Last week in AI featured significant technological advances and strategic updates, reshaping industries from AI-enhanced personal assistants to healthcare solutions.
Anthropic Expands Claude’s Capabilities
Development: Anthropic introduced two significant updates to its AI assistant Claude, including a new ‘Claude Team’ plan and an iOS app, enhancing both team functionality and mobile accessibility.
Impact: These enhancements are aimed at boosting productivity and flexibility, allowing businesses and individual users to leverage Claude’s advanced AI capabilities on-the-go or in collaborative environments. Anthropic’s News
MidJourney’s Platform Accessibility
Update: MidJourney has now opened its web alpha for users who have created at least 100 images, facilitating direct access on their website.
Discussion: This development is expected to evolve rapidly, focusing initially on desktop access with plans to expand to mobile. Potentially increasing user engagement and creative output. Future Tools News
Microsoft’s Strategic AI Investments
Announcement: Facing competition, especially from Google, Microsoft heavily invested in OpenAI, integrating its models to boost AI capabilities and market position.
Strategic Move: This investment highlights Microsoft’s commitment to advancing AI technology and maintaining competitive parity in a rapidly evolving market. The Verge Report
Microsoft Updates Azure Service Policy
Policy Change: Microsoft has updated its Azure OpenAI Service terms to prohibit its use for facial recognition technologies by U.S. law enforcement.
Implications: This move aligns with broader ethical considerations of AI use in surveillance and law enforcement, reflecting an ongoing dialogue about technology’s role in society. TechCrunch Article
X Introduces AI-Powered “Stories”
Innovation: X platform has launched a new feature called “Stories,” utilizing its GrokAI technology to generate dynamic summaries of trending topics for premium subscribers.
Potential: This feature transforms user interaction with AI-enhanced summaries. However, users should verify the AI-generated information. TechCrunch on X’s Stories
Apple’s AI Advancements
Advancements: Apple is reportedly enhancing its AI capabilities, focusing on making Siri and other iOS features more efficient and contextually aware.
Future Outlook: These developments suggest a strategic push by Apple to lead in privacy-preserving, on-device AI applications, enhancing user experience across its product range. The Verge on Apple’s AI Research
NVIDIA and AWS Collaborate on AI in Healthcare
Collaboration: NVIDIA’s AI Microservices platform is integrating with Amazon Web Services to offer optimized AI models for healthcare applications.
Impact: This partnership facilitates easier deployment of advanced AI tools in healthcare, potentially accelerating innovation and efficiency in the sector. NVIDIA’s Blog
Ukraine Introduces AI-Generated Spokesperson
Initiative: Ukraine’s foreign ministry has introduced an AI-generated spokesperson to deliver official statements, aiming to enhance communication efficiency.
Significance: This is a pioneering use of AI in governmental communication, setting a precedent for technological integration in diplomatic services. ReadWrite on Ukraine’s AI Spokesperson
Final Thoughts
Last week’s developments highlight AI’s expanding role, with major tech firms like Microsoft and Apple advancing capabilities. As AI integrates deeper into various sectors, careful oversight of its development and application remains essential.
Welcome to another edition of Last Week in AI where we cover AI innovations and trends! This year at CES 2024, the spotlight was on AI advancements across various sectors, from AI-powered pillows to AI-powered birdfeeders. From the launch of the GPT Store to robots making coffee, the world of AI is evolving rapidly. Let’s dive in.
GPT Store
Big news of the week for many were the launch of the GPT Store, now open for ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users, offers a variety of GPTs for different interests, like design, coding, and AI.
Key Points:
Wide range of GPT categories, including DALL·E, writing, and programming.
New GPTs featured weekly, like trail guides from AllTrails.
Easy GPT creation for users, with no coding needed.
Quality maintained through a review system and user reports.
GPT Builder Revenue Program allows creators to earn based on user engagement (US only).
In short, the GPT Store is making AI more accessible and offering creative and earning opportunities for users. Interestingly enough, the GPT Store is full of AI girlfriend bots.
OpenAI vs NYT
OpenAI has responded to The New York Times’ lawsuit, underlining its dedication to working with news outlets and supporting the news ecosystem. They aim to develop AI products to aid journalists and editors, utilize historical content for training AI models, and incorporate real-time content with proper attribution in ChatGPT.
Key Points:
OpenAI is focused on assisting the news industry through AI technology.
They claim that using publicly available internet materials for AI training is fair use.
OpenAI offers an opt-out for publishers and is addressing the issue of AI content regurgitation.
Despite the lawsuit, OpenAI is committed to constructive partnerships with news organizations like The New York Times and is actively working on solutions to support and enhance the news industry with AI.
Figure AI
Figure AI is advancing in AI robotics. They train robots for everyday tasks. Their robot, Figure-01, can now make coffee. This is a big step in robot skills.
Brett Adcock, the founder, sees a big future. He wants robots to help in many areas, like caring for the elderly. The focus is on jobs humans don’t want.
Key points:
Figure-01 making coffee is a breakthrough.
