World’s largest projection mapping snags Guinness World Record — from inavateonthenet.net
A nightly projection mapping display at the Tokyo metropolitan government headquarters has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world.
Scammers trick company employee using video call filled with deepfakes of execs, steal $25 million — from techspot.com by Rob Thubron; via AI Valley
The victim was the only real person on the video conference call
The scammers used digitally recreated versions of an international company’s Chief Financial Officer and other employees to order $25 million in money transfers during a video conference call containing just one real person.
The victim, an employee at the Hong Kong branch of an unnamed multinational firm, was duped into taking part in a video conference call in which they were the only real person – the rest of the group were fake representations of real people, writes SCMP.
As we’ve seen in previous incidents where deepfakes were used to recreate someone without their permission, the scammers utilized publicly available video and audio footage to create these digital versions.
Letter from the YouTube CEO: 4 Big bets for 2024 — from blog.youtube by Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube; via Ben’s Bites
.
#1: AI will empower human creativity.
#2: Creators should be recognized as next-generation studios.
#3: YouTube’s next frontier is the living room and subscriptions.
#4: Protecting the creator economy is foundational.
Viewers globally now watch more than 1 billion hours on average of YouTube content on their TVs every day.
Bard becomes Gemini: Try Ultra 1.0 and a new mobile app today — from blog.google by Sissie Hsiao; via Rundown AI
Bard is now known as Gemini, and we’re rolling out a mobile app and Gemini Advanced with Ultra 1.0.
Since we launched Bard last year, people all over the world have used it to collaborate with AI in a completely new way — to prepare for job interviews, debug code, brainstorm new business ideas or, as we announced last week, create captivating images.
Our mission with Bard has always been to give you direct access to our AI models, and Gemini represents our most capable family of models. To reflect this, Bard will now simply be known as Gemini.
A new way to discover places with generative AI in Maps — from blog.google by Miriam Daniel; via AI Valley
Here’s a look at how we’re bringing generative AI to Maps — rolling out this week to select Local Guides in the U.S.
Today, we’re introducing a new way to discover places with generative AI to help you do just that — no matter how specific, niche or broad your needs might be. Simply say what you’re looking for and our large-language models (LLMs) will analyze Maps’ detailed information about more than 250 million places and trusted insights from our community of over 300 million contributors to quickly make suggestions for where to go.
Starting in the U.S., this early access experiment launches this week to select Local Guides, who are some of the most active and passionate members of the Maps community. Their insights and valuable feedback will help us shape this feature so we can bring it to everyone over time.
Google Prepares for a Future Where Search Isn’t King — from wired.com by Lauren Goode
CEO Sundar Pichai tells WIRED that Google’s new, more powerful Gemini chatbot is an experiment in offering users a way to get things done without a search engine. It’s also a direct shot at ChatGPT.
It’s only been 1 day of CES 2024, and the tech developments have been incredible.
The 10 most impressive reveals of CES 2024 so far:
1. The world’s first transparent MICROLED screen by Samsung pic.twitter.com/mie01Hvw1a
— Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung) January 9, 2024
From voice synthesis to fertility tracking, here are some actually helpful AI products at CES — from techcrunch.com by Devin Coldewey
But a few applications of machine learning stood out as genuinely helpful or surprising — here are a few examples of AI that might actually do some good.
The whole idea that AI might not be a total red flag occurred to me when I chatted with Whispp at a press event. This small team is working on voicing the voiceless, meaning people who have trouble speaking normally due to a condition or illness.
Whispp gives a voice to people who can’t speak
CES 2024: Everything revealed so far, from Nvidia and Sony to the weirdest reveals and helpful AI — from techcrunch.com by Christine Hall
Kicking off the first day were some bigger announcements from companies, including Nvidia, LG, Sony and Samsung. Those livestreams have ended, but you can watch most of their archives and catch up right here. And with the event still ongoing, and the show floor open, here’s how you can follow along with our team’s coverage.
