Maybe the key to having computers think as people lies in trying to grow one like one would grow a living cell in a laboratory. It seems unlikely, but it’s being looked into as we speak, and there is one thing we know for sure: humans keep surprising. But first, let’s look into other applications of the ingenuity of the human mind.

AI can warn people at risk of diabetes in China

Researchers at a hospital in Shanghai are testing an AI system that can identify patients at risk for developing type two diabetes and warn them up to 15 years in advance, which gives the patients enough time to change their lifestyles. Diabetes has a similar rate of occurrence in China as in, say, the US, but taking into account China’s population, that means that diabetes affects more than 100 million people. Any step in preventing this disease will help millions of patients and save valuable resources. The AI collected data from 170,000 people, learned from the results, and drew its conclusions. It looked at gender, height, weight, education, and general lifestyle choices like smoking. If such a system can warn people well before they develop health problems, people could be incentivized to take action for their health. Alice Shen on South China Morning Post shares more information about this innovative use of AI in Shanghai.

Predicting levels of obesity in the US

While in China, AI is predicting the risk of type 2 diabetes, researchers in Washington are using AI to gauge – not dissimilarly – how a city’s infrastructure influences obesity rates in that city. What the system analyzes includes whether it’s easy for pedestrians to get around, whether the city has a lot of greenery, whether there are good biking paths, etcetera. This will help city planners design future cities or improve current cities to minimize the risk of obesity. Of course, there are certain areas of improvement, the AI should consider income levels and not just a city’s infrastructure, and should also learn which factors might have more of an impact than others. Regardless, such a tool will undoubtedly influence future city planning. Katie Pyzyk on Smart Cities Dive shares how the current results were achieved, and all the other interesting tidbits.

First autonomous tram by Siemens

The world’s first autonomous tram was recently shown to the wide world and Siemens is the company behind it. It combines a myriad of sensors to optimize reaction speeds and ensure behavior in actual traffic is as it should be. This project is meant to highlight the challenges autonomous vehicles are still facing in terms of the ability to react in everyday traffic. This tram will push research forward, and showcase how far the technology already stands, which is quite far! Sean Galea-Pace shares more on Manufacturing Global.

Growing neural networks in labs

Somehow, a group of researchers got funding for their idea to try and grow a computer in a lab as if they were growing living cells. Right now, Jon Christian on Futurism shares with us that we don’t know that much yet, but what we do know is that the researchers are convinced they’re able to use living cells to create a computer. They are convinced it will help us research human brains, as well as how computers and AI can be improved. There is an issue of more human-like ‘awareness’ with these living cells, but nothing has been said about that either. All we know is that we’re going to follow this project closely and are dying to find out more. Want to do the same? Go here and be amazed.

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