What You Should Know About Facebook's A.I.

Machine learning has already taken control of your News Feed and identifiesyour friends. This is what's next.

 

Behind the curtain, Facebook is aggressively but quite tacitly pursuing a list of aloof projects: providing Internet to the developing parts of the world via drones; indulgingpeople with virtual reality. And now there's artificial intelligence.

 

Have you seen the “See Translation’ button on Facebook, or have been barraged with a list of names of friends as suggestions to tag? If the answer to this is yes, then congratulations you’re interaction with Facebook's AI was successful. This is not it, there’s much more mind-blowing stuff to arrive. According to Popular Science the company's somewhat new Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research team, known as FAIR, is working making computers think like humans, unlike linear machines. This means, FAIR ismaking machines understand, learn and imitate the actions of Facebook users. The ultimate goal is to make Facebook and its future technologies - intuitive, and human-like.

 

Refining the useful tools.

Facebook's AI team has a slew of courageous missions that might be possible in the far-off future. This doesn't mean you haven’t been interacting with few of its accessible AI projects, for example, language translation.

The software created by FAIR is deployed by a separate arm called Language Technology within Facebook. It has developed around 493 translation directions – which means, it can translate English to German, and German to English, and each action counts as one direction. What's impressive about this is that Facebook’s AI can understand semantics, which includes Internet slang. However, the real challenge not realizing when an idiom doesn’t apply to a particular situation. From Popular Science:

The AI is adaptive by nature, and can be trained on slang quickly. The Language Technology team recently learned that French soccer fans were using a new form of slang to say “wow,” and after training the neural network on that public data, it can now reliably translate that text. They're working now to grow Facebook’s lexicon by training on new data every day, but all languages are now updated monthly.

Creating a smarter digital assistant.

 

Facebook has been pumping money heavily into its own version of Siri, ‘M’. ‘M’ has been launched to just a few hundred users in Bay Area, and is touted as a more competent version of Microsoft Cortana and Google Now. Facebook’s M is able to, book a flight and inform an airline that you'll be carrying an infant with you. Also, it can buy birthday gifts after making recommendations.

 

“We start capturing all of your intent for the things you want to do. Intent often leads to buying something, or to a transaction, and that’s an opportunity for us to [make money] over time,” David Marcus, vice president of messaging products at Facebook, told Wired.

 

If machines become capable of tracking users' intent over time, which could easily be termed as invasive. Facebook might set its new technology in motion pronto, which definitely is not music to the ears of privacy advocates.

“If we have an idea that actually works, within a month it can be in front of 1.5 billion people,” said Yann LeCun, Director of AI Research at Facebook. “Let’s keep our eyes focused on the horizon, where our long-term goal is, but on the way there are a lot of things that we’re going to build that are going to have applications in the short term.”

Benefits for the Internet

While deploying AI at rapid speed may act as a troubling factor to a few, there are some good and simple things Facebook is doing for us too.

Like, launching smart video identification. Many of the videos floating on Facebook lack descriptive text or metadata. So, if these videos are accidently deleted, they can never be retrieved. Rob Fergus, who leads the AI research team focused on vision, told Popular Science, that "AI would 'watch' the video, and be able to classify video arbitrarily”.

 

Not only can the technology identify what is going on in the video, but it can also stop copyrighted content or pornographic video from spreading.

What is the next goal for FAIR? If they can make Facebook smarter, they definitely can make the Internet smarter too.

Here’s why IBM wants to become a weather forecaster!

The reason behind IBM wanting to acquire The WeatherCompany can be summed up in this – Weather affects everything!

According to sources, the Big Blue has allegedly invested over $2 billion towards buying the data and digital assets of The Weather Company, also known to own the Weather Channel and Weather.com.

This might seem like an odd pairing, but the Weather Company has already made up its mind to sell all its weather data services, which will be channelled to the cloud-based Watson. IBM will have the ability to take full advantage of this partnership by controlling the app that is installed in millions of smart phones. This adds more hats to IBM’s wears.

According to New York Times, the Weather Company’s data impacts everything, ranging from retailers and insurance companies to the aerospace sector. This exchange could help develop new use cases for Watson.

The in-house forecasting team, WSI, can be the main areas of interest for IBM. The team creates complex projections based on the climate data sets for government and corporate giants. WSI could offer a whole new market for Watson-related solutions and help boost IBM’s analytical initiatives.

All in all, this partnership means more power to IBM!

Airspace apps let your hands control the action

Are you a trekkie? If the answer to this question is yes, then you ought to have Airspace apps.  

No, this is not a Steven Spielberg creation, but has been inspired by the technology flaunted in the film Minority Report (by Spielberg). The intangible glass screens and the hyped up hand movements were a rage in 2002, courtesy to Tom Cruise. Now, you can experience every sci-fi fantasy first-hand. So, oh captain my captain, hop to your desktop to download the Airspace app store.

A huge leap into the abyss:

How cool would it be if your desk got transformed into a Starship deck? Admit it! It feels awesome that finally your daydreams have come true.

Touch-screens have become passé, what remains is a void. This void is transformable and….wait for it…there it is transformed! In the blink of an eye.

San Francisco based company, Leap Motion have pioneered the new-wave mechanism of motion recognition.  They have unveiled a new discipline that was far from reality. The company has modelled flexible hand gestures to be accustomed with regular computing chores. Michael Zagorsek, Vice president of product marketing for Leap Motion stated that they wanted to bring the dead space alive in between the computer and the mouse.

