Lillian Wu's Blog

     I learned about different features of machine learning; for example, its use of pattern recognition. For example, an AI can recognize a pig based on a few key features- ears, hooves, color, snout, but can easily incorrectly recognize different objects or animals that have those features. A lot of animals and objects come in diverse forms and there are other animals or objects that can mimic them or happen to have a similar appearance. As a result, AI relies on more data and input to train it to recognize things correctly. Credit: purepng.com Credit:techupdatesdaily.com     My most important takeaway from Dr. Schumann's lecture was the human-AI collaboration due to humans' role in machine learning. AI relies on humans to set the criteria for identification in order to successfully carry out its task. This takes from multiple different fields including data science and analysis and computer science. I definitely learned how machine learning is so complex that...

  Lillian Wu June 27, 2024 GSSE Stem in Society Dr. Gehrman How We Can Put an End to Food Waste In 2019, 17% of all food available to consumers was thrown away, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. This equates to about 931 million metric tons in one year. At the same time, the global malnutrition rate was an estimated 9% . In the United States, the figure rises to an estimated 30 to 40% . Not only is the food waste problem severe- it connects directly to other issues concerning infrastructure and government intervention supporting societies. Only by working together will we be able to put an end to the food waste and its detrimental effects on society. I believe that with collaborative efforts, we should target our resources and efforts to address this problem on equal standing with other environmental issues. Targeting food waste has direct benefits. A study from the University of Colorado, Boulder suggests that with the reduction of food waste, food prices wil...

 

     A chatbot is an application programmed to give human-like responses in response to input. They are used for purposes like online assistance, where they can function like humans for simple tasks such as responding to questions and providing information.     My Python code introduces the chatbot to the user as a bot that can teach the user about abstract algebra. It responds to prompts such as "what are fields" to give a summary of the definition of the term, and this is where "if" statements are used. The "else" statements provide additional facts, for example an explanation of the field axioms following a definition of fields.     My Facebook Chatbot similarly introduces the bot as an abstract algebra and presents different buttons to learn about either logic, proofs, vectors or fields. It presents an option to learn an additional fact/example or additional information about the topic after the first choice.     The flow is what guides t...

 

     I completed the Excel Spreadsheet visualization from the Youtube video, where I created a dashboard. The dashboard uses the different features of Microsoft Excel to make easy to navigate websites and visualization of data. For example, there are charts and graphs that can be easily made from data and customized.     I learned that data visualization is very important in summarizing data. It helps the viewer understand things such as numerical and geographic information. Without means of visualizing the data, people can't make sense of numbers so easily. Data visualization helps compare current trends to past trends and see strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, proper data collection and visualization are very important for individuals trying to convey information.       AI is a tool that uses machine learning, taking from available data to provide outputs such as information and art. There are many concerns on AI's unsolicited use of data from...

  They are cheaper and efficient Everyone would have to change otherwise to eat organic food They make for fast food production  Mass production  Yummy food  Has a very big consumer base already  Less cost  Less manual labor Antibiotics are good for you Takes less land than organic/free range farms Time is money so breeding animals at a mass would be much more easier than alternating to plants.  Fast food is accessible for low-income people if they can’t afford organic food We admit that the practices of animal meat production is unethical but of course, making new policies will make CAFOs more trustworthy. We rely too much on meat, so why not just change the practices? 

     If all of the criteria for personhood are not met, that does not mean the person or thing in question is not a person.  The criteria for personhood, with characteristics such as sentience, emotion, and reasoning is based on human characteristics and is thus a biased perspective. It is difficult to hold other animals to the same standards as humans. In addition, a person legally is something or someone who has rights, whether that be a human, non-human organism or non-living thing. Credit. zh.wikipedia.org     The rights of persons outweigh the rights of non-persons if it comes to a conflict. However, as stated before the definition of "person" is difficult to judge. A key part of the classification is the sentience of persons, which corresponds to the way in which questions related to their rights affect them.  Credit: ThoughtCo      I would count humans, comatose humans, rocks, trees and the earth as persons. Although they do not n...

 https://utk.instructuremedia.com/embed/5dc6395e-cff0-4bcf-8fd2-33f76d7c21dc      In this video, a pitbull is licking a baby cottontail rabbit. The rabbit is cleaning itself while this is happening. Credit: Reader's Digest     I interpret the pitbull's behavior in the video as affectionate. It seems to me that the pitbull sees the bunny as a fellow animal to take care of through cleaning, a common way of showing affection for animal as mothers do to their children. I base this interpretation on my past experiences of seeing videos of animals cleaning each other, especially dogs doing so to other animals, as well as stories I have heard of dogs licking animals that they are close with such as their owners .     Value-judgment and perspective could come into play in biased ways. For example, I like to look at things positively and thus tend to see positive reasoning for things that I do not have much background information about. My value of previou...

