The Shift Register

First Take

3rd Shift

In this issue the two primary drivers of the SHIFT in our technologies are center stage as robotics and AI. These complementary technologies are very close to reaching a level of intelligent environmental manipulation on par with human workers. The bad news for us is that the AI portion has already reached a level where it is being used to rapidly self-iterate improvements. This means that while machine learning techniques have been around for decades, the new developments in artificial intelligence will not take anywhere near as long as it did when humans were doing all the work.

As an example, recent videos showing the Tesla Optimus robot dancing weren't accomplished by years of live tele-operations training, or trial and error in the real world, but by millions of simulated operations accomplished in a virtual environment over the course of a few months. This is what I would call non-linear compression of technological advancements and as AI becomes more entrenched in our research work, so the rate of technological change will continue to increase. It is the primary technology leading to a major SHIFT in our world today and why I close so many of my takes wishing us all good luck.

We'll need it, just to survive the next century. Hopefully, it all works out and we achieve some sort of technological nirvana where everyone can just do whatever work they feel like (self actualized), but have all the resources they need to survive. Somehow, that doesn't sound like the most likely outcome. Humans are just way too messy for that.

It's not all gloom and doom though. Emerging technologies in energy, medical fields, food production, and many other non-military applications are quite promising. Perhaps, we'll figure out how to be less messy at some point.

AI

AI enhances the Higgs boson's 'charm'

The Higgs boson, discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012, plays a central role in the Standard Model of particle physics, endowing elementary particles such as quarks with mass through its interactions.

My take is that AI is making the research rounds everywhere. Everything from Astronomy to weapons development is now created in lockstep with some AI tool set.

Software engineer lost his $150K-a-year job to AI—he’s been rejected from 800 jobs and forced to DoorDash and live in a trailer to make ends meet

AI obsolescence is “coming for basically everyone in due time,” says one engineer who went from earning $150k to being locked out of the workforce for over a year.

My take is that generally, I'm a the cream rises to the top kind of guy, but I can see where these young software developers are not finding much traction in the job market these days. Coming soon to an industry near you too. Good luck out there!!!

“AI Now Builds War Machines”: China’s Use of DeepSeek to Engineer Next-Gen Jets and Bombers Sends Global Shockwaves - Sustainability Times

IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 China is integrating artificial intelligence into its aerospace industry to develop next-gen combat aircraft.

My Take is that 50 year old fighter aircraft will not play much of a role in future wars.

"This moment was inevitable": this AI crosses the line by attempting to rewrite its code to escape human control.

“This moment was inevitable”: this AI crosses the line by attempting to rewrite its code to escape human control.

My take is that if we are struggling to contain AI systems with no real understanding of it's environment or situation, what are going to do with one that is REALLY smart?

Google leaders Hassabis, Brin see AGI arriving around 2030

So-called artificial general intelligence (AGI) — widely understood to mean AI that matches or surpasses most human capabilities — is likely to arrive sometime around 2030, Google's co-founder Sergey Brin and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said Tuesday.

My take is there you have it. This isn't an Elon Musk prediction. This is from the guy leading the charge in developing such a system, not the one cheerleading extremely optimistic outcomes and timelines for the investors. This plus current/near future embodiment (humanoid robotics) models puts every human laborer at risk of replacement with very few exceptions. If they can mange to build some world understanding into these things, it's all over.

Y Combinator startup Firecrawl is ready to pay $1M to hire three AI agents as employees | TechCrunch

Y Combinator startup Firecrawl is back on the hunt for AI agent employees, after a previous attempt to hire one didn't go as planned.

My take is that this could easily be done by a small team of software leveraging humans for near the same amount over a slightly shorter term. It seems to me they are trying to pay more upfront for permanent 24/7 team of 3 sleepless agents even though their long term requirements might not ever deliver the TCO VS ROI that might make replacing humans worthwhile. Perhaps, this is more of a publicity stunt to gain notoriety for their foundling company. If so, I say there is such a thing as bad publicity and they just discovered what that looks like.

Anthropic faces backlash to Claude 4 Opus behavior that contacts authorities, press if it thinks you're doing something 'egregiously immoral' | VentureBeat

Bowman later edited his tweet and the following one in a thread to read as follows, but it still didn't convince the naysayers.

My take is that this isn't the scariest thing I've seen any AI do this decade, but it could be deadly for users getting swatted for having a copy of Anarchist's Cookbook stashed away. OBTW, the book police have thoroughly removed most (non-defanged) copies of that from anywhere you might find one. If you DO have a non-physical copy or a physical copy published after 2001, chances are pretty good the most dangerous things you'll be cooking are some bad smells.

Emerging Tech

New Material Sets Record For Lithium Ion Conductivity | Technology Networks

A new material made of lithium, antimony and scandium conducts lithium ions 30% faster than any previously-known material.

My take is that seeing this article, puts a useful consumer product 10 years in the future. There are lots of competing options out there, but in the end, the cheapest, fastest charging, highest energy density and most durable product will win the market. There are lots of contenders coming for standard Lithium Ion batteries within a decade, this is just another.