Or, to dive into each day’s updates directly, you can follow these links:
Prompt engineering — from platform.openai.com
This guide shares strategies and tactics for getting better results from large language models (sometimes referred to as GPT models) like GPT-4. The methods described here can sometimes be deployed in combination for greater effect. We encourage experimentation to find the methods that work best for you.
Some of the examples demonstrated here currently work only with our most capable model, gpt-4. In general, if you find that a model fails at a task and a more capable model is available, it’s often worth trying again with the more capable model.
You can also explore example prompts which showcase what our models are capable of…
Preparedness — from openai.com
The study of frontier AI risks has fallen far short of what is possible and where we need to be. To address this gap and systematize our safety thinking, we are adopting the initial version of our Preparedness Framework. It describes OpenAI’s processes to track, evaluate, forecast, and protect against catastrophic risks posed by increasingly powerful models.
Every Major Tech Development From 2023 — from newsletter.thedailybite.co
The yearly tech round-up, Meta’s smart glasses upgrade, and more…
Here’s every major innovation from the last 365 days:
- Microsoft: Launched additional OpenAI-powered features, including Copilot for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365, enhancing business functionalities like text summarization, tone adjustment in emails, data insights, and automatic presentation creation.
- Google: Introduced Duet, akin to Microsoft’s Copilot, integrating Gen AI across Google Workspace for writing assistance and custom visual creation. Also debuted Generative AI Studio, enabling developers to craft AI apps, and unveiled Gemini & Bard, a new AI technology with impressive features.
- Salesforce: …
- Adobe: …
- Amazon Web Services (AWS): …
- IBM: …
- Nvidia: …
- OpenAI: …
- Meta (Facebook): …
- Tencent: …
- Baidu: …
News in chatbots — from theneurondaily.com by Noah Edelman & Pete Huang
Here’s what’s on the horizon:
- Multimodal AI gets huge. Instead of just typing, more people will talk to AI, listen to it, create images, get visual feedback, create graphs, and more.
- AI video gets really good. So far, AI videos have been cool-but-not-practical. They’re getting way better and we’re on the verge of seeing 100% AI-generated films, animations, and cartoons.
- AI on our phones. Imagine Siri with the brains of ChatGPT-4 and the ambition of Alexa. TBD who pulls this off first!
- GPT-5. ‘Nuff said.
20 Best AI Chatbots in 2024 — from eweek.com by Aminu Abdullahi
These leading AI chatbots use generative AI to offer a wide menu of functionality, from personalized customer service to improved information retrieval.
Top 20 Generative AI Chatbot Software: Comparison Chart
We compared the key features of the top generative AI chatbot software to help you determine the best option for your company…
What Google Gemini Teaches Us About Trust and The Future — from aiwithallie.beehiiv.com by Allie K. Miller
The AI demo may have been misleading, but it teaches us two huge lessons.
TL;DR (too long, didn’t read)
- We’re moving from ‘knowledge’ to ‘action’.
AI moving into proactive interventions. - We’re getting more efficient.
Assume 2024 brings lower AI OpEx. - It’s multi-modal from here on out.
Assume 2024 is multi-modal. - There’s no one model to rule them all.
Assume 2024 has more multi-model orchestration & delegation.
Stay curious, stay informed,
Allie
Chatbot Power Rankings — from theneurondaily.com by Noah Edelman
Here’s our power rankings of the best chatbots for (non-technical) work:
1: ChatGPT-4—Unquestionably the smartest, with the strongest writing, coding, and reasoning abilities.
T1: Gemini Ultra—In theory as powerful as GPT-4. We won’t know for sure until it’s released in 2024.
2: Claude 2—Top choice for managing lengthy PDFs (handles ~75,000 words), and rarely hallucinates. Can be somewhat stiff.
3: Perplexity—Ideal for real-time information. Upgrading to Pro grants access to both Claude-2 and GPT-4.
T4: Pi—The most “human-like” chatbot, though integrating with business data can be challenging.
T4: Bing Chat—Delivers GPT-4-esque responses, has internet access, and can generate images. Bad UX and doesn’t support PDFs.
