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Zoc Aims To Empower Students And Transform Education With AI
AI company Zoc is attempting to radically change the educational landscape by leveraging AI technology to enhance the learning experience for students, particularly those with learning challenges or language barriers. Key features and benefits: Zoc offers a suite of AI-powered tools designed to streamline the learning process and make it more engaging for students: The app records lectures, generates transcripts, and creates well-organized notes, allowing students to focus on the lecture without the distraction of note-taking. Zoc's tutoring function enables students to quiz themselves on lecture material, reinforcing their understanding of key concepts. The platform can evaluate written essays, providing...
read Jul 16, 2024YouTube Creators Outraged To Find Major AI Companies Used Subtitles to Train Models
Apple, Nvidia, and Anthropic have used subtitles from over 170,000 YouTube videos to train their AI models without the creators' knowledge or consent, raising concerns about the ethics and legality of such practices in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence. Key takeaways: An investigation by Proof News found that subtitles from 173,536 YouTube videos, siphoned from more than 48,000 channels, were used by major tech companies to train AI models: The dataset, called YouTube Subtitles, was part of a larger compilation called the Pile, released by the nonprofit EleutherAI with the stated goal of lowering barriers to AI development....
read Jul 16, 2024EU Sanctions Target Arkady Volozh Stages Comeback with New AI Venture
Arkady Volozh, the cofounder of Russian internet giant Yandex, is making a comeback with a new European AI company called Nebius Group, aiming to become a leading provider of AI infrastructure. Key developments in Volozh's journey: Volozh, once known as the architect of "Russia's Google," faced significant challenges following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022: He was targeted by EU sanctions and forced to step down from Yandex, which was valued at $30 billion at its peak. Volozh and his team spent two years negotiating with the Kremlin to sell off parts of Yandex still based in Russia, including the...
read Jul 16, 2024Hong Kong Develops ChatGPT-Style AI Tool Amid OpenAI Access Restrictions
Hong Kong is testing its own ChatGPT-style AI tool for government employees, with plans to eventually make it available to the public, after OpenAI took steps to block access to its services from the city and other unsupported regions. Key developments in Hong Kong's AI efforts: The local government is actively pursuing the development of its own generative AI model, which could have significant implications for the city's tech landscape and its relationship with major AI companies: The Hong Kong government's innovation bureau is currently testing a ChatGPT-style tool called "document assistance application for civil servants," developed by a local...
read Jul 16, 2024OpenAI Just Released 2 New Sora AI Videos
OpenAI has published two new videos on its YouTube channel showcasing the capabilities of its Sora AI video generation model, demonstrating the technology's potential to significantly alter filmmaking and creative industries. Professional creatives showcase Sora's capabilities: The videos were created by Tammy Lovin, a digital artist, and Benjamin Desai, a creative technologist, who used Sora to generate all the clips without any additional visual effects: Lovin's video features surreal, neon-infused scenes such as a carwash with sweeping waves, a man walking on clouds, and a woman lighting up a beach, bringing her childhood imaginings to life in a way that...
read Jul 16, 2024Vectara Raises $25M, Launches Mockingbird LLM for Enterprise RAG
Vectara, an early pioneer in Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $53.5 million, as demand for its technologies grows among enterprise users. Vectara's evolution and the introduction of Mockingbird LLM: Vectara has progressed from a neural search as a service platform to a 'grounded search' or RAG technology provider, and is now launching its purpose-built Mockingbird LLM for RAG applications: The Vectara platform integrates multiple elements to enable a RAG pipeline, including the company's Boomerang vector embedding engine, which grounds responses from a large language model...
read Jul 16, 2024Hackers Leak Disney’s Slack Data Over AI Concerns, Exposing Upcoming Projects
A hacker group claims responsibility for leaking Disney's internal Slack data, citing concerns over the company's handling of artist contracts and use of AI. The leak, which Disney is investigating, includes login credentials, code, images, and information about unreleased projects. Extent of the leak: The anonymous "Nullbulge" group says it obtained 1.1 terabytes of files and chat messages from nearly 10,000 Disney Slack channels: The leaked data, dating back to at least 2019, contains internal conversations about software development, recruitment, website maintenance, and employee programs. Details about upcoming gaming collaborations and unannounced video game sequels have started emerging online from...
read Jul 16, 2024The Pixel 9 Pro May Include 1 Year of Google’s Premium AI Chatbot, For Free
The upcoming Google Pixel 9 Pro smartphone may come with a generous AI-focused gift for buyers - a year of free access to Gemini Advanced, Google's premium AI chatbot service. Key details from decompiled code: A deep dive into the code of the latest Google App beta revealed telling details about the Pixel 9 Pro's potential Gemini Advanced offer: A line of code explicitly states that the "Pixel Pro gives you access to a 1-year subscription to Gemini Advanced, our most capable AI model with priority access to new features, at no cost to you." In contrast, another code snippet...
