Beijing to host humanoid robot sports games at Bird’s Nest, Ice Ribbon
Beijing will host the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Sports Games from August 15 to 17, which will be another sports event for humanoid robots following world's first humanoid robot half-marathon held in April, officials from the Beijing municipal government said on Wednesday.
The games will be held at the two Olympic landmarks in the Chinese capital - the National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, and the National Speed Skating Oval, also known as the Ice Ribbon. Local professional sports associations and athletes together with robotics experts jointly finalized the competition events and rules, the China Central Television reported.
The games will feature 11 human sport events for humanoid robots, including track and field, gymnastics and football, among other performance and application competitions. The event aims to showcase current development progress of robotics and future direction by referencing human sport events, said Zhang Hua, an official from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, during a press conference. ...
See the full story here: https://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0508/c90000-20311891.html?mc_cid=2f8e94891d&mc_eid=116e9f337b
The Rise of AI and the End of Hollywood as We Know It
... Despite these high-profile stumbles, social media video has continued its rise. Shapiro calculatesthat "social video represents about one-quarter of all time spent with video in the U.S." and that the "total creator media economy revenue was a little shy of $250 billion last year." By comparison, in 2024, the combined revenues of Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Paramount, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate totaled less than $150 billion. ...
"Any value that exists is a function of the moats in the value chain," Shapiro explains, referring to competitive barriers that protect profitable businesses. ...
Shapiro identifies two historical critical moats in media: "There was a big moat around distribution because it was very capital-intensive, and there was a moat about content creation because it was expensive but risky [as it is] very hits-driven." ...
"The internet caused the cost to move bits to go to zero," he says, "and GenAI could cause the cost to make the bits to go to zero." ...
The democratization of animation tools has already begun reshaping the industry even without AI. At this year's Academy Awards, the Best Animated Feature Oscar went to Flow, a Latvian film made for just $3.6 million using Blender, a free open-source animation software. ...
"When you slump down on the couch after a long day and scroll through [Instagram] Reels for 20 minutes rather than pick up the remote that's an arm's length away," Shapiro writes, "you're revealing that Reels is higher quality than anything on Netflix (or Disney+, Hulu, Max, Amazon Prime, etc.)." What consumers increasingly value, he argues, isn't technical quality but engagement "quality," which is defined by authenticity, relatability and personal relevance. ...
"That parasocial aspect replaces the [need that arises from the] relatively dispersed populations that we now are," Shapiro says, and with recent trends like remote work, "we are losing direct physical-social, so parasocial will be an important part of our lives going forward."
When GenAI tools make high production values accessible to everyone, these elements of connection and authenticity may become even more important differentiators than traditional production values. ...
Importantly, the gap between GenAI's technical capabilities and genuine understanding of human experience may well preserve space for human creators, even in an AI-transformed landscape. The most successful content might combine AI's production capabilities with the authentic human connection that drives today's creator economy. ...
He believes GenAI will move the entertainment industry toward further fragmentation.
"I think that the middle [in] popularity—I would bet against that. I would bet that what you'll see is this increasing atomization into microcultures," he says. I think what you'll see is more and more time will be spent in personalization and in these very small cultures." ...
"I think a good general question to ask is when one input becomes more abundant, what becomes more scarce? And clearly distribution is becoming more scarce," Shapiro observes. "Owning the end user, owning the platform, being the curator is probably more valuable than ever." ...
The vision Shapiro sketches in our conversation isn't complete disruption or replacement of traditional media but rather a fundamental transformation in creative and economic power. And he argues that GenAI won't eliminate human creativity, but it will democratize who can express that creativity at scale. ...
The Dunbar number—that is the number of other people researchers say our human brains are designed to interact with—is only 150, not the nearly 4 million people who bought tickets to Sinners last weekend. But, as Yuval Harari has noted in his classic text Sapiens, our species will still need the common narratives that unite us, so there will always be a vestigial desire for massive communal experiences at the same instance in time—like trekking to megaplexes for the opening weekend of Avatar 3: Fire & Ash—as well as for common experiences that are asynchronous and more parasocial.
See the full story here: https://www.newsweek.com/nw-ai/rise-ai-end-hollywood-we-know-it-2068807
Netflix embarks on the biggest changes to its user experience since 2013
... Announcing the release of a new home page – to be rolled out on May 19 – the streaming giant revealed it is also testing changes that include a vertical video feed that the company says better suits the mobile watching and sharing experience.
Executives also announced the company is exploring ways to integrate generative artificial intelligence into the experience in partnership with OpenAI.
Netflix said it will enable features such as more visible shortcuts to finding content and real-time recommendations that respond to viewers’ “moods and interests in the moment”. ...
See the full story here: https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/entertainment/tv/2025/05/08/netflix-homepage-changes
Disney to open theme park in the Middle East
... The resort, which will be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, is a collaboration between Walt Disney and local leisure and entertainment company Miral. ...
In a statement announcing the new facility, Disney said the UAE was located within a four-hour flight of one-third of the world's population, making it a "significant gateway for tourism".
It added that 120 million passengers travel through Abu Dhabi and Dubai every year, making the Emirates the biggest global airline hub in the world. ...
See the full story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrgr2zzv00o
We Need a Fourth Law of Robotics in the Age of AI
...
- First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
- Fourth Law (proposed): A robot or AI must not deceive a human by impersonating a human being.
...
See the full story here: https://towardsdatascience.com/we-need-a-fourth-law-of-robotics-in-the-age-of-ai/
Why Convergence-Of-Evidence That Predicts AGI Will Outdo Scientific Consensus By AI Experts
...
The good news about scientific consensus includes these four salient points:
- (1) Scientific consensus is based on collective insight versus individual-only opinion.
