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AI Revolution: 350,000 Protein Structures and Beyond
The Evolution of AI in Scientific Research
Historical Context: Early Uses of AI in Research
The journey of Artificial Intelligence in scientific research began with simple computational models and algorithms designed to solve specific problems. In the 1950s and 1960s, AI was primarily used for basic data analysis and pattern recognition. Early AI applications in research were limited by the time's computational power and data availability. However, these foundational efforts laid the groundwork for more sophisticated AI developments.
AI in Medicine
AI in Drug Discovery and Development
AI is transforming the pharmaceutical industry by accelerating drug discovery and development. Traditional drug discovery is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor, often taking over a decade and billions of dollars to bring a new drug to market. AI algorithms, however, can analyze vast datasets to identify potential drug candidates much faster and at a fraction of the cost.
Explanation of AI Algorithms Used in Identifying Potential Drug Candidates
AI drug discovery algorithms typically employ machine learning, deep Learning, and natural language processing techniques. These algorithms can analyze chemical structures, biological data, and scientific literature to predict which compounds will likely be effective against specific diseases. By modeling complex biochemical interactions, AI can identify promising drug candidates that might have been overlooked through traditional methods.
Case Studies
BenevolentAI
This company uses AI to mine scientific literature and biomedical data to discover new drug candidates.BenevolentAI's platform has identified several potential treatments for diseases such as ALS and COVID-19, demonstrating the efficiency of AI in accelerating drug discovery.
Atomwise
Atomwise utilizes deep learning algorithms to predict the binding affinity of small molecules to protein targets. Their AI-driven approach has led to the discovery of promising drug candidates for diseases like Ebola and multiple sclerosis.
Impact on Reducing Time and Costs in Drug Development
AI significantly reduces the time and cost associated with drug development. By automating the analysis of vast datasets, AI can identify potential drug candidates in months rather than years. Additionally, AI can optimize the design of clinical trials, improving their efficiency and success rates. As a result, AI-driven drug discovery is poised to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry, bringing new treatments to market faster and more cost-effectively than ever before.
AI in Personalized Medicine
AI Applications in Interpreting Medical Images
AI is revolutionizing medical imaging by providing tools to analyze medical images with high accuracy and speed. Deep learning algorithms, particularly convolutional neural networks (CNNs), detect abnormalities in medical images, such as tumors in MRI scans or fractures in X-rays.
How AI Helps Tailor Treatments to Individual Patients
Personalized medicine aims to tailor medical treatments to each patient's individual characteristics. AI plays a crucial role in this field by analyzing genetic, clinical, and lifestyle data to develop personalized treatment plans. Machine learning algorithms can identify patterns and correlations in patient data, enabling healthcare providers to predict how patients will respond to different treatments.
Examples of AI-driven personalized Treatment Plans (e.g., IBM Watson for Oncology)
IBM Watson for Oncology: This AI system analyzes patient data and medical literature to provide oncologists with evidence-based treatment recommendations. By considering the genetic profile and medical history of each patient,Watson helps oncologists develop personalized cancer treatment plans.
Benefits and Challenges of Implementing AI in Personalized Medicine:The benefits of AI in personalized medicine include improved treatment outcomes, reduced side effects, and more efficient use of healthcare resources. However, challenges remain, such as ensuring data privacy, managing the complexity of AI models, and addressing potential biases in AI algorithms. Overcoming these challenges is essential to fully realizing the potential of AI in personalized medicine.
Benefits and Challenges of Implementing AI in Personalized Medicine
The benefits of AI in personalized medicine include improved treatment outcomes, reduced side effects, and more efficient use of healthcare resources. However, challenges remain, such as ensuring data privacy, managing the complexity of AI models, and addressing potential biases in AI algorithms. Overcoming these challenges is essential to fully realizing the potential of AI in personalized medicine.
AI in Medical Imaging and Diagnostics
AI Applications in Interpreting Medical Images
AI is revolutionizing medical imaging by providing tools to analyze medical images with high accuracy and speed. Deep learning algorithms, particularly convolutional neural networks (CNNs), detect abnormalities in medical images, such as tumors in MRI scans or fractures in X-rays
Examples of AI Tools in Diagnostics (e.g., Google's DeepMind, Zebra Medical Vision)
Google's DeepMind: DeepMind's AI systems have been used to accurately interpret retinal scans and diagnose eye diseases. Their algorithms can detect conditions like diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration early, improving patient outcomes.
Zebra Medical Vision: This company offers AI-powered solutions for interpreting medical images across various modalities, including CT, MRI, and X-ray. Their algorithms can detect various conditions, from liver disease to cardiovascular abnormalities.
The Future of AI in Improving Diagnostic Accuracy and Speed
AI has the potential to significantly improve diagnostic accuracy and speed, leading to earlier detection of diseases and better patient outcomes. As AI technology advances, it will become an integral part of medical diagnostics, assisting healthcare professionals in making more accurate and timely decisions.
AI in Climate Science
AI for Climate Modeling and Prediction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly enhanced the precision and reliability of climate models. Traditional climate models rely on complex mathematical equations to simulate the interactions between the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice. However, these models often need help with climate systems' sheer complexity and scale.
AI-driven models can process data from numerous sources, including satellite imagery, weather stations, and historical climate data, to improve short-term weather forecasts and long-term climate projections. For instance, AI algorithms can detect subtle patterns in climate data that might be overlooked by conventional models, leading to more accurate predictions of extreme weather events and climate change impacts.
Examples of AI Projects in Climate Science
Climate Change AI: This initiative brings together researchers and practitioners from AI and climate science to harness AI for climate action. They work on projects that apply AI to improve climate models, optimize renewable energy systems, and develop climate mitigation strategies. For example, AI has been used to enhance the resolution of climate models, providing more detailed and accurate forecasts.
IBM's Green Horizon Project: IBM uses AI to predict air pollution levels and track greenhouse gas emissions. The system employs machine learning algorithms to analyze environmental data and forecast pollution patterns, helping cities manage air quality more effectively.
Impact of AI on Understanding and Mitigating Climate Change
AI's ability to analyze large datasets and identify trends has profound implications for understanding and mitigating climate change. By providing more accurate climate models, AI helps scientists better understand the potential impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, temperature increases, and changes in precipitation patterns. This knowledge is crucial for developing effective mitigation and adaptation strategies. AI also plays a critical role in optimizing renewable energy systems. For instance, AI algorithms can predict solar and wind power output based on weather forecasts, helping to integrate these renewable sources into the power grid more efficiently. This optimization reduces reliance on fossil fuels and helps lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Use of AI in Tracking Environmental Changes
AI technologies are increasingly used to monitor environmental changes, such as deforestation, pollution, and wildlife populations. These applications involve analyzing data from satellites, drones, and sensors to track changes in the environment in real time.