T4: Bard—Now powered by Gemini Pro, offers internet access and answer verification. Tends to hallucinate more frequently.
and others…
Midjourney + ChatGPT = Amazing AI Art — from theaigirl.substack.com by Diana Dovgopol and the Pycoach
Turn ChatGPT into a powerful Midjourney prompt machine with basic and advanced formulas.
Make music with AI — from aitestkitchen.withgoogle.com re: Music FX
Animate Anyone — from theneurondaily.com by Noah Edelman & Pete Huang
Animate Anyone is a new project from Alibaba that can animate any image to move however you’d like.
While the technology is bonkers (duh), the demo video has stirred up mixed reactions.
…
I mean…just check out the (justified) fury on Twitter in response to this research.
To the researchers’ credit, they haven’t released a working demo yet, probably for this exact concern.
DC: Agreed. But don’t expect much help from the American Bar Association! It’s almost 2024 and the vast majority of law schools still can’t offer 100% online-based programs!!!
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) December 4, 2023
34 Big Ideas that will change our world in 2024 — from linkedin.com
Excerpts:
6. ChatGPT’s hype will fade, as a new generation of tailor-made bots rises up
11. We’ll finally turn the corner on teacher pay in 2024
21. Employers will combat job applicants’ use of AI with…more AI
31. Universities will view the creator economy as a viable career path
Expanding Bard’s understanding of YouTube videos — via AI Valley
- What: We’re taking the first steps in Bard’s ability to understand YouTube videos. For example, if you’re looking for videos on how to make olive oil cake, you can now also ask how many eggs the recipe in the first video requires.
- Why: We’ve heard you want deeper engagement with YouTube videos. So we’re expanding the YouTube Extension to understand some video content so you can have a richer conversation with Bard about it.
Reshaping the tree: rebuilding organizations for AI — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
Technological change brings organizational change.
I am not sure who said it first, but there are only two ways to react to exponential change: too early or too late. Today’s AIs are flawed and limited in many ways. While that restricts what AI can do, the capabilities of AI are increasing exponentially, both in terms of the models themselves and the tools these models can use. It might seem too early to consider changing an organization to accommodate AI, but I think that there is a strong possibility that it will quickly become too late.
From DSC:
Readers of this blog have seen the following graphic for several years now, but there is no question that we are in a time of exponential change. One would have had an increasingly hard time arguing the opposite of this perspective during that time.
Nvidia’s revenue triples as AI chip boom continues — from cnbc.com by Jordan Novet; via GSV
KEY POINTS
- Nvidia’s results surpassed analysts’ projections for revenue and income in the fiscal fourth quarter.
- Demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units has been exceeding supply, thanks to the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
- Nvidia announced the GH200 GPU during the quarter.
Here’s how the company did, compared to the consensus among analysts surveyed by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
- Earnings: $4.02 per share, adjusted, vs. $3.37 per share expected
- Revenue: $18.12 billion, vs. $16.18 billion expected
Nvidia’s revenue grew 206% year over year during the quarter ending Oct. 29, according to a statement. Net income, at $9.24 billion, or $3.71 per share, was up from $680 million, or 27 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
DC: Anyone surprised? This is why the U.S. doesn’t want high-powered chips going to China. History repeats itself…again. The ways of the world/power continue on.
Pentagon’s AI initiatives accelerate hard decisions on lethal autonomous weapons https://t.co/PTDmJugiE2
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) November 27, 2023
The Beatles’ final song is now streaming thanks to AI — from theverge.com by Chris Welch
Machine learning helped Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr turn an old John Lennon demo into what’s likely the band’s last collaborative effort.
Scientists excited by AI tool that grades severity of rare cancer — from bbc.com by Fergus Walsh
Artificial intelligence is nearly twice as good at grading the aggressiveness of a rare form of cancer from scans as the current method, a study suggests.
By recognising details invisible to the naked eye, AI was 82% accurate, compared with 44% for lab analysis.
