IBM And EY Form Strategic Alliance to Expand Into Quantum Computing

The EY organization and IBM recently announced that EY Global Services Limited will be joining the IBM Quantum Network, further enabling EY teams to explore solutions with IBM that could help resolve some of today’s most complex business and global challenges.

The EY organization established its own Global Quantum Lab last year with a mission to “harness quantum value in the domains of trust, transformation, and sustainability.” Under the new alliance, EY will gain access to IBM’s fleet of quantum computers over the cloud and will become part of the IBM Quantum Network’s community of organizations working to advance quantum computing.

Quantum computing is a rapidly emerging technology that harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even today’s most powerful supercomputers cannot solve. EY teams will leverage their access to the world’s largest fleet of quantum computers to explore solutions to enterprise challenges across finance, oil and gas, healthcare, and government.

Leveraging IBM’s quantum technology, EY teams plan to conduct leading-class research to uncover transformative use cases, including but not limited to the reduction of CO2 emissions from classical computing, the improvement of safety and accuracy of self-driving cars, and most critically, integrate quantum benefits into organizations’ mainstream systems for data processing and enterprise decision making.

In a press release announcing the EY/IBM alliance Andy Baldwin, EY Global Managing Partner, said, “Quantum, in terms of importance to business, society, and the EY organization, is akin to what AI represented years ago. This alliance puts the EY organization at the forefront of technology. As we invest in this level of quantum computing access, we accelerate our own position and depth of knowledge and capabilities in this space and deepen our rich relationship with our IBM alliance teams.”

Jay Gambetta, Vice President IBM Quantum, added, “IBM’s vision is to deliver useful quantum computing to the world. We value partners like the EY organization that can introduce emerging technology to a wide ecosystem of public and private industry. This will help EY facilitate the exploration of quantum computing’s potential for use cases that matter in their industry.”

How is This Alliance Relevant to AI?

If the is any limit at all on what AI can achieve to improve healthcare, education, research, the economy, and society as a whole, it is the processing power of conventional computers. The marriage of AI and quantum computing will help AI fulfill all of its potential promise, and alliances like this one will help get us there.

Membership in the IBM Quantum Network is part of a broader effort by the EY organization to invest and develop robust capabilities in emerging technologies, which already include artificial intelligence.

How Big Rio Can Help

Quantum computing is still very much an emerging technology with large-scale and practical applications still a way off. However, the technology is steadily graduating from the lab and heading for the marketplace. In 2019, Google announced that it had achieved “quantum supremacy,” IBM, as can be seen in this venture with EY, is fulfilling on its commitment to doubling the power of its quantum computers every year, and numerous other companies and academic institutions are investing billions toward making quantum computing a commercial reality.

Quantum computing will take artificial intelligence and machine learning to the next level. The symbiosis between the two is an area to pay very close attention to for startups as well as for where Big Tech will be going over the next five to ten years, and where ever this road can take use BigRio will be there to help get startups and society as a whole to its ultimate destination.

You can read much more about how quantum computing will redefine AI and machine learning in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. It’s a comprehensive look at how AI is being used to improve healthcare and society as a whole. There is an entire chapter devoted to quantum computing and AI.

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has a particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

How Machine Learning Can Help Improve Blood Pressure Treatment

New research shows how a machine-learning technique could provide insight into how to find the patients that would benefit the most from treatment for hypertension.

The study, which came out of UCLA, describes how a machine-learning technique known as “casual forest” could determine the hypertension patients that would benefit the most from treatment rather than assuming that the highest-risk patients require the most clinical attention.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 670,000 deaths in the US can be attributed annually to hypertension. In addition, while about 47 percent of US adults have hypertension, only 24 percent of this population has the condition under control.

Traditionally, clinicians treating patients with high blood pressure focus on those with the highest risk of poor outcomes, as the assumption is that they will require the highest level of treatment. The researchers set out to see if they could leverage AI to treat patients based on benefit rather than risk for improved outcomes. They found their solution in a new ML technique, coined “casual forest.”

The study included data from 10,672 participants, all of whom were randomized to systolic blood pressure (SBP) targets of either less than 120 mmHg or less than 140 mmHg from two randomized controlled trials.

The researchers used the casual forest technique to create a prediction model of individualized treatment effects related to the control of SBP and its correlation with reductions in adverse cardiovascular outcomes after three years.