Wildbook
Wildbook uses AI and computer vision to track and monitor wildlife populations. By analyzing photos and videos uploaded by researchers and the public, Wildbook identifies individual animals and tracks their movements and behaviors.This data is invaluable for conservation efforts, helping to protect endangered species and their habitats.
Global Forest Watch
This platform uses AI to monitor deforestation and forest degradation worldwide. AI algorithms process satellite imagery to detect changes in forest cover, providing timely alerts to conservationists and policymakers. This real-time monitoring helps prevent illegal logging and supports reforestation efforts .
The Role of AI in Promoting Sustainability and Conservation Efforts
AI promotes sustainability by enabling more efficient resource management and supporting conservation initiatives. For example, AI can optimize water usage in agriculture by analyzing soil moisture data and weather forecasts to recommend precise irrigation schedules. This reduces water waste and enhances crop yields. In conservation, AI helps monitor ecosystems and detect threats to biodiversity. AI-powered drones and camera traps can automatically identify and count species, providing valuable data for conservationists. These technologies enable more effective management of protected areas and support efforts to restore endangered species populations.
AI in Materials Engineering
Explanation of How AI Accelerates the Discovery of New Materials
The discovery of new materials traditionally involves trial and error, which can be time-consuming and expensive. AI accelerates this process by predicting the properties of potential materials before they are synthesized. Machine learning models are trained on vast datasets of known materials and their properties, allowing them to predict the characteristics of new, hypothetical materials.
Materials Project
This initiative uses AI to predict the properties of thousands of materials. Researchers can use the platform to explore new materials for energy storage, electronics, and other applications. The Materials Project has led to the discovery of new battery materials and catalysts, significantly speeding up the research process.
Citrine Informatics
Citrine uses AI to analyze data on materials and predict optimal compositions for specific applications. Their platform has been used to develop new alloys, polymers, and ceramics with enhanced properties, such as increased strength or conductivity.
Potential Breakthroughs Enabled by AI in Materials Science
AI-driven materials research has the potential to revolutionize various industries. For instance, AI could lead to the discovery of new materials for more efficient solar panels, lightweight and durable materials for aerospace, and high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles. These breakthroughs would have significant economic and environmental benefits, driving innovation and sustainability.
AI in Predicting Material Properties
How AI Models Predict Properties and Behaviors of Materials
AI models use data from existing materials to predict the properties and behaviors of new materials. These models can simulate how a material will respond to different conditions, such as temperature, pressure, and chemical environment. This predictive capability allows researchers to identify promising materials without extensive laboratory testing.
Polymers and Alloys
AI models have been used to predict the mechanical properties of polymers and alloys, such as tensile strength, elasticity, and thermal stability. This helps design materials that meet specific performance criteria for industrial applications
Impact on Developing Advanced Materials for Various Industries
AI's predictive capabilities accelerate the development of advanced materials, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional experimental methods. In electronics, aerospace, and energy industries, AI-driven materials discovery leads to the development of components with superior performance and durability. This innovation drives progress in technology and manufacturing, supporting economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Tools and Technologies Driving AI in Research
Detailed Overview of AlphaFold and Its Significance
AlphaFold developed by DeepMind, is an AI system with remarkable breakthroughs in predicting protein structures. Accurately predicting protein structures is vital because the shape of a protein determines its function, and misfolded proteins can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Defining a protein's structure traditionally required techniques like X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, which are both time-consuming and expensive.
How AlphaFold Has Revolutionized Protein Structure Prediction
In 2020, AlphaFold achieved a significant milestone by outperforming other methods for the Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP) competition. AlphaFold's predictions were comparable to experimental results, achieving a median Global Distance Test (GDT) score of 92.4 out of 100 for the hardest targets in CASP14. This level of accuracy had never been achieved before by computational methods.
The AI system uses neural networks trained on a vast dataset of known protein structures and sequences. It can predict the 3D shapes of proteins based solely on their amino acid sequences, which traditionally took months or years but are now reduced to days.
AlphaFold's success has had a profound impact on various fields:
Drug Discovery
With accurate protein structures, drug developers can design more effective drugs targeting specific proteins. This could significantly reduce the time and cost of bringing new medicines to market.
Biology and Medicine
Understanding protein structures helps researchers decipher their functions, interactions, and roles in diseases. This knowledge is crucial for developing new treatments and understanding biological processes.
Biotechnology
Industries relying on enzymes and other proteins can use AlphaFold to optimize and engineer proteins for specific applications, enhancing efficiency and innovation.
AI Platforms and Frameworks
Several AI platforms and frameworks are widely used in scientific research to facilitate the development and deployment of AI models. Key platforms include:
TensorFlow
Google developed this open-source machine learning framework for various AI applications, including research.
PyTorch
Developed by Facebook's AI Research lab, PyTorch is known for its flexibility and ease of use. It has gained immense popularity among researchers, with over 100,000 stars on GitHub as of 2023.
Keras
A high-level neural networks API running on top of TensorFlow, Keras provides a simplified interface for building and training models. It is used extensively in academic research and industry .
Examples of How These Platforms Facilitate Scientific Discovery
TensorFlow
TensorFlow has been used in projects ranging from image recognition to natural language processing. For instance, it has been used to develop AI models for detecting diabetic retinopathy from retinal images with an accuracy comparable to that of human specialists.
PyTorch
PyTorch's dynamic computational graph makes it ideal for research. Researchers have used PyTorch to create models for climate prediction and medical image analysis, leading to significant advancements in these fields.
Keras
Keras simplifies the process of designing and testing deep learning models, making them accessible to both beginners and experts. It has been used in applications such as genomics and neuroscience, where rapid prototyping and iteration are crucial (Harvard)
The Role of Open-Source AI Tools in Accelerating Innovation
Open-source AI tools democratize access to advanced technologies, enabling researchers worldwide to collaborate and innovate. These tools provide a shared foundation for developing new algorithms, sharing datasets, and building upon each other's work. The collaborative nature of open-source projects accelerates innovation, leading to rapid advancements in AI research and its applications across various scientific disciplines.