read Jul 16, 2024How Our Education System Is Failing Students in the AI Era
Education's disconnect from the AI world: Schools around the globe are teaching as if the world outside the classroom is standing still, creating a crisis as AI becomes ubiquitous and transforms society. Gatto's seven invisible lessons holding education back: The late educator John Taylor Gatto identified seven practices in his essay "The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher" that are stunting children's development and prospects in an AI world: Confusion: Schools present disconnected subjects without tying them together, leaving students unable to see the big picture and develop an innovative mindset crucial in an AI world. Class position: Through testing and tracking, schools reinforce...
read Jul 16, 2024Balancing GenAI’s Potential, Limitations, and Human Contributions
The generative AI revolution has arrived, but we must appreciate its potential without losing sight of its limitations and the critical role humans play in its development and use. Key Takeaways: GenAI has shown promise in generating code, marketing materials, and annual performance reviews, but human oversight is still essential for fact-checking, quality control, and common sense: The technology is prone to "hallucinations" or making up answers to questions. GenAI comes with a significant carbon footprint that could derail climate progress. It threatens to lower wages and kill jobs by taking tasks from human workers. GenAI can produce and amplify...
read Jul 16, 2024Intuit Is Using GenAI to Offer Personalization Across Its Products, And Drive Revenue
Intuit is leveraging generative AI to offer personalization across its suite of financial products, driving strong revenue growth and enhancing customer experiences. Intuit's gen AI strategy: Intuit is heavily relying on generative AI to personalize customer experiences, automate routine tasks, and provide actionable insights to help users achieve their financial goals: The company has over 100 million customers worldwide using its TurboTax, Mint, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp products. Intuit's AI-driven platform strategy has resulted in double-digit growth in total revenue and operating income, with Q3 fiscal 2024 total revenue surging 12% year-over-year to $6.7 billion. Transforming personalization with gen...
read Jul 16, 2024Is Apple’s HomePod Mini A Missed Opportunity for AI Innovation?
Apple misses a major AI opportunity with the new HomePod Mini: Despite the recent launch of Apple Intelligence, a powerful AI system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, Apple's update to the HomePod Mini speaker line is disappointingly limited to just a new color option, failing to capitalize on the immense potential of integrating advanced AI capabilities into its smart home devices. Key Takeaways: The new HomePod Mini only receives a new Midnight color option, which is nearly identical to the existing Space Grey, rather than any meaningful AI-driven functionality upgrades. Apple Intelligence, which combines generative AI models with personal context...
read Jul 16, 2024Microsoft CTO: AI Progress to Continue Despite Skepticism, Powered by Scaling Laws
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott believes AI progress will continue despite skepticism, arguing that large language model (LLM) "scaling laws" will drive breakthroughs as models get larger and have access to more computing power. Scaling laws and AI progress: Scott maintains that scaling up model size and training data can lead to significant AI improvements, countering critics who argue that progress has plateaued around GPT-4 class models: He acknowledges the challenge of infrequent data points in the field, as new models often take years to develop, but expresses confidence that future iterations will show improvements, particularly in areas where current models...
read Jul 16, 2024AI Voice Cloning Restores Congresswoman’s Speech, Showcasing Highlighting AI’s Potential for Accessibility
A US Congresswoman has regained a more natural-sounding voice, thanks to AI voice cloning technology, after losing her ability to speak due to a rare neurological disorder. This development showcases the transformative potential of AI in enhancing accessibility and empowering individuals facing speech impairments. Restoring a lost voice: Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who suffers from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), had been relying on robotic text-to-speech tools to communicate. ElevenLabs, an AI voice company, used over an hour of Wexton's pre-diagnosis audio clips to create a digital replica of her original voice, capturing its unique characteristics. The AI-generated voice was first used...
read Jul 16, 2024How to Harness Human Skills and Thrive in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
The rapid advancements in AI technology are raising questions about how professionals can stay relevant in a changing work landscape, but focusing on developing and strengthening uniquely human skills will be crucial for success in the age of AI. Interpersonal skills remain a challenge for AI to duplicate: While AI can automate simple conversations, more complex interactions still require the soft skills that only humans possess. Technology is not seen as a replacement for the personal nature of human relationships, and skills like conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and effective communication continue to be highly valued by organizations. Chatbots are limited...
read Jul 15, 2024Apple’s AI Strategy Is About Ensuring Consistent User Experience Amid Model Updates
Apple's AI strategy aims to improve language model consistency and user experience: Key takeaways: Apple researchers have developed techniques to reduce inconsistencies and negative impacts on user experience when upgrading large language models (LLMs): Updating LLMs can result in unexpected behavior changes and force users to adapt their prompt styles and techniques, which may be unacceptable for mainstream iOS users. Apple's method, called MUSCLE (Model Update Strategy for Compatible LLM Evolution), reduces negative flips (where a new model gives an incorrect answer while the old model was correct) by up to 40%. The research highlights Apple's preparation for updating its...
