Last year might go down in history as “The Year of AI Hype.” Will it save the world? Yes. Will it destroy the world? Also yes. And most importantly—is it going to take all of our jobs? Almost certainly yes.
But so far, cooler heads are prevailing in 2024. According to a recent study from MIT, the robots aren’t taking over quite yet. In fact, it could be decades before it becomes cost-effective to automate many tasks. |
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Good news for humans! But the study also highlights how powerful a tool AI could be in the near future. So would it be smart to start learning more about AI and other world-shaping technologies today? Big, emphatic yes.
After all, we humans were smart enough to create AI. Who knows what we’ll think up next.
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💻 Graphics card. The hottest new computing device? Folded paper. |
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You’re hitting the road in your EV on a quest to find warmer weather. Your battery can hold up to 300,000 kJ, and spends 1,000 kJ per mile when you drive. The charging rate starts at 800 kJ/s when the battery is empty, and drops linearly down to 0 kJ/s when it’s full. It takes 60 seconds to start charging whenever you stop at a station.
Assume you can stop to charge at any point and travel at 60 mph while moving.
If you want to maximize the fraction of time spent driving, how much should you charge your battery before leaving each station?
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We’ll randomly choose one correct respondent for a shout-out in next month’s email. |
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Solution to January's puzzle |
Congrats to Ray Cistern, who illuminated on the correct answer with some elegant reasoning.
Last month, we had you inspecting strands of holiday lights to ensure that no three bulbs in a row were the same color. How many bulbs on average, we asked, would you inspect before marking your first bulb? The secret to finding the answer was realizing that each triplet of lights was not independent.
See the full solution, as well as an addendum to last month’s puzzle, here. |
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