They found that 78.9 percent of individuals with an SBP greater than 130 mmHg achieved benefits from intensive SBP control.

“We found that a substantial number of individuals without hypertension benefited from lowering their blood pressure,” said lead author Kosuke Inoue, MD, Ph.D., who undertook the study while an epidemiology graduate student at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and is now an associate professor of social epidemiology at Kyoto University, in a press release. “By applying the causal forest method, we found that treating individuals with high estimated benefits provided better population health outcomes than the traditional high-risk approach.”

Further, the researchers noted that high-benefit approaches could increase the efficacy associated with treatment, potentially being more reliable compared to high-risk approaches.

How BigRio Helps Bring Advanced AI Solutions to Healthcare

As the UCLA researchers have discovered, improving disease detection and making better decisions on the allocation of medical resources is an area where AI and machine learning are making a huge impact in healthcare.

BigRio prides itself on being a facilitator and incubator for such advances in leveraging AI to improve treatment and medical outcomes. In fact, it was my father’s own battle with and eventual death from lung disease that set me on my path to finding ways to use AI to provide earlier detection of serious medical conditions.

In fact, we have launched an AI Studio specifically for US-based Healthcare startups with AI centricity. Our mission is to help AI startups scale and gear up to stay one step ahead of the pack and emerge as winners in their respective domains.

AI Startups face numerous challenges when it comes to demonstrating their value proposition, particularly when it comes to advanced AI solutions for pharma and healthcare. We have taken an award-winning and unique approach to incubating and facilitating startups that allow the R&D team and stakeholders to efficiently collaborate and craft the process to best suit actual ongoing needs, which leads to a faster, more accurate output.

We provide:

  • Access to a top-level talent pool, including business executives, developers, data scientists, and data engineers.
  • Assistance in the development and testing of the MVP, Prototypes, and POCs.
  • Professional services for implementation and support of Pilot projects
  • Sales and Marketing support and potential client introductions.
  • Access to private capital sources.

BigRio excels in overcoming such initial hurdles, which present nearly insurmountable obstacles to a startup operation.

You can read much more about how AI is redefining healthcare delivery and drug discovery in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. It’s a comprehensive look at how AI and machine learning are being used to improve healthcare delivery at every touchpoint.

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

How AI is Revolutionizing the Car “Infotainment” Industry

There was a time when your car was simply a mechanical conveyance to get you from point A to point B. The automotive “infotainment” industry was born when the first AM car radios became an option on vehicles. Ever since then, entertainment features to enhance the driving experience have become increasingly more sophisticated, and today the future of the automotive infotainment industry is being driven by AI.

From smart sensors to “digital twins” and the promise of fully autonomous vehicles, AI is truly propelling innovation in the auto industry. One area that has certainly seen a significant change with the advent of AI is the car infotainment industry. AI-powered infotainment technologies have revolutionized various aspects of the driving experience, making it more personalized, efficient, and enjoyable.

One of the main advantages of AI in-car infotainment is its ability to create a personalized driving experience. Machine learning algorithms can analyze the driver’s music preferences, climate control settings, and even seat adjustments, automatically adjusting these settings to match the driver’s preferences. This level of personalization allows for a more comfortable and enjoyable driving experience tailored to the individual’s needs.

AI has also enhanced the safety features of cars. AI-powered cameras and sensors can detect signs of drowsiness or distraction in a driver and alert them to take necessary precautions. Additionally, AI systems can analyze data from various sources, such as traffic patterns, weather conditions, and car sensor data, to predict potential accidents and take preventive measures, such as adjusting the car’s speed or alerting the driver to potential hazards.

According to Hideaki Ishii, Managing Director, Pioneer India Electronics, beyond personal comfort and enhanced safety, voice recognition technology has seen significant advancements with the integration of AI into car infotainment systems. “Drivers can now interact with their car’s infotainment system using natural voice commands, allowing hands-free operation and reducing distractions while driving. AI-powered voice recognition systems can understand complex commands and respond accordingly, making it easier for drivers to control various car functions,” says Hideaki.

The marriage of AI and automotive infotainment is only going to expand. Some cars are already equipped with AI-powered virtual assistants that can recommend entertainment options based on the driver’s mood or preferences, creating a more personalized and engaging entertainment experience while on the road.

