This week’s list of top data news highlights covers August 31, 2024 to September 6, 2024, and includes articles on using AI to diagnose cancer and a new robot to assist in lunar exploration missions.
Holywater, a Ukraine-based media tech startup, has launched a new AI companion that allows users to chat with characters from the shows in the startup’s streaming platform called My Drama. Users can ask questions and exchange images with the fictional characters to get to know them in more depth.
2. Boosting Business Operations
Anthropic has launched Claude Enterprise, a business subscription service for its chatbot, that allows companies to perform various business operations and analyze data using Claude. Claude Enterprise will process internal enterprise data to analyze information, answer questions, create graphics and simple web pages, and serve as a custom AI assistant for enterprise staff.
Scientists at the Harvard Medical School have developed an AI tool that can analyze scans of tumor tissues to diagnose and offer treatment guidance for 19 different types of cancer. The tool can help doctors detect cancer cells, predict a tumor’s molecular profile, and forecast patient survival likelihood and possible treatment response in individual patients.
4. Performing Complex Searches
Google Photos has rolled out a new AI feature to some U.S. users that allows them to search through their albums using more complex queries than currently available. The tool uses Google’s Gemini AI model to analyze photos based not only on people, places, or things in the photo, but also on the model’s understanding of the content and its metadata.
Researchers at Western University in Ontario, Canada have created a new dashboard containing detailed data on tornadoes in Canada between 1980 and 2023, which includes 250 newly documented tornadoes that the researchers identified by analyzing old satellite imagery, climate data, government records, and newspaper reports.
The British Army is using virtual reality headsets to train soldiers on how to better control kamikaze drones—unmanned aerial vehicles with a built-in warhead—to strike targets more accurately and navigate open hatches to destroy armored vehicles.
7. Empowering Digital Creators
Spotter, a Los Angeles-based startup that provides a platform for digital content creators, has launched an AI tool that can help YouTube creators brainstorm video concepts, generate thumbnail and title ideas, plan projects, and organize tasks. The tool uses AI to analyze billions of YouTube videos to identify themes and draw inspiration from similar creators.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has partnered with Castrol, a British company that produces lubricants for the space industry, to create AstroAnt, a small robot that will help gather data on the moon’s surface more efficiently. One of AstroAnt’s key capabilities is its ability to accurately measure the temperature of a lunar rover’s top surface, which is crucial for monitoring the vehicle’s performance during a mission.
9. Detecting Lung Abnormalities
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have developed 12 machine learning algorithms to predict lung abnormalities using a dataset of roughly 1,400 chest CT scans. Automating analysis of CT scans can improve detection of lung abnormalities, which cause serious lung diseases, by making the process faster and more consistent than traditional visual assessment by radiologists.
10. Automating Data Operations
A Washington-based startup, Revefi, has developed an AI assistant that connects to company data stores and databases to automatically detect and troubleshoot issues related to data quality, costs, and inefficiencies. Revefi can help reduce data storage bills by analyzing cost and quality data across different providers.
