Last Week in AI Rethinking Conferences, Chinese GPT-3, Farming Robots, Lyft's AV Sale
May 7, 2021
The podcast dives into the evolution of academic conferences in AI, advocating for a shift to virtual formats for better networking and reduced environmental impacts. It highlights Huawei's breakthrough in creating a Chinese equivalent of GPT-3. Farming innovations take center stage with a laser-powered robot that eliminates 100,000 weeds per hour. Finally, Lyft's $550 million sale of its autonomous vehicle unit to Toyota signals a strategy shift toward enhancing ride-hailing services.
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Rethinking Conference Sizes
- Consider attending smaller, specialized conferences.
- Larger AI conferences can be overwhelming and less relevant to individual researchers.
Virtual Conference Trade-offs
- Virtual conferences reduce carbon footprint and increase accessibility.
- However, virtual conferences also limit networking opportunities and overall experience.
Modernizing Conferences
- Rethink the traditional conference model, potentially shifting to smaller, specialized gatherings.
- The current model might be outdated in the internet age, favoring large, less focused events.