AI the Auto Industry, BigRio, and CarTwin

AI holds immense promise in-car infotainment. As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect even more intelligent and personalized features in cars. For example, an AI-powered infotainment system may be able to analyze a driver’s physiological data, such as heart rate and stress levels to determine their mood and then the car can automatically adjust the music and the vehicle’s internal environment to create a calmer and more relaxing driving experience.

As such technology emerges, you can be sure that BigRio and our sister company CarTwin will be a part of it.

Just as there are startups leveraging AI to advance vehicle infotainment systems, there are many other areas where AI is revolutionizing the driving experience, not the least of which is digital twin technology for advanced diagnostics like that being developed and implemented by CarTwin. Digital twin solutions like those developed by CarTwin are taking predictive maintenance to extraordinary levels all across the transportation industry.

Basically, CarTwin can provide diagnostic and predictive models for all vehicle systems for which data is available (either directly or indirectly) onboard the vehicle.

Virtually any part of the vehicle that has sensors or that sensors can be developed for can be “twinned.” These data sets are then enhanced and augmented with design and manufacturing data that is already available by the OEM.

Primarily designed for use in fleets of vehicles, in combination with powerful AI models, CarTwin predicts breakdowns, monitors and improves performance, and measures and records real-time greenhouse gas emissions, which reduces expensive maintenance costs and avoids lost revenue associated with fleet downtime.

It is very likely in the not-too-distant future, as fully autonomous vehicles replace human-driven fleets of over-road cargo transportation and taxis and limousine services that technology such as CarTwin’s will also be incorporated into the algorithms to keep these vehicles not only self-driving but safe and on the road longer.

You can read much more about how AI and digital twin technology in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. While the book’s primary focus is on healthcare delivery, it also takes a deep dive into digital twin tech, with an entire chapter devoted to CDT and the development and launch of CarTwin!

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner at BigRio and the President and Co-Founder of Citadel Discovery. He has particular expertise in the development and design of innovative AI and machine learning solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

CarTwin has leveraged AI and Digital Twin technologies to create a digital, cloud-based clone of a physical vehicle designed to detect, prevent, predict, and optimize through AI and real-time analytics. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

How AI Is Being Used to Help Law Enforcement Track Down Fugitives!

A specialized machine learning algorithm is helping police in Italy to see what criminals who have been on the run for many years probably look like now.

Human artists have traditionally been employed to “age” fugitives that have been in the wind for years or for persons that have been missing for many years. They would use their artistic skills to alter old photos of the suspect – adding wrinkles, hair loss, and other common aspects of aging. More recently, computer programs have been employed to do that kind of thing, but still, these programs had their limitations because they were based on the same kind of generalizations about how people age.

Just look at any two persons who are in their 60s – one could look like a decrepit old man and the other a distinguished movie star. That is because everyone ages differently, and many factors impact facial aging.

The influence of nature and nurture can make it tricky to accurately predict how someone may look in the future – even for a computer. Law enforcement authorities and forensic scientists are now turning to AI to more accurately “age” people and help police track down criminals who have remained at large for many years.

AI goes way beyond traditional artist’s renderings to “age” suspects or missing children and is even better than standard computerized methods of doing so. AI for adding years to a facial image leverages AI’s deep neural networks and machine learning capabilities.

In this case, the algorithms are trained with, or shown, a large sample of pictures in pairs, showing the same person at two different ages, and then they “learn” to do what is called “age-mapping” – producing an older image when they have been given the young one.

Unlike a traditional computer program that can be used to “age-up” a person or photograph by extrapolating the average transformation of a face in terms of age, AI does that, but is also capable of learning much more detail – for example, whether a certain sort of face will age in a particular way.

The Italian police recently arrested Matteo Messina Denaro, the alleged leader of the Sicilian Mafia, who has been on the run since 1993. To aid in the search, the Carabinieri issued just such an AI-generated aged image to show what he might look like now.

The 60-year-old Messina Denaro was a leading figure in Cosa Nostra, the real-life Sicilian crime syndicate depicted in the Godfather movies.

How BigRio Helps Bring Advanced AI Solutions to All Sorts of Industries

The way that the authorities in Italy are using AI to age fugitives on the run is just one way that law enforcement worldwide is starting to embrace AI technologies. This also speaks to how AI and machine learning are finding uses in applications as varied as fighting cancer to catching criminals. As AI improves, there will hardly be any industry that cannot take advantage of its power.

