NVIDIA AI Podcast

Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Jesus, known as Salvator Mundi, was sold at a British auction for nearly half a billion dollars in 2017, making it the most expensive painting ever to change hands. However, even art history experts were skeptical about whether the work was an original of the master rather than one of his many protégés. Steven Frank is a partner at the law firm Morgan Lewis, specializing in intellectual property and commercial technology law. He’s also half of the husband-wife team that used convolutional neural networks to determine that this painting was likely an authentic da Vinci. He spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about working with his wife, Andrea Frank, a professional curator of art images, to authenticate artistic masterpieces with AI’s help. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/12/01/steven-frank-ai-art/

Fewer than 4,000 tigers remain worldwide, according to Tigers United, a university consortium that recently began using AI to help save the species. Jeremy Dertien is a conservation biologist with Tigers United and a Ph.D. candidate in wildlife biology and conservation planning at Clemson University. He spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about a project deploying AI-equipped cameras to monitor poaching in central India, where more than 70 percent of the remaining tiger populations reside. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/11/18/jeremy-dertien-tigers-united/

‌Moondust‌,‌ ‌minerals‌ ‌and‌ ‌soil‌ ‌types‌ ‌are‌ ‌just‌ ‌some‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌materials‌ ‌that‌ ‌can‌ ‌be‌ ‌quickly‌ ‌identified‌ ‌and‌ ‌analyzed‌ ‌with‌ ‌AI‌,‌‌ ‌based‌ ‌on‌ ‌images‌ ‌of‌ ‌them.‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Migel‌ ‌Tissera‌ ‌is‌ ‌co-founder‌ ‌and‌ ‌CTO‌ ‌of‌ ‌Metaspectral,‌ ‌a‌ ‌Vancouver-based‌ ‌startup‌ ‌that‌ ‌provides‌ ‌an‌ ‌AI-based‌ ‌data‌ ‌management‌ ‌and‌ ‌analysis‌ ‌platform‌ ‌for‌ ‌ultra-high-resolution‌ ‌images.‌ ‌ ‌ He‌ ‌spoke‌ ‌with‌ ‌‌NVIDIA‌ ‌AI‌ ‌Podcast‌‌ ‌host‌ ‌Noah‌ ‌Kravitz‌ ‌about‌ ‌how‌ ‌Metaspectral’s‌ ‌technologies‌ ‌help‌ ‌space‌ ‌explorers‌ ‌make‌ ‌quicker‌ ‌and‌ ‌better‌ ‌use‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌massive‌ ‌amounts‌ ‌of‌ ‌image‌ ‌data‌ ‌they‌ ‌collect‌ ‌out‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌cosmos.‌ ‌ ‌ In‌ ‌addition‌ ‌to‌ ‌space,‌ ‌the‌ ‌startup’s‌ ‌platform‌ ‌is‌ ‌used‌ ‌across‌ ‌industries‌ ‌such‌ ‌as‌ ‌agriculture,‌ ‌forensics‌ ‌and‌ ‌recycling.‌ ‌ Show notes: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/11/03/migel-tissera/

The more advanced modern technologies become, the more they can help us understand the past. Chris Downum and Leszek Pawlowicz, researchers in the Department of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University, are using GPU-based deep learning algorithms to categorize sherds — tiny fragments of ancient pottery. They spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about analyzing sherds to learn more about American Southwest culture, circa 825 to 1300 A.D. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/10/20/ai-pottery-anthropology/

Lennon and McCartney. Ashford and Simpson. Many of our all-time favorite tunes have come from songwriting duos. Now, anyone can find a snazzy compositional partner in AI. Maya Ackerman is the CEO of WaveAI, a Silicon Valley startup using AI and machine learning to, as the company motto puts it, “unlock new heights of human creative expression.” She spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about WaveAI’s LyricStudio software, an AI-based lyric and poetry writing assistant. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/10/06/lyricstudio-ai-podcast/

Endangered species can be difficult to study, as they are elusive, and the very act of observing them can disrupt their lives. Now, scientists can take a closer look at endangered species by studying AI-generated 3D representations of them. Sifei Liu, a senior research scientist at NVIDIA, has worked with her team to create an algorithm that can reconstruct 3D meshes — graphics models used to display the edges, vertices and overall shape of an object — from 2D inputs like images and videos. Liu spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about her team’s project, called Online Adaptation for Consistent Mesh Reconstruction in the Wild. Liu and her team have presented the project at various prominent conferences, including NeurIPS 2020.

Machines have long played games - think of Deep Blue or AlphaGo. Now they're building them. GANTheftAuto creator Harrison Kinsley talks about his creation on the latest episode of the AI Podcast. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/09/08/gantheftauto/

At GE Renewable Energy, CTO Danielle Merfeld and technical leader Arvind Rangarajan are among those making advances throughout renewable energy. Merfeld and Rangarajan spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about how the company uses AI and a human-in-the-loop process to make renewable energy more widespread. The International Energy Agency has set a goal to reach a net zero energy sector by 2050. To reach this goal, 88 percent of electricity needs to come from renewable sources. Wind energy will account for 40 percent of that, but today only makes up 8 percent of renewable energy. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/08/25/ge-ai-energy/

Path-breaking work that translates an amputee’s thoughts into finger motions, and even commands in video games, holds open the possibility of humans controlling just about anything digital with their minds. Using GPUs, a group of researchers trained an AI neural decoder able to run on a compact, power-efficient NVIDIA Jetson Nano system on module (SOM) to translate 46-year-old Shawn Findley’s thoughts into individual finger motions. And if that breakthrough weren’t enough, the team then plugged Findley into a PC running Far Cry 5 and Raiden IV, where he had his game avatar move, jump — even fly a virtual helicopter — using his mind. It’s a demonstration that not only promises to give amputees more natural and responsive control over their prosthetics. It could one day give users almost superhuman capabilities. The effort is detailed in a draft paper, or pre-print, titled “A Portable, Self-Contained Neuroprosthetic Hand with Deep Learning-Based Finger Control.” It details an extraordinary cross-disciplinary collaboration behind a system that, in effect, allows humans to control just about anything digital with thoughts. Jules Anh Tuan Nguyen, the paper’s lead author and now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota, spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about his efforts to allow amputees to control their prosthetic limb — right down to the finger motions — with their minds. blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/08/10/lending-a-helping-hand-jules-anh-tuan-nguyen-on-building-a-neuroprosthetic

Following a long string of victories for computers in other games — chess in 1997, go in 2016 and Texas hold’em poker in 2019 — a GPU-powered AI has beaten some of the world’s most competitive word nerds at the crossword puzzles that are a staple of every Sunday paper. Dr.Fill, the crossword puzzle-playing AI created by Matt Ginsberg — a serial entrepreneur, pioneering AI researcher and former research professor — scored higher than any humans earlier this year at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Ginsberg spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about his decade-long journey creating Dr.Fill and where he envisions it going in the future. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/07/28/matt-ginsberg-ai-podcast/