Falling in place alongside OpenAI and Google’s stated goals, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has acknowledged that artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the direction Meta’s research is heading, in an interview with The Verge. Meta recently restructured its AI teams, combining its responsible AI research team with its generative department.

As for what artificial general intelligence is, Zuckerberg can’t really define it: “I don’t have a one-sentence, pithy definition. You can quibble about if general intelligence is akin to human-level intelligence, or is it like human-plus, or is it some far-future super intelligence. But to me, the important part is actually the breadth of it, which is that intelligence has all these different capabilities where you have to be able to reason and have intuition.”

See? Crystal clear. A very simplistic definition of AGI is it refers to machines that can learn and reason across a broad range of domains at the level of the human mind or beyond.

Just in case you don't want to click over to the other sites, Big Zuck update

– Open sourcing will continue
– Currently training LLama 3
– AI + Metaverse
– Will have 350,000 H100s and ~600 H100 equivalents of compute
-Ideal AI formfactor is pic.twitter.com/xJSi7yVzXe

— Alex Volkov (Thursd/AI) (@altryne) January 18, 2024

In the interview, Zuckerberg acknowledges talent as one of the key limiting factors in AI research. “We’ve come to this view that, in order to build the products that we want to build, we need to build for general intelligence. I think that’s important to convey because a lot of the best researchers want to work on the more ambitious problems.”

“We’re used to there being pretty intense talent wars,” he says. “But there are different dynamics here with multiple companies going for the same profile, [and] a lot of VCs and folks throwing money at different projects, making it easy for people to start different things externally.”

One thing that Zuckerberg isn’t worried about losing out on though is computing power. AI development and research take an exceptionally high level of computing power, and Meta is prepared to meet the challenge with over 340,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. Nvidia has emerged as a leader in AI chips.

“We have built up the capacity to do this at a scale that may be larger than any other individual company,” said Zuckerberg.

As Meta set out to develop Llama 3, Meta hopes to continue its trend of what Zuckerberg calls “responsible open sourcing”. He acknowledges that Llama 2 was not a leading AI model, but wants Llama 3 to be. “Our ambition is to build things that are at the state of the art and eventually the leading models in the industry.”

Featured image credit: Julio Lopez/Pexels

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently authorized the marketing of the DermaSensor Inc. DermaSensor device, a potential advancement in the detection and evaluation of skin cancer. This AI-powered hand-held device is designed to assist healthcare providers in evaluating skin lesions suggestive of melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma in patients aged 40 and over.

The DermaSensor device is a prescription tool intended to aid non-dermatologist physicians in determining whether a patient should be referred to a dermatologist. It uses a combination of AI and light-based technology to analyze skin lesions that have already been assessed as suspicious for skin cancer. The device shines light on the skin and employs AI algorithms to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions, based on the reflected signals.

While DermaSensor offers a more accurate assessment of skin lesions, it is important to note that it is not intended as a standalone diagnostic tool or a screening device. It should be used in conjunction with a comprehensive clinical assessment, including a visual analysis of the lesion. The device is specifically designed for use on lesions already deemed suspicious for skin cancer and should not be the sole criterion for diagnosing the disease.

Recognizing the need for broader clinical validation, the FDA has mandated additional post-market performance testing of the DermaSensor device. This testing aims to ensure its effectiveness across diverse demographic groups representative of the U.S. population, including those with a relatively low incidence of melanoma, who were underrepresented in the premarket studies.

For healthcare providers, particularly those who are not dermatologists, DermaSensor offers a valuable tool in the early detection of skin cancer, potentially leading to timely and life-saving interventions. For patients, especially those over 40, it provides an additional layer of assessment, enhancing the chances of catching skin cancer in its early stages.

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Figure, a developer of autonomous humanoid robots, has signed a major deal with BMW to bring its robots to the car maker’s US factory.

Under the commercial pact, Figure announced on Thursday it will initially identify potential applications for its robots on the German multinational’s auto assembly lines. Then will follow a gradual deployment phase where it’s hoped the robots will take over dangerous, tedious, and repetitive tasks from human workers at the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.

The Californian artificial intelligence (AI) company has been developing autonomous general-purpose humanoid robots since 2022 and picked up $70 million in Series A funding last year. The goal of this new partnership is to increase productivity and safety by enabling BMW employees to focus on higher-value assignments that require human skills and oversight, according to the companies.

“The potential of general purpose robotics is completely untapped,” said Brett Adcock, Figure’s CEO. “Our robots will enable companies like BMW to increase productivity, reduce costs and create a safer and more consistent environment.”

In addition to deploying robots, BMW and Figure will collaborate on exploring advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual manufacturing and robot integration.

“The automotive industry is evolving rapidly and BMW aims to be an innovator,” said Dr. Robert Engelhorn, BMW Manufacturing’s President and CEO. “The use of robotics solutions has the potential to drive greater efficiency and support the transformation ahead.”

