• Forward Future Daily
  • Posts
  • 🧑‍🚀 Gemini Robotics, AI Passes Peer Review & AI's Impact on Thinking

🧑‍🚀 Gemini Robotics, AI Passes Peer Review & AI's Impact on Thinking

Google's Gemini Robotics enables real-world AI actions, AI may reshape our thinking, AI paper passes peer review, IBM downplays AI coding fears, Gemma 3 boosts AI efficiency.

Good morning, it’s Thursday. Google DeepMind is leveling up robots with Gemini Robotics—turning them into real-world pros at tasks like snack-packing and origami-folding. Meanwhile, AI might be making us mentally lazy, and an AI scientist may have just passed peer review. Whoa.

Plus, in today’s Forward Future Original, we dive into how AI superintelligence could completely reshape the stock market.

Read on!

đź“Š MARKET PULSE

AI Funding Hits Record High as Big Tech and Investors Go All-In

Last quarter saw an unprecedented surge in AI investment – venture funding for AI startups shattered records in Q4 2024, fueled by a handful of mega-deals and aggressive bets by tech giants. Investors poured tens of billions into AI in just three months, signaling a major realignment of tech funding priorities. → Continue reading here.

🗞️ YOUR DAILY ROLLUP

Top Stories of the Day

📱 Google's Gemma 3: AI for Single GPUs and Smartphones
Google’s Gemma 3 is a powerful open-source AI model designed to run efficiently on a single GPU or even a smartphone. It features a massive 128,000-token context window (up from 8,192), multimodal capabilities (text, images, and video), and various sizes from 1B to 27B parameters. Gemma 3 outperforms most open-source models in chat and coding but trails DeepSeek R1 slightly. Available in Google AI Studio and Hugging Face, it's ready for development.

🎓 AI Scientist Passes Peer Review for First Time
An AI-generated paper by The AI Scientist-v2 passed peer review at an ICLR 2025 workshop, becoming the first fully AI-written paper to meet human scientific standards. The AI independently developed the hypothesis, ran experiments, analyzed data, and wrote the manuscript. It scored 6.33—above the acceptance threshold—but was withdrawn post-review per ethical guidelines.

👨‍💻 IBM CEO: AI Won't Replace Programmers Soon
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna downplayed claims that AI will write 90% of code in the near future, predicting instead that AI might contribute 20-30% of code. Speaking at SXSW, Krishna argued that AI will enhance programmer productivity rather than eliminate jobs. He likened AI’s impact to past innovations like calculators, calling it a valuable but limited tool. Krishna also emphasized quantum computing’s greater potential for driving scientific breakthroughs.

🦾 Stationary Robots Are Advancing Rapidly
Robots that don't walk, such as robotic arms and stationary systems, are making significant technological strides. Advances in AI and automation are enabling these robots to perform more complex tasks with higher precision and adaptability. Companies are focusing on improving dexterity, vision, and AI integration to enhance productivity in manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare.

🤖 ROBOTICS

AI Steps Into the Physical World

The Recap: Google DeepMind has launched Gemini Robotics and Gemini Robotics-ER, two AI models based on Gemini 2.0 that bring advanced reasoning, interactivity, and dexterity to real-world robotics. These models aim to make robots more capable of handling physical tasks and adapting to dynamic environments.

Highlights:

  • Gemini Robotics combines vision, language, and action (VLA) to control robots directly, improving their ability to generalize to new tasks and environments.

  • The model more than doubles performance on a generalization benchmark compared to previous VLA models.

  • It enhances interactivity by understanding and responding to conversational commands in multiple languages and adjusting to environmental changes.

  • Gemini Robotics demonstrates impressive dexterity, handling complex tasks like origami folding and snack packing.

  • The model adapts to different robot platforms, from ALOHA 2 to the humanoid Apollo robot by Apptronik.

  • Gemini Robotics-ER enhances spatial reasoning, improving object detection, 3D mapping, and task planning.

Forward Future Takeaways:
Gemini Robotics marks a major step toward general-purpose robots that can safely and intelligently navigate human environments. With partnerships from leading robotics companies and a focus on safety, Google DeepMind is positioning Gemini to play a central role in the future of embodied AI. → Read the full article here.

đź‘ľ FORWARD FUTURE ORIGINAL

The Influence of AI on the Stock Market

In a world where data has become the most valuable commodity, the financial market is facing a potential paradigm shift. The rapid development of modern artificial intelligence - from large language models to transformer architectures and chain-of-thought techniques - raises fundamental questions about the future of the global stock market. While machine learning algorithms have been used in stock market trading for years, recent advances in AI research could open up a whole new dimension.