- (2) Scientific consensus gives clarity and stability to what we know about scientific facets.
- (3) Scientific consensus serves as a building block for constructing holistic scientific theories.
- (4) Scientific consensus is flexible and can adapt as our understanding of the world changes.
The bad news about scientific consensus includes these four crucial points:
- (1) Scientific consensus can turn out to be wrong and yet we were earlier led to assume it was unquestionably right.
- (2) Scientific consensus is somewhat insidious since it is hard to stridently disagree with a consensus viewpoint.
- (3) Scientific consensus might be reached simply due to bird-of-a-feather convention and not due to hardcore scientific reasoning.
- (4) Scientific consensus at times becomes dogma that no one dares refute.
...
Convergence-of-Evidence aka Consilience
...
We dutifully seek out evidence from a multitude of sources and use that evidence to essentially converge on a scientific posture or status. It is best if the sources are independent of each other. I say that because a bunch of sources that are all from the same drinking well aren’t going to up the ante on being a healthy convergence. The convergence would simply be the same regardless that you had amassed a ton of evidence.
The idea is that we can put our shoulders behind a convergence-of-evidence that comes from different sources that each arrived at their positions via different and separate means. ...
Convergence-of-Evidence And AGI
This brings us to the big reveal, namely that in addition to AI luminaires having their predictions about the attainment of AGI, plus having a form of scientific consensus via the use of AI expert surveys, we ought to also include convergence-of-evidence toward AGI into the mix too. Sadly, there isn’t much of a movement yet in the AGI arena towards a convergence-of-evidence or consilience. I am optimistic that we will gradually and inexorably get there. ...
I offer a brief sketch of what kind of evidence we would want to encompass in a convergence-of-evidence framework for identifying the nearness of attaining AGI. There would need to be a concerted effort to land on firm metrics and standardize the approach. If a standard isn’t formulated, everyone will be hawking their particular set of evidence, and it will be a chaotic mess. ...
See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/2025/05/06/framework-for-convergence-of-evidence-that-we-are-nearing-agi-will-outdo-scientific-consensus-by-ai-experts/
Artificial General Intelligence in Competition and War
PhilNote: Unfortunately this is why DOGE is eliminating gov't agencies and positioning the gov't to outsource national policy to the Xai / Palintar / Anduril collective. The biproduct of DOGE is a huge transfer of tax dollars to Elon, Palmer Lucky, and Peter Thiel.
...
In case it escaped anyone’s notice the "third offset" was a miserable failure. We decisively lost, and our potential enemies won. The United States kept building expensive weapons systems while our enemies built up an asymmetric advantage by focusing on relatively inexpensive missiles, drones, cyber, etc. But there is good news, an AGI-powered economy and military forces are going to give us another bite at the apple. If the United States first wins the race to deploy agentic warfare and then couples that with AGI, our past mistakes and failures will become meaningless, as the new AGI paradigm will guarantee freedom, security, and prosperity. This time, failure is not an option.
See the full story here: https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2025/05/07/artificial_general_intelligence_in_competition_and_war_1108660.html
OpenAI launches global push for democratic AI
PhilNote: I currently agree with the idea put forth in Chris Dixon's book Read Write Own that as long as you have centralized control of a network (as proposed by Sam Altman here) you face the risk of arbitrary non-democratic changes by the network's leadership. The next generation of networks, including those that incorporate AI, could very well be decentralized and federated.
OpenAI announced a push to help countries build AI Infrastructure and promote AI rooted in democratic, rather than authoritarian, values.
Why it matters: Global expansion will be one key to ensuring that OpenAI's massive investments pay off — and the company is arguing that it will help the U.S. counter China's influence, too.
How it works: OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane said the new "OpenAI for Countries" effort, announced Wednesday, aims to partner with countries or regions to build and operate data centers that would serve up localized versions of ChatGPT for their citizens, with particular focus on health care and education.
- Countries that take part would help fund infrastructure as part of a broadening of the Project Stargate effort that OpenAI announced with Oracle and SoftBank earlier this year.
- OpenAI will be working closely with the U.S. government, which has export control powers, to determine where OpenAI technology can be deployed.
...
The big picture: OpenAI's announcement comes a day before CEO Sam Altman is set to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing on "Winning the AI race."
See the full story here: https://www.axios.com/2025/05/07/openai-democratic-ai-expansion?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Saudi Arabia: Neom climate adviser warns megacity could alter weather systems
A climate scientist working as an adviser on Saudi Arabia's Neom project has warned that the new city could change local environments and weather systems, including the path of wind and sand storms. ...
He said the sustainability advisory committee, which he sits on, was told during a recent meeting that the climate concerns were escalated to a “higher priority” since the abrupt departure of Nadhmi al-Nasr, the former chief of Neom. ...
See the full story here: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-neom-climate-adviser-warns-megacity-alter-weather-system?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
AI developers should counter misinformation and protect fact-based news, global media groups say
...
The group says thousands of public and private media in broadcast, print and online formats have joined the “News Integrity in the Age of AI” initiative, whose five core steps were announced Monday at the World News Media Congress in Krakow, Poland.
The initiative is calling for news content to only be used in generative AI models with the authorization of the content originator, and for clarity about attribution and accuracy. It says the original news source behind AI-generated material must be “apparent and accessible."
“Organizations and institutions that see truth and facts as the desirable core of a democracy and the foundation of an empowered society should now come together at one table to shape the next era,” said Ladina Heimgartner, president of the publishers association and CEO of Switzerland’s Ringier Media. ...
See the full story here; https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ai-developers-should-counter-misinformation-and-protect-fact-based-news-global-media-groups-say/72EGCLVDXJAPNKKC6R6GE3MXWM/
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