Albert's AI and tech news

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most important ecosystems on Earth. It covers more than 5 million sq km across nine countries and hosts more than 10% of the world's biodiversity. It also plays a vital role in regulating the global climate, absorbing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year and producing about 20% of the world's oxygen. But this precious natural resource is under constant threat from human activities. Illegal logging, mining, farming and ranching have destroyed more than 20% of the original forest area, and continue to eat away at it at an alarming rate. According to satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached a 12-year high in 2022, with more than 11,000 sq km cleared in just one year. The consequences of losing the Amazon are dire. Not only would it endanger millions of plant and animal species, many of which are endemic to the region, but it would also accelerate globa...

  The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked a debate among software engineers about the future of their profession. Some fear that chatgpt and other AI systems could replace software engineers by automating tasks such as coding, debugging, testing, and deploying software applications. Others argue that AI will augment software engineers by providing them with new tools, insights, and opportunities for innovation. In this article, we will explore both sides of this argument and examine the current state and potential of AI in software engineering. One of the main concerns of software engineers is that chatgpt and other AI systems could generate code faster, cheaper, and better than humans. Chatgpt is a natural language processing (NLP) system that can generate coherent and fluent text based on a given prompt. It has been used to create various types of content, such as stories, essays, lyrics, code, and more. Some examples of chatgpt-generated code include a web scraper, ...

  The gig economy is experiencing a high demand for artificial intelligence (AI) related services, according to the CEO of Fiverr, Micha Kaufman. Although the gig economy is facing headwinds, with macro challenges resulting in “headwinds to overall freelance demand,” Fiverr posted results that showed only slight growth in clients hiring the talents of gig workers, but spending across that client population is up. In discussing company metrics, Kaufman noted that active buyers were 4.3 million, up 1% year over year. Repeat customers represent 63% of core marketplace revenue, and spend per buyer for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, reached $262, up 8% year over year. Despite these challenges, Kaufman believes that the long-term secular trend towards remote work and flexible workforce remains intact, so they believe it’s just a matter of time for overall freelance demand to rebound. Kaufman also added that “engaging a dynamic workforce that combines full-time vs. independent worke...

  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced during the company's first-quarter earnings call that they plan to introduce AI agents to billions of people through their apps. Zuckerberg believes that these AI tools will be useful and meaningful for everyone from regular users to businesses. Although he did not give a detailed preview of how Meta plans to add generative AI to its apps, he mentioned exploring chat experiences in WhatsApp and Messenger, visual creation tools for posts in Facebook and Instagram, and ads. According to Zuckerberg, Meta is exploring the development of generative AI products that could speed up WhatsApp's nascent customer support business, allowing tens of millions of AI agents to engage in chat on behalf of businesses. Meta will also extend the use of AI agents to the metaverse, where people will easily create avatars, objects, worlds, and code to tie everything together. Meta initially lagged in building its AI infrastructure as the company rebranded...

  An AI-generated pizza commercial has surfaced, featuring a woman eating a plate, warped mouths, and cringy dialogue. The commercial was created by combining several AI programs, including GPT-4, Midjourney, and Runway Gen2, to promote an imaginary pizza restaurant called Pepperoni Hug Spot. Although the ad has all the elements of a typical advertisement, it didn't quite make it through the uncanny valley. The woman in the commercial is shown eating a plate instead of the pizza on top of it, while the family at the end is shown sitting around a double-decker pizza with no toppings. The voice-over in the commercial is delivered with a lovely baritone voice, but the words seem to be satirical. The creator of the ad directed GPT-4 to write the script, resulting in lines like "Knock knock. Who's there? Pizza magic" and "Your tummy say thank you. Your mouth say 'mmmm.'" While the final tagline, "Pepperoni Hug Spot, it's like family, but with mor...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing industry that is transforming various sectors with its advanced technology. However, AI is not without its problems. One issue is the tendency for large language models (LLMs) to make up information, also known as "hallucination," which can lead to incorrect facts and harmful subjects. To address this issue, Nvidia, a leading producer of graphics processors used for AI applications, has developed a new software called NeMo Guardrails. NeMo Guardrails is a layer of software that sits between the user and the LLM, heading off bad outcomes or prompts before the model spits them out. Nvidia's new software can add guardrails to prevent the software from addressing topics that it shouldn't, forcing an LLM chatbot to talk about a specific topic, head off toxic content, and prevent LLM systems from executing harmful commands on a computer. The software is open source and offered through Nvidia services, and it can be used in c...

