Singularity University

Why do some people lose memory or cognitive problems as they age, while others seem to stay sharp till the very end? A new study published in Nature Aging analyzed brain imaging data from nearly 11,000 healthy adults, middle-aged and older, using AI to gauge their “brain age.” Roughly half of participants had their blood proteins analyzed to fish out those related to aging. Thirteen proteins popped up—eight associated with faster brain aging and five that slowed down the clock. Most alter the brain’s ability to handle inflammation or are involved in cells’ ability to form connections. The protein markers could also help us learn to prevent age-related brain disorders, such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, or problems with movement. Early diagnosis is key.

AI wasn't the only interesting development this year- cryptocurrencies hit mainstream finance, Apple dropped its mixed reality headset, robotaxis scaled up, and the most powerful rocket since we last visited the moon was not only launched but recovered. What else would you add to the list for 2024? Explore the AI landscape + other tech news you might have missed in this edition of The Singularity Monthly.

Has Sam Altman found some fresh magic with o1? o1 is fundamentally different from the standard ChatGPT because they say it can 'reason,' a hallmark of human intelligence. "The company believes, or wants its users and investors to believe, that it has found some fresh magic. The GPT era is giving way to the reasoning era," says author Matteo Wong. These firms may be running out of high-quality data to train their models on, and even with enough, the programs are so massive that making them bigger is no longer making them much smarter. o1 is the industry’s first major attempt to clear this hurdle. OpenAI’s new reasoning models show a dramatic improvement over other programs at all sorts of coding, math, and science problems, earning praise from geneticists, physicists, economists, and other experts. But notably, o1 does not appear to have been designed to be better at word prediction. It doesn’t matter to OpenAI or its investors whether AI advances to resemble the human mind, or perhaps even whether and how their models “understand” their outputs—only that the products continue to advance. Stay curious ⬇️

We're looking forward to tomorrow! RSVP and join the conversation on #Cybersecurity with Alix Rübsaam and Expert guest Neil Desai, ICD.D

We're so excited for the opportunity to return to Chile with Barbara Silva as our Country Partner lead and continue our shared mission of driving meaningful technological transformation. As we look forward to the Singularity Summit Chile in June 2025, we're committed to supporting regional innovation and collaborative growth. Who's ready to solve impossible problems and create massive positive impact? #SingularityChile2025 #SingularityisBack #ImpacttoExponential

Scientists are asking: “What have we missed?” A new study is trying to fill the gap by digging into relatively unexplored portions of the genome. Called “non-coding,” these parts have not yet been linked to any proteins. Combining several existing datasets, the team zeroed in on thousands of potential new genes that make roughly 3,000 miniproteins. Whether these proteins are functional remains to be tested, but initial studies suggest some are involved in a deadly childhood brain cancer. The team is releasing their tools and results to the wider scientific community for further exploration. This study has the potential to open a new universe of treatments, from vaccines to immunotherapies for deadly brain cancers.

The Digital Wellbeing Global Impact Challenge pitch event was held in Silicon Valley on November 7th. It was an incredible evening full of meaningful connection and inspiring pitches from our ten finalists. We'd like to offer a huge congratulations again to ChatLicense for winning the competition and the grand prize of $250,000 to fuel their work! ChatLicense helps children and their parents discover the online world smartly and safely in one app, with a scientifically proven learning method. We'd also like to say a massive thank you to the sponsor of this Global Impact Challenge, SYNC for making this possible. Sync is digital well-being initiative that aims to raise awareness through translating research-based understanding of the amplification of technology on our lives into audience friendly materials and tools, with a vision to create a world where we are all in control of our digital lives. Stay tuned for more Global Impact Challenges coming soon! Check out the recap ⬇️

What a first impression... can OpenAI’s GPT-4o really know you in just 2 hours? A study led by researchers at Stanford University has discovered that all it takes is a two-hour interview for an AI model to predict people’s responses to a battery of questionnaires, personality tests, and thought experiments with an accuracy of 85 percent. While the idea of cloning people’s personalities might seem creepy, the researchers say the approach could become a powerful tool for social scientists and politicians looking to simulate responses to different policy choices. What other opportunities do you see from this application of AI? #artificialintelligence #ai #chatgpt #aiclones

Are you or someone you know interested in #Cybersecurity? Neil's session at the Executive Program focuses on leading through cyber-uncertainty, focusing on emerging cyber-threats for organizations. You're invited to a live and interactive Executive Program Expert Session on Thursday, December 12th at 8am Pacific hosted by program facilitator Alix Rübsaam with Expert guest Neil Desai, ICD.D. Neil and Alix will have an open conversation about Neil's area of expertise, and both will be available for live Q&A from session participants. RSVP and share this invite!

🏝️Vacation's over, back to work! Boston Dynamics’ Atlas is famous for backflips, parkour, and dance mobs. These require extremely impressive robotic control, but they’re also mostly fun research demos. Six months after the legendary robotics lab unveiled an all-new electric Atlas, a recent video shows Atlas moving auto parts from one set of shelves to another, a job currently handled by factory workers. Boston Dynamics isn’t alone in its efforts. If anything, it’s late to the party. A host of companies, many born in the last few years, share the goal of general-purpose humanoids. These include Agility Robotics, Tesla, Figure, and 1X, among others. There’s a lot of hype out there—and a lot of work still to do.