This week’s list of top data news highlights covers January 13, 2024 to January 19, 2024 and includes articles on delivering orders via drones and using an AI-powered camera to monitor cows.
1. Enhancing Education
Arizona State University (ASU) has partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the university’s educational offerings. ASU faculty will have access to advanced capabilities of ChatGPT for creating personalized AI tutors, extending writing help, and teaching engineering courses.
2. Conducting Lunar Missions
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has landed a robotic explorer on the Moon, making Japan the fifth country to land on the Moon. The agency planned to use the mission to study the Moon’s origin and test the technology necessary for certain landing styles and low-gravity environments.
3. Solving Geometry Problems
Google DeepMind has created an AI system that can solve geometry problems from the International Mathematical Olympiad, a math competition for high-performing high school students. The team trained the system by directing it to generate millions of theorems and their proofs.
4. Delivering Orders
Cranfield University in the United Kingdom will deploy sidewalk delivery robots on campus. The university is the first in the United Kingdom to use delivery robots for on-campus, last-mile deliveries.
5. Watching Cows
Nikon, a Japanese optics and imaging products company, has created an AI-powered camera that can determine if a cow is about to give birth and send farmers an alert. Farmers can use the camera to reduce time spent checking on cows during peak periods.
6. Tracking Road Casualties
Transport for London has launched a dashboard tracking the relationship between poorer postcodes and road traffic injuries in the city. Local policymakers can use the information to help ensure investments in road safety are more equitable.
7. Answering Product Questions
Amazon has started testing a generative AI tool that can answer questions about a product. The tool uses products’ listings and reviews to inform its responses.
8. Advancing Drones
Wing, a U.S.-based drone company, has created a drone that can transport packages that weigh up to five pounds, which is double the weight that previous models could carry. Retailers can use the drone to deliver orders to consumers faster and more efficiently than with traditional delivery methods.
9. Reviewing Purchases
Sam’s Club, a U.S.-based retail chain, has started using an AI-powered scanning system to review shoppers’ carts as they leave stores. The new system will replace manual checks by employees and make shoppers’ check-outs faster and more efficient.
10. Launching Humanoid Robots
BMW has partnered with Figure, a U.S.-based robotics company, to deploy a humanoid robot at its manufacturing plant in South Carolina. The robot can automate tasks that are too unsafe, repetitive, or boring for humans.
Image credit: Flickr user Rockin’Rita
