Bruce Willis deepfake stars in Megafon ad; robots learn parkour and other AI news

We aim to inform readers not only about events in the bitcoin industry, but also about developments in adjacent technological fields — cybersecurity, and now in the world of artificial intelligence (AI).

ForkLog has collected the week’s most important AI news.

Autonomous vehicles to be tested in Russian cities

In Russia will launch testing of autonomous vehicles in urban conditions.

The Ministry of Transport said the tests would begin soon. Potential test sites include Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Innopolis.

According to Avtonet representatives, robo-cars are already capable of moving autonomously. However, they still need to be trained to predict changes in the environment, plan a safe route, navigate in fog and snow, respond to anomalies, and deviate from the traffic rules in complex situations.

“Yandex” launched robot couriers on the campus of the Ohio State University

“Yandex”, together with the American startup Grubhub launched robot couriers to deliver groceries on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus.

Fifty rovers deliver meals to students and faculty from various local restaurants and cafes. They move at 8-12 km/h, operate seven days a week from 9am to 9pm, and deliver orders to any part of the campus.

Grubhub serves more than 250 campuses across the United States. Yandex said the robot couriers will appear elsewhere later.

Tesla unveiled a humanoid robot

Tesla is developing a humanoid robot with artificial intelligence, the Tesla Bot. Elon Musk announced this at the Tesla AI Day conference.

According to him, the device runs on a fully autonomous computer FSDC, the Dojo supercomputer, and neural networks that perceive and navigate the world.

The robot stands 173 cm tall, weighs 57 kg, and its top speed is 8 km/h. It can lift objects weighing up to 20 kg and performs ‘dangerous, repetitive and tedious tasks’.

Musk suggested the prototype could appear as early as 2022.

Researcher found a vulnerability in Apple’s controversial photo-scanning tool

Researchers discovered a conflict with the built-in hash function of iOS, raising new concerns about Apple’s CSAM-detection algorithm.

A Reddit user with the handle AsuharietYgvar found the NeuralHash scanning system on iOS 14.3, reverse-engineered the code and published the result on GitHub. The developer determined the model could be fooled by cropped or rotated images, while resizing or compressing photos did not affect detection.

Subsequently a user named Cori Cornelius revealed that two different images generate the same hash. However Apple responded that CSAM has additional protections and can prevent the collision.

Earlier the company stated, that it would launch photo scanning to detect CSAM only in iOS 15, but its code is already on all devices with iOS 14.3.

Ernst&Young uses deepfakes to communicate with clients

Ernst & Young has started using deepfakes for client interactions in presentations and email correspondence.

To create them, developers use a 40-minute video in which the user faces the camera and reads a prepared text. The algorithms then analyze the subject’s facial expressions and voice, copy them, and generate a digital avatar.

According to company representatives, the experiment helped strengthen business relationships and remove language barriers. However, some employees believe that virtual doubles will devalue the “human” factor in their work.

Intel will wind down RealSense camera development

The company says RealSense AI cameras were not a mass-market product and the division did not turn a profit. Intel will continue to support current owners but redirect staff to other roles.

Google released a feature to control the phone with facial expressions

Google представила Camera Switches, which allows controlling the phone with different facial expressions.

For example, opening the mouth lowers the notification panel, and raising the eyebrows returns the user to the home screen.

Currently, only six preset expressions are available. According to the developers, the feature is intended for people with disabilities, but could be useful for all users.

Camera Switches is available in the fourth beta of Android 12.

Bruce Willis deepfake stars in Megafon advertisement

The mobile operator Megafon released a promotional video featuring a Bruce Willis deepfake.

The actor’s digital version was created by Deepcake using 34,000 frames from his films for training data.

Media reports say the operator intends to produce 15 different episodes featuring other characters.

Boston Dynamics teaches Atlas parkour

Boston Dynamics has taught the Atlas bipedal robots to navigate obstacle courses and perform synchronized backflips.

AI recreated Val Kilmer’s voice after throat cancer

Sonantic used AI to synthesize Val Kilmer’s voice, who lost it due to throat cancer.

The developers used the actor’s old audio recordings. They removed background noise, generated transcripts of the recordings, and split the text with samples into small fragments, which were run through the Voice Engine program. However, these data proved insufficient.

Using other algorithms, the developers generated more than 40 voice models. They selected the most realistic among them and tuned it so the synthetic voice sounded as close as possible to the original.

Kilmer was pleased with the result and thanked Sonantic. It is unknown whether the synthesized voice will be used by the actor or the company.

Also on ForkLog:

• Samsung employed AI for designing mobile processors.
• American regulators began an investigation into Tesla’s autopilot.
• United Russia proposed restricting the use of AI in medicine and education.
• In the US Senate, they asked the Trade Chamber to check Tesla’s claims about autonomous driving.
• Human rights groups urged Apple not to use mass photo scanning tools.

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