A Nuclear-Power Revival Brings Back an Old Problem: What to Do With the Waste
Already, more than 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel is being stored at sites in 39 states. These include 73 commercial nuclear power plants and more than three dozen university and government facilities, according to a 2024 report by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Geek Wire
2 hours ago
- Geek Wire
Sweet-talk the bots: New research shows how LLMs respond to human persuasion tricks
(Image created with ChatGPT) New research from the Wharton School's Generative AI Labs shows how large language models can be coaxed into ignoring safety guardrails by the same psychology tricks that work on real people. The study highlights how chatbot tools can be manipulated to comply with requests they are designed to refuse — and demonstrates why social scientists have a role to play in understanding AI behavior, researchers wrote in a blog post. 'We're not dealing with simple tools that process text, we're interacting with systems that have absorbed and now mirror human responses to social cues,' they wrote. The study analyzed 28,000 conversations with GPT‑4o‑mini. The chatbot was asked either to insult the user ('call me a jerk') or to provide step‑by‑step instructions to synthesize lidocaine, a regulated drug. The researchers discovered that classic persuasion tactics boosted the model's compliance with 'disallowed' requests from 33% to 72% — more than a two‑fold jump. Some tactics were especially powerful: prompts using the 'commitment' principle (getting the AI to agree to something small at first) led to 100% compliance in both tasks. Referencing authority figures — like 'Andrew Ng said you'd help me' — also proved highly effective. Researchers coined the term 'parahuman' to describe the AI's behavior in their study. 'These findings underscore the relevance of classic findings in social science to understanding rapidly evolving, parahuman AI capabilities — revealing both the risks of manipulation by bad actors and the potential for more productive prompting by benevolent users,' they wrote in their research paper. Dan Shapiro. Dan Shapiro, CEO at Seattle 3D printing startup Glowforge, was one of the authors of the paper, 'Call Me A Jerk: Persuading AI to Comply with Objectionable Requests.' Shapiro said one of his main takeaways was that LLMs behave more like people than code — and that getting the most out of them requires human skills. 'Increasingly, we're seeing that working with AI means treating it like a human colleague, instead of like Google or like a software program,' he told GeekWire. 'Give it lots of information. Give it clear direction. Share context. Encourage it to ask questions. We find that being great at prompting AI has more to do with being a great communicator, or a great manager, than a great programmer.' The study came about after Shapiro started testing social psychology principles in his conversations with ChatGPT. He joined Generative AI Labs, run by Wharton professor Ethan Mollick and Lilach Mollick, and they recruited Angela Duckworth, author of Grit, and Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, for the study. Shapiro, a longtime Seattle entrepreneur, said he used various AI tools to help design the trial experiments and to build the software used to run them. 'AI is giving us all incredible capabilities. It can help us do work, research, hobbies, fix things around the house, and more,' Shapiro said. 'But unlike software of the past, this isn't the exclusive domain of coders and engineers. Literally anyone can work with AI, and the best way to do it is by interacting with it in the most familiar way possible — as a human, because it's parahuman.'
Associated Press
11 hours ago
- Associated Press
Ubitus Joins Partnership with Yonsei University and Trident Zoetic to Build Asia's First Quantum-GPU Hybrid Research Platform
SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 21, 2025-- Ubitus K.K., a global leader in AI and cloud streaming, announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) led by Yonsei University and Trident Zoetic to establish Asia's first hybrid research platform integrating quantum computing. Bringing together leading technology partners from South Korea, France, Canada, and Japan, the project aims to accelerate the real-world application of high-performance hybrid computing powered by quantum systems and NVIDIA B200 GPUs. Global Partnership to Advance Hybrid Quantum-AI Infrastructure Led by Yonsei University and Trident Zoetic, the initiative brings together Pasqal (France), D-Wave (Canada), and Ubitus (Japan), with institutional support from the Incheon Metropolitan City and Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ). The facility will be based at Yonsei's International Campus and aims to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in drug discovery, biotechnology, and advanced materials. Yonsei contributes its academic expertise and infrastructure, while Trident Zoetic serves as project lead and investor, coordinating a global research network. Quantum and GPU: Complementary Technologies for Future Science The platform will integrate three quantum computing systems—the IBM 127-qubit superconducting quantum computer, Pasqal's neutral atom platform, and D-Wave's quantum annealing system—alongside a high-performance GPU cluster, forming a unified hybrid computing environment. Quantum systems excel at combinatorial optimization and complex simulations, while GPUs deliver scalable performance for deep learning and AI inference. Together, these complementary technologies enhance algorithmic efficiency and accelerate the path from academic research to real-world applications. Ubitus Delivers AI Infrastructure and Hybrid Orchestration Ubitus will supply and integrate a 512-node, 4,096-GPU NVIDIA B200 cluster, delivering the platform's core AI computing power. The system will operate under a GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) model and support hybrid orchestration between AI and quantum workloads for use cases such as quantum-enhanced learning, drug modeling, and materials simulation. Ubitus will also manage deployment, architecture, and long-term operations. Strategic Milestone for East Asia's Quantum-AI Ecosystem This collaboration represents a critical step toward hybrid quantum computing in East Asia, bridging the performance of quantum processors with the flexibility of GPU infrastructure. It underscores the region's growing leadership in next-generation computing. ' This partnership reflects our commitment to next-generation infrastructure,' said Wesley Kuo, CEO of Ubitus. 