ICYMI, October 2022: Warehouse drones and ethical carebots
Drones replace warehouse workers to stop supply chain chaos
Supply chain robotics company Gather AI has landed a $10 million Series A financing round for its work with autonomous warehouse drones powered by artificial intelligence. Gather AI says an estimated US$150 billion is currently lost every year as a result of the problem of misplaced inventory, which they hope to solve with off-the-shelf drones paired with artificial intelligence software.
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AI predicts human game player actions with 80% accuracy
Researchers in the United States have developed a new set of algorithms which predict volleyball players’ in-game actions with more than 80% accuracy, opening up a wealth of new opportunities for human-machine interaction. The new algorithms developed in Cornell University’s Laboratory for Intelligent Systems and Controls combine visual data with information that is more implicit, which might include an athlete’s specific role on the team. The lab is now collaborating with the university’s Big Red hockey team to expand the research project’s applications.
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Ethical AI a matter of life or death for medical “carebots”
A team of North Carolina State University researchers has developed plans for a set of algorithms that could allow a future “carebot” to make complex decisions about prioritising the treatment of human patients. The new algorithms are designed to help incorporate ethical guidelines into artificial intelligence decision-making programs such as virtual assistants known as carebots used in healthcare settings, says the research team.
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State of AI report predicts drop in funding for startups
One of the key findings from the State of AI Report 2022 was a predicted dry-up of the ‘megaround’ funding drives that we’ve seen for AI startups in previous years. The report anticipates that the number of funding rounds that exceed $100mn will decrease significantly. As it stands, the predictions are that AI startups will raise $70.9bn this year, which is a marked drop from the $111.4bn figure reached in 2021.
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Use of robotics and IoT to help automate agriculture
BT says it has delivered a robotics platform and management system as part of the Innovate UK-funded ‘Robot Highways’ project, which is exploring the use of IoT and robotics in smart agriculture to drive automation, increase efficiency, and improve environmental sustainability. The project aims to illustrate how a fleet of robots with various roles can interact and cooperate to form a robust and highly efficient supply chain operation.
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