The Download: AI’s math solutions, and brewing beer with sunlight
AI models can easily generate essays and other types of text. However, they’re nowhere near as good at solving math problems, which tend to involve logical reasoning—something that’s beyond the capabilities of most current AI systems.
But that may finally be changing. Google DeepMind says it has trained two specialized AI systems to solve complex math problems involving advanced reasoning. The systems worked together to successfully solve four out of six problems from this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad, a prestigious competition for high school students.
They won the equivalent of a silver medal, marking the first time any AI system has ever achieved such a high success rate on these kinds of problems. Read the full story.
—Rhiannon Williams
Why the US is still trying to make mirror-magnified solar energy work
The US is continuing its decades-long effort to commercialize a technology that converts sunlight into heat, funding a series of new projects using that energy to brew beer, produce low-carbon fuels, or keep grids running.
The Department of Energy has announced it is putting $33 million into nine pilot projects based on concentrating solar thermal power, MIT Technology Review can report exclusively. The technology uses large arrays of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, where it’s used to heat up molten salt, ceramic particles, or other materials that can store that energy for extended periods.