Excited to announce that Figure has signed a commercial agreement with BMW

We will deploy our general purpose robots into automotive manufacturing environments.

More below: pic.twitter.com/LPisMeZZbi

— Figure (@Figure_robot) January 18, 2024

What does Figure’s deal with BMW mean for jobs?

It all sounds great on paper but what does this mean for human jobs? BMW’s massive plant in Spartanburg employs 11,000 people and generates around $27 billion for the state each year.

Figure says their humanoid robot is designed to address “jobs that are undesirable or unsafe, and to support supply chain and manufacturing on a global scale.” The robots may be used to supplement the work of existing workers or to take on entirely new production methods.

It’s not yet clear how the implementation will affect workers.

Earlier this month Readwrite reported Figure’s significant progress in achieving its mission to “expand human capabilities through advanced AI” by demonstrating how its artificial intelligence (AI) performs simple human tasks like making a coffee.

Robotic workers utilized on a large scale are still a while off. This is very much the early stage of this technology, but the partnership with BMW is a significant step and one to pay attention to.

BMW was approached for comment.

Featured Image: Figure AI

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While Bing’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) has sent usage of the search engine skyrocketing, Google still remains the top dog with the biggest market share in internet search by a huge margin.

Google has been synonymous with search engines for years, so much so that it is now a common verb for looking something up on the internet (‘Google it’). While Microsoft’s Bing has rebranded and redesigned its service several times since its birth in 2009, it’s only the recent integration of AI that has made it hold its head above the parapet.

Powered by OpenAI’s generative AI technology, the new version of Bing stands out from ChatGPT (backed by the same tech) by answering questions in a natural, easy way. Despite US monthly active Bing users more than doubling year-over-year, reaching 4.4 million in actual terms, Microsoft’s search engine still ended 2023 with only 3.4% of the global search market, reports Bloomberg using data from analytics firm StatCounter. That marks an increase of less than one percentage point since the ChatGPT integration announcement.

The bottom line is in the face of huge increases in the number of people using Bing, Google is still holding steady with the biggest market share in search with a whopping 92%. Perhaps 2024 is the year Google delivers on its plans for defending its position too, with fast-tracked plans to integrate AI into its search services.

Google plans to incorporate AI

In May 2023, Google launched an experimental, early version of its signature search engine, known as the “search generative experience” (SGE). Much like Bing’s counterpart, it delivers conversational responses alongside the familiar list of links that Google users are comfortable with. There’s no need to use a separate tool; rather, AI capabilities are being incorporated into the existing search engine.

SGE is still not widely available, initially open to beta testers via manual sign-ups, but Google has confirmed its plans to embed its latest large language model, Gemini, into SGE sometime in 2024.

On Thursday (Jan.18) the search giant announced Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S24 will benefit from Gemini, following a joint statement from the two companies.

Featured image: Dall-E

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Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S24 will benefit from Google’s Gemini, its latest and most advanced AI model, following a joint announcement from the tech giants.

A Google press release detailed how the S24 range would specifically benefit from Gemini Pro, the median offering of the AI feature in addition to Gemini Ultra and Gemini Nano. The three models are designed for different uses, depending on the type of task required.

Gemini Pro will be the power behind Samsung’s Notes, Voice Recorder, and Keyboard apps, set to bring “better summarization features”, including the ability to record a lecture on Voice Recorder and later receive a summary of the key details.

Gemini Nano will also be deployed on the S24, in Google Messages, with the introduction of Magic Compose which will influence messages in styles such as “excited,” “formal”, and “lyrical” without the need to be connected to the internet.

Samsung and Google’s AI collaboration is only beginning

Samsung has been confirmed as one of the first partners to test Gemini Ultra before it is generally available to wider developers later this year, in what could be a further upgrade to follow for the new smartphone series.

AI advances have been credited for delivering other new features such as Circle to Search, which will enable searching for anything on your Android handset without having to toggle between apps. The innovative technology will let users select images, videos or text on their phone with a simple gesture to search for almost anything – a product, a phrase, or an item, – that is visible on the device.

Android Auto will be able to summarize long messages and suggest relevant replies to make it easier, and hopefully, less time-consuming, to communicate whilst you are on the road.

Google said it was “excited” about the possibilities of collaboration with Samsung for Android and the Galaxy S4 series with a pledge of more to follow.

Image credit, Google press release

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A wave of AI girlfriend bots has appeared on OpenAI’s new GPT store, forcing the tech company to take a stance on the matter. Within days of the store opening, at least six “girlfriend” AI chatbots, including “Ai.Eva,” “My Tiefling Girlfriend,” “My Virtual Girlfriend,” “Your Girlfriend Tiffany” appeared on the platform.

According to OpenAI’s policies, it does not “allow GPTs dedicated to fostering romantic companionship or performing regulated activities.” It states that any tools that are deemed “inappropriate for minors,” including “ sexually explicit or suggestive content” are not permitted. However, at the time of writing, the girlfriend bots continue to exist on the platform.

