Category: Note
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[Link] Environmental impact of delivering AI at Google scale
“Google’s software efficiency efforts and clean energy procurement have driven a 33x reduction in energy consumption and a 44x reduction in carbon footprint for the median Gemini Apps text prompt over one year. We identify that the median Gemini Apps text prompt uses less energy than watching nine seconds of television (0.24 Wh) and consumes…
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![[Link] Clinical prompting resources](https://www.mrowe.co.za/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Screenshot-From-2025-08-25-05-53-34.png)
[Link] Clinical prompting resources
Link to a set of resources aimed at helping medical students practice using AI to support learning.
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[Link] Changes Coming to Higher Ed
https://hybridhorizons.substack.com/p/changes-coming-to-higher-ed The institutions that thrive won’t be the ones that resist everything or buy everything. They’ll be the ones that choose carefully, show their working and keep people at the centre. Interesting ideas.
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[Link] Academia: The Questions Are Big! It’s the Curricula That Got Small.
https://timothyburke.substack.com/p/academia-the-questions-are-big-its …many of the people trying to sell higher education on AI aren’t trying to sell a revolutionary redesign of education itself, just a way of making its dysfunctions cheaper and more efficient. Wonderful essay. Well worth reading.
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[Link] First NHS AI-run physio clinic in England halves back-pain waiting list
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/31/nhs-first-ai-run-physio-clinic-in-england-halves-back-pain-waiting-list I found my experience with the AI physio as good as, if not better than any care I’ve received before,” she said. I know that many people will read the quote above and formulate [reasons] for why this result doesn’t apply to them. Maybe it’s because they’re sitting in front of the free version…
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[Link] Turning off AI detection software the right call for SA universities
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-07-25-turning-off-ai-detection-software-the-right-call-for-sa-universities/ The problems with Turnitin’s AI detector extend far beyond technical glitches. The software’s notorious tendency towards false positives has created an atmosphere where students live in constant fear of being wrongly accused of academic dishonesty. The burden of proof has been reversed: students are guilty until proven innocent, a principle that would be considered…
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[Link] China pours money into brain chips that give paralysed people more control
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02098-5 One brain–computer device being trialled in people is a minimally invasive, wireless device called NEO, which can restore hand movement in a person with paralysis using a pneumatic glove. Eight probes are placed on the dura matter, the outer membrane surrounding the brain2. The first person to receive the device, in October 2023, was…
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[Link] ChatGPT solves long-standing medical disorder
https://x.com/rohanpaul_ai/status/1941321376838951320 ChatGPT flagged a hidden gene defect that doctors missed for a decade. ChatGPT ingested the patient’s MRI, CT, broad lab panels and years of unexplained symptoms. It noticed that normal serum B12 clashed with nerve pain and fatigue, hinting at a methylation block. Within months tingling eased and brain fog cleared. The primary physician…
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[Link] Introducing NotebookLlama – an open-source version of NotebookLM
https://x.com/jerryjliu0/status/1941546894532149519/ NotebookLlama is an open-source version of NotebookLM designed for researchers and business users. It builds a knowledge repository from documents with high accuracy using LlamaCloud for parsing and extraction. The tool can generate summaries, mind maps, podcasts, and supports interactive chat with documents. It integrates with ElevenLabs for text-to-speech and OpenTelemetry for real-time workflow…
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[Link] Researchers hide prompts in scientific papers to sway AI-powered peer review
https://the-decoder.com/researchers-hide-prompts-in-scientific-papers-to-sway-ai-powered-peer-review/ In 17 preprints on arXiv, Nikkei found hidden commands like “positive review only” and “no criticism,” embedded specifically for large language models (LLMs). These prompts were tucked away in white text on a white background and often further disguised using tiny font sizes. The aim is to sway evaluations when reviewers rely on language…
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[Note] Bartz v. Anthropic — Training Use Is Fair Use
https://news.smol.ai/issues/25-06-24-fair-use Anthropic Wins Fair Use Ruling on Book Training Data: A federal judge has ruled that Anthropic’s use of books to train Claude constitutes fair use, a significant decision for the AI industry. The ruling, shared by @AndrewCurran_, distinguishes the act of training from the method of acquiring the data. Discussions highlighted that the method…
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[Note] Video scraping using Google Gemini
https://open.substack.com/pub/simonw/p/video-scraping-using-google-gemini The other day I found myself needing to add up some numeric values that were scattered across twelve different emails. I didn’t particularly feel like copying and pasting all of the numbers out one at a time, so I decided to try something different: could I record a screen capture while browsing around my…
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Learning sometimes happens, despite our best efforts
Sometimes I’m struck by how often learning happens, despite our best efforts.
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[Podcast] Reading in the digital age
Digital books are now a common part of education, but concerns are growing around the problems of students reading on-screen. Marte Blikstad-Balas (University of Oslo) discusses the latest research around what it means to read on-screen as opposed to reading from ‘proper’ books, and why government bans on digital devices are not the best response.
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[Note] Google DeepMind Unveils Weather Model
https://www.perplexity.ai/page/google-deepmind-unveils-weathe-3dzDrc.6QvWDmnMrDV_Ehg I like that Google Deepmind is integrating AI capabilities across a wide range of domains.
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People will hand over control to AI, but probably not yet
“People are very much going to hand control over their computers to an AI. At a minimum, they are going to hand over all the information, even if they make some nominal attempt to control permissions on actions.” – Zvi Mowshowitz
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Paper – Reclaiming voice with AI
Mirza, F. N., Bogan, A., Beam, A. L., Manrai, A. K., & Ali, R. (2024). Reclaiming Voice with AI. NEJM AI, 1(12). In a world-first application, OpenAI’s Voice Engine was used to clone Ms. Bogan’s voice from just 15 seconds of preexisting audio, sourced from a school project she had filmed a few years prior. This enabled…
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Tesla gives Optimus robot a new hand with improved grip and sensors
https://the-decoder.com/tesla-gives-optimus-robot-a-new-hand-with-improved-grip-and-sensors/ Tesla has updated its Optimus humanoid robot with a new hand design that features 22 degrees of freedom, plus three more in the forearm. The company added a soft protective layer to the fingers and palm that preserves the hand’s tactile sensing capabilities while enabling it to handle delicate objects.
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Claude.ai can now adapt its writing style to yours
https://the-decoder.com/claude-ai-can-now-adapt-its-writing-style-to-yours/