Noticias

arXiv:2505.00725v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Motivated by the emerging demand in the financial industry for the automatic analysis of unstructured and structured data at scale, Question Answering (QA) systems can provide lucrative and competitive advantages to companies by facilitating the decision making of financial advisers. Consequently, we propose a novel financial QA system using the transformer-based pre-trained BERT language model to address the limitations of data scarcity and language specificity in the financial domain. Our system focuses on financial non-factoid answer selection, which retrieves a set of passage-level texts and selects the most relevant as the answer. To increase efficiency, we formulate the answer selection task as a re-ranking problem, in which our system consists of an Answer Retriever using BM25, a simple information retrieval approach, to first return a list of candidate answers, and an Answer Re-ranker built with variants of pre-trained BERT language models to re-rank and select the most relevant answers. We investigate various learning, further pre-training, and fine-tuning approaches for BERT. Our experiments suggest that FinBERT-QA, a model built from applying the Transfer and Adapt further fine-tuning and pointwise learning approach, is the most effective, improving the state-of-the-art results of task 2 of the FiQA dataset by 16% on MRR, 17% on NDCG, and 21% on Precision@1.

Bryan Johnson is on a mission to not die. The 47-year-old multimillionaire has already applied his slogan “Don’t Die” to events, merchandise, and a Netflix documentary. Now he’s founding a Don’t Die religion. Johnson, who famously spends millions of dollars on scans, tests, supplements, and a lifestyle routine designed to slow or reverse the aging process, has enjoyed extensive media coverage, and a huge social media following. For many people, he has become the face of the longevity field. I sat down with Johnson at an event for people interested in longevity in Berkeley, California, in late April. We spoke on the sidelines after lunch (conference plastic-lidded container meal for me; what seemed to be a plastic-free, compostable box of chicken and vegetables for him), and he sat with an impeccable posture, his expression neutral.  Earlier that morning, Johnson, in worn trainers and the kind of hoodie that is almost certainly deceptively expensive, had told the audience about what he saw as the end of humanity. Specifically, he was worried about AI—that we face an “event horizon,” a point at which superintelligent AI escapes human understanding and control. He had come to Berkeley to persuade people who are interested in longevity to focus their efforts on AI.  It is this particular concern that ultimately underpins his Don’t Die mission. First, humans must embrace the Don’t Die ideology. Then we must ensure AI is aligned with preserving human existence. Were it not for AI, he says, he wouldn’t be doing any of his anti-death activities and regimens. “I am convinced that we are at an existential moment as a species,” says Johnson, who was raised Mormon but has since left the church. Solving aging will take decades, he says—we’ll survive that long only if we make sure that AI is aligned with human survival.  The following Q&A has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Why are you creating a new religion? We’re in this new phase where [because of advances in AI] we’re trying to reimagine what it means to be human. It requires imagination and creativity and open-mindedness, and that’s a big ask. Approaching that conversation as a community, or a lifestyle, doesn’t carry enough weight or power. Religions have proven, over the past several thousand years, to be the most efficacious form to organize human efforts. It’s just a tried-and-true methodology.  How do you go about founding a new religion? It’s a good question. If you look at historical [examples], Buddha went through his own self-exploratory process and came up with a framework. And Muhammad had a story. Jesus had an origin story … You might even say Satoshi [Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of bitcoin] is like [the founder of] a modern-day religion, [launched] with the white paper. Adam Smith launched capitalism with his book. The question is: What is a modern-day religion, and how does it convince? It’s an open question for me. I don’t know yet. Your goal is to align AI with Don’t Die—or, in other words, ensure that AI models prioritize and protect human life. How will you do that? I’m talking to a lot of AI researchers about this. Communities of AIs could be instilled with values of conflict resolution that do not end in the death of a human. Or an AI. Or the planet. Would you say that Don’t Die is “your” religion? No, I think it’s humanity’s religion. It’s different from other religions, which are very founder-centric. I think this is going to be decentralized, and it will be something that everybody can make their own. So there’s no God? We’re playing with the idea that the body is God. We’ve been experimenting with this format of a Don’t Die fam, where eight to 12 people get together on a weekly basis. It’s patterned off of other groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. We structure an opening ritual. We have a mantra. And then there’s a part where people apologize to their body for something they’ve done that has inflicted harm upon themselves.  It’s reframing our relationship to body and to mind. It is also a way for people to have deep friendships, to explore emotionally vulnerable topics, and to support each other in health practices. What we’re really trying to say is: Existence is the virtue. Existence is the objective. If someone believes in God, that’s fine. People can be Christian and do this; they can be Muslim and do this. Don’t Die is a “yes, and” to all groups. So it’s a different way of thinking about religion? Yeah. Right now, religion doesn’t hold the highest status in society. A lot of people look down on it in some way. I think as AI progresses, it’s going to create additional questions on who we are: What is our identity? What do we believe about our existence in the future? People are going to want some kind of framework that helps them make sense of the moment. So I think there’s going to be a shift toward religion in the coming years. People might say that [founding a religion now] is kind of a weird move, and that [religion] turns people off. But I think that’s fine. I think we’re ahead. Does the religion incorporate, or make reference to, AI in any way? Yeah. AI is going to be omnipresent. And this is why we’ve been contemplating “the body is God.” Over the past couple of years … I’ve been testing the hypothesis that if I get a whole bunch of data about my body, and I give it to an algorithm, and feed that algorithm updates with scientific evidence, then it would eventually do a better job than a doctor. So I gave myself over to an algorithm.  It really is in my best interest to let it tell me what to eat, tell me when to sleep and exercise, because it would do a better job of making me happy. Instead of my mind haphazardly deciding what it