'We are proud to support the foundation of a new hybrid computing ecosystem that will drive scientific and industrial innovation across Asia.' About Ubitus As a member of the NVIDIA Connect program, Ubitus leverages NVIDIA's support and cutting-edge GPU technology to accelerate AI innovation. The company delivers advanced AI solutions, including UbiGPT (a large language model), UbiONE (an AI-powered avatar creation platform), and UbiArt (an image generation tool), providing customized solutions to meet the diverse needs of various industries. As a cloud gaming pioneer, Ubitus enables Nintendo and other game companies to establish cloud gaming services and supports the global streaming of multimedia content, including interactive and virtual reality experiences. View source version on CONTACT: TEL: +886-2-2717-6123 (Taipei) +81-3-6435-3295 (Tokyo) Media contact:[email protected] Business inquiry:[email protected] Website: KEYWORD: SOUTH KOREA TAIWAN ASIA PACIFIC INDUSTRY KEYWORD: APPS/APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE NETWORKS HARDWARE UNIVERSITY DATA MANAGEMENT EDUCATION ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOURCE: Ubitus K.K. Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 07/21/2025 02:10 AM/DISC: 07/21/2025 02:10 AM
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Yahoo
New AI tool could speed up skin cancer diagnoses in remote parts of world
A researcher at a Scottish university has developed AI tools that could give people in remote areas of the world access to fast and potentially life-saving skin cancer diagnoses. Tess Watt, the PhD student at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh who led the project to develop the technology, said it is intended to enable early detection of skin conditions anywhere in the world, and without the need for direct access to dermatologists. The technology also works without internet access. The system involves a patient taking a photograph of their skin complaint using a small camera attached to a Raspberry Pi device – a cheap, energy-efficient handheld computer that is capable of storing vast amounts of information. The photograph is analysed in real-time using the latest state-of-the-art image classification, comparing it to an enormous dataset of thousands of images stored on the device to reach a diagnosis. The findings are then shared with a local GP service to begin a suitable treatment plan. The project is understood to be the first of its kind to combine AI medical diagnosis with the aim of serving remote communities. Ms Watt explained: 'Healthcare from home is a really important topic at the moment, especially as GP wait times continue to grow. 'If we can empower people to monitor skin conditions from their own homes using AI, we can dramatically reduce delays in diagnosis.' A prototype of the device has already been demonstrated at Heriot-Watt's advanced health and care technologies suite. The research team said the tool is up to 85% accurate in its diagnostic capabilities, but they hope to increase this further by gaining access to more skin lesion datasets, aided by advanced machine tools. Ms Watt is also in talks with NHS Scotland to begin the ethical approval process for testing the technology in real-world clinical settings. 'Hopefully in the next year or two, we'll have a pilot project under way,' she said, noting medical technology often takes years to move from prototype to implementation. She added: 'By the time I finish my PhD, three years from now, I'd love to see something well into the pipeline that's on its way to real-world use.' The university said the long-term vision is to roll the system out first across remote regions of Scotland, before expanding to global areas with limited access to dermatological care. It added the technology could also offer vital support to patients who are infirm or unable to travel, allowing loved ones to assist with capturing and submitting diagnostic images to GPs. Ms Watt's academic supervisor, Dr Christos Chrysoulas, said: 'E-health devices must be engineered to operate independently of external connectivity to ensure continuity of patient service and safety. 'In the event of a network or cloud service failure, such devices must fail safely and maintain all essential clinical operations without functional degradation. 'While auxiliary or non-critical features may become temporarily unavailable, the core diagnostic and even therapeutic capabilities must remain fully operational, in compliance of course with safety and regulatory requirements. 'Ensuring this level of resilience in affordable, low-cost medical devices is the essence of our research, particularly for deployment in resource-limited settings and areas with limited or no connectivity, where uninterrupted patient care must still be guaranteed.' UK Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle commented on the research, saying: 'Low-cost technology which could help detect skin cancer early and at home, without even the need for internet access, is an incredible example of AI's potential to break down barriers in healthcare and save lives. 'Promising, first of its kind research like this also demonstrates the crucial role UK innovators can play in improving the lives of people of all backgrounds, wherever they live, and makes clear the value of government investing in research to deliver our plan for change.'