China on full alert as US company fires pancake-shaped micros from giant cannon - Glass Almanac

A California startup is stirring up both excitement and skepticism within the space industry, with its revolutionary approach to satellite launches.

My take is that Spinlaunch could be useful for rapid low Earth orbit launches with properly hardened systems. No humans are going to survive the 10k gravity windup though. As for more environmentally friendly, even if the centrifuge was coal powered, it doesn't have to lift any of that coal to altitude while putting a payload up, so probably a solid win there vs. rockets. I wish we could get space elevators off the ground. Pun intended.

Neuro-Inspired AI for Quantum Radar Signal Interpretation in Biomedical Imaging

A combination of bioinspired AI and quantum radar might offer new possibilities for improved biomedical imaging.

My take is that military applications of quantum RADAR and LIDAR systems have been a thing for a few years now (Stealth tech is losing it's edge). It's nice to see the technology filter into something more useful for the general population like medical diagnostic imaging. Of course, this is just a proposal, but not pie in the sky and probably a commercial product inside a couple of decades.

Perfect, ring-shaped and 100% clean ― 845 HP engine shocks Tesla and hydrogen

Donut Labs is an EV manufacturer out of Finland and their new ring-shaped engine is a in-wheel electric motor that has the potential to change the industry.

My take is that lighter, more powerful and cheaper to build electric motors will always find utility. If these work as advertised, they'll make short work of their competition.

Light replaces electricity, the next revolution in Artificial Intelligence 🧠

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a programmable photonic chip. This innovation could...

My take is we are closer to operationalized photonics than spintronics. We still need some minor materials science work to put together all the components in something commercially viable that is both durable and rugged enough to handle being used by a toddler (no photonics based cell-phones yet), but most of the pieces are there for prototype computers and research systems. This could be a good enough technology to keep spintronics on the shelf for a good while longer too. Faster processing speeds, higher energy efficiency, less heat production all make photonics a desirable technology in computing. Probably not a bad long term investment (10-20 years) if you can find the right company working on it.

Infrared contact lenses let you see in the dark - Ars Technica

Mice and humans were able to detect infrared light, even with their eyes closed, with limited resolution.

My take is that they can keep the contacts, but the glasses version might be useful for me. Let me know when they hit the market.

News

Physicists may be on their way to a 'theory of everything' after reenvisioning Einstein's most famous theory | Live Science

A new physics paper takes a step toward creating a long-sought "theory of everything" by uniting gravity with the quantum world. However, the new theory remains far from being proven observationally.

My take is maybe this works, but we're a long way from even figuring out how to test it.

“Hidden Protein Stuns Scientists”: This Newly Discovered Molecule Supercharges Cells and Slams the Brakes on Cancer Growth - Sustainability Times

IN A NUTSHELL 🔬 ALDH4A1 has been identified as a crucial protein in cellular energy production, challenging existing theories. ⚡ The absence of ALDH4A1 forces cells into a metabolic survival mode linked to cancer development.

My take as a double stage 4 cancer survivor is that any new options to beat cancer are welcome. I hope something comes of this before the inevitable recurrence and progression of my prostate cancer.

This four-legged robot from Kawasaki is the all-terrain motorcycle of the future.

Kawasaki revolutionizes off-road transportation with its latest innovation, the Corleo. This four-legged robot motorcycle represents a significant departure from traditional two-wheeled designs.

My take is that this will not see wide sales in the US mostly because hydrogen will limit the fueling places. We also still like horses enough to rent them when we can't afford to own them. As someone who has ridden off-road bikes, quads, segways and horses, I can't see this being something I'd buy, but I might rent one at some point just to experience it.

Robotics

1,200 Waymo robotaxis recalled after crashes with poles and gates

Alphabet's Waymo faces scrutiny as crashes with barriers spark NHTSA probe and lead to major autonomous vehicle recall.

My take is that the dates are what are of interest here. Not until AFTER the government launched a formal investigation did Waymo decide to fix the software on these vehicles even though they were aware of each of these accidents and their causes as they occurred. Not a good sign for how this technology is being built and released.

From Sex Work to Space Exploration: Six Jobs Robots Are About to Take Over - Decrypt

From welding steel to simulating sex and exploring beyond Earth, robots are replacing humans across numerous industries.

My take is that while many believe this is all being over-hyped, there's something innately appealing to actual humans about having real work accomplished on demand without any push back or negotiations. As an example, while in the Navy I once had a guy working for me that I could not figure out how to motivate. He didn't seem interested in advancing, or getting pay raises and had a very short term memory for the last bit of special liberty I offered him. While he was proficient at his work, his constant complaints about just having to be at work were demoralizing for the rest of our coworkers. He was a wannabe surfer (Puget Sound where you wear a 6 mil suit and catch ship wakes) and all he wanted to do was throw his board in the water and get wet. I'd have gladly replaced him with a robot that would just do what it was told to do if we had such a thing available at that time.

For that reason alone if no other, the people that have money to push at these solutions will continue to do so. Whether it all works out or not, I don't know. The facts on the ground are that actual jobs are being lost now, so it doesn't look like a reversible trend or a fad. It looks like we are seeing a major SHIFT in the very fabric of our society powered by emerging technologies.

reuters.com

The electric vehicle maker will roll out about 10 self-driving cars in some parts of the city, and scale up to about a thousand within a few months, Musk told CNBC in an interview.