read Jul 15, 2024White House Adviser: AI Promises Progress But Requires Regulation
The time for regulating AI is now, according to Biden's top tech adviser. Key takeaways: Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), views AI as a pressing issue with both promising and concerning implications: As the president's chief science and tech adviser, Prabhakar is helping guide the White House's approach to AI safety and regulation, including Biden's executive order from last fall. While excited about AI's potential to accelerate progress in areas like health, climate, and public missions, Prabhakar stresses the need to manage AI's risks in order to harness its benefits. She...
read Jul 15, 2024Secret OpenAI Project Could Supercharge ChatGPT’s Reasoning and Web Searching Abilities
OpenAI's 'Project Strawberry' aims to enhance ChatGPT's reasoning capabilities and web search autonomy for complex problem-solving. The secret project could give the AI more freedom to navigate the internet independently and perform deep research beyond simple user queries. Key details on Project Strawberry: While specifics are limited, the project seems focused on improving AI reasoning skills: Strawberry may enable ChatGPT to plan responses that involve autonomously searching the web for information needed to solve complex problems, without explicit user prompting. The project is tightly guarded even within OpenAI, but insiders suggest it could lead to significant advances in artificial intelligence...
read Jul 15, 2024AMD Reveals New AI Chips With 35x CPU Performance
AMD unveils next-generation AI PC architecture with powerful new NPUs and Zen 5 CPUs, aiming to lead the AI computing era. Key details of AMD's AI PC architecture: AMD executives revealed the company's latest AI PC architecture, which includes a new neural processing unit (NPU) in the AMD Ryzen AI chips, offering significant performance improvements over CPUs and integrated GPUs: The NPUs in AMD's Ryzen AI processors can operate on AI models at 35 times the performance per watt of a standard CPU and achieve eight times the performance of an integrated GPU. The third generation of AMD Ryzen AI...
read Jul 15, 2024Generative AI Enables Hyperpersonalization At Unprecedented Scale
The rise of generative AI is enabling businesses and individuals to deliver highly personalized experiences at an unprecedented scale. This article explores the concept of hyperpersonalization and how generative AI is transforming interactions between businesses and customers, as well as enhancing various aspects of daily life for individuals. Understanding Hyperpersonalization: Hyperpersonalization goes beyond traditional personalization methods by leveraging AI-powered pattern recognition to create unique profiles for each individual, which adapt over time: It involves displaying personalized content, recommending relevant products, providing personalized guidance, and offering one-to-one insights tailored to individual preferences and behaviors. The benefits for businesses include higher engagement...
read Jul 15, 2024AI Advances Fuel Growing Calls for Universal Basic Income as Jobs Threat Looms
The concept of universal basic income is gaining traction as a potential solution to the impact of AI on jobs and a way to encourage more rewarding and socially valuable work. Key takeaways: The idea of a guaranteed income for all citizens has a long history, but is becoming more relevant as AI advances and threatens to displace many workers: A recent study predicts that 59% of tasks currently done by humans in the UK could be affected by AI in the next 3-5 years, potentially triggering a "jobs apocalypse." UBI could provide a vital safety net and enable people...
read Jul 15, 2024Google’s Gemini Caught Scanning Private Documents
Google's Gemini AI caught scanning private Google Drive documents without user consent, raising privacy concerns amid the tech industry's AI push. User discovers Gemini AI scanning private files: Kevin Bankston, a Senior Advisor on AI Governance, took to Twitter to share his experience of Google's Gemini AI automatically summarizing his tax return stored in Google Drive without his permission: Bankston was surprised to find that Gemini had ingested and summarized his private document, despite not explicitly asking for this feature. The incident raises serious questions about the extent of control users have over their sensitive information and Google's handling of...
read Jul 15, 2024Kindo Raises $20.6M, Acquires WhiteRabbitNeo to Secure Enterprise AI Adoption
Kindo, an enterprise AI security platform, has raised $20.6 million in funding and acquired open-source security project WhiteRabbitNeo, signaling the growing importance of secure AI adoption in the business world. Key details of Kindo's funding and acquisition: The Venice Beach-based startup's latest round brings its total funding to $27.6 million, enabling the company to accelerate product development, expand sales and marketing efforts, and grow its team: Drive Capital led the round, with participation from existing investors RRE Ventures, Marlinspike Partners, Riot Ventures, Eniac Ventures, New Era Ventures, and Sunset Ventures. Kindo also acquired WhiteRabbitNeo, an open-source cybersecurity AI model, to...
read Jul 15, 2024AI Liability Insurance Emerges as AI Adoption Grows and Risks Become Apparent
As artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous across industries and applications, touching every person's life, the potential for AI-driven errors and liabilities is growing, prompting discussions about accountability and the role of insurance in managing AI risks. Key considerations for AI liability insurance: Historical data on AI-related damages is limited, making it challenging for insurers to determine appropriate premiums and coverage levels. Some insurers may initially overprice AI insurance to mitigate risks as they collect more data, potentially locking out some customers. Annual AI insurance premiums are projected to be a small fraction (around 0.012%) of the total non-life insurance premiums worldwide,...
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