Already, hedge funds such as Renaissance Technologies, Two Sigma and D.E. Shaw are using sophisticated algorithms to identify market patterns and optimize trading strategies. → Continue reading here.

🧠 COGNITION

The Case for Using Your Brain — Even If AI Can Think for You

AI Can Think for You

The Recap: As AI and digital tools become more integrated into our lives, they’re reshaping how we think — and not always for the better. Celia Ford explores how offloading mental labor to AI and devices could weaken critical thinking and cognitive skills, and why we should reclaim some mental effort before it’s too late.

Highlights:

  • The "extended mind" theory argues that the mind isn’t confined to the brain but extends into tools and technology — from notebooks to smartphones

  • Digital dependence can weaken cognitive skills, with a Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon study finding that heavy AI reliance at work reduces critical thinking abilities

  • Declining deep reading and attention have been linked to a drop in the percentage of 13-year-olds reading for fun daily from 35% to 14% over the last 40 years

  • Memory offloading changes brain activity, as fMRI studies show that people’s brains are less engaged when they know information is stored externally

  • Navigation outsourcing shrinks mental maps, with London taxi drivers showing larger hippocampi than bus drivers due to memorizing routes

  • Digital dementia debate remains unsettled, with some studies linking heavy tech use to cognitive decline, while others suggest offloading routine tasks could prevent dementia

Forward Future Takeaways:
AI’s rise poses a tricky balance between convenience and cognitive strength. While outsourcing basic tasks can free up mental bandwidth, over-reliance could dull critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The key challenge is to engage AI thoughtfully — using it to enhance, not replace, human thought. → Read the full article here.

The “If-Then” Prompt for Decision-Making

Want AI to provide smarter, more relevant answers instead of generic responses? Use the “If-Then” structure in your prompts. This helps AI evaluate conditions and give context-aware suggestions tailored to your needs. → Continue reading for time-saving tricks & 10+ example prompts

🛰️ NEWS

What Else is Happening

AI Nails Creative Writing

🖋️ AI Nails Creative Writing: OpenAI’s new model impressed Sam Altman with its ability to write metafiction, hinting at major creative strides.

💰 Spain Fines for AI Labels: Spain plans fines up to $38M for companies failing to label AI-generated content, aligning with EU’s AI Act.

📹 Snap Adds AI Video Lenses: Snap launches AI-powered video Lenses on Snapchat Platinum, starting with “Raccoon,” “Fox,” and “Spring Flowers.”

🎮 Wolf Games Uses AI for Mysteries: Backed by 'Law & Order' creator, Wolf Games uses AI to craft dynamic, evolving murder mystery storylines.

đź’Ľ Salesforce Bets $1B on AI: Salesforce will invest $1B in Singapore over five years to boost AI adoption and develop “digital workforces” with Agentforce.

📽️ VIDEO

OpenAI "Agents API"

OpenAI just announced the Responses API, enabling developers to create advanced autonomous agents with built-in tools like Web Search (for real-time info), File Search (for personalized data), and Computer Use (for direct system control). Get the full scoop in Matt’s latest video! 👇

🧰 TOOLBOX

Smarter Coding, Faster Music Creation, and Effortless Presentations

📟 Cline: Autonomous coding agent for IDEs—create/edit files, execute commands, and browse with user approval using Claude 3.7.

🎶 DiffRhythm: Latent diffusion model for fast, end-to-end song generation; produces full songs with vocals and accompaniment in 10s.

📢 Tome: AI-powered platform for creating and personalizing business presentations—automates research, design, and audience engagement.

🤠 THE DAILY BYTE

SpaceX’s Starship Blasts Off… and Then Just Blasts, Oops!

That’s a Wrap!

❤️ Love Forward Future? Spread the word & earn rewards! Share your unique referral link with friends and colleagues to unlock exclusive Forward Future perks! 👉 Get your link here.

📢 Want to advertise with Forward Future? Reach 450K+ AI enthusiasts, tech leaders, and decision-makers. Let’s talk—just reply to this email.

đź“Ą Got a hot tip or burning question? Drop us a note! The best reader insights, questions, and scoops may be featured in future editions. Submit here.

🛰️ Want more Forward Future? Follow us on X for quick updates, subscribe to our YouTube for deep dives, or add us to your RSS Feed for seamless reading.

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter—see you next time!

The Forward Future Team

🧑‍🚀 đź§‘‍🚀 đź§‘‍🚀 đź§‘‍🚀

Reply

or to participate.