Subliminal Learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI) might be better than human intelligence in many ways but can fall into the same traps. A new study shows that AI models can pick up habits from each other and it is not necessarily a good thing. Conducted as part of the Anthropic Fellows Program for AI Safety Research, an initiative of Anthropic AI, the paper gave a name to this phenomenon—subliminal learning. For the study, they first made an AI model have a preference for owls through prompts and fine-tuning. Later it was made to generate number lists. These were two separate activities. They then trained another model only on the numbers generated in the second activity. But the new model also loved owls, even though it had not been trained for it. This might have real-world implications. When AI models are created and refined during training on other models, unwanted traits are discarded. It now seems that the process is not that simple. The paper noted: “Filtering bad behavior out of data might be insufficient to prevent a model from learning bad tendencies.” The authors were uncertain about how subliminal learning was happening but recommended that safety processes while training models need to be improved.

Cheap Humanoids

Chinese firm Unitree Robotics recently unveiled a humanoid robot, RI, that will cost just $5,900. Many firms are developing such robots but are priced much higher. Unitree’s earlier models G1 and H1 cost $13,838 and $90,858. Optimus claims that its robots could cost under $20,000 if annual production reaches one million. RI might be the first step to widespread adoption of these robots soon.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) might be better than human intelligence in many ways but can fall into the same traps. A new study shows that AI models can pick up habits from each other and it is not necessarily a good thing. Conducted as part of the Anthropic Fellows Program for AI Safety Research, an initiative of Anthropic AI, the paper gave a name to this phenomenon—subliminal learning. For the study, they first made an AI model have a preference for owls through prompts and fine-tuning. Later it was made to generate number lists. These were two separate activities. They then trained another model only on the numbers generated in the second activity. But the new model also loved owls, even though it had not been trained for it. This might have real-world implications. When AI models are created and refined during training on other models, unwanted traits are discarded. It now seems that the process is not that simple. The paper noted: “Filtering bad behavior out of data might be insufficient to prevent a model from learning bad tendencies.” The authors were uncertain about how subliminal learning was happening but recommended that safety processes while training models need to be improved.

Cheap Humanoids

Chinese firm Unitree Robotics recently unveiled a humanoid robot, RI, that will cost just $5,900. Many firms are developing such robots but are priced much higher. Unitree’s earlier models G1 and H1 cost $13,838 and $90,858. Optimus claims that its robots could cost under $20,000 if annual production reaches one million. RI might be the first step to widespread adoption of these robots soon.

Proton Chatbot

Proton, which built its reputation through its encrypted email service, has now launched an AI chatbot, Lumo, with a focus on user privacy. Marketed as an alternative to chatbots like ChatGPT, Lumo preserves user privacy and stores data locally on devices. Powered by several open-source LLMs, Lumo grants the user an encryption key that allows them exclusive access to their data.

Click of the Wrist

Meta revealed that it has successfully tested the prototype of a wristband that could one day do away with the need to use a keyboard or mouse while accessing a computer. The wristband, which was tested with Meta’s AR glasses Orion, allows users to do things like send messages without a keyboard, navigate a menu without a mouse, and see and engage with digital content.

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