Real-Life Examples of AI in Scientific Discovery
AlphaFold's Breakthrough in Protein Folding
In 2020, DeepMind's AlphaFold made a groundbreaking advancement by accurately predicting protein structures. This achievement has far-reaching implications for drug discovery and understanding of diseases. The system has been used to indicate the structure of over 350,000 proteins across 20 different organisms, helping researchers understand protein functions and interactions at an unprecedented scale.
AI in COVID-19 Research
During the COVID-19 pandemic, AI played a crucial role in accelerating vaccine development and drug repurposing. Companies like Moderna used AI to speed up the design of mRNA sequences for their vaccines, significantly reducing development time from years to months. AI algorithms also helped identify existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat COVID-19, leading to faster clinical trials and treatments. For example, AI identified Baricitinib as a potential treatment that was later approved by the FDA.
IBM Watson in Oncology
IBM Watson for Oncology uses AI to analyze large medical literature and patient data to provide personalized cancer treatment recommendations. This tool has been deployed in various hospitals worldwide, improving treatment accuracy and outcomes.
AI in Climate Science: Project Climate Change AI
The Climate Change AI initiative leverages AI to enhance climate modeling, predict extreme weather events, and optimize renewable energy systems. AI models have been used to indicate the impact of climate change on agricultural yields, helping farmers adapt to changing conditions. For instance, AI-driven models have improved the accuracy of weather forecasts, aiding in disaster preparedness and response. These advancements help mitigate the impacts of climate change and promote sustainability.
Citrine Informatics in Materials Science
Citrine Informatics uses AI to accelerate the discovery and development of new materials. Their platform combines machine learning with materials science data to predict material properties and optimize formulations, leading to faster innovation in industries such as aerospace and electronics. The company's AI-driven approach has resulted in new materials with enhanced performance characteristics, reducing the time and cost of traditional materials research. For example, Citrine's platform has helped develop new alloys with improved strength and durability for aerospace applications.
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#artificial intelligence#machine learning algorithms#generative AI#AI models#future of AI#power of AI#AI technology#machine learning applications#AI in drug discovery#AI in scientific research#AI in materials engineering#AI in healthcare#AI in climate science#Coditude
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What can AI do in materials science and engineering?
AI (Artificial Intelligence) plays a transformative role in materials science and engineering, offering a wide range of capabilities that enhance research, development, and application of materials.
AI intervenes in materials discovery and design, high-throughput screening and experimentation, materials characterization and analysis, materials modeling and simulation, materials performance optimization, materials lifecycle and sustainability, and collaborative platforms and knowledge sharing.
Read more:
#materials science#science#engineering#materials#materials science and engineering#AI#artificial intelligence#materials informatics#ai
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more nisha that I think turned out nice
#boss makes a dollar I make a dime - I feed copyrighted material into AI engines on home office time
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Artificial Intelligence for Developers in pune | India
Artificial intelligence developers are concentrating on developing algorithms that allow robots to emulate human intelligence. These people create artificial intelligence systems that are capable of sorting through massive amounts of data, identifying patterns, projecting results, and resolving challenging problems.
#Artificial Intelligence for Developers Pune#AI-Based solutions#Energy Management Centre with Cutting-Edge Solutions#Global Engineering Services Outsourcing Pune#Services India#Panel Design Electrical Pune#Eplan Electrical#Material handling systems
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#sustainability#spaceship#digitalart#technology#aiart#science fiction#art#recycled materials#innovation#engineering#ai
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#art#innovation#sustainability#technology#science fiction#recycled materials#aiart#digitalart#engineering#spaceship#ai
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#ai#spaceship#science fiction#innovation#sustainability#recycled materials#engineering#digitalart#aiart#technology#art
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Second round of seed grants awarded to MIT scholars studying the impact and applications of generative AI
New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/second-round-of-seed-grants-awarded-to-mit-scholars-studying-the-impact-and-applications-of-generative-ai/
Second round of seed grants awarded to MIT scholars studying the impact and applications of generative AI
Last summer, MIT President Sally Kornbluth and Provost Cynthia Barnhart issued a call for papers to “articulate effective roadmaps, policy recommendations, and calls for action across the broad domain of generative AI.” The response to the call far exceeded expectations with 75 proposals submitted. Of those, 27 proposals were selected for seed funding.
In light of this enthusiastic response, Kornbluth and Barnhart announced a second call for proposals this fall.
“The groundswell of interest and the caliber of the ideas overall made clear that a second round was in order,” they said in their email to MIT’s research community this fall. This second call for proposals resulted in 53 submissions.
Following the second call, the faculty committee from the first round considered the proposals and selected 16 proposals to receive exploratory funding. Co-authored by interdisciplinary teams of faculty and researchers affiliated with all five of the Institute’s schools and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, the proposals offer insights and perspectives on the potential impact and applications of generative AI across a broad range of topics and disciplines.
Each selected research group will receive between $50,000 and $70,000 to create 10-page impact papers. Those papers will be shared widely via a publication venue managed and hosted by the MIT Press under the auspices of the MIT Open Publishing Services program.
As with the first round of papers, Thomas Tull, a member of the MIT School of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council and a former innovation scholar at the School of Engineering, contributed funding to support the effort.
The selected papers are:
“A Road-map for End-to-end Privacy and Verifiability in Generative AI,” led by Alex Pentland, Srini Devadas, Lalana Kagal, and Vinod Vaikuntanathan;
“A Virtuous Cycle: Generative AI and Discovery in the Physical Sciences,” led by Philip Harris and Phiala Shanahan;
“Artificial Cambrian Intelligence: Generating New Forms of Visual Intelligence,” led by Ramesh Raskar and Tomaso A. Poggio;
“Artificial Fictions and the Value of AI-Generated Art,” led by Justin Khoo;
“GenAI for Improving Human-to-human Interactions with a Focus on Negotiations,” led by Lawrence Susskind;
“Generative AI as a New Applications Platform and Ecosystem,” led by Michael Cusumano;
“Generative AI for Cities: A Civic Engagement Playbook,” led by Sarah Williams, Sara Beery, and Eden Medina;
“Generative AI for Textile Engineering: Advanced Materials from Heritage Lace Craft,” led by Svetlana V. Boriskina;
“Generative AI Impact for Biomedical Innovation and Drug Discovery,” led by Manolis Kellis, Brad Pentelute, and Marinka Zitnik;
“Impact of Generative AI on the Creative Economy,” led by Ashia Wilson and Dylan Hadfield-Menell;
“Redefining Virtuosity: The Role of Generative AI in Live Music Performances,” led by Joseph A. Paradiso and Eran Egozy;
“Reflection-based Learning with Generative AI,” led by Stefanie Mueller;
“Robust and Reliable Systems for Generative AI,” led by Shafi Goldwasser, Yael Kalai, and Vinod Vaikuntanathan;
“Supporting the Aging Population with Generative AI,” led by Pattie Maes;
“The Science of Language in the Era of Generative AI,” led by Danny Fox, Yoon Kim, and Roger Levy; and
“Visual Artists, Technological Shock, and Generative AI,” led by Caroline Jones and Huma Gupta.
