AI Tracker: Artificial intelligence for healthcare and kitchen organization

A weekly showcase of far-reaching contemporary applications of artificial intelligence and new regulations from the US and EU

Sound technology

Amsterdam-based startup Lapsi Health is launching an AI-powered stethoscope called Keikku this week. Although stethoscopes are an integral part of every medical practice, they remain technologically primitive – Lapsi wants to change that,

use of sound using artificial intelligence. “The human body has over 45 auscultation points and over 11 main types of pathological sounds. It is an inherent language that provides insight into health and disease, crucial for decision-making. We use stethoscopes to listen to these sounds,” the company explains on its website. Keikku, a digital stethoscope with built-in artificial intelligence that recently received USFDA approval, will make human body sounds more accessible as a diagnostic tool, the company says, by transforming the conventional use of auscultatory sounds in medicine into digital biomarkers.

MIT engineers have developed a new method that allows robots to quickly map a scene and identify the elements needed to perform a specific set of tasks and make intuitive decisions related to the task. The team’s new approach, called Clio, allows the robot to identify parts of the scene that are relevant to the task at hand – for example, cleaning the kitchen table by putting away utensils, tools and cooking ingredients. In Clio, the robot accepts a list of tasks described in natural language and, based on this, determines the level of detail required to interpret the environment and “remember” only those fragments of the scene that are important. In real-world experiments, ranging from a cluttered cubicle to a five-story building on the MIT campus, the team used Clio built into a four-legged robot to automatically segment the scene using natural language commands such as “move magazine rack” and “get first aid kit” – reports Science Daily. “Search and rescue is a motivating application for this job, but Clio can also power home robots and robots that work alongside humans on the factory floor,” said Luca Carlone, associate professor in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro).

Artificial intelligence faces new regulations in California in the EU

A new California law extends consumer privacy protections to brainwave data collected by implants or wearable devices, AFP reports, classifying neural data as protected personal information based on precise geolocation, genetics and biometrics. Protections under California law include the right to know what brain data is being collected, limits on its disclosure and the ability to opt out or request its deletion, even as tech companies, including billionaire Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink, seek to connect brains and computers. The law applies to devices capable of recording or changing nervous system activity, whether they are implanted or worn. The potential of devices to tap into what people feel or think has raised concerns that they could be used to manipulate feelings or thoughts. Meanwhile, the EU is also working on the proposed Artificial Intelligence Law, the world’s first comprehensive AI regulation, and has formed expert groups to develop a “code of conduct” included in the Artificial Intelligence Law. The days of unregulated development of artificial intelligence around the world appear to be coming to an end. Indian lawmakers have also taken notice.