NASA is preparing a year-long test to examine how off-the-shelf supercomputers might withstand radiation in space.

Supercomputers In Space, Alternative Cancer Therapies, And A Frozen Fruitcake

Researchers mapped the neurons that pick up on pitch in spoken language.

Oh, Really? How Our Brain Turns Pitch Into Meaning

Physicist Max Tegmark contemplates how artificial intelligence could reshape work, justice, and society in the future.

What Would An A.I.-Influenced Society Look Like In 10,000 Years?

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people. From WNYC Studios.

Are Digital Assistants Smart Enough to Do Their Jobs?

SciFri

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