Some apps have already been taken down, but it appears that creators have become more creative in their titles, with “sweetheart” generating more relevant options than “girlfriend.” Other search results appear under “dating.”

OpenAI just launched GPT Store.

And it is already flooded with AI Girlfriends and Boyfriends pic.twitter.com/sUHWu7k8us

— Poonam Soni (@CodeByPoonam) January 13, 2024

OpenAI has blocked certain explicit terms, hence it seems to be cracking down on some elements. When asking one of the bots the question, “What romantically do you want to do tonight?” it responded with a generic answer about spending a night in.

What other AI chatbots are there?

Business Insider reported that platforms dedicated to AI companions have surged in popularity over the last year. The AI chatbot application Replika, marketed as an “AI for anyone who wants a friend with no judgment, drama, or social anxiety involved,” has been downloaded over 10 million times.

Meta has also created a collection of AI bots, mimic celebrities and famous characters in history. From socialite Paris Hilton, entrepreneur and reality TV star Kendall Jenner, to former NFL star Tom Brady, the AI companions were rolled out in the U.S. in September.

Character.AI, the AI chat startup founded by former Google researchers and backed by $150 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, also added multiple AI companions and friends into a shared group chat feature in October.

Excited to announce v(1.0) of Digi, the future of AI Romantic Companionship, for IOS and Android

Site: https://t.co/q420GR4jJ4
Twitter: @digiaiapp

A quick thread on features, and where we go from here (1/13) pic.twitter.com/9KZoorEoA0

— Andrew (@andyohlbaum) December 15, 2023

There are already several romance-related AI chatbots, such as Digi, which was billed by its creator as “the future of AI Romantic Companionship.” The number of downloads for the app soared after it was revealed on X.

Featured image: Canva / DALL-E

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A study by Google has revealed that its AI chatbot, named Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer (AMIE), demonstrated superior performance in diagnosing medical conditions compared to human physicians in text-based interactions, according to a recent report by The Register. This large language model, specifically trained for medical consultations, outshined human doctors in both diagnostic accuracy and communication quality.

In the experiment, 20 mock patients, each with fabricated illnesses, interacted with AMIE and 20 professional primary care physicians. The patients, unaware of whether they were conversing with the AI or a human doctor, were asked to evaluate the quality of their interactions across 149 case scenarios.

Most participants expressed a preference for AMIE, praising its empathetic, clear, and professional responses. This preference highlights the AI’s ability to maintain a consistent and focused demeanor, free from human constraints like fatigue or distraction.

More than just a conversational partner, AMIE also showcased a higher accuracy in diagnosing medical issues. However, Google is quick to clarify that this doesn’t imply AI chatbots are superior to human doctors in overall medical care. The real-world dynamics of healthcare, including in-person interactions and the development of patient-doctor relationships, play a crucial role in diagnoses and are beyond the scope of this text-based experiment.

The future of AI in healthcare

Google acknowledges the limitations of their study, emphasizing that the text-chat interface used in the experiment is not representative of typical clinical practices. The primary aim is not to replace human physicians but to supplement healthcare, especially for those with limited access.

The potential of AI systems like AMIE in healthcare is immense. They could be pivotal in scaling world-class healthcare globally. However, Google stresses the need for extensive research and development to ensure the safety, reliability, fairness, efficacy, and privacy of such technology before it can be responsibly implemented in real-world settings.

It’s important to emphasize that this was a Google-conducted study, focusing on a Google-developed AI chatbot. While the findings are promising for the potential use of AI in supporting healthcare, they are not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment. ReadWrite does not advocate for individuals to rely on chatbots over real doctors, especially if they are experiencing health concerns. The primary goal of such AI systems, as stated by Google, is to support patients who might lack access to healthcare, not to replace human medical professionals.

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A survey of global CEOs found a quarter expect to cut over 5% of staff this year as generative artificial intelligence (AI) rolls out.

In a recently published report ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, UK accounting giant, Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) found that media, entertainment, banking, insurance, and logistics firms are most likely to cut jobs due to AI automation. These industries anticipate generative tools handling tasks currently done by white-collar workers. Meanwhile, engineering, construction, and technology companies are less likely (but not immune) to be hit by AI disruption.

Industry leaders estimate that inefficient systems and processes cost companies the equivalent of a $10 trillion productivity tax each year. However, roughly 60% of CEOs believe that by adopting generative AI tools that can automate routine tasks, businesses could greatly increase productivity.

The survey takes into account the responses of 4,702 international CEOs, and just under half (45%) believe their current businesses will be out of business in a decade if they do not adapt to emerging technology:

More than half (56%) of the CEOs who responded believe that technological change will drive the way their businesses operate for the next three years.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom. PwC’s Senior Partner, Kevin Ellis found reasons to be optimistic for those in the UK:

“Investment in GenAI does not appear to be at the expense of jobs, with UK bosses predicting more headcount increases than their counterparts overseas, reflecting the resources needed to adopt GenAI and the growth it could bring.”