Robots could be useful in many fields.
The aim is to help humans, not replace them.
All in all, Figure AI is all about making life easier with robots handling the less desirable tasks. Pretty exciting future ahead.
Nvidia
India’s data center providers are buying thousands of Nvidia’s advanced GPUs, aiming to boost the country’s AI sector. This move follows Nvidia’s business loss in China due to US export controls on high-tech semiconductors. However, Nvidia believes global demand will compensate for this loss.
Yotta plans to deploy 32,000 Nvidia H100 and H200 GPUs by 2025.
This surge in GPU purchases in India reflects the growing AI market across various economic sectors.
India’s investment in Nvidia GPUs marks a significant growth in its AI industry, offering a promising opportunity for Nvidia amidst challenges in other markets.
Rabbit R1
The Rabbit R1, unveiled at CES 2024, is a new AI-powered virtual assistant and handheld device. It goes beyond a typical smartphone, featuring a sophisticated AI called the Large Action Model (LAM). This AI enables smoother and more conversational task performance compared to traditional virtual assistants like Alexa or Siri.
Key Points:
The LAM is adept at using various apps and can learn new tasks.
The R1 is a compact device with a 2.88-inch touchscreen, a rotating camera, and robust technical specs.
Priced at $199, it’s designed to transform the AI personal assistant market.
In summary, the Rabbit R1, with its advanced AI and impressive features, is generating excitement in the AI personal assistant space, promising a more intuitive and capable device experience.
ARRES (Autonomous Road Repair System) PREVENT, a robot for preventing potholes, is gearing up to hit the roads of Hertfordshire, England. Developed by Robotiz3d and the University of Liverpool, this AI-powered robot identifies and repairs potholes. It’s been in lab tests since 2020 and can autonomously locate and fix potholes, especially in residential areas.
Key Points:
ARRES uses AI to detect potholes and automatically repair surface cracks.
The technology promises to save time and money, reducing road maintenance disruptions.
This innovation is a collaboration between Robotiz3d, the University of Liverpool, and Hertfordshire County Council Highways Engineers, targeting the persistent pothole issue in the UK.
In summary, ARRES PREVENT is set to revolutionize road maintenance in the UK, using AI to tackle the long-standing problem of potholes, offering efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
This robot identifies potholes in roads using AI and fills them to keep out surface water 👇
The technology, developed by Robotiz3d and the University of Liverpool, could save time and money, as well as reducing disruption.
At CES 2024, Amazon unveiled new AI tools for its Alexa personal assistant. This includes innovative AI experiences like Character.ai for interactive conversations with generated characters, and Splash, an AI-driven music creation tool. Additionally, Volley introduced an AI “20 questions” game.
The video game industry is facing challenges with AI integration, focusing on augmenting human capabilities without replacing jobs. Companies and unions are actively negotiating to protect workers’ rights and ensure AI is used in a worker-friendly way. For example, the Zenimax game workers union and Microsoft agreement emphasizes AI’s role in boosting productivity and growth without harm.
Key Points:
The industry aims to use AI to assist, not replace, human workers.
There are ongoing discussions to balance AI’s role in supporting existing jobs.
Agreements are being made to safeguard worker rights in the AI integration process.
The video game sector is keen on maintaining a balance where AI enhances job roles without threatening employment, reflecting a cautious yet optimistic approach towards AI’s growing role in the industry.
Google
Google is in a major patent infringement lawsuit over AI technology. Singular Computing, started by ex-MIT professor Joseph Bates, alleges that Google used its unique technology in various Google services. Singular is seeking up to $7 billion in damages, arguing that Google’s use of its patents would have merited a massive royalty payment.
Key Points:
Singular Computing claims Google infringed on its AI technology patents.
Google denies these claims, insisting on independent development of its processors.
The case, with potential damages of $7 billion, is heading to a federal jury.
Google faces a significant legal challenge with this patent infringement case, adding to its history of legal battles over technology patents.
Project Mockingbird
McAfee has introduced Project Mockingbird, an AI-powered technology to detect Deepfake Audio, aiming to tackle AI-generated scams. Revealed at CES 2024, this tool focuses on protecting users from AI-manipulated audio scams and misinformation.
Key Points:
Project Mockingbird uses AI models to identify AI-generated audio with over 90% accuracy.
It alerts users to maliciously altered audio in videos, helping differentiate real from fake content.
This innovation is part of a larger effort to combat AI challenges in cybersecurity.
Project Mockingbird by McAfee marks a significant advancement in fighting AI-generated scams, providing a crucial tool for digital safety in an era of rising AI-generated content threats.
Final Thoughts
As we wrap up, it’s clear that the boundaries of technology are being pushed further than ever before. The introduction of platforms like the GPT Store is making AI more accessible and versatile, while advancements in transportation and robotics are paving the way for a more efficient and interconnected world. These developments highlight the endless possibilities of AI in our daily lives. The future is bright and AI-driven, and we can’t wait to see what the next big breakthrough will be.