BigRio prides itself on being a facilitator and incubator for such advances in leveraging AI to improve the world as we know it.

In fact, we like to think of ourselves as a “Shark Tank for AI.”

If you are familiar with the TV series, then you know that, basically, what they do is hyper-accelerate the most important part of the incubation process – visibility. You can’t get better visibility than getting out in front of celebrity investors and a TV audience of millions of viewers. Many entrepreneurs who have appeared on that program – even those who did not get picked up by the Sharks – succeeded because others who were interested in their concepts saw them on the show.

At BigRio, we may not have a TV audience, but we can do the same. We have the expertise to not only weed out the companies that are not ready for the market, as the sharks on the TV show do, but also mentor and get those that we feel are readily noticed by the right people in the AI investment community.

You can read much more about how AI is redefining the world we live in, in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. While the book’s primary focus is on healthcare delivery, it also takes a deep dive into AI in general, with specific chapters on how AI is and will change our world.

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has a particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Digital Twin Technology May Finally Prove What Sank the Titanic!

A very interesting use of AI and digital twin technology may offer new insights into the infamous sinking of the Titanic.

A digital twin is an AI-driven computer simulation of a real-world object. Cognitive digital twinning or “CDT” technology has been used to create digital twins for the maintenance and diagnostics of everything from sophisticated jet fighters to human organs! Now, CDT may solve one of the most enduring mysteries of modern times, how did the Titanic actually sink?

The RMS Titanic sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic in 1912, but the fate of the ship and its passengers has fascinated the popular imagination for more than a century. Now we have the first full-size 3D digital scan of the complete wreckage—a “digital twin” that captures Titanic in unprecedented detail. Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company, and Atlantic Productions — which is making a documentary film about the project – conducted the scans over a six-week expedition last summer.

“Great explorers have been down to the Titanic… but actually, they went with really low-resolution cameras, and they could only speculate on what happened,” Atlantic Productions CEO Andrew Geffen told BBC News. “We now have every rivet of the Titanic, every detail, we can put it back together, so for the first time, we can actually see what happened and use real science to find out what happened.”

The ship split apart as it sank, with the bow and stern sections lying roughly one-third of a mile apart.

When the first divers made it to the wreck in 1985, the bow proved to be surprisingly intact, while the stern showed severe structural damage, likely flattened from the impact as it hit the ocean floor. There is a debris field spanning a 5-by-3-mile area, filled with furniture fragments, dinnerware, shoes and boots, and other personal items.

The joint mission by Magellan and Atlantic Productions deployed two submersibles nicknamed Romeo and Juliet to map every millimeter of the wreck, including the debris field spanning some three miles. The result was a whopping 16 terabytes of data, along with over 715,000 still images and 4K video footage. That raw data was then processed to create the 3D digital twin. The resolution is so good one can make out part of the serial number on one of the propellers.

“This model is the first one based on a pure data cloud that stitches all that imagery together with data points created by a digital scan, and with the help of a little artificial intelligence, we are seeing the first unbiased view of the wreck,” historian and Titanic expert Parks Stephenson told BBC News. “I believe this is a new phase for underwater forensic investigation and examination.”

Time is running out for what’s left of the famous shipwreck. Damage from previous salvage operations and deterioration due to iron-munching bacteria feasting on the ship’s hull will mean the wreck may soon be lost to history. These full-size 3D scans will preserve all the minute details for further study, giving researchers fresh insight into what really happened in April 1912—so people can finally have some definitive answers.

Other Applications Benefiting From Digital Twin Technology

In addition to such esoteric applications as providing amazing new insights into unsolved mysteries such as the sinking of the great ship Titanic, AI and digital twinning are revolutionizing many other industries, chief among them transportation. Just as CDT can create a digital duplicate of a ship like the Titanic, cognitive digital twin technologies are proving invaluable for the predictive maintenance of high-value military vehicles, airplanes, ships, and even passenger cars. Digital twin solutions like those developed by CarTwin extend the lifespan of cars and other vehicles by monitoring the vehicle’s “health” through its “digital twin.”

Basically, CarTwin can provide diagnostic and predictive models for all vehicle systems for which data is available (either directly or indirectly) onboard the vehicle.

Virtually any part of the vehicle that has sensors or that sensors can be developed for can be “twinned.” These data sets are then enhanced and augmented with design and manufacturing data that is already available by the OEM.