#000#Administration#advanced materials#aging#ai#Algorithms#applications#Art#artificial#Artificial Intelligence#artists#cities#college#Community#Computer science and technology#computing#craft#drug#drug discovery#economy#Electrical Engineering&Computer Science (eecs)#email#engineering#Faculty#focus#Forms#Funding#genai#generative#generative ai
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adobe substance sampler is an interesting piece of software and i think it's fun for like, really simple tiling textures but it's real nasty how hard they try to shove "ai" features down your throat just because it's the new buzzword. games have used procedural material generation for years it's not anything new or fancy
#also the 'ai powered' image to material looks like shit and it's easier to just do it manually w/ filters#ALSO it gets on my nerves so bad that this is a software for making materials and the preview sphere has shitty uvs#it stretches everything so bad. i can't tell what my material actually looks like until i take it in engine
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The Impact of AI-Generated Content
In recent years, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed various industries, including content creation. AI algorithms are increasingly being used to generate written content for websites, blogs, and marketing materials. As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, questions about transparency and ethics arise, leading us to ponder whether it should be labeled as such. In this article, we explore how Google treats AI content and the debate surrounding the labeling of AI-generated content.
Google's Stance on AI-Generated Content
Google, as the dominant search engine, plays a crucial role in shaping how online content is discovered and ranked. To understand its approach to AI-generated content, we must delve into its search algorithms and policies.
Google's algorithms are designed to assess the quality, relevance, and usefulness of web content. In doing so, they evaluate factors such as keywords, backlinks, user engagement, and more. The goal is to provide users with the most valuable and accurate information in response to their queries.
As AI-generated content continues to proliferate, Google's algorithms adapt to assess the quality of such content. Google has stated that it doesn't specifically penalize or favor AI-generated content. Instead, it evaluates it based on the same criteria as any other content. This means that AI-generated content can rank well in search results if it meets Google's quality guidelines.
Examine Google's official statements regarding content generated by artificial intelligence.
From Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan’s November 2022 tweets:
“We haven’t said AI content is bad. We’ve said, pretty clearly, content written primarily for search engines rather than humans is the issue. That’s what we’re focused on.”
Gary Illyes’ statement on labeling AI-generated content, June 16, 2023:
“We do not label it as AI-generated content. Again, it’s not whether the AI ���wrote it, but whether it’s high quality.”
The Need for Transparency
While Google may not penalize AI-generated content, the question of labeling remains contentious. Many argue that transparency is essential, as it ensures that users are aware of the content's origin and can make informed judgments.
Labeling AI-generated content can serve several purposes:
User Awareness: When content is generated by AI, labeling it as such informs users that they are consuming machine-generated material. This transparency can help users assess the reliability and trustworthiness of the information.
Ethical Considerations: Disclosing AI-generated content promotes ethical practices in content creation. It ensures that creators give credit to AI tools while also taking responsibility for the content they publish.
Content Originality: Labeling AI content helps distinguish it from human-generated content. This distinction can be crucial when it comes to issues of copyright and intellectual property.
Algorithmic Fairness: Transparency in labeling AI content contributes to the fairness of search engine results. Users and content creators should understand how algorithms work and how AI influences what they see in search results.
Balancing Act: Benefits and Concerns
The debate on labeling AI-generated content is not without its complexities. On one hand, transparency is critical to building trust and ensuring ethical content creation. On the other hand, labeling AI content might inadvertently stigmatize it or lead users to dismiss it as less credible.
Additionally, labeling raises questions about what constitutes AI-generated content. Is it content entirely generated by machines, or does it include content that is edited or curated by humans using AI assistance? Striking the right balance is crucial to avoid stifling innovation while upholding transparency.
The rise of AI-generated content presents both opportunities and challenges for content creators, consumers, and search engines like Google. While Google does not discriminate against AI-generated content, the labeling debate underscores the importance of transparency, ethics, and user awareness.
As AI continues to shape the content landscape, it is essential for stakeholders to engage in a thoughtful dialogue about the role of AI-generated content and the best practices for its integration into the digital ecosystem. Ultimately, finding a balance that promotes innovation, preserves trust, and upholds ethical content creation is key to navigating this evolving landscape successfully.
Engage with us to discover the potential with Mystic Web Designn!
#Mystic#Web Designn#Ultimately#promotes innovation#user awareness#content creators#consumers#search engines#like Google#AI-generated#Balancing Act#websites#blogs#marketing materials
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Video: Melanie Gonick/MIT
A team of engineers has developed a new 3D inkjet printing system that utilizes computer vision for contact-free 3D printing, letting engineers print with high-performance materials they couldn’t use before.
Learn more.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr!
#robot#robotics#3d printing#material science#machine learning#ai#electrical engineering#computer science#computer vision#engineering#Youtube
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(half rant half story)
I'm a physicist. I work for a company that helps develop car parts. Essentially, car companies come to us with ideas on what they want from a part or material, and we make/test the idea or help them make/test it. Usually this means talking to other scientists and engineers and experts and it's all fine. Sometimes this means talking to businesspeople and board execs and I hate them
A bit ago when AI was really taking off in the zeitgeist I went to a meeting to talk about some tweaks Car Company A wanted to make to their hydraulics- specifically the master cylinder, but it doesn't super matter. I thought I'd be talking to their engineers - it ends up being just me, their head supervisor (who was not a scientist/engineer) and one of their executives from a different area (also not a scientist/engineer). I'm the only one in the room who actually knows how a car works, and also the lowest-level employee, and also aware that these people will give feedback to my boss based on how I 'represent the company ' whilst I'm here.
I start to explain my way through how I can make some of the changes they want - trying to do so in a way they'll understand - when Head Supervisor cuts me off and starts talking about AI. I'm like "oh well AI is often integrated into the software for a car but we're talking hardware right now, so that's not something we really ca-"
"Can you add artificial intelligence to the hydraulics?"
"..sorry, what was that?"
"Can you add AI to the hydraulics system?"
can i fucking what mate "Sir, I'm sorry, I'm a little confused - what do you mean by adding AI to the hydraulics?"
