Four short links: 18 July 2019
Weird Algorithms, Open Syllabi, Conversational AI, and Quantum Computing
- 30 Weird Chess Algorithms (YouTube) — An intricate and lengthy account of several different computer chess topics from my SIGBOVIK 2019 papers. We conduct a tournament of fools with a pile of different weird chess algorithms, ostensibly to quantify how well my other weird program to play color- and piece-blind chess performs. On the way we “learn” about mirrors, arithmetic encoding, perversions of game tree search, spicy oils, and hats.
- Open Syllabus Project — as FastCompany explains, the 6M+ syllabi from courses around the world tell us about changing trends in subjects. Not sure how I feel that four of the textbooks I learned on are still in the top 20 (Cormen, Tanenbaum, Silberschatz, Stallings).
- Plato — Uber open-sourced its flexible platform for developing conversational AI agents. See also their blog post.
- Speediest Quantum Operation Yet (ScienceDaily) — In Professor Michelle Simmons’ approach, quantum bits (or qubits) are made from electrons hosted on phosphorus atoms in silicon.[…] “Atom qubits hold the world record for the longest coherence times of a qubit in silicon with the highest fidelities,” she says. “Using our unique fabrication technologies, we have already demonstrated the ability to read and initialise single electron spins on atom qubits in silicon with very high accuracy. We’ve also demonstrated that our atomic-scale circuitry has the lowest electrical noise of any system yet devised to connect to a semiconductor qubit.” […] A two-qubit gate is the central building block of any quantum computer — and the UNSW team’s version of it is the fastest that’s ever been demonstrated in silicon, completing an operation in 0.8 nanoseconds, which is ~200 times faster than other existing spin-based two-qubit gates.