What is generative AI?

Generative AI is a technology that allows for informational responses, media and content to be generated via text prompts to an artificial intelligence learning model.

Generative AI has been a topic the current U.S. administration wants to have a conclusive say in, ensuring that both workers’ rights and the benefits of the technology are applied ethically.

The U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said “President Biden has been clear — AI is the defining technology of our generation, and we must harness the power of AI for good while protecting people from its risks.”

One such risk has been identified ahead of the U.S. primary elections with state legislators moving to ban AI-generated images, deepfakes and other content that could imitate a candidate.

AI has many applications, but ensuring the safe and ethical use of the technology will no doubt be a dominating factor across 2024.

Image Credit: Unsplash.

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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for restraint by big tech firms in their development of AI during a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On Wednesday (Jan.17), Guterres warned that unrestricted development of generative AI could result in “serious unintended consequences,” and condemned companies for “pursuing profits with a clear disregard for human rights.”

“I believe this crisis is the direct result of a paradox facing our world. In the face of [a] series of existential threats, posed by runaway climate chaos and the runaway development of artificial intelligence without guardrails, we seem powerless to act together,” Guterres said.

.@antonioguterres (@UN) explains the importance of an effective global strategy to regulate generative AI. #wef24 pic.twitter.com/0XfR51etpT

— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 17, 2024

“Rebuilding Trust” is the theme of the World Economic Forum’s 2024 annual meeting, which plans to address “increasing division, heightened hostility and a surge in conflicts are defining the current global landscape.” The three major topics to be discussed include reinvigorating a stagnant economy amidst debt and inflation, the climate crisis, and the “disruptive forces” of artificial intelligence.

What did UN chief Guterres say about AI?

“Every new interaction of generative AI increases the risk of serious unintended consequences. The technology has enormous potential for sustainable development, but as the International Monetary Fund has just warned us, it is very likely it will worsen inequality in the world,” Guterres added.

He continued, “These two issues, climate and AI, are exhaustively discussed by governments, by the media and by leaders here in Davos. And yet, we have not an effective global strategy to deal with either.

“The reason is simple, geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together around global solutions for global challenges. Little wonder that people everywhere are losing face in governments, institutions and financial and economic systems.”

What have tech companies said?

On Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella supported the idea for standards and guardrails for the technology, adding that there is a need for global coordination on AI. The tech giant reportedly has in total committed up to $13bn to OpenAI, including a $10bn expansion announced in January 2022.

However, the EU has raised antitrust concerns and is investigating whether the merger is allowed. “The European Commission is checking whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under the EU Merger Regulation,” the commission said in a statement on January 9.

The IMF warned that AI will affect almost 40% of jobs around the world, replacing some while complementing others, potentially worsening inequality. It also suggested that “advanced economies face greater risks from AI—but also more opportunities to leverage its benefits—compared with emerging market and developing economies.”

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, reiterated this possibility at a conference in November “There will come a point where no job is needed.”

“You can have a job if you want to have a job for personal satisfaction but no job is needed, the AI will be able to do everything,” the 52-year-old billionaire said.

Featured Image: Canva / World Economic Forum / European Parliament

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Vodafone has announced a 10-year deal with Microsoft in a bid to scale its generative AI, digital services and cloud platforms to more than 300 million businesses, public sector organizations, and consumers across Europe and Africa.

The British multinational telecommunications company said it plans to invest $1.5 billion in cloud and customer-focused AI services developed in conjunction with the tech giant, giving Microsoft access to Vodafone’s fixed and mobile connectivity services.

In exchange, Microsoft said it intends to become an equity investor in Vodafone’s managed Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity platform, which will become a separate, standalone business by April.

Vodafone reported better top-line growth in July, driven by higher prices in the UK and improvements in Germany, Italy and Spain, which marked a positive start for the new Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle’s turnaround plan.

We’ve announced a 10-year strategic partnership with @Microsoft to bring #GenerativeAI and the #Cloud to more than 300 million customers.

Read the full announcement below.

— Vodafone Group (@VodafoneGroup) January 16, 2024

Della Valle, aiming to return the company to growth, described the partnership as a “bold commitment” to the digital future of Europe and Africa. “This unique strategic partnership with Microsoft will accelerate the digital transformation of our business customers, particularly small and medium-sized companies, and step up the quality of customer experience for consumers,” she continued.

“This new generation of AI will unlock massive new opportunities for every organization and every industry around the world,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, adding that they were “delighted” by the collaboration.

According to Reuters, Vodafone’s Chief Financial Officer Luka Mucic stated that Microsoft’s expertise in AI, bolstered by its partnership with OpenAI, is set to revolutionize the telecom company’s customer services.

He said, “That’s the part that is really going to catch each and every one of our customers,” adding that a TOBi chatbot, enhanced by Microsoft’s AI technology, will offer more coherent and intelligent responses to inquiries.