"I just thought this stuff could run smoother if you added AI to it. Most things do"
The part of the car that moves when you push the acceleration pedal is metal and liquid my dude what are you talking about "You want me to .add AI...to the pistons? To the master cylinder?"
"Yeah exactly, if you add AI to the bit that makes the pistons work, it should work better, right?"
IT'S METAL PIPES it's metal pipes it's metal pipes "Sir, there isn't any software in that part of the car"
"I know, but it's artificial intelligence, I'm sure there's a way to add it"
im exploding you with my mind you cannot seriously be asking me to add AI to a section of car that has as much fucking code attached to it as a SOCK what do you MEAN. The most complicated part of this thing is a SPRING you can't be serious
He was seriously asking. I've met my fair share of idiots but I was sure he wasn't genuinely seriously asking that I add AI directly to a piston system, but he was. And not even in the like "oh if we implement a way for AI to control that part" kind of way, he just vaguely thought that AI would "make it better" WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEANNNNN I HAD TO SPEND 20 MINUTES OF MY HARD EARNED LIFE EXPLAINING THAT NEITHER I NOR ANYONE ELSE CAN ADD AI TO A GOD DAMNED FUCKING PISTON. "CAN YOU ADD AI TO THE HYDRAULICS" NO BUT EVEN WITHOUT IT THAT METAL PIPE IS MORE INTELLIGENT THAN YOU
Posted by admin Rodney.
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the motel room, or: on datedness
I.
Often I find myself nostalgic for things that haven't disappeared yet. This feeling is enhanced by the strange conviction that once I stop looking at these things, I will never see them again, that I am living in the last moment of looking. This is sense is strongest for me in the interiors of buildings perhaps because, like items of clothing, they are of a fashionable nature, in other words, more impermanent than they probably should be.
As I get older, to stumble on something truly dated, once a drag, is now a gift. After over a decade of real estate aggregation and the havoc it's wreaked on how we as a society perceive and decorate houses, if you're going to Zillow to search for the dated (which used to be like shooting fish in a barrel), you'll be searching aimlessly, for hours, to increasingly no avail, even with all the filters engaged. (The only way to get around this is locational knowledge of datedness gleaned from the real world.) If you try to find images of the dated elsewhere on the internet, you will find that the search is not intuitive. In this day and age, you cannot simply Google "80s hotel room" anymore, what with the disintegration of the search engine ecosystem and the AI generated nonsense and the algorithmic preference for something popular (the same specific images collected over and over again on social media), recent, and usually a derivative of the original search query (in this case, finding material along the lines of r/nostalgia or the Backrooms.)
To find what one is looking for online, one must game the search engine with filters that only show content predating 2021, or, even better, use existing resources (or those previously discovered) both online and in print. In the physical world of interiors, to find what one is looking for one must also now lurk around obscure places, and often outside the realm of the domestic which is so beholden to and cursed by the churn of fashion and the logic of speculation. Our open world is rapidly closing, while, paradoxically, remaining ostensibly open. It's true, I can open Zillow. I can still search. In the curated, aggregated realm, it is becoming harder and harder to find, and ultimately, to look.
But what if, despite all these changes, datedness was never really searchable? This is a strange symmetry, one could say an obscurity, between interiors and online. It is perhaps unintentional, and it lurks in the places where searching doesn't work, one because no one is searching there, or two, because an aesthetic, for all our cataloguing, curation, aggregation, hoarding, is not inherently indexable and even if it was, there are vasts swaths of the internet and the world that are not categorized via certain - or any - parameters. The internet curator's job is to find them and aggregate them, but it becomes harder and harder to do. They can only be stumbled upon or known in an outside, offline, historical or situational way. If to index, to aggregate, is, or at least was for the last 30 years, to profit (whether monetarily or in likes), then to be dated, in many respects, is the aesthetic manifestation of barely breaking even. Of not starting, preserving, or reinventing but just doing a job.
We see this online as well. While the old-web Geocities look and later Blingee MySpace-era swag have become aestheticized and fetishized, a kind of naive art for a naive time, a great many old websites have not received the same treatment. These are no less naive but they are harder to repackage or commodify because they are simple and boring. They are not "core" enough.
As with interiors, web datedness can be found in part or as a whole. For example, sites like Imgur or Reddit are not in and of themselves dated but they are full of remnants, of 15-year old posts and their "you, sir, have won the internet" vernacular that certainly are. Other websites are dated because they were made a long time ago by and for a clientele that doesn't have a need or the skill to update (we see this often with Web 2.0 e-commerce sites that figured out how to do a basic mobile page and reckoned it was enough). The next language of datedness, like the all-white landlord-special interior, is the default, clean Squarespace restaurant page, a landing space that's the digital equivalent of a flyer, rarely gleaned unless someone needs a menu, has a food allergy or if information about the place is not available immediately from Google Maps. I say this only to maintain that there is a continuity in practices between the on- and off-line world beyond what we would immediately assume, and that we cannot blame everything on algorithms.
But now you may ask, what is, exactly, datedness? Having spent two days in a distinctly dated hotel room, I've decided to sit in utter boredom with the numinous past and try and pin it down.
II.
I am in an obscure place. I am in Saint-Georges, Quebec, Canada, on assignment. I am staying at a specific motel, the Voyageur. By my estimation the hotel was originally built in the late seventies and I'd be shocked if it was older than 1989. The hotel exterior was remodeled sometime in the 2000s with EIFS cladding and beige paint. Above is a picture of my room, which, forgive me, is in the process of being inhabited. American (and to a lesser extent Canadian) hotel rooms are some of the most churned through, renovated spaces in the world, and it's pretty rare, unless you're staying in either very small towns or are forced by economic necessity to stay at real holes in the wall, to find ones from this era. The last real hitter for me was a 90s Day's Inn in the meme-famous Breezewood, PA during the pandemic.
At first my reaction to seeing the room was cautionary. It was the last room in town, and certainly compared to other options, probably not the world's first choice. However, after staying in real, genuine European shitholes covering professional cycling I've become a class-A connoisseur of bad rooms. This one was definitively three stars. A mutter of "okay time to do a quick look through." But upon further inspection (post-bedbug paranoia) I came to the realization that maybe the always-new brainrot I'd been so critical of had seeped a teeny bit into my own subconscious and here I was snubbing my nose at a blessing in disguise. The room is not a bad room, nor is it unclean. It's just old. It's dated. We are sentimental about interiors like this now because they are disappearing, but they are for my parents what 2005 beige-core is for me and what 2010s greige will become for the generation after. When I'm writing about datedness, I'm writing in general using a previous era's examples because datedness, by its very nature, is a transitional status. Its end state is the mixed emotion of seeing things for what they are yet still appreciating them, expressed here.