Primarily designed for use in fleets of vehicles, in combination with powerful AI models, CarTwin predicts breakdowns, monitors and improves performance, and measures and records real-time greenhouse gas emissions, which reduces expensive maintenance costs and avoids lost revenue associated with fleet downtime.

You can read much more about how AI and digital twin technology in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. While the book’s primary focus is on healthcare delivery, it also takes a deep dive into digital twin tech, with an entire chapter devoted to CDT and the development and launch of CarTwin!

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner at BigRio and the President and Co-Founder of Citadel Discovery. He has particular expertise in the development and design of innovative AI and machine learning solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

CarTwin has leveraged AI and Digital Twin technologies to create a digital, cloud-based clone of a physical vehicle designed to detect, prevent, predict, and optimize through AI and real-time analytics. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

How AI Can Help You Be More Productive at Home

We have written many times on these pages about how AI and machine learning are improving efficiency and productivity in the workplace. But how about at home? Did you know there are many ways that AI can help you be more productive and efficient at running your household as well?

For example, several homemakers recently told The Insider how they use generative AI technology to help them plan and prep meals for their families or dinner parties. Others reported how they are using ChatGPT to generate bedtime stories to read to their children. Some parents say they have used it to create entire “original” books for their kids with corresponding images, also using AI tools, like image generator DALL-E.

Other useful “at home” uses of generative AI tools reported included asking it for help generating emails or general inspiration for creating any type of content. Travel company Expedia has said it could be helpful for people planning trips to suggest tours and itineraries.

Of course, AI-powered personal assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are already being used extensively at home to help manage your daily tasks, set reminders, and provide answers to all sorts of questions. These assistants can also help you control smart home devices, such as thermostats and lights, making it easier to manage your home environment.

Other Uses for Home AI

AI-powered design tools can help you create graphics, logos, and other visual content for your personal use for invitations, events, etc. These tools can provide design suggestions, help with color selection, and even generate designs based on your specifications.

AI-powered entertainment tools can help you discover new music, movies, and TV shows based on your interests. These tools can help you stay engaged and entertained during your downtime, allowing you to recharge and stay productive when you need to.

We have already seen the introduction of “smart” robots of various shapes and sizes, such as the Roomba vacuum and the like, and these robotic assistants will no doubt get smarter and much more sophisticated as AI technology progresses.

Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), smart security and smart appliances are already making their way into homes and household kitchens. These new AI appliances are mainly being used to create food and drinks at certain times, such as coffee machines. Some AI Smart Fridges have the technology to tell whether or not food is safe to eat, as well as having the ability to suggest recipes depending on the food in the fridge. Robotic food arms are being used to assist with meal preparation and can help people with disabilities.

There is no doubt that AI is already easing the lifestyle and homebound tasks for everyone, and it will only get better at doing so.

How BigRio Helps Bring Advanced AI Solutions to All Areas of the Market

The idea that AI can help you be more productive at home and make your household run more efficiently is no news to us at BigRio. While we specialize in AI solutions for business and industry, we realize how much of that innovation often spills over into the home. We also support AI initiatives that relate to “smart home” technologies and the interconnectivity of the Internet of Things.

BigRio prides itself on being a facilitator and incubator for such advances in leveraging AI to improve the digital world.

In fact, we like to think of ourselves as a “Shark Tank for AI.”

If you are familiar with the TV series, then you know that, basically, what they do is hyper-accelerate the most important part of the incubation process – visibility. You can’t get better visibility than getting out in front of celebrity investors and a TV audience of millions of viewers. Many entrepreneurs who have appeared on that program – even those who did not get picked up by the Sharks – succeeded because others who were interested in their concepts saw them on the show.

At BigRio, we may not have a TV audience, but we can do the same. We have the expertise to not only weed out the companies that are not ready for the market, as the sharks on the TV show do, but also mentor and get those that we feel are readily noticed by the right people in the AI investment community.

You can read much more about how AI is redefining the Internet of Things in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. While the book’s primary focus is on healthcare delivery, it also takes a deep dive into AI in general, with specific chapters on IoT and emerging “smart” technologies.

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Could AI Robots Fix Recycling’s Biggest Problem?

Recycling is a worthy environmental effort; however, it has always had one big problem, getting a “purity” level of recycled materials that is high enough for them to be reused by manufacturers. The problem is the tedious process of sorting through recycled trash to get the choice of materials, which is now done almost entirely by hand. However, experimental robots driven by AI are offering a solution to what has been one of recycling’s biggest problems.

