Can AI change lives for the better?

AI has been dominating news headlines in recent years as people digest what the developments of large language models will mean for our future. A summit in Geneva is considering how the power of AI can be harnessed for good. The “AI for Good” summit follows a meeting of 193 nations to discuss the first UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Fred Werner, Head of Strategic Engagement at the International Telecommunication Union, has watched as AI tech progressed at breakneck speed. “We created AI for Good in 2017, and if you think about it, that's an eternity in terms of AI years, right, because AI is moving so fast,” he explains. “Back then, it was all about the fear, the hype, and the promise of AI. The use cases were there, but the technology wasn't really there. But what we see now... is the rise of AI agents. I think we're now entering what I would call a zero-click world, where AI agents are not waiting for our prompts, but they're actually acting on our behalf, autonomously. And then looking at the more physical manifestation of AI, in the form of advanced robotics, autonomous mobility, brain-computer interfaces, and even space computing.” Ability Neurotech has been developing its brain-computer interface for over eight years. Its implant sits on the brain, reading neural signals still intact in patients who've lost the ability to speak or move. It then sends that data, through the skin, to a processor decoding it in real time. Rotem Kopel, the company's CEO, explains what the device is built to do. She says, “We give back people capacities and functionality that they've lost. So, for patients like ALS, stroke, spinal cord injuries, they lose the capacity to communicate, to speak, or to move,” she details. "With the brain implants, we implant it in the brain, we record brain functions that are completely intact. We extract this information out, and with really unique AI capacities we can reconstruct what they were intending to do.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.