Structured Data

Fine-tuning a neural network typically involves retraining every layer on new data. But research shows that networks may perform better when fine-tuning modifies only a subset of layers.

A South African startup aims to lure talented engineers who left the continent to work abroad. Johannesburg research lab Lelapa.ai bills itself as a haven for African AI engineers who want to work on challenges that aren’t on Silicon Valley’s agenda.

The metals needed to meet rocketing demand for electric cars and renewable power plants are in short supply. A startup is using machine learning to discover new sources.

The outcome of the FIFA World Cup 2022 depends on learning algorithms. The annual championship tournament of football, which wraps up this week, is using machine learning to help human arbiters spot players who break a rule that governs their locations on the field.

While neural networks perform well on image, text, and audio datasets, they fall behind decision trees and their variations for tabular datasets. New research looked into why.

An algorithm that’s widely used to price property rentals may be helping to drive up rents in the United States. YieldStar, a price-prediction service offered by Texas-based analytics company RealPage, suggests rental rates that are often higher than the market average.

Farming shrimp in an open pond produces toxic effluent that can pollute groundwater and coastal waters. An AI-driven farm in a box may offer a more sustainable alternative.

As the United States (along with several other countries) gears up for general elections, AI is helping campaigns attract voters with increasing sophistication.

A growing number of AI models can be put to purposes their designers didn’t envision. Does that include heinous deeds?

The next green revolution may be happening in the server room. Microsoft open-sourced a set of AI tools designed to help farmers cut costs and improve yields.

The ability to predict customer demand could make fast food even faster. The Mexican-themed Chipotle restaurant chain is testing AI tools that forecast demand, monitor ingredients, and ensure that workers fill orders correctly.

A smart news paywall is optimizing subscriptions without driving away casual readers by showing them subscription pop-ups.

A machine learning method could help chemists formulate pesticides that target harmful insects but leave bees alone. Researchers at Oregon State University developed models that classify whether or not a chemical is fatally toxic to bees.

An autonomous research ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean — with a few pit stops to address challenges along the way. Built by IBM and marine research nonprofit ProMare, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship 400 (MAS400) last week completed a voyage from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Transformers can learn a lot from sequential data like words in a book, but they’ve shown limited ability to learn from data in the form of a graph. A new transformer variant gives graphs due attention.