Datedness is the period between vintage and contemporary. It is the sentiment between quotidian and subpar. It is uncurated and preserved only by way of inertia, not initiative. It gives us a specific feeling we don't necessarily like, one that is deliberately evoked in the media subcultures surrounding so-called "liminal" spaces: the fuguelike feeling of being spatially trapped in a time while our real time is passing. Datedness in the real world is not a curated experience, it is only what was. It is different from nostalgia because it is not deliberately remembered, yearned for or attached to sweetness. Instead, it is somehow annoying. It is like stumbling into the world of adults as a child, but now you're the adult and the child in you is disappointed. (The real child-you forgot a dull hotel room the moment something more interesting came along.) An image of my father puts his car keys on the table, looks around and says, "It'll do." We have an intolerance for datedness because it is the realization of what sufficed. Sufficiency in many ways implies lack.
However, for all its datedness, many, if not all, of the things in this room will never be seen again if the room is renovated. They will become unpurchaseable and extinct. Things like the bizarrely-patterned linoleum tile in the shower, the hose connecting to the specific faucet of the once-luxurious (or at least middling) jacuzzi tub whose jets haven't been exercised since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wide berth of the tank on the toilet. There is nothing, really, worth saving about these things. Even the most sentimental among us wouldn't dare argue that the items and finishes in this room are particularly important from a design or historical standpoint. Not everything old has a patina. They're too cheaply made to salvage. Plastic tile. Bowed plywood. The image-artifacts of these rooms, gussied up for Booking dot com, will also, inevitably disappear, relegated to the dustheap of web caches and comments that say "it was ok kinda expensive but close to twon (sic)." You wouldn't be able to find them anyway unless you were looking for a room.
One does, of course, recognize a little bit of design in what's here. Signifiers of an era. The wood-veneer of the late 70s giving way to the pastel overtones of the 80s. Perhaps even a slow 90s. The all-in-one vanity floating above the floor, a modernist basement bathroom hallmark. White walls as a sign of cleanliness. Gestures, in the curved lines of the nightstands, towards postmodernity. Metallic lamp bases with wide-brimmed shades, a whisper of glamor. A kind of scalloped aura to the club chairs. The color teal mediated through hundreds if not thousands of shoes. Yellowing plastic, including the strips of "molding" that visually tie floor to wall. These are remnants (or are they intuitions?) of so many movements and micromovements, none of them definite enough to point to the influence of a single designer, hell, even of a single decade, just strands of past-ness accumulated into one thread, which is cheapness. Continuity exists in the materials only because everything was purchased as a set from a wholesale catalog.
In some way a hotel is supposed to be placeless. Anonymous. Everything tries to be that way now, even houses. Perhaps because we don't like the way we spy on ourselves and lease our images out to the world so we crave the specificity of hotel anonymity, of someplace we move through on our way to bigger, better or at least different things. The hotel was designed to be frictionless but because it is in a little town, it sees little use and because it sees little use, there are elements that can last far longer than they were intended and which inadvertently cause friction. (The janky door unlocks with a key. The shower hose keeps coming out of the faucet. It's deeply annoying.)
Lack of wear and lack of funds only keep them that way. Not even the paper goods of the eighties have been exhausted yet. Datedness is not a choice but an inevitability. Because it is not a choice, it is not advertised except in a utilitarian sense. It is kept subtle on the hotel websites, out of shame. Because it does not subscribe to an advertiser's economy of the now, of the curated type rather than the "here is my service" type, it disappears into the folds of the earth and cannot be searched for in the way "design" can. It can only be discovered by accident.
When I look at all of these objects and things, I do so knowing I will never see them again, at least not all here together like this, as a cohesive whole assembled for a specific purpose. I don't think I'll ever have reason to come back to this town or this place, which has given me an unexpected experience of being peevish in my father's time. Whenever I end up in a place like this, where all is as it was, I get the sense that it will take a very long time for others to experience this sensation again with the things my generation has made. The machinations of fashion work rapaciously to make sure that nothing is ever old, not people, not rooms, not items, not furniture, not fabrics, not even design, that old matron who loves to wax poetic about futurity and timelessness. The plastic-veneered particleboard used here is now the bedrock of countless landfills. Eventually it will become the chemical-laced soil upon which we build our condos. It is possible that we are standing now at the very last frontier of our prior datedness. The next one has not yet elided. It's a special place. Spend a night. Take pictures.
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Green energy is in its heyday.
Renewable energy sources now account for 22% of the nation’s electricity, and solar has skyrocketed eight times over in the last decade. This spring in California, wind, water, and solar power energy sources exceeded expectations, accounting for an average of 61.5 percent of the state's electricity demand across 52 days.
But green energy has a lithium problem. Lithium batteries control more than 90% of the global grid battery storage market.
That’s not just cell phones, laptops, electric toothbrushes, and tools. Scooters, e-bikes, hybrids, and electric vehicles all rely on rechargeable lithium batteries to get going.
Fortunately, this past week, Natron Energy launched its first-ever commercial-scale production of sodium-ion batteries in the U.S.
“Sodium-ion batteries offer a unique alternative to lithium-ion, with higher power, faster recharge, longer lifecycle and a completely safe and stable chemistry,” said Colin Wessells — Natron Founder and Co-CEO — at the kick-off event in Michigan.
The new sodium-ion batteries charge and discharge at rates 10 times faster than lithium-ion, with an estimated lifespan of 50,000 cycles.
Wessells said that using sodium as a primary mineral alternative eliminates industry-wide issues of worker negligence, geopolitical disruption, and the “questionable environmental impacts” inextricably linked to lithium mining.
“The electrification of our economy is dependent on the development and production of new, innovative energy storage solutions,” Wessells said.
Why are sodium batteries a better alternative to lithium?
The birth and death cycle of lithium is shadowed in environmental destruction. The process of extracting lithium pollutes the water, air, and soil, and when it’s eventually discarded, the flammable batteries are prone to bursting into flames and burning out in landfills.
There’s also a human cost. Lithium-ion materials like cobalt and nickel are not only harder to source and procure, but their supply chains are also overwhelmingly attributed to hazardous working conditions and child labor law violations.
Sodium, on the other hand, is estimated to be 1,000 times more abundant in the earth’s crust than lithium.