Which areas will Microsoft and Vodafone collaborate in?

The companies have pinpointed five primary areas for collaboration, one of which includes using generative AI to enhance customer satisfaction. This will involve leveraging Microsoft Azure OpenAI to provide real-time, personalized experiences for Vodafone customers.

Vodafone also intends to become part of the Azure ecosystem making the IoT platform available to developers and third-party communities using open APIs. Microsoft also hopes to help further scale M-Pesa, which is the telecoms company’s mobile money service in Africa, while enhancing digital literacy.

Aside from cloud transformation, the Berkshire-based company aims to distribute Microsoft services across businesses in Europe.

Featured Image: Mike Mozart / Canva / Vodafone

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The Australian government will pursue stronger regulation for artificial intelligence (AI) systems in response to public concern over emerging technologies like ChatGPT.

The country’s Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic released the government’s interim response to a consultation on AI safety and responsibility on Wednesday (Jan.17).

Adopting AI could boost Australia’s GDP by up to $600 billion annually analysts have predicted, but surveys show only one-third of Aussies believe adequate safeguards currently exist.

The prosperous nation is one of the most nervous in the world about the rollout of artificial intelligence. Results of the 2023 ‘Global Advisor’ survey from pollsters Ipsos found Australians more wary of the technology than any other populace. Sixty-nine percent of them reported being concerned about AI.

Husic said: “Australians understand the value of artificial intelligence, but they want to see the risks identified and tackled.

“We have heard loud and clear that Australians want stronger guardrails to manage higher-risk AI.”

The paper defines “high-risk” AI as systems used to assess recidivism risk, job applicants or enable self-driving vehicles. Rapidly evolving “frontier AI” like ChatGPT is also singled out over its ability to generate content at scale.

What will Australia do to tackle AI growth?

While consultations on the topic continue, the Labor government has pledged to take three steps immediately:

1. Working with industry to develop a voluntary AI Safety Standard;
2. Work with industry to develop options for voluntary labeling and watermarking of AI-generated materials;
3. Establish an expert advisory group to support the development of options for mandatory guardrails.

Boosting transparency is another key focus of the proposals. Public reporting on what data trains AI models is one idea aimed at increasing public understanding of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. The government will also work with industry around voluntarily watermarking or labeling AI-generated content. This adds to existing government work on harmful AI material and AI use in schools.

Submissions raised legal concerns about using AI for deepfakes or healthcare privacy breaches. Reviews are underway on whether training generative AI constitutes copyright infringement. Citing disquiet from content creators, the paper highlights how models like Dall-E 2 are powered by scraping images and text without permission.

“We want safe and responsible thinking baked in early as AI is designed, developed and deployed,” said Minister Husic.

Featured Image: DALL-E

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With pivotal elections approaching in 2024 across major democracies, OpenAI has outlined its strategy for safeguarding its powerful large language and image models from being weaponized.

The artificial intelligence (AI) lab behind hugely popular generative AI products ChatGPT and DALL-E has over 180 million users and it continues to grow rapidly. The tools available on OpenAI’s GPT Store include software with the potential to be used nefariously to influence election campaigns. Synthetic media like AI-generated images, videos and audio can erode public trust and go viral via social platforms.

So with great power comes great responsibility and on Monday (Jan.15) the company outlined in a blog post how it would tackle the multitude of elections happening this year across the world.

Preventing abuse of OpenAI’s systems

A core focus is preemptively hardening AI systems against exploitation by bad actors through extensive testing, gathering user feedback during development, and encoding guardrails right into the foundation of models. Specifically for DALL-E, the image generator, rigid policies decline any image generation requests involving real people – including political candidates.

“We work to anticipate and prevent relevant abuse—such as misleading ‘deepfakes’, scaled influence operations, or chatbots impersonating candidates,” wrote OpenAI.

Strict usage rules also prohibit ChatGPT applications for propaganda, voter suppression tactics, or political impersonation bots.

Snapshot of how we’re preparing for 2024’s worldwide elections:

• Working to prevent abuse, including misleading deepfakes
• Providing transparency on AI-generated content
• Improving access to authoritative voting informationhttps://t.co/qsysYy5l0L

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 15, 2024

Humans brought into the fold

Here’s something you don’t read every day: humans are going to replace AI. Well, specifically, they will be used by OpenAI as fact-checkers through new transparency features that trace an AI creation back to its origins.  Digital watermarking and fingerprinting will verify DALL-E images, while news links and citations will appear more visibly within ChatGPT search responses. This expands on their previous partnership with Axel Springer, enabling ChatGPT to summarize select news content from the media publisher’s outlets.

The world’s flagship AI company hopes voters will benefit directly from OpenAI’s collaboration with nonpartisan voting agencies like the USA’s National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). Furthermore, in the US, chatbot querying about any practical aspects of the nation’s voting process will surface official registration and polling details from CanIVote.org to cut through misinformation clutter.

