This week’s list of top data news highlights covers August 17, 2024 to August 23, 2024, and includes articles on digital memory boxes for children in foster care and giving robots a better sense of touch.
1. Making Reading Easier
Education publisher McGraw Hill has introduced two generative AI tools to enhance its educational platforms. The first tool, AI Reader, offers college students personalized support by providing simpler explanations, alternative language, or quizzes within e-books. The second, Writing Assistant, aimed at grades 6 through 12, delivers real-time feedback on writing assignments, helping students improve their skills and allowing teachers to offer more personalized guidance and track progress.
2. Monitoring Emissions
Climate tech firm Logical Buildings, based in New Jersey, has partnered with Con Edison, a New York-based utility company, to develop a real-time emission-monitoring tool for co-op and condo buildings in New York. This tool tracks daily and weekly energy consumption, helping buildings stay within the carbon limits set by Local Law 97, which mandates emissions reductions for buildings to meet the city’s climate goals.
3. Advancing Journalism
The Washington Post has introduced an AI tool, called Haystacker, designed to help journalists sift through large data sets, including video, photo, or text, to identify significant trends or patterns. The company’s engineering team collaborated with its newsroom to develop the in-house tool, and the Post recently used it to analyze over 700 political ads. The company indicated it may share this technology with the broader industry in the future.
4. Simplifying School Admissions
New York City’s Education Department has partnered with an MIT research lab to develop a tool that helps high school applicants to the city’s high schools to gauge their chances of acceptance. The tool uses data like grades, borough, and lottery numbers to predict the likelihood of admission to specific schools, aiming to simplify the complex process and help families make more informed decisions.
5. Preventing Wildfires
A team of firefighters, scientists, and engineers are using AI-powered drones developed by UK company Windracers to prevent wildfires. This technology allows up to 30 autonomous drones to work together to detect and extinguish fires before they grow out of control. The drones are designed to operate without human intervention and can monitor large areas, adapt to changing conditions, and carry water or retardants to put out fires.
6. Detecting Audio Deepfakes
McAfee has introduced a new tool designed to identify AI-generated audio within videos across platforms like YouTube and X. The tool scans audio within any video stream accessible on a PC, and alerts users with a red icon. Users can click the icon to receive more details about the potential deepfake.
7. Organizing Memories
Blackpool Council in the UK has implemented digital memory boxes for children in foster care to securely preserve digital memories and mementoes. This tool allows children to store and organize important life moments, such as photos, videos, and documents, in a central, protected digital platform. The user-friendly interface enables children to easily access and reflect on their memories in a meaningful way.
8. Supporting Sales
Salesforce has introduced two new AI-powered agents designed to automate and enhance sales operations. One agent autonomously handles tasks like answering inquiries and scheduling meetings, while the other simulates buyer interactions to help salespeople refine their negotiation skills.
9. Sensing Touch
Researchers at Germany’s aerospace agency have developed a new method to give robots a sense of touch. Instead of using expensive and complex external sensors or synthetic skins, the team combined the robot’s built-in sensors with machine learning. This allows the robot to feel and understand physical contact, such as touch, without adding extra hardware. The robot can detect and interpret touches, like recognizing numbers or letters traced on its surface.
10. Making Robotaxis Cheaper
Waymo has partnered with Chinese automaker Zeekr to develop a new robotaxi designed to lower production costs by reducing the number of sensors while retaining advanced autonomous driving capabilities. The vehicle features a streamlined sensor suite with 16 cameras, 5 lidar units, and 6 radar systems, which offer comprehensive coverage up to 500 meters. This collaboration aims to make autonomous vehicles more affordable as Waymo expands its services across various cities.