NBC News recently reported on the AI-robots that are being beta-tested at a materials recovery facility (MRF) in Boulder, CO.

Using machine learning, the sorting robots were able to acquire the ability to distinguish between different materials, accurately identifying pieces of plastic among sheets of paper and then efficiently separating them. This also increases accuracy and speeds while reducing manual labor requirements. By seamlessly integrating AI into recycling processes, this facility is paving the way for more efficient and effective recycling practices.

The automated sorting systems being used in Boulder are from AMP Robotics.

Similar sorting systems have been deployed in MRFs in Michigan that use AI-driven optical technology to provide real-time data about waste stream contaminants — such as too much peanut butter left in a jar — and other metrics that are just being explored. “It’s giving us this data so that we can make better decisions,” says Matt Flechter, recycling market development specialist at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, which is experimenting with these robotic sorters that are made by Machinex, Glacier an AI-startup that raised $4.5 million in seed funding last year to building a “proprietary AI algorithm that’s capable of recognizing over 90% of recyclables in the waste stream.”

Fletcher says leveraging AI will not only improve recycling on the back end through better sorting, but the data-driven models also will help manufacturers to create more recyclable packaging in the first place.

“The vision will be, we will have real-time data about products to bring to the manufacturer, so they can say, ‘Oh, we created a toothpaste tube that we thought was recyclable, but it turns out at the facilities the robots can’t pick it up,'” Fletcher told Axios.

Recycle Ann Arbor installed a sorting robot from Machinex called the SamurAI at its new MRF in November. The robot took three months to “learn” the shapes, sizes, and densities of the materials before it was put into operation.

How BigRio Helps Bring Advanced AI Solutions to Improve All Industries

The deployment of the Glacier and other proprietary “recycling robots.”

is yet another example of how innovative startups are advancing the ubiquity of AI and particularly how it is creating smarter and more capable industrial robots.

BigRio prides itself on being a facilitator and incubator for such advances in leveraging AI to improve the digital world.

In fact, we like to think of ourselves as a “Shark Tank for AI.”

If you are familiar with the TV series, then you know that, basically, what they do is hyper-accelerate the most important part of the incubation process – visibility. You can’t get better visibility than getting out in front of celebrity investors and a TV audience of millions of viewers. Many entrepreneurs who have appeared on that program – even those who did not get picked up by the Sharks – succeeded because others who were interested in their concepts saw them on the show.

At BigRio, we may not have a TV audience, but we can do the same. We have the expertise to not only weed out the companies that are not ready for the market, as the sharks on the TV show do, but also mentor and get those that we feel are readily noticed by the right people in the AI investment community.

You can read much more about how AI is redefining the industry in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. While the book’s primary focus is on healthcare delivery, it also takes a deep dive into AI in general, with specific chapters on robotic technologies.

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Canadian Lab is Using AI to Better Detect Breast Cancer!

AI has been improving healthcare in many areas, but perhaps one of the disciplines where it is making the largest difference is medical imaging. AI’s ability to detect anomalies in medical images such as x-rays and MRIs that are imperceptible to the human eye are vastly improving the diagnostic capabilities of such imaging technologies.

Now, a Canadian lab has announced that it is using AI to improve breast cancer screenings. A lab out of Waterloo, Ont., is taking breast cancer research to new heights by working to help patients get the most beneficial treatment with AI-enhanced imaging technology.

When patients get breast cancer, they typically undergo a type of imaging, like an MRI, to look for cancerous tumors. The Waterloo lab has created “a synthetic correlate diffusion” MRI that is tailored to capture details and properties of cancer in a way that previous MRI systems couldn’t.

“It could be a very helpful tool to help oncologists and medical doctors to be able to identify and personalize the type of treatment that a cancer patient gets,” Alexander Wong, professor and Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Medical Imaging at the University of Waterloo told Canadian news outlet the Global News.

Using “synthetic correlate diffusion imagining data,” the new AI-driven technology predicts whether a patient is likely to benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy – or chemotherapy that occurs before surgery, according to Wong.

Though the hardware of the actual MRI machine hasn’t changed in this model, what has altered is the way the technology sends “pulses” through the patient’s body and how it collects data, Wong noted.

