Data Science Insider: August 19th, 2022

In This Week’s SuperDataScience Newsletter: New Neuromorphic Chip Could Revolutionise AI. The Sentience of AI. Data Science Reskilling Challenges. AI Lets Deceased Woman Talk to Mourners at Her Funeral. Cheers, - The SuperDataScience Team P.S. Have friends and colleagues who could benefit from these weekly updates? Send them to [this link]( to subscribe to the Data Science Insider. --------------------------------------------------------------- [New Neuromorphic Chip Could Revolutionise AI]( brief: A new “unprecedented” neuromorphic computer chip for AI on the edge has been created which runs at a small fraction of the energy and size of today's computing platforms. The chip has been created by a research team, co-led by bioengineers at the University of California San Diego and has the potential to allow complex AI to live on chips themselves, without having to send information to the cloud. The NeuRRAM neuromorphic chip is said to be twice as energy efficient as the state-of-the-art "compute-in-memory" chips whilst still being as accurate as conventional digital chips, which have the drawback of being bulky and constrained to use with large data servers on the cloud. The paper's first corresponding author, Weier Wan, said: "The conventional wisdom is that the higher efficiency of compute-in-memory is at the cost of versatility, but our NeuRRAM chip obtains efficiency while not sacrificing versatility." Why this is important: The NeuRRAM neuromorphic chip is extremely adaptable and can support many neural network models and architecture. It brings the possibility of AI running on a wide range of edge devices, free from the cloud, much closer to becoming reality. [Click here to learn more!]( [The Sentience of AI]( brief: Here at SuperDataScience we covered the story, in June, of Google engineer Blake Lemoine being suspended after he leaked chats and claimed that an AI chatbot has become ‘sentient.’ Now, this article by The Observer explores those claims, in-depth, and analyses whether LaMDA, which stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications, can think for itself. The article states that the majority of the industry’s leading thinkers all believe that this is not currently the case, but does note that the lack of an agreed-upon definition of the team ‘sentient’ makes this difficult to judge. They all agree that it is extremely powerful. The article quotes Lemoine who says: “What I’m trying to achieve is getting a more involved, more informed and more intentional public discourse about this topic so that the public can decide how AI should be meaningfully integrated into our lives.” Why this is important: The issue of sentience may be difficult to untangle, but the controversy has highlighted the need for more transparency around Ai's development. [Click here to read on!]( [Data Science Reskilling Challenges]( In brief: This article from Solutions Review is guest written by Talend Senior Director of Architecture, Strategy, and Delivery Innovation, Gareth Shercliff, who examines common reskilling challenges which are found in data science. Shercliff uses his expertise to argue that the shortage of data scientists means that companies have to utilise “citizen analysts” who need training and reskilling to stand in for the role of a data scientist. To do this, he suggests that a business needs: “a combination of repurposing concepts from data science and adopting critical cultural changes to empower and reward citizen analysts for leveraging data as part of their day-to-day activities.” He suggests that the way to do this is by: Borrowing from the data science toolkit, setting the bar for data-driven decision-making needs to happen at all levels, working with, not against uncertainty, and understanding what to do with the news that data delivers. Why this is important: Data scientists are an extremely skilled group and many would argue that “citizen analysts” would not be able to replicate or replace their role. This article gives food for thought about how some people in the business world see the future of our industry. [Click here to discover more!]( [AI Lets Deceased Woman Talk to Mourners at Her Funeral]( In brief: A leading Holocaust campaigner, Marina Smith, has used AI to attend her funeral, answer relatives’ questions, and reveal family secrets, following her death at 87. Ms Smith appeared as a hologram to answer the mourner’s queries. Before her death, Ms Smith recorded a series of interviews with her son, Stephen Smith, who is the owner of the company StoryFile. Mr Smith then edited the footage into excerpts which could be used to answer questions at her funeral. Voice-recognition software was then used to find the most appropriate sound clips from the interview to respond to whichever question was asked. The interview was conducted using 20 synchronous cameras filming her answering a series of questions, this then enabled StoryFile to create a life-like digital avatar of Ms Smith, who was able to answer the questions using her own words. Why this is important: StoryFile predicts many uses for its "conversational video technology" and one can see the appeal in having a loved one return in some form after they pass away. [Click here to see the full picture!]( [Records Deal for AI-powered Virtual Rapper]( In brief: “Robot rapper,” FN Meka, who is powered by AI, has signed a deal with Capitol Records- becoming the world’s “first AR artist” to sign with a major label. The rapper has over 10 million followers on TikTok and more than a billion views on the site as well as being the number one “virtual being” on the video platform. FN Meka has released their debut single ‘Florida Water,’ which features human rapper Gunna and Fortnite streamer Clix and was produced by Turbo and DJ Holiday. Ryan Ruden, Capitol Music Group’s Executive Vice President of Experiential Marketing & Business Development, says that FN Meka’s music: “Meets at the intersection of music, technology and gaming culture” and “is just a preview of what’s to come.” The rapper’s voice comes from a human but everything else including the lyrics, beats and the musical tempo is created using AI. Why this is important: If you are curious the link will allow you to listen to ‘Florida Water.’ AI may not be able to fully replace human talent but FN Meka’s popularity may mean that this is something we’ll see far more of in the future. [Click here to find out more!]( [Super Data Science podcast]( this week's [Super Data Science Podcast](, Sarah Catanzaro, General Partner at Amplify Partners joins us for an episode that dives into the venture capital side of data science. Learn how to fund your data science business idea, take note of what start-ups can do to survive or raise capital in the current economic climate, and discover how to break into the field of venture capital yourself." What is the Data Science Insider? This email is a briefing of the week's most disruptive, interesting, and useful resources curated by the SuperDataScience team for Data Scientists who want to take their careers to the next level. Want to take your data science skills to the next level? Check out the [SuperDataScience platform]( and sign up for membership today! Know someone who would benefit from getting The Data Science Insider? Send them [this link to sign up.]( # # If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please [Manage Your Subscription]( SuperDataScience Pty Ltd (ABN 91 617 928 131), 15 Macleay Crescent, Pacific Paradise, QLD 4564, Australia