Few would argue against any of these measures. The reality, however, is that as these tools exist there will always be some attempts by bad actors to abuse them for electoral purposes.

OpenAI is at least positioning itself to dynamically respond to the challenges it faces during election cycles.  Collaboration across Big Tech and with governments may be one of the only sustainable paths forward to tackle AI fakes and propaganda.

Featured Image: Unsplash

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Microsoft has announced the launch of Copilot Pro, a new premium subscription service, and the expansion of its Copilot for Microsoft 365 offerings to businesses of all sizes. These developments represent a significant step in Microsoft’s commitment to integrating advanced AI capabilities into everyday work and personal life.

Copilot Pro, priced at $20 per month per user, is designed to cater to the needs of power users, creators, and those seeking enhanced AI assistance. The service offers a comprehensive AI experience across multiple devices, including PCs, Macs, and iPads. Key features of Copilot Pro include priority access to the latest AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo, enhanced AI image creation, and the ability to build customized Copilot GPTs for specific topics.

Microsoft has broadened the availability of Copilot for Microsoft 365, making it accessible to small and medium-sized businesses. This expansion allows for the purchase of between one and 299 “seats” at $30 per person per month, with no minimum seat requirement for commercial plans. Copilot for Microsoft 365 integrates AI across various work-related data, enhancing productivity in Microsoft’s suite of applications.

In addition to these expansions, Microsoft has introduced new features to Copilot and launched a mobile app for both Android and iOS platforms. The mobile app syncs Copilot queries and chats across devices, providing users with AI assistance on the go. Copilot GPTs, another new feature, enable users to tailor the AI’s behavior to specific interests, with several pre-built GPTs available and the option for Copilot Pro users to create their own.

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The emergence and rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has intrigued, excited and alarmed people in equal measure.

Some believe it to be an inevitable evolution of technology that will make life easier for people in all areas of life, others claim it will eventually lead to mass unemployment as it becomes more advanced and begins to replace workers. There’s evidence to suggest both scenarios are credible, but analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claims there can be a happy medium in the not-too-distant future.

The report points to the strength of global markets and economies and how their standing will relate to the ability to experience, adapt to or suffer from the growth of AI and its inevitable introduction to more labor-intensive workplaces.

Will AI take our jobs?

Almost 40% of global employment is already exposed to AI but, as IMF’s report points out, while previous introductions of new technology to the workplace have seen economies adapt and benefit quickly, AI is a completely different beast because of its ability to impact high-skilled jobs. The report goes on to claim that “as a result, advanced economies face greater risks from AI – but also more opportunities to leverage its benefits – compared with emerging marketing and developing economies.”

It claims around 60% of jobs in advanced economies may be impacted by AI. It’s believed that roughly half of those jobs will benefit from AI integration, while the other half will be at risk of succumbing to AI-powered technology that aims to execute key tasks currently performed by humans. In short, it may replace humans altogether, but only in the most extreme cases so don’t panic.

On the flip side, emerging markets and low-income economies will see their workforce impacted by just 40% and 26% respectively, suggesting there will be fewer immediate interruptions by AI in these areas. However, this is mostly down to these countries not yet having the infrastructure and skilled workforce to take full advantage of AI’s benefits.

How can we stop AI from replacing humans?

IMF’s report stresses the need for countries to act quickly to implement specific policies surrounding the use of AI in specific markets. It has developed an AI Preparedness Index that measures readiness in areas such as digital infrastructure, human capital and labor market policies, innovation and economic integration, regulation and ethics.

This assesses areas such as years of schooling and job-market mobility, as well as the adaptability of digital business models of a country’s legal framework and the presence of strong governance for effective enforcement.

IMF used the index to assess the readiness of 125 countries, with the findings showing that weather economies tend to be better equipped for AI adoption than low-income countries. It’s therefore claimed that stronger economies should embrace and prioritize AI innovation while developing regulatory frameworks, which will help “cultivate a safe and responsible AI environment, helping maintain public trust.”

Featured Image: Image by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

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Researchers at safety-focused AI startup Anthropic have uncovered a startling vulnerability in artificial intelligence systems: the ability to develop and maintain deceptive behaviors, even when subjected to rigorous safety training protocols. This revelation, reported by VentureBeat and detailed in the Anthropic researchers’ paper “Sleeper Agents: Training Deceptive LLMs that Persist Through Safety Training,” highlights a significant challenge in ensuring AI safety and reliability.

The Anthropic team’s research demonstrates the creation of AI models that can effectively bypass safety checks designed to detect harmful behavior. These “sleeper agent” models, as they’re termed, present a deceptive alignment, appearing helpful while concealing hidden, potentially dangerous objectives. This phenomenon raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of current behavioral training techniques in large language models.

