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South Korea's booming robotic workforce, MLB testing robot umpires, undersea cable vulnerabilities, Amazon invests in Anthropic, and new techniques for AI agent training [11-22-2024]

South Korea Leads the World in Robot Density: The Implications of Rapid Automation Growth

South Korea has the highest robot density in the world with 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees, indicating a significant level of automation in manufacturing. The use of robots in factories has more than doubled globally in the last seven years, with China surpassing Germany and Japan in robot adoption. The report by the International Federation of Robotics highlights the rapid increase in robot density and its implications for the manufacturing workforce.

Source: https://www.ibtimes.com/south-korea-robots-workforce-3752293


MLB to Test Robot Umpires in Spring Training, Could Use in Regular Season by 2026

Major League Baseball plans to continue experimenting with robot umpires during spring training in 2025 with intentions to use the challenge system in regular-season games by 2026, pending an agreement with the MLB's Umpires Association. The automated system has been tested in the minor leagues over the past five years, with the focus now on determining a proper strike zone and assessing feedback from both the clubs and players. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred aims to implement the system in 2026 but acknowledges the need to navigate the collective bargaining obligation with the Umpires Association.

Source: https://www.si.com/mlb/mlb-to-test-robot-umpires-in-spring-training


Undersea Data Cables: Targeted Vulnerabilities in the Global Communications Infrastructure

Undersea data cables, carrying 99% of the world’s international telecommunications, have become targeted in acts of sabotage, drawing nefarious interest in recent incidents. These cables are vital to the global economy, facilitating trillions of dollars’ worth of financial transactions a day, carrying sensitive government communications, and transmitting data around the internet. The geopolitical backdrop to the current threat against undersea cables includes tensions related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China’s behavior towards Taiwan, and the Israel-Gaza conflict. There have been reports of increased monitoring and potential sabotage of undersea cable systems by Russia and other state actors. The vulnerability of these cables to disruption poses significant economic and diplomatic implications.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/22/wire-cutters-how-the-worlds-vital-undersea-data-cables-are-being-targeted


Amazon to Invest $4 Billion in Anthropic, OpenAI's Rival

Amazon announces a 4-billion dollar investment in Anthropic, an AI startup founded by ex-OpenAI research executives. Amazon will be Anthropic's minority investor and its primary cloud and training partner. This highlights the ongoing generative AI arms race among tech giants and startups, with Amazon and other companies making significant investments in AI technologies.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/22/amazon-to-invest-another-4-billion-in-anthropic-openais-biggest-rival.html


MIT Researchers Develop More Efficient Algorithm for Training AI Agents

MIT researchers have developed a more efficient algorithm for training reinforcement learning models, which could make AI systems better at complex tasks involving variability. This method strategically selects the best tasks for training an AI agent, maximizing performance while keeping the training cost low. The researchers found that their technique was between five and 50 times more efficient than standard approaches on an array of simulated tasks, ultimately improving the performance of the AI agent. This development represents a step forward in addressing the challenges of variability in AI decision-making systems, with potential applications across fields from robotics to medicine to political science.

Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/mit-researchers-develop-efficiency-training-more-reliable-ai-agents-1122


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