An attractive proposition for commercial enterprises and indie developers looking to build speech recognition and transcription services…Read More

Visa launches Intelligent Commerce platform enabling AI assistants to make secure purchases with your credit card, transforming online shopping with personalized automation and consumer-controlled spending limits.Read More

Humans need to embrace domains where AI still falters, and where human creativity, ethics and emotion emain indispensable.Read More

The answer to ‘What customer needs requires an AI solution?’ isn’t always ‘Yes.’ LLMs are still expensive and not always accurate.Read More

RSAC 2025 made one thing clear: AI agents are entering security workflows, but boards want proof they work.Read More

Once again, it shows the importance of incorporating more domains beyond the traditional math and computer science into AI development.Read More

At Gamescom Latam, Roblox announced it has broken ground on a new data center in Brazil — slated to go live in early 2026.Read More

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. A senior State Department official demanded records of communications with journalists, European officials, and Trump critics A previously unreported document distributed by senior US State Department official Darren Beattie reveals a sweeping effort to uncover all communications between the staff of a small government office focused on online disinformation and a lengthy list of public and private figures—many of whom are longtime targets of the political right. The document, originally shared in person with roughly a dozen State Department employees in early March, requested staff emails and other records with or about a host of individuals and organizations that track or write about foreign disinformation—including Atlantic journalist Anne Applebaum, former US cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs, and the Stanford Internet Observatory—or have criticized President Donald Trump and his allies, such as the conservative anti-Trump commentator Bill Kristol.  The broad requests for unredacted information felt like a “witch hunt,” one official says—one that could put the privacy and security of numerous individuals and organizations at risk. Read the full story. —Eileen Guo The US has approved CRISPR pigs for food Most pigs in the US are confined to factory farms where they can be afflicted by a nasty respiratory virus that kills piglets. The illness is called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS. A few years ago, a British company called Genus set out to design pigs immune to this germ using CRISPR gene editing. Not only did they succeed, but its pigs are now poised to enter the food chain following approval of the animals this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Read the full story. —Antonio Regalado This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly health and biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US has closed a China tariff loopholeThe costs of plenty of goods are likely to shoot up in response. (NYT $)+ But China is still extremely dependent on US-made car chips. (WSJ $)+ Chinese retail giant Temu is pivoting its business model. (Bloomberg $)+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound. (MIT Technology Review) 2 DOGE’s future is looking uncertainIt’s fallen far short of its goal to slash $2 trillion in spending. (WP $)+ No more late-night ice cream for Elon Musk. (CNBC)+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review) 3 Microsoft is hiking the price of its Xbox games consoleBy a whopping 27% in the US. (The Guardian)+ Apple estimates that the tariffs will add $900 million to its costs. (WP $)+ But Apple isn’t announcing any price increases (yet.) (TechCrunch)+ Here’s what is—and isn’t—getting pricier under the tariffs. (Vox) 4 Tech giants have been accused of deliberately distorting AI rankingsA new study claims they’re making untrue claims about the best models. (New Scientist $)+ It accuses benchmark organisation LM Arena of unfair practices. (TechCrunch)+ The site’s operators refute the findings, saying its conclusions are wrong. (Ars Technica) 5 Europe wants to replicate America’s military-industrial complexAnd US contractors are likely to benefit. (WSJ $)+ US soldiers may finally be able to repair their own equipment. (404 Media)+ Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military. (MIT Technology Review) 6 Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI will move forwardA judge rejected OpenAI’s attempt to dismiss the case. (FT $) 7 What a post-4Chan internet looks likeWhat was once contained to a tiny corner of the web is now commonplace. (New Yorker $)+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review) 8 How North Korea infiltrates the USFully remote coders are not who they appear to be. (Wired $) 9 You no longer need a password to open a new Microsoft accountThe company’s gone passkey-first. (The Verge) 10 Fecal transplants are a possible way to treat gut disease And the approach is becoming more mainstream. (Undark)+ How bugs and chemicals in your poo could give away exactly what you’ve eaten. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day “What about the next Taylor Swift?” —US District Court Judge Vince Chhabria questions how powerful musical AI tools will affect up-and-coming musicians during Meta’s copyright court battle, Wired reports. One more thing Your boss is watching Working today—whether in an office, a warehouse, or your car—can mean constant electronic surveillance with little transparency, and potentially with livelihood-­ending consequences if your productivity flags. But what matters even more than the effects of this ubiquitous monitoring on privacy may be how all that data is shifting the relationships between workers and managers, companies and their workforce. We are in the midst of a shift in work and workplace relationships as significant as the Second Industrial Revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And new policies and protections may be necessary to correct the balance of power. Read the full story. —Rebecca Ackermann We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.) + This is cool: scientists have successfully triggered a lightning strike using a drone. + It’s the age-old question—why do so many men refuse to wear shorts in hot weather?+ The American accent that’s hardest for British actors to pull off seems to be either New York or Boston.+ Happy 50th birthday to David Beckham, best of British.