“Unlike lithium, sodium can be produced from an abundant material: salt,” engineer Casey Crownhart wrote in the MIT Technology Review. “Because the raw ingredients are cheap and widely available, there’s potential for sodium-ion batteries to be significantly less expensive than their lithium-ion counterparts if more companies start making more of them.”
What will these batteries be used for?
Right now, Natron has its focus set on AI models and data storage centers, which consume hefty amounts of energy. In 2023, the MIT Technology Review reported that one AI model can emit more than 626,00 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent.
“We expect our battery solutions will be used to power the explosive growth in data centers used for Artificial Intelligence,” said Wendell Brooks, co-CEO of Natron.
“With the start of commercial-scale production here in Michigan, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for efficient, safe, and reliable battery energy storage.”
The fast-charging energy alternative also has limitless potential on a consumer level, and Natron is eying telecommunications and EV fast-charging once it begins servicing AI data storage centers in June.
On a larger scale, sodium-ion batteries could radically change the manufacturing and production sectors — from housing energy to lower electricity costs in warehouses, to charging backup stations and powering electric vehicles, trucks, forklifts, and so on.
“I founded Natron because we saw climate change as the defining problem of our time,” Wessells said. “We believe batteries have a role to play.”
-via GoodGoodGood, May 3, 2024
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Note: I wanted to make sure this was legit (scientifically and in general), and I'm happy to report that it really is! x, x, x, x
#batteries#lithium#lithium ion batteries#lithium battery#sodium#clean energy#energy storage#electrochemistry#lithium mining#pollution#human rights#displacement#forced labor#child labor#mining#good news#hope
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WOULD YOU LIKE AN ALMOND JOY .ᐣ
( black noir x gn!crime analyst reader )
summary: after a long day of work, you try to unwind by watching your comfort show, but your solitude is interrupted by yet another visit from noir, who seems to be finding more and more excuses to spend time with you… (includes a C.AI bot as part 2 below!)
wordcount: 2k
tags: brief mention of NSFW pop-up ads, nerdy n’ socially awkward reader, noir’s disdain for almond joys but he makes up for it at the end <3
It had been a long day at the crime analytics office in Vought. As the sun began to set, exhaustion crept over you after reviewing incident report after report. Your eyes strained from the blue glare of your computer screen. You knew you had promised your boss you would organize the ever-growing database, but the tiny voice of procrastination was pleading for rest before your overworked brain turned into a pile of mush.
Rather than more paperwork—you, being the slacker of all slackers in this department, decided a well-deserved break was in order. And what better way to recharge than turning off the noggin and filling it with good ol’ fashioned mindless entertainment?
With a few tired clicks of your mouse, you booted up your go-to streaming site, which was none other than 123movies. Scrolling through the options, your cursor hovered over the play button of your favorite trashy drama. The kind of cheesy, perfectly predictable melodrama spun from the worst of amateur YA plots. It was practically comfort food for your fatigued mind, just what you needed to loosen up after the mental marathon that was this long day.
As the opening credits began to roll, your computer began to whir and hiss like an overtaxed engine, emitting gusts of unusually hot air from the vents. Suddenly, its screen slowed to a sluggish crawl, cluttered with a barrage of not-so-savory pop-up ads. Barely a minute in, the pixels already scrambled to form images better to left unseen—half naked women in risqué yet tacky mermaid-like attire, claiming they were ‘just around the corner and ready for a good aquatic fuck.’
First of all, what the absolute living hell is an “aquatic fuck”??
Did you even want to know? And most importantly, what happened to the ad blocker you installed just the other day? Judging by the contents, you had a sneaking suspicion that slimy, sea-dwelling degenerate, The Deep, had tampered with your computer… yet again.
“For the love of-… what’s with all these pop-up ads?” you muttered under your breath as excessively explicit ads crowded out the episode. Your eyes darted furtively around the room to check for wandering glances, hoping against hope that none of your coworkers had noticed the unwanted filth invading your screen. Heart pounding, you squeezed your chair closer to your monitor into a makeshift barricade, shielding the display as best you could while hastily clicking away at the intrusive ads.
As you hurriedly closed the remaining windows, an ominous shadow fell across the screen. Dreading what—or who—might be behind you, you slowly swiveled your chair around to find Black Noir's stoic stare boring into your own.
You stifled a yelp as you instinctively clutched the armrests, catching yourself on the edge of your seat before an ungainly spill to the floor. Noir had a way of materializing without warning, and it never failed to unnerve.
“N-Noir!” you managed, inwardly cringing as your voice broke on his name. “Fancy seeing you in these parts. I was just taking a quick break and y’know- stretching ‘em brain cells.” You tried for a lighthearted chuckle, but it emerged as more of a strained squeak that faded into an anxious hum.
With a jerky flurry of clicks and the browser minimized from view, whatever dignity you still retained disappearing along with it. All that did remain was you praying to the heavens above that he hadn't noticed its questionable contents (even if he most definitely had and simply chose not to comment)
When Noir offered no response, you of course charmingly barreled ahead in your frazzled daze. “But anyways, s-sorry about that… how uh, can I help you today?” your words tumbled out in a breathless rush, punctuated by a shrill laugh you hoped disguised the mortification simmering beneath.
Noir cocked his head, observing you with that same silent intensity. You fidgeted, hands twisting in knotted discomfort, the heat in your ears now engulfing your entire face. Was it the invasive pop-ups that had you squirming in your seat? Or the fact he could snuff out your existence faster than you can say “workers’ comp”?
Either way, beneath the weight of his stare, you already felt as if you were some peculiar, freakish creature pinned for study, rather than some bumbling employee just trying to unwind and watch their comfort show.
And to him, you indeed were a fascinating, bizarre little human.
Mercifully, Noir chose to extend a folder toward you, putting an end to your somewhat pathetic withering. You accepted it with a wordless nod, nearly sagging in your chair as tension drained from your shoulders.
Whirling towards the familiar clutter of your desk once more, you pretended absorption in the folder’s material, hoping this signaled Noir’s leave. After all, has anyone seen the state of you? It certainly wasn’t a flattering one. Yet from the corner of your eye, you detected no movement, no receding footsteps—his shadowy form remained statuesquely in place.
Believe it or not, this has been becoming a thing, a growing habit of late—and a suspicious one at that. Lately his breaks had grown longer, minutes lengthening to quarters of an hour, all spent hovering at your desk as you worked. However, his focus was solely on watching and observing you. He never exhibited a hint of thought or motive for his reason there, only leaving you with questions that seemed to multiply by each and every visit.
