AI & Robotics

Language learning has surged during the pandemic. Duolingo, which is synonymous with gamified language learning, saw its fastest growth period this March with a 101% global increase in new users. From those who simply have more time on their hands to students trying to keep up in the pandemic school year, the app is a huge boon. All that extra data isn’t going to waste — because Duolingo…

If you ever wondered how we’ll populate the metaverse, look no further than Hour One, an Israeli startup that is making replicas of people with AI avatars. These avatars can be a near-perfect visual likeness of you and speak with words fed to them by marketers who want to sell you something. An avatar can speak on your behalf in a digital broadcast when you’re at home watching TV. Such…

Ahead of the Hot Chips conference this week, photonics chip startup Lightmatter revealed the first technical details about its upcoming test chip. Unlike conventional processors and graphics cards, the test chip uses light to send signals, promising orders of magnitude higher performance and efficiency. The technology underpinning the test chip —  photonic integrated circuits — stems from a…

Aside from staying alive and healthy, the biggest concern most people have during the pandemic is the future of their jobs. Unemployment in the U.S. has skyrocketed, from 5.8 million in February 2020 to 16.3 million in July 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it’s not only the lost jobs that are reshaping work in the wake of COVID-19; the of many of the remaining jobs has…