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#7 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-07-11 02:23 PM
If you think AI is just about automated office tasks then you haven't been paying attention.
Today's "AI" is, mostly automation.
AI's reach extends far beyond basic "office tasks" because it handles complex workflows, accelerates physical and digital problem-solving, and increases the overall speed of tasks with less human error.
Instead of just drafting emails or sorting data, advanced systems will coordinate projects, analyze deep patterns, and drive major operational shifts. There is even an AI running its own business in SF now.
"Luna / Andon Market: An autonomous AI agent given a budget and lease to run a real storefront in San Francisco."
That sounds like a really lovely marketing material template of almost any "AI" prospectus.
www.businessinsider.com - Claude Code's creator says his setup involves thousands of AI sub-agents doing 'deeper work' overnight - 2026-05-13
|------ Anthropic engineer Boris Cherny says his coding setup now involves "a few thousand" AI agents working for him overnight.
Cherny, the creator of Claude Code, described his AI workflow during an interview with Sequoia Capital on May 4.
His answers - including how he mostly runs the agents via his phone - highlighted how some Silicon Valley engineers are beginning to use AI systems less like chatbots and more like always-on autonomous assistants.
Cherny said he relies heavily on two Claude Code features built for persistent automation: /loops and Routines.
He said users can schedule /loops locally via cron, while Routines run recurring tasks on a server, allowing engineers to keep agents working after their laptops are closed. ...
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Stories like this are popping up nearly every day now.
Yes, of course. There are also "stories" nearly every day that don't make it into popular, mainstream press.
"A pair of humanoid robots crossed a major medical milestone this week after successfully performing gallbladder removals in pigs for the first time ... "
Intuitive Surgical's DaVinci robots (and their copycats) are old news and have been on the market since early 2000s; if you have seen phrase "minimally invasive surgery" it most likely refers to all kinds of robot-assisted medical procedures, from head to toes.
"In 2012, it was used in an estimated 200,000 surgeries, most commonly for hysterectomies and prostate removals."
And robotics may or may not include AI, but often confused with AI because most are usually consumer-facing, even if it's as simple as Roomba.
The Singularity is Nearer.
Yes, every day, by definition... but none of what you posted before is even remotely close to Singularity, or much beyond automation of previously "manual" tasks.
In fact, most of what was described in that 'prospectus' I could run much cheaper on a network years ago with a logic module, few scripts and not very sophisticated task scheduler, with or without ERP or "supervising" the process.
I didn't call it AI.
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Trump Administration to Lower Radiation Safety Standards
Oh, noez! If it isn't one "nuclear" scare, it's another. Anything to stop or slow down the development of new, much safer SMR (small modular nuclear reactors) and catch up the current and future energy/electricity supply with energy/electricity needs.
New regs don't affect safety or dosage limits, they just provide better clarity for developers by removing legal ambiguities of ALARA ("as low as reasonably achievable"), which should significantly speed up the R&D designs and testing.
Stated even simpler it wouldn't ever affect anyone not working on or near reactors, i.e., the scientists who know better what is and isn't safe and wouldn't jeopardize their lives or health.
apnews.com - AP, 2026-07-26
|------- ... The Energy Department, which oversees national energy policies, has already stopped using ALARA. The NRC expects to finalize its radiation protection regulations in the coming months.
NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said the commission is not lowering the bar on safety.
"We're just removing the ambiguity. But the standard for exposure to workers and the public, those are not changing. We're just putting in place greater clarification."
Nieh doesn't expect major changes within the nation's existing fleet of large, traditional reactors. But companies designing and building new, smaller reactors could move faster with a clearer picture of the radiation protection requirements, he said.
The NRC said radiation exposure limits are set well below levels associated with health effects, and it expects remaining standards and industry practices to keep radiation doses far below the limits. There's incentive to do so - it's more expensive and time-consuming to work in areas with higher radiation because access must be restricted and more surveys are required.
The nuclear industry's trade association agrees with the NRC. ...
ALARA created a "moving target" for regulation, said Justin Friedman, a nuclear energy consultant who previously spent three decades at the U.S. Department of State. Getting rid of the rule would allow NRC scientists to make more rational decisions about appropriate levels of manageable risk ...
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Much ado about nothing. Making mountains out of molehills whenever something "nuclear" is mentioned.
BTW, Biden's Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo (who, IMO, would be a great candidate for President/VP in 2028) emphasized the importance and promoted the collaborative development of nuclear and hydrogen energy.
Or we can keep listening to notable "climate scientists" like Jane Fonda and Greta Thunberg et al, that impeded development (and/or were pushing a phase-out) of one of the cleanest and safest energy solutions in the USA, while China, Russia and few other countries went full speed ahead with nuclear deployment.
www.realclearenergy.org - Jane Fonda's Views on Nuclear Energy Are Stuck in the 1970s - RCN, 2024-10-17
www.latimes.com - Jane Fonda's anti-nuclear arguments don't make sense - 2024-10-08
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