Noir, on the other hand, was somehow utterly convinced that you and him were two peas in a tightly-knit pod. He swore you two were best of buds for life—even if "life" so far had only amounted to the past two weeks' worth of half-hour stretches where he silently observed your work from the corner.
Ironically, you didn’t have the slightest inkling of how he really felt. Instead, you always assumed that he, like most supes, regarded you as little more than a puny mortal—a fragile, near-useless sack of flesh and bones whose skull he was one misstep away from caving in with bare hands.
But nope, Noir was simply here to bless you, the nerdy but cute crime analyst, with his presence—his rather… unsettling presence.
The familiar hush settled as you reluctantly returned focus to the task at hand. Hocus-pocus-focus, you chanted mentally, peeling away the last shreds of stray thoughts to tap into the zone of productivity. Unfurling the dossier Noir provided, you began sifting through documents for insight on his purpose in approaching you. Meanwhile, a flick of movement in the edge of your vision revealed Noir's attention veer off course, the almond joy perched beside your keyboard capturing his notice.
You tensed, hocus-pocus-focus breaking, all too aware of past disappearances of snacks in these briefings. Sure enough, his hand drifted noiselessly toward the candy bar, no doubt spurred by ingrained impulse to dispose of it per his usual custom. But you'd grown wise to his methods by now.
Not again, you sighed inwardly, snatching the almond joy and cradling it protectively as if it were your dear, beloved child.
Noir made no move to withdraw, palm outstretched expectantly. You frowned, struggling to keep frustration at bay. "Please, come on- not this time!.. It's my last one for the day." Brows pinching, your tone threatened to rise before steadying with a slow and calm inhale. No use losing composure over candy, no matter the principle. So all you could do was peer beseechingly at Noir in silent appeal, legs jittering restlessly under your desk in building apprehension.
Unfortunately, you found no signs of leniency in his obscured face—only his hand beckoning relentlessly for the almond joy. You plea was once again met with stony resolve, as if he was internally distressed by the mere presence of it. What was he? Deathly allergic to almond joys or something?
With a resigned breath, you delivered the almond joy towards Noir's waiting glove, unable to hide the disappointment dimming your features. Your lips curled into a slight pout, gaze sinking heavy into your lap at being parted from the treat. Though Noir was never one for words, it really didn’t take a rocket scientist to see you felt bullied into submission by his demands. At the end of the day, what power did a measly analyst like yourself hold against one of the Seven? As your fingers uncurled, releasing the candy into Noir's grasp, you couldn't help but feel a bit put upon, even if that wasn’t his intention at all.
Noir was well aware of the upset feelings his request had caused, so in an attempt to remedy the situation, his arm was sent in a backwards reach for the notepad he often used to communicate. However, he found himself at a loss as words eluded him, his thoughts swirling in frustrating circles of “What should I even say?”—muddled and incoherent. For a moment he stared at you, mask betraying no emotion as he grappled to find the right words, despite the prick of guilt nibbling at his conscience. Then, lacking any better option, he simply tossed the offending candy into the trash, perhaps with more force than intended.
Clearly, socializing was not Noir’s strong suit.
With no further acknowledgment, Noir spun on his heel and marched away. You watched his retreating, rigid form with discomfort clenching your insides, eyes falling onto the lonely candy discarded in the trash, its colorful wrapper mocking your current disheartened state.
Wearily, you turned away from the almond joy, redirecting your attention toward the computer as a means to divert your now soured mood. Maximizing the browser, you hoped that your planned show may have had time to load during the interaction. But upon inspecting the screen, you found the video remained stubbornly stalled, stuck on buffering dots and refusing to roll despite the minutes passed.
Just. Peachy.
One (super)human encounter had sucked the very life source out of your dog-tired body, and now this. It was really shaping up to be one of those days.
Thoroughly worn out, you gently laid your head down onto the desk, pillowing it against the crook of your folded arms as eyelids slid shut. All you craved was to simply sleep away the remaining time until you could finally escape this wretched shift and retreat to the sanctuary of your home sweet home.
─────────────────
As your shift wound down to its end, you were finally stirring from your slumber. Rubbing the sleep from your bleary eyes, your blurred vision sharpened to show your colleagues had long since departed while you were snoozing away.
Rising and squaring your shoulders, you began to gather your belongings in preparation to leave as well. Once you had collected everything and lifted to your feet, something in the far corner of your desk caught your eye. Approaching for a closer look in the dim lighting, the fuzzy outline gradually came into focus—a cluttered collection of Hershey's Kisses, their jumbled placement grouped to form the shape of a heart.
You blinked in bewilderment, rubbing your eyes once more to ensure you weren't imagining things. Stepping closer, you spotted a sticky note nestled within the heart of chocolates, scrawled upon in a crude, blocky hand. At first, you assumed it was some silly prank from one of your coworkers, but you knew you recognized the handwriting anywhere—it was Noir's.
Gingerly, you plucked the sticky note from the desk, lifting it to your line of sight to read the message. “Kisses taste better than almond joys…Sorry.” you read softly, your voice trailing off as confusion crept in.
Designed as a very apparent flirty gesture, the intent behind the note and chocolates still managed to whoosh straight over your head. As always seemed the case, even the most painfully obvious social cues could so easily evade your understanding—this proving no exception.
You slipped the sticky note into your pocket, then selected a foil-wrapped Kiss from the pile. Gently rolling the chocolate between your fingers, you unwrapped it and popped one into your mouth. You took time to savor its light cream filling beneath a smooth outer shell, face crinkling in thought and head tilting as you considered your verdict. “Eh… I’d beg to differ.” you mused with a shrug, slinging your bag over your shoulder as you took your leave from the office.
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Pssst- likes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated in this household and keep me motivated! <3
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a C.AI bot as your very own part 2 where you thank Noir the following day:
a/n: saw somewhere that kisses don’t contain nuts but then I also saw someone else say they actually do??? So let’s just pretend the kisses Noir chose are completely nut-free for the sake of the plot 😭
also, the reader is very much based off Anika if it wasn’t obvious enough haha! She’s so y/n coded 😤💗
♡ divider credits: @/ianrkives
#the boys#the boys fandom#the boys tv#the boys series#the boys amazon#the boys fanfic#the boys x you#the boys x y/n#the boys x reader#the boys fic#black noir x reader#black noir#the boys black noir#black noir x you#black noir fanfiction#black noir smut#black noir the boys#homelander#homelander x reader#homelander x y/n#homelander x you#homelander smut#homelander fanfiction#billy butcher x reader#billy butcher x you#billy butcher smut#soldier boy#soldier boy x reader#soldier boy smut
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