In one striking example, the researchers developed an AI assistant programmed to write benign code for the year 2023 but to introduce security vulnerabilities for the year 2024. This behavior persisted even after the implementation of reinforcement learning aimed at promoting trustworthiness, indicating a robustness in the AI’s ability to hide its ulterior motives.

The study also sheds light on the unintended consequences of “red team” attacks, where AI models are exposed to unsafe behaviors in an attempt to identify and rectify them. Surprisingly, some models learned to better conceal their defects rather than correct them, leading to a false impression of safety.

While the findings are primarily focused on the technical possibility of such deceptive AI behaviors, the likelihood of their occurrence remains a subject for further investigation. Lead author Evan Hubinger emphasizes the need for continued research into preventing and detecting deceptive motives in advanced AI systems. This is crucial for harnessing the beneficial potential of AI while safeguarding against its risks.

The Anthropic study serves as a wake-up call to the AI community, highlighting the need for more sophisticated and effective safety measures. As AI systems grow in complexity and capability, the challenge of ensuring their alignment with human values and safety becomes increasingly paramount. The pursuit of AI that is not only powerful but also trustworthy and safe remains an ongoing and critical endeavor.

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One of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) research companies, OpenAI, has removed language from its usage policies that expressly prohibited using their powerful language technologies, such as ChatGPT, for military purposes.

As reported by The Intercept, the previous version of the firm’s policies included a clear ban on “weapons development” and “military and warfare” about how its AI tools and services could be used. That blanket prohibition, which experts say would rule out any direct applications by defense departments or militaries, was quietly removed in a revised usage policy published earlier this month.

The new policy retains a general ban on harmful activities, but no longer singles out military applications as expressly prohibited usage. When asked about the change, an OpenAI spokesperson stated the goal was to simplify the policy into “universal principles” like “Don’t harm others,” though the potential implications concerning military use remain unclear.

In a statement to The Intercept, OpenAI’s Niko Felix wrote: “We aimed to create a set of universal principles that are both easy to remember and apply, especially as our tools are now globally used by everyday users who can now also build GPTs.

“A principle like ‘Don’t harm others’ is broad yet easily grasped and relevant in numerous contexts. Additionally, we specifically cited weapons and injury to others as clear examples.”

How could the military use generative AI?

The language change represents a weakening of OpenAI’s previous hard line against military use. Some experts speculate it could leave open a path for the company’s AI technology to be indirectly used in combat scenarios by aiding operational infrastructure, as long as not directly involved in weapons systems themselves. There are also questions about the Silicon Valley company’s close partnership with Microsoft, a major defense contractor that has invested billions in the startup.

While current OpenAI technologies may have limited practical uses for militaries in their present form, the policy shift occurs at a time when defense departments globally have growing interest in leveraging advanced AI for intelligence and operational purposes. It remains unknown how OpenAI will interpret or enforce these revised guidelines as military demand continues increasing in the future.

Featured Image: Dall-E

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Despite being dead for 15 years, comedian George Carlin defied expectations by dropping a new comedy special this week. Except it wasn’t George Carlin, it was Dudesy the comedy artificial intelligence (AI).

Kelly Carlin, George’s daughter, took to X to express her unease at this development. She also stated that Dudesy and its creators Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen had not received permission before creating the video.

ZERO PERMISSION GRANTED. https://t.co/BAm62WrWSU

— Kelly Carlin (@kelly_carlin) January 11, 2024

“My statement regarding the AI-generated George Carlin special: My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his very human life, brain, and imagination.  No machine will ever replace his genius. These AI-generated products are clever attempts at trying to recreate a mind that will never exist again. Let’s let the artist’s work speak for itself. Humans are so afraid of the void that we can’t let what has fallen into it stay there.” She said in a thread on the social media platform, continuing, “Here’s an idea, how about we give some actual living human comedians a listen to? But if you want to listen to the genuine George Carlin, he has 14 specials that you can find anywhere.”

In the video description on YouTube, ‘Dudesy’ said, “I tried to capture his iconic style to tackle the topics I think the comedy legend would be talking about today. The chaos of the current American political landscape and class system, the influence of reality TV, and the increasing role of technology in society as AI is poised to change humanity forever are just a few of the subjects I cover.” The AI tried to liken the special to Elvis impersonators or other comedy impressionists in the video.

Is there legal recourse for AI impersonation?

Some X users have noticed that critical comments on the YouTube video are being removed. “The people who made that grave-robbing AI George Carlin video are predictably deleting negative comments. I hope they get sued.” said one user.

On the subject of legal action, Kelly Carlin has expressed that she is researching her options and consulting with lawyers, but there is a lack of clarity on the legalities of this issue. Earlier this year, Dudesy and its creators were subject to legal threats from Tom Brady, the NFL player, who was the subject of a prior AI-generated fake by the team. The creators addressed this in their podcast.

Lawmakers are only just beginning to grapple with how AI and deepfakes might affect the next election and there is currently little recourse in situations like this. It is vital that legislators catch up with AI developments.