The functioning:

How did Leap manage to achieve gesture controlled screens? Not with a genie of course, well, Leap developed a pocket-sized motion controller. The device is ensconced with sensors that map your hand movement hereby propagating a mind-blowing gaming experience. The sensors translate and relay every gesture to the apps.

Earlier, only a giant like Apple had managed to create first-rate gizmos. Leap has attempted to play it safe. The launch video received an overwhelming response, with more than 9 million hits. Whether Airspace apps will agree with the masses, let the experts do the math.

Work still in progress:

The Xbox Kinect was a first of its kind and still remains the consumer’s ‘precious’. It was designed for a larger screen and provided movement flexibility.

The Airspace app store has its own advantages but cannot be coined as the beggar’s choice. Every gadget needed a marvel to turn the tide, for example, Xbox needed Halo, iPhone needed Angry Birds, CNN needed the Gulf war and BBC needed Sherlock. Similarly, Leap is awaiting its milepost in the making. 

Leap may have taken the gaming experience to a whole new level. But what’s in store for the whole web experience? As and when the day comes, it will trigger the rebirth of social media. As the wise man said ‘New is always better’ you guessed it right, until then suit up and stay tuned.

The best kept German secret: Neuschwanstein and Linderhof castles

Germany, the land of supercars and beer. Well, that is all that comes to mind when you plan a trip to Deutschland. It’s intriguing as there is so much more to this wonderful country. Apart from the horrifying past that people still fear to discuss, Germany enthrals people from all walks of life. You may be a self proclaimed vagabond or a hardcore adventurer, the sound and ship shaped sights of this country will leave you ecstatic. I'm not German, but I wish I was one. Not because I support Bayern Munich or Bundesliga but because this country is unique in its own way. I started saving for my dreamy trip since the last FIFA World Cup 2012.

The next step was to decide on the destination. Kuoni provides a weeklong trip to Germany, however there are various limitations. October Fest was something I was looking forward to, but had to give it amiss. The next best hotspot was Neuschwanstein and Linderhof castles. Yes, it is a lesser known hotspot but that is the beauty of it. Unheard-of, thus you will find the place uncongested. These two dreamy castles are located in Bavaria. Have you heard of Bavaria? Does Bavaria Motor Works (BMW) ring a bell?

Girdled by the Bavarian mountains, Neuschwanstein and Linderhof castles remain unexposed and unexplored. Neuschwanstein castle is nestled above a hill in Hohenschwangau. The rugged terrain leading to the castle gate exhibits the old time charm. Owning a horse carriage and a band of soldiers would perfect your dream. Disney was mesmerized with the Romanesque architecture that they proceeded to produce The Sleeping Beauty based on the inspiring Neuschwanstein.

Linderhof is located in Ettal Abbey. It is the smallest castle in Bavaria. Travellers prefer visiting this castle during winter as it looks heavenly. The huge domes, rich tapestry and labyrinth gardens leave you feeling ravished.  The allure of every room and cornice of the palace is preserved with great caution. It has a life-like presence.

Kuoni allows you to explore these castles within 4 hours. You are chaperoned to these castles in a luxury bus. It was indeed a fairy tale scenic day trip. The open gates of Neuschwanstein and Linderhof castles and their continual breathtaking views await your arrival. Gaping at the two most astounding works by King Ludwig II, I was left entranced. Later in the afternoon, we had a stopover at Oberammergau. We had our lunch there and headed straight back to our hotel. The trip has a special place in my heart. You have to see it to believe it. The moment you alight in Germany, it’s the sudden rush that will get you up and running. 

Ode to her love.

Her walk, her talk,
Her eyes, her smiles.
Her love, flows profusely,
Like the never-ending Nile.

Her fingers, her touch,
Her kisses, her cries.
Her children survive.
The heart ripping goodbyes.

Her arms, our face,
We run, she holds.
Our soul yearns for her warmth,
The wide world so cold.

Her lap, our cradle,
Her words, lullaby.
Her child whispers,
“I love you mom”.
Appreciate her all your life,
Cause, rivers run dry,
As time passes by........

Schiller, Hen Ree - I Will Follow You

Am I?

Am I?
A traveller?
No I'm not.
Yes, I do travel in my dreams, to the unknown.
And the harsh realities I mourn.

A scientist?
No I'm not.
Yes, I do experiment with emotion.
And have experienced retaliation in its brutal form for my notion.

A wanderer?
Yes I am.
I stare; I gaze at the blue skies, the green life.
I fly like the abandoned kite.
Making way, flying strong against the raging wind,
The violent breeze conspires to tear me apart,
For I have sinned.

I rule my world,
I ask myself, am I an obsessive and possessive ruler?
The magic of life and its beauty I have rediscovered.
I want it all for me.
I'm the tallest and strongest between the devil and the deep blue sea.
I'd nail all who would try to snatch this away from me.

I soar up high to the light and claim my kingdom.
Unaware this flight would deceive me.
I fall and I’m disfigured completely.
Tangled I lay upon the branch of a tree
Now that I lay low and feel weak
I ponder on all my deeds when I was free.
I misjudged the wind and my strength
Now all my wrongdoings are killing me.