Researchers from the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research say it could improve treatment and benefit thousands every year.
They are also excited by its potential for spotting other cancers early.
Microsoft unveils ‘LeMa’: A revolutionary AI learning method mirroring human problem solving — from venturebeat.com by Michael Nuñez
Researchers from Microsoft Research Asia, Peking University, and Xi’an Jiaotong University have developed a new technique to improve large language models’ (LLMs) ability to solve math problems by having them learn from their mistakes, akin to how humans learn.
The researchers have revealed a pioneering strategy, Learning from Mistakes (LeMa), which trains AI to correct its own mistakes, leading to enhanced reasoning abilities, according to a research paper published this week.
Also from Michael Nuñez at venturebeat.com, see:
GPTs for all, AzeemBot; conspiracy theorist AI; big tech vs. academia; reviving organs ++448 — from exponentialviewco by Azeem Azhar and Chantal Smith
Personalized A.I. Agents Are Here. Is the World Ready for Them? — from ytimes.com by Kevin Roose (behind a paywall)
You could think of the recent history of A.I. chatbots as having two distinct phases.
The first, which kicked off last year with the release of ChatGPT and continues to this day, consists mainly of chatbots capable of talking about things. Greek mythology, vegan recipes, Python scripts — you name the topic and ChatGPT and its ilk can generate some convincing (if occasionally generic or inaccurate) text about it.
That ability is impressive, and frequently useful, but it is really just a prelude to the second phase: artificial intelligence that can actually do things. Very soon, tech companies tell us, A.I. “agents” will be able to send emails and schedule meetings for us, book restaurant reservations and plane tickets, and handle complex tasks like “negotiate a raise with my boss” or “buy Christmas presents for all my family members.”
From DSC:
Very cool!
Introducing, Motion Brush.
A new way to add controlled movement to your generations.
Coming soon to Gen-2. pic.twitter.com/htyjf1gstz
— Runway (@runwayml) November 10, 2023
Nvidia Stock Jumps After Unveiling of Next Major AI Chip. It’s Bad News for Rivals. — from barrons.com
On Monday, Nvidia (ticker: NVDA) announced its new H200 Tensor Core GPU. The chip incorporates 141 gigabytes of memory and offers up to 60% to 90% performance improvements versus its current H100 model when used for inference, or generating answers from popular AI models.
From DSC:
The exponential curve seems to be continuing — 60% to 90% performance improvements is a huge boost in performance.
Also relevant/see:
- NVIDIA Supercharges Hopper, the World’s Leading AI Computing Platform — from nvidianews.nvidia.com
HGX H200 Systems and Cloud Instances Coming Soon From World’s Top Server Manufacturers and Cloud Service Providers
The 5 Best GPTs for Work — from the AI Exchange
Custom GPTs are exploding, and we wanted to highlight our top 5 that we’ve seen so far:
- FAQ Generator: Simply input a URL and it’ll generate an FAQ for that webpage
- Canva GPT: Generate Canva graphics in seconds
- Automation Consultant: By Zapier
- Content Matrix GPT: Mirroring prolific online writer Justin Welsh
- Summarizer GPT: Can summarize in different formats, by TikTok friend of ours, Riley Brown
Introductory comments from DSC:
Sometimes people and vendors write about AI’s capabilities in such a glowingly positive way. It seems like AI can do everything in the world. And while I appreciate the growing capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) and the like, there are some things I don’t want AI-driven apps to do.
For example, I get why AI can be helpful in correcting my misspellings, my grammatical errors, and the like. That said, I don’t want AI to write my emails for me. I want to write my own emails. I want to communicate what I want to communicate. I don’t want to outsource my communication.
And what if an AI tool summarizes an email series in a way that I miss some key pieces of information? Hmmm…not good.
Ok, enough soapboxing. I’ll continue with some resources.
ChatGPT Enterprise
Introducing ChatGPT Enterprise — from openai.com
Get enterprise-grade security & privacy and the most powerful version of ChatGPT yet.