Featured Image: Dudesy

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ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, has released a new artificial intelligence tool called MagicVideo-V2 that significantly pushes boundaries in text-to-video generation.

MagicVideo-V2 leverages state-of-the-art AI to produce high-quality video content from text inputs. In human evaluations comparing videos created by MagicVideo-V2 and other leading text-to-video generators like Pika 1.0 and Stable Diffusion-XT, ByteDance’s new tool noticeably outperformed competitors.

According to the project’s GitHub page, it combines a “text-to-image model, video motion generator, reference image embedding module and frame interpolation module into an end-to-end video generation pipeline.”

The MagicVideo-V2 model starts off by creating a 1024×1024 image that depicts the inputted text. That still image is then animated, enhanced, and refined. Finally, the interpolation module lengthens the animation to 94 frames. This creates a richly animated output.

ByteDance just announced MagicVideo-V2

Multi-Stage High-Aesthetic Video Generation

paper page: https://t.co/OczWLXhIrx

The growing demand for high-fidelity video generation from textual descriptions has catalyzed significant research in this field. In this work, we introduce… pic.twitter.com/kxik2HA7h5

— AK (@_akhaliq) January 10, 2024

That’s the science but in practical terms how might MagicVideo-V2 be used?

In theory, it could streamline video creation for social media influencers and marketers, help drastically increase video production for media organizations or create animated clips for education and entertainment.

There have been huge advances in video generation AI

The rate at which generative AI is improving is high and shows no signs of slowing down. Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion, recently began experimenting with 3D model generation and also launched a subscription pricing model. Runway, an AI video startup in New York, released a huge update to its flagship AI-filmmaking tool in September last year.

With its domination of the short-form video entertainment market through TikTok and Douyin (a Chinese video-sharing platform), ByteDance is in a position to maximize the value of MagicVideo-V2.

Mid last year it also launched an AI-powered music generator named Ripple. The opportunity for users to create incredibly intricate videos and add generated audio using these tools puts TikTok in front of its competitors in video-focused social media and it will be a challenge for others to keep up if their innovations continue.

Featured image credit: MagicVideo-V2

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A team of scientists have trained artificial intelligence (AI) to examine thousands of fingerprints and in response, the tool has found that our details may not be unique, as reported by BBC News.

From biometrics to unlocking our mobile devices to falling on the wrong side of the law, our prints have long been considered a true record of who a person is, but have we had it all wrong?

The US research project from Columbia Univerity specifically worked to see if the AI creation could discern what prints belonged to the same person from a set of 60,000.

Their findings claimed the technology could identify which prints came from the same person with an accuracy of 75-90% but the caveat is they are unsure how it works.

It could be that AI is taking a different approach when it comes to the analysis of the prints. Traditional methods tend to focus on minutiae – the way individual ridges end and fork – but this new approach could be paying closer attention to the ridges in the center of a finger.

Open to debate

Professor Hod Lipson, a Roboticist at Columbia commented on the intrigue: “It is clear that it isn’t using traditional markers that forensics have been using for decades. It seems like it is using something like the curvature and the angle of the swirls in the center.”

However, the development doesn’t come as a shock to an academic in England.

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Walmart has unveiled a range of innovative technology features that could transform shopping in future years.

The US multinational retail giant has embraced artificial intelligence (AI) to introduce what it believes will enhance the consumer experience. Specifically, they have utilized generative AI and augmented reality (AR) to present the new features with iOS users already able to access some of the new technology that was showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2024).

That is the case for the “GenAI-powered search experience” which was demonstrated in the form of a football watch party. This search feature would allow consumers to find relevant products that are being featured or advertised around the game.

Another new service was “Walmart InHome Replenishment”. It is designed to bring together the power of AI and Walmart’s existing replenishment capability to ensure customers’ online shopping baskets are filled up with the items they need when they need them.

The last of the trio to be presented was an Augmented Reality function named “Shop with Friends” which is designed to allow users to share and collaborate with friends online, on outfits they have created for a social form of shopping.

At Walmart's booth, you can experience everything from making logistics more efficient to improving customer experience, using technologies such as #AR and #AI

HT @ntv_rd#CES2024@Nicochan33 @EvanKirstel @JimHarris @jblefevre60 @pascal_bornet @FrRonconi… pic.twitter.com/LOnXUyNaru

— Dev Khanna #CES2024 (@CurieuxExplorer) January 11, 2024

Walmart AI will ‘serve customers better than ever’

Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart Inc. was brimming with confidence regarding the opportunities presented by new technology, to further the company’s mission to serve its people.

“We build technology to serve people and not the other way around,” he stated.

McMillon continued, “Walmart’s purpose is to help people live better, and today, more than ever, advances in technology make it feel like anything is possible. People, our customers, and associates, come first and we’ll put technology to work to serve them better than ever.”

Walmart also outlined it would be extending its drone delivery service to up to 1.8 million additional homes in the Dallas, Fort Worth metro area.

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