“The cancer itself just lights up and really shows the different nuances and characteristics around it, which makes it very much easier to identify not only where the cancer is, the size of the cancer, but also the actual tissue characteristics of the cancer to help doctors make better decisions,” he said.

The AI can then analyze the MRI data to help learn whether breast cancer patients could benefit from chemotherapy before surgery in their treatment process.

“It’s essentially the combination of two types of technologies. One is the new MRI imaging technology to really capture the right information. The other is the AI advancement in terms of a deep neural network.”

Deep neural networks are able to continue improving as more information is captured, said Wong.

“The more examples it sees, the better it gets at really identifying these subtle patterns that differentiate from one another. As we train it with more and more data, it’s able to have higher levels of predictive accuracy,” he said.

As to how accurate the AI algorithm is, in a study of nearly 300 patients, Wong said, “The AI, when using our new form of MRI, was able to identify and predict with over 87 percent accuracy which patients would benefit from chemotherapy.

How BigRio Helps Bring Advanced AI Solutions to Healthcare

This new research into improved breast cancer screenings is just one of the many studies that are proving the powerful predictive power of AI and how it can be leveraged to better treat and even prevent injuries and disease.

In fact, improving disease detection and diagnostics is the area where AI is making one of the technology’s biggest impacts.

BigRio prides itself on being a facilitator and incubator for such advances in leveraging AI to improve diagnostics.

In fact, we have launched an AI Studio specifically for US-based Healthcare startups with AI centricity. Our mission is to help AI startups scale and gear up to stay one step ahead of the pack and emerge as winners in their respective domains.

AI Startups face numerous challenges when it comes to demonstrating their value proposition, particularly when it comes to advanced AI solutions for pharma and healthcare. We have taken an award-winning and unique approach to incubating and facilitating startups that allow the R&D team and stakeholders to efficiently collaborate and craft the process to best suit actual ongoing needs, which leads to a faster, more accurate output.

We provide:

  • Access to a top-level talent pool, including business executives, developers, data scientists, and data engineers.
  • Assistance in the development and testing of the MVP, Prototypes, and POCs.
  • Professional services for implementation and support of Pilot projects
  • Sales and Marketing support and potential client introductions.
  • Access to private capital sources.

BigRio excels in overcoming such initial hurdles, which present nearly insurmountable obstacles to a startup operation.

You can read much more about how AI is redefining healthcare delivery and drug discovery in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. It’s a comprehensive look at how AI and machine learning are being used to improve healthcare delivery at every touchpoint.

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has a particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

AI Helps Researchers Find New Antibiotic to Attack “Superbug”

Scientists have used artificial intelligence to identify a new antibiotic that could prove to be quite useful in fighting a deadly drug-resistant bacteria commonly found in hospitals and medical offices.

Researchers report they used an AI algorithm to predict molecules that would neutralize the drug-resistant bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. Researchers discovered a potential antibiotic, named abaucin, “can effectively suppress” the growth of the stubborn bacteria on the skin of mice, according to a study this week in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

While the preliminary results on the potential new drug would need to be validated in larger studies, researchers believe the process used to winnow thousands of potential drugs to identify one that may work is an approach that can work in drug discovery.

“There’s a lot of trepidation around AI, and I genuinely understand it,” said Jonathan Stokes, lead author of the paper and an assistant professor of biomedicine and biochemistry at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “When I think about AI in general, I think of these models as things that are just going to help us do the thing we’re going to do better.”

Stokes teamed up with researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to screen for potential antibiotics to use on A. baumannii, a superbug that can cause infections in the blood, urinary tract, and lungs. This bacteria usually invade hospitals and healthcare settings, infecting vulnerable patients on breathing machines, in intensive care units, and undergoing operations.

The bug is one of many so-called “drug-resistant” bacteria. It had infected 8,500 in hospitals and killed 700 in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How Did the Researchers Use AI to Pinpoint A Particular Antibiotic?

In order to specifically target the deadly drug-resistant strain, the researchers evaluated 7,684 drugs and the active ingredients of drugs to find out which ones would be most effective against the bacteria which was grown in the lab.

Stokes said the lab team developed AI models to predict which ones would have the highest likelihood of antimicrobial activity, narrowing the field to 240 drugs or active ingredients. Researchers then narrowed the field again through testing before discovering a molecule RS102895, renamed abaucin, that appeared to be potent against the superbug.