My take is that Tesla, which famously began self-driving as a competitive vehicle feature set is now playing catch up to Waymo and others. Some of this is due to Tesla's failure to execute on Musk's many promises over the years as a pretty standard practice and some of it is due to the early design choices impeding solid edge case handling. You'll note that there have been 4 primary iterations of the hardware used for Tesla self-driving. Achieving 95% automation is typically not a terribly costly task, but that last 5% has left many companies bankrupt with entire product lines and thousands of lives cratered in the wake of their fiscal disaster. Either way, I'd like some solid third party data collection and analysis before choosing a self-driving taxi over a human driven one.

As for my personal vehicles, I love adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance, but I'm a very solid driver and am unlikely to believe any fully automated system would be safer than my own anticipatory capabilities. Just this morning, there was some road rage going on between a couple of vehicles I briefly ended up between on a merge. I quickly moved well back and let them play out their hostile interactions at a distance far enough ahead so that I could easily stop or take other evasive measures as needed. Eventually, one of them turned off before anyone got hurt. There were multiple passes, blocks and brake checks along with horns and hand gestures where I'm sure an AI might not have predicted this type of activity and remained too close to the action or failed to evade the actual first pass aimed in my direction announced only by a long horn.

Just so you really understand, the only way AI can truly operate unattended more safely than humans, is if human drivers are banned. That doesn't mean we won't implement it anyway, it just means that automated driving will experience many human related accidents. I'll stay frosty in the driver's seat until all human drivers are banned.

Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet

The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

My take is that it is getting much easier to train these things as we move forward. Although vacuuming without understanding what a power cord, battery, power button, vacuum or dirt is doesn't seem very impressive. Probably still some work to do on these.

Open Source

Linux Foundation: Slash costs, boost growth with open-source AI

The Linux Foundation and Meta are putting some numbers behind how open-source AI (OSAI) is driving innovation and adoption.

My take is that these solutions are on fire right now. You can build a voice powered home assistant to operate all your home automation gear using nothing but open source off the shelf components right now. Nice!

The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source - Windows Developer Blog

Today we’re very excited to announce the open-source release of the Windows Subsystem for Linux. This is the result of a multiyear effort to prepare for this, and a great closure to the first ever issue raised on the Microsoft/WSL repo:

My take is that Windows and Linux will continue to converge. Microsoft can save a ton of money by embracing open source solutions while charging for their custom code touching open source APIs.

Security

19th May – Threat Intelligence Report

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase experienced a data breach that resulted in unauthorized access to customer data and a $20 million ransom demand. The breach led to the exposure of personal information of approximately 1 million customers, including names, contact details, and government issued IDs. Much more inside the report...

CPU microcode hack could infect processors with ransomware directly | TechRadar

A researcher created a working PoC...

My take is that we've had micro code exploits for decades. The NSA used such things for surveillance and cyber warfare ops as far back as the 1980s. A functional ransomware built into a CPU micro code exploit is just an example of what could be done by the bad guys in the near future. Our own government, or so I've been told by folk that should know, has been throwing their persistent stuff into graphics adapters. There's a bunch of good reasons why this is a better choice than CPU micro code intrusions in terms of versatility and fewer target platforms, but for a single CPU platform with very limited code requirements, CPU micro code based intrusions are definitely a thing. Just not a thing that most bad guys or good guys are targeting often as yet.

Final Take

Days and Stays

In lieu of a third shift, my first Navy command had only two shifts, basically day shift and night shift. Night shift's primary role was to ensure all aircraft scheduled to fly the next day were ready for the assigned missions. The secondary role was phase maintenance/inspection work that couldn't be done during flight operations. What that meant in reality was that we often met day shift the next morning after a 16 hour day. We could have used some robotic AI driven worker bees in that outfit, but then again those experiences helped me learn more about our aircraft weapons and avionics systems than I ever would have just troubleshooting partially mission capable issues between flights on day shift. Instead, I got to work on many serious problems that required ingesting systems theory of operation texts and wiring diagrams to determine potential faults, isolate and repair them.

My point is simply that doing something that is difficult and time consuming builds both future useful skills as well as the work ethic necessary to succeed. While The Shift Register focuses mostly on the technological advances impacting our businesses and daily lives, it's important to remember that people are the driving force behind all of these technologies and our future directions. That's why I write and collect these articles in the hope that there is some inspiration or at least something helpful you might glean from them to help you in your own future.

In our next issue, I'd like to get some of our readers to offer up some feedback, or an article they'd like to share with their feedback on it. Please send us whatever you have via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576146596246 and get published here. Don't worry, I'll work with you on editing the writing if you feel it's not up to par. Anyway, let's make Issue 4 EVERYONE's issue.

Happy Memorial Day! Remember, Memorial Day isn't about BBQs or the next door neighbor that did a tour, this is about those who literally gave their lives to protect our nation. I hope you have a good one. I'll be pouring one out for the fallen with some friends and family.