We’re launching ChatGPT Enterprise, which offers enterprise-grade security and privacy, unlimited higher-speed GPT-4 access, longer context windows for processing longer inputs, advanced data analysis capabilities, customization options, and much more. We believe AI can assist and elevate every aspect of our working lives and make teams more creative and productive. Today marks another step towards an AI assistant for work that helps with any task, is customized for your organization, and that protects your company data.
Enterprise-grade security & privacy and the most powerful version of ChatGPT yet. — from openai.com
NVIDIA
Nvidia’s Q2 earnings prove it’s the big winner in the generative AI boom — from techcrunch.com by Kirsten Korosec
Nvidia Quarterly Earnings Report Q2 Smashes Expectations At $13.5B — from techbusinessnews.com.au
Nvidia’s quarterly earnings report (Q2) smashed expectations coming in at $13.5B more than doubling prior earnings of $6.7B. The chipmaker also projected October’s total revenue would peak at $16B
MISC
DC: And many business people in the early/mid-90’s thought electronic mail was only good for arranging a business lunch but it was never going to take off.
ChatGPT: Few Americans think it will impact their job in a major way| Pew Research Center https://t.co/dsUfoNOeVO
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 30, 2023
OpenAI Passes $1 Billion Revenue Pace as Big Companies Boost AI Spending — from theinformation.com by Amir Efrati and Aaron Holmes
OpenAI is currently on pace to generate more than $1 billion in revenue over the next 12 months from the sale of artificial intelligence software and the computing capacity that powers it. That’s far ahead of revenue projections the company previously shared with its shareholders, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
OpenAI’s GPTBot blocked by major websites and publishers — from the-decoder.com by Matthias Bastian
An emerging chatbot ecosystem builds on existing web content and could displace traditional websites. At the same time, licensing and financing are largely unresolved.
OpenAI offers publishers and website operators an opt-out if they prefer not to make their content available to chatbots and AI models for free. This can be done by blocking OpenAI’s web crawler “GPTBot” via the robots.txt file. The bot collects content to improve future AI models, according to OpenAI.
Major media companies including the New York Times, CNN, Reuters, Chicago Tribune, ABC, and Australian Community Media (ACM) are now blocking GPTBot. Other web-based content providers such as Amazon, Wikihow, and Quora are also blocking the OpenAI crawler.
Introducing Code Llama, a state-of-the-art large language model for coding — from ai.meta.com
Takeaways re: Code Llama:
- Is a state-of-the-art LLM capable of generating code, and natural language about code, from both code and natural language prompts.
- Is free for research and commercial use.
- Is built on top of Llama 2 and is available in three models…
- In our own benchmark testing, Code Llama outperformed state-of-the-art publicly available LLMs on code tasks
Key Highlights of Google Cloud Next ‘23— from analyticsindiamag.com by Shritama Saha
Meta’s Llama 2, Anthropic’s Claude 2, and TII’s Falcon join Model Garden, expanding model variety.
AI finally beats humans at a real-life sport— drone racing — from nature.com by Dan Fox
The new system combines simulation with onboard sensing and computation.
From DSC:
This is scary — not at all comforting to me. Militaries around the world continue their jockeying to be the most dominant, powerful, and effective killers of humankind. That definitely includes the United States and China. But certainly others as well. And below is another alarming item, also pointing out the downsides of how we use technologies.
The Next Wave of Scams Will Be Deepfake Video Calls From Your Boss — from bloomberg.com by Margi Murphy; behind paywall
Cybercriminals are constantly searching for new ways to trick people. One of the more recent additions to their arsenal was voice simulation software.
10 Great Colleges For Studying Artificial Intelligence — from forbes.com by Sim Tumay
The debut of ChatGPT in November created angst for college admission officers and professors worried they would be flooded by student essays written with the undisclosed assistance of artificial intelligence. But the explosion of interest in AI has benefits for higher education, including a new generation of students interested in studying and working in the field. In response, universities are revising their curriculums to educate AI engineers.