Researchers said they could screen a much larger volume of potential drugs by using the predictive power of AI and machine-learning techniques. The study said while existing high-throughput screening can evaluate a few million drugs or chemical ingredients at once, algorithms developed from machine learning can assess “hundreds of millions to billions” of drug molecules.

Citadel and AI for Drug Discovery

Just as Stokes and his team used AI to find novel molecular formulas for the development of a new antibiotic specifically for combating a particular strain of deadly bacteria, Citadel Discovery was launched in 2021 with the purpose of giving a kind of “open access” to the data and technology that will drive the future of pharma research streamlining and lowering the costs of drug discovery and biological research.

The costs of drug discovery continue to rise, with current estimates exceeding $2 Billion. Not to mention that bringing a drug successfully through all clinical trial phases takes, on average, 10-12 years in research and development. Artificial intelligence and machine learning in drug discovery hold the key to reducing these costs and timelines.

You can read much more about how AI is redefining drug discovery in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. It’s a comprehensive look at how AI and machine learning are being used to improve healthcare delivery at every touchpoint, with a particular emphasis on drug discovery and Pharma research.

Rohit Mahajan is the President and Co-Founder of Citadel Discovery. He has particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

Citadel Discovery is dedicated to leveraging AI and MI for the purpose of democratizing access to the data and technology that will drive the future of biological exploration, drug discovery, and health technologies. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.

AI Creates New $300,000+ Job Opportunity!

Looking for a new career opportunity? How about a job that pays over $300,000 a year and requires little or no specific previous experience?

The rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT is creating a need for “prompt engineers,” people who write questions and prose for AI chatbots to test and improve their answers. Some of these roles have salaries as high as $335,000 and don’t require degrees in IT or tech.

Anthropic, an artificial intelligence safety and research company, currently has an open role for a “prompt engineer and librarian” with a salary range between $175,000 and $335,000, as first reported by Bloomberg.

The post says the role involves building “a library of high-quality prompts or prompt chains to accomplish a variety of tasks, with an easy guide to help users search for the one that meets their needs” and building “a set of tutorials and interactive tools that teach the art of prompt engineering to our customers.”

Per the job listing, applicants who have basic programming skills and “a high level” of familiarity with large language models would make a good fit. However, Anthropic says it wants people to apply “even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification.”

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and the developer of ChatGPT, has spoken about the need for prompt engineers. In February, he tweeted that “writing a really great prompt for a chatbot persona is an amazingly high-leverage skill.”

Anna Bernstein, a prompt engineer at Copy.ai, was a freelance writer and historical research assistant before she started working with AI tools.

“I love the ‘mad scientist’ part of the job where I’m able to come up with a dumb idea for a prompt and see it actually work,” Bernstein told Insider. “As a poet, the role also feeds into my obsessive nature with approaching language. It’s a really strange intersection of my literary background and analytical thinking.”

Despite the apparent opportunities in prompt engineering for people without tech backgrounds, most high-paying roles do require people with more experience and higher levels of education in tech-focused areas, recruiters told Bloomberg.

How BigRio Helps Bring Advanced AI Solutions to the Market

With so many headlines these days about the jobs AI may take away, at BigRio, we prefer to focus on the new opportunities like prompt engineers that AI will create in the job market and for entrepreneurs and startups.

BigRio prides itself on being a facilitator and incubator for such advances in leveraging AI to improve the digital world.

In fact, we like to think of ourselves as a “Shark Tank for AI.”

If you are familiar with the TV series, then you know that, basically, what they do is hyper-accelerate the most important part of the incubation process – visibility. You can’t get better visibility than getting out in front of celebrity investors and a TV audience of millions of viewers. Many entrepreneurs who have appeared on that program – even those who did not get picked up by the Sharks – succeeded because others who were interested in their concepts saw them on the show.

At BigRio, we may not have a TV audience, but we can do the same. We have the expertise to not only weed out the companies that are not ready for the market, as the sharks on the TV show do, but also mentor and get those that we feel are readily noticed by the right people in the AI investment community.

You can read much more about how AI is redefining markets in my new book Quantum Care: A Deep Dive into AI for Health Delivery and Research. While the book’s primary focus is on healthcare delivery, it also takes a deep dive into AI in general, with specific chapters on opportunities for AI startups.

Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has a particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.

BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate contact us.