     I previously have only seen 3D printers and 3D printed objects. From looking at 3D printed objects up close, I could see the details and layering that the printer made. I knew that programs such as TinkerCad could be used to create 3D designs. However, I didn't know many details of the process and I haven't 3D printed something before.     I chose to use TinkerCad because of its simplicity, and I chose to design the logo for the popular rhythm video game osu!, which is my favorite video game. The dimensions are all less than two inches. My design of the osu! logo The original osu! logo- Credit: Wikipedia      I learned about a lot of different details and rules of 3D printing that I didn't know before. For example, overhangs shouldn't be over 45 degrees, and sharp points can be deformed without time to cool. This helps result in more successful when 3D printing. I learned about what CAD actually means- Computer-Aided Design, and its role in 3...

    My previous experience with coding was limited to middle school STEM (using applications such as Scratch and Tinkercad) and AP Computer Science Principles, where we used Scratch and the course's pseudocode. This summer, I have been learning  Java through websites and Youtube videos. I used the Codecademy website because I have never learned Python before and am a beginner to coding.     I learned that Python has a syntax that is in some ways simpler than Java, but both languages overall have a similar structure as high-level languages. There are noticeable differences, for example to switch lines you use triple quotes instead of adding -ln. I completed the first 14 exercises and moved on to the 16-exercise section.      In the ChatGPT exercise, I learned that ChatGPT is often biased against females and minority groups, especially African-Americans, who often have less representation in the fields of technology and AI. For example, in job hirin...

 Group Members: Haley Patel, Qiqi Wang, Lillian Wu, James Overall, Zhendi Wang     SETI is an organization that aims to determine whether extraterrestrial life exists. Individually and as a group, we classified SETI as science.      SETI also takes advantage of scientific tools such as telescopes, radio, and satellite technology, and is supported by scientific authority, such as NASA. Projects such as COSMIC aiming to detect foreign technosignatures rely on these technologies. They have a clear hypothesis- that intelligent life capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation exists elsewhere in the universe. Arecibo Telescope used by SETI- Credit: wordlesstech.com     Just because temporarily the existence of intelligence elsewhere in the universe seems unfalsifiable, that is only because we don't have the means of technology to verify it, not because it's something like an opinion that cannot be proven true or false.  It's normal for scientifi...

The Engineering Design Process is a cyclical series of steps used by engineers when solving problems. Step 1: Define the problem- what are you trying to solve or improve, and what is your goal? Our goal is to make a moving device that is sturdy and can move without a force acting on it. Step 2: Research the problem. What is the problem, and what have others done? What are the constraints/criteria?      We researched the problem, and others have built models or vehicles using these kinds of parts. Some designs have additional features and details such as catapults. The criteria are that the device moves on its own. Our material constraints are four wheels and limited parts for building the frame. For our time constraints, we have 10 minutes of planning time and 10 minutes of building time. Step 3: Brainstorm possible solutions and ideas.      We could make a very simple four-wheeled vehicle for the most stability and a good weight distribution. Ideally, it c...

  The self-driving car dilemma is a test of ethics in their relation to technology. When large boxes fall from a truck ahead of a self-driving car, of which the instructions can be manually overwritten, there is the choice of swerving left to hit an SUV, keep going and risk the life of the driver, or swerve right and hit a motorcyclist. I choose the option of programming to hit the SUV.     My choice is to program the self-driving car to swerve left and hit the SUV because this option would minimize the more certain danger to people, avoiding the more likely events of killing the driver of the self-driving car or the motorcyclist upon taking those paths. Considering this, those choices could be argued to be premeditated murder despite not intending to hurt anyone in the emergency situation. Although the issue is highly subjective as all three choices cause harm, I believe ethically it is best to minimize the amount of harm caused. Credit: industrywired.com     T...

My name is Lillian Wu and I'm 17 years old. I am attending the 2024 GSSE program with a focus on mathematics.        I come from Germantown, a city in Memphis, and I go to Houston High School. My physics class last year is when I first became interested in the engineering aspect of STEM. I plan to major in some type of engineering, possibly electrical engineering.      My hobbies are watching YouTube videos and shows, and I love music. I sometimes learn dances in my free time. My favorite subjects are physics and math, but I also find humanities subjects very interesting, such as history and linguistics. I have also played a lot of chess growing up and participated in many tournaments. My USCF profile is linked below! 1. This is me representing my school's team during Science Olympiad. 2. This is me performing at my school's yearly international extravaganza show.      I'm very excited to take the mathematics course, where we will learn ...