Machine Learning Spots Treasure Trove of Elusive Viruses (nature.com) 28
Artificial intelligence could speed up metagenomic studies that look for species unknown to science. From a report: Researchers have used artificial intelligence (AI) to discover nearly 6,000 previously unknown species of virus. The work illustrates an emerging tool for exploring the enormous, largely unknown diversity of viruses on Earth. Although viruses influence everything from human health to the degradation of trash, they are hard to study. Scientists cannot grow most viruses in the lab, and attempts to identify their genetic sequences are often thwarted because their genomes are tiny and evolve fast.
For the latest study, Simon Roux, a computational biologist at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in Walnut Creek, California, trained computers to identify the genetic sequences of viruses from one unusual family, Inoviridae. These viruses live in bacteria and alter their host's behaviour: for instance, they make the bacteria that cause cholera, Vibrio cholerae, more toxic. But Roux, who presented his work at the meeting in San Francisco, California, organized by the JGI, estimates that fewer than 100 species had been identified before his research began. Roux presented a machine-learning algorithm with two sets of data -- one containing 805 genomic sequences from known Inoviridae, and another with about 2,000 sequences from bacteria and other types of virus -- so that the algorithm could find ways of distinguishing between them.
For the latest study, Simon Roux, a computational biologist at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in Walnut Creek, California, trained computers to identify the genetic sequences of viruses from one unusual family, Inoviridae. These viruses live in bacteria and alter their host's behaviour: for instance, they make the bacteria that cause cholera, Vibrio cholerae, more toxic. But Roux, who presented his work at the meeting in San Francisco, California, organized by the JGI, estimates that fewer than 100 species had been identified before his research began. Roux presented a machine-learning algorithm with two sets of data -- one containing 805 genomic sequences from known Inoviridae, and another with about 2,000 sequences from bacteria and other types of virus -- so that the algorithm could find ways of distinguishing between them.
Where's the real intelligence? (Score:2)
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I'd say an amoeba is on par with these machines.. it's basically just a stimuli -> output type situation, which these machines can approximate pretty well.
Had you said 'rodent', or 'dog', i'd totally agree with you. But makes one wonder, how far down the evolutionary tree do you have to go before you get anything approximating a 'mind' ? And when / what caused that change to occur.
Re: Where's the real intelligence? (Score:2)
Humm, this article says ameobas are smarter. Maybe that gap has gotten smaller in the last 2 years.
https://www.npr.org/sections/1... [npr.org]
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We need to stop referring to these things are "artificial intelligence"; they're "pseudo-intelligence", at best.
There's no intelligence at all. Not even pseudo. "Machine learning" seems like a better fit for these algorithms. They're really more about fuzzy pattern matching than any sort of logical deduction or reasoning, as expected of "intelligence."
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The search-space presented by all these repetitive arguments for why AI doesn't exist would bore an AI to SHED_TEARS.sh
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"feature recognition" would be another term. These system look at petabytes of data (individual genomes, gene interactions) and try and identify which mutations or interactions correlate to a particular genetic problem. No human could print out all this data, sit down at a desk and compare then line for line.
Imagine taking millions of lithographic electron microscope photographs of CPU/GPU cores, then trying to corrrelate those to broken logic circuits. Eventually, you would be able to associate particular
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Dictionary says: "The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.". The machines are doing that, so it's not unreasonable to call them AI.
Once more around the circle. (Score:2)
Grab your partner dosie-do!
What's intelligence? Here we GO!
The singularity is coming. (Score:2)
Looks like someone beat me to the punch at bring up the question of "AI" or pseudo intelligence.
Many smart people are shouting the dangers of AI at the moment when we couldn't be further from it. First of all your have to define what intelligence is with whom you start having a discussion first. For instance an I.Q. test can easily be passed by a knowledge engine with a high score but it's hardly a "mind".
To me a "mind" is one that is capable of doing all the things a human mind can do. A human mind is capa
Grammar nazi here, sorry... (Score:3)
It's 'per se', not 'per say'.
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There is no skynet.
Don't tell the British army.
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If we're going to go that far to create wetware interfaces, then general AI would also be a natural byproduct of understanding the processes of how the mind and human biology works.
We wouldn't even necessarily have to understand how general AI works exactly or why, only the processes used to create it. At first it won't be a threat, but eventually it would be weaponized or handled carelessly. The potential is just that great, and our capacity for hubris also is unlimited.
I think you're correct that our
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There will be no war with "AI" per say. It will be enhanced "evolving" humans verses natural humans (luddies). There is no skynet.
You say "Many smart people are shouting the dangers of AI at the moment when we couldn't be further from it." yet imply that full fledged high bandwidth BCIs are somehow around the corner. They're not. Current BCIs are a joke compared to what current AI can do.
I do think we agree where sentience will end up, but I also believe you overestimate the role organics in general and humans in particular will have in participating in the transition. Let me put it like this: tacking chips onto a human brain is like
Notice! (Score:2)
Take note that th they are not referred to as viri!
They will never find that elusive virus C teapot (Score:2)
This is a very special virus that infects its host, H sapiens. It affects their brain and make them identify the virus strains that compete with it (genus Celestial species teapot) and go on an all out effort to get rid of the competitor. The C teapot virus will occupy the niche vacated by these aggressive treatment, but the brains of the H sapiens it affects will never see it or identify it.