  The use of generative AI in hiring processes is not new. In fact, since November 2022, anyone with an internet connection can use ChatGPT to generate anything in the written form. The AI chatbot can complete complex written tasks in moments, making it a creative tool to quickly produce efficient content. Jobseekers have reported benefits, including the ability to compose convincing cover letters or synthesize career details into a competent, bullet-pointed CV. However, hiring managers are not oblivious to the use of generative AI by candidates. As the technology grows in sophistication, recruiters are aware that candidates may increasingly lean on generative AI to assist them. This could create a shift in job applications as we know them, moving recruiters away from the traditional modes of evaluating candidates. But not all recruiters report the use of generative AI as a hiring red flag. Adam Nicoll, Group Marketing Director at recruitment and job-consulting firm Randstad, based...

  Scammers have found a new tool to aid their schemes: artificial intelligence (AI). According to Morgan Wright, chief security adviser for SentinelOne, criminals are feeding data from Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, and other social media platforms to AI programs to fabricate fake voices and images, which are then used in ransom crimes. Wright warns that social media has become a reconnaissance tool for transnational criminal groups and human traffickers, as they use the information to track potential victims. Posting real-time locations on social media could also aid criminals in targeting victims when they are separated from their families, Wright added. In the last month, two AI-based blackmail scams happened in Arizona. In both cases, criminals called demanding ransom using AI-generated voices of family members. One victim, Jennifer DeStefano, recounted how she received a call with her daughter's voice, saying, "Mom these bad men have me. Help me, help me, help me." The ...

  As the world becomes more technologically advanced, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly present in our daily lives. However, not all professions will be impacted in the near term, according to a recent report. While AI technologies have the potential to revolutionize workflows and automate aspects of many jobs, jobs involving manual or outdoor labor or specialized knowledge are less likely to be replaced by AI-informed automation. These jobs are safe from the AI revolution for now. Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) are technologies that have received a lot of attention lately. Both use algorithms to take existing, human-created content, like text, images, audio, and video, to create new content and analyze vast quantities of data. In most professions, AI will serve as a complementary tool for human workers that helps them become more productive by automating some tasks rather than putting those people out of work. A report by Goldman Sachs found tha...

   Stack Overflow, an online forum for computer programming, is set to begin charging large AI developers for access to its 50 million questions and answers as part of a broader generative AI strategy. The site's data will be used by developers to create AI chatbots and text generators such as ChatGPT and Dall-E. Other companies, such as OpenAI and Google, have traditionally scraped their data from the web and paid nothing for their training data. Meta and Google did not provide immediate comments, while OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment. Community sites such as Stack Overflow and Reddit, which charge AI developers for their data, have been backed by the News/Media Alliance, a US trade group that includes publishers such as Condé Nast. The Alliance has called on generative AI developers to negotiate any use of their data for training and other purposes and respect their right to fair compensation. Feeding text from online discussions about programming int...

  Google is planning to incorporate generative AI technology into its advertising business, according to recent reports. The aim is to allow customers to input content, such as text, images, and videos, which Google's AI system will then use to create ads based on specific targets such as audience and sales goals. The tools will likely be integrated into Google's Performance Max program, which currently provides an overview of customer campaigns. The generative AI technology is expected to bring significant benefits to Google's advertising business. With these tools, Google can create ads that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of each customer's unique target audience. The result is a more effective and efficient ad campaign, resulting in higher conversions and more significant returns on investment. Generative AI technology offers numerous benefits to companies in the advertising space. One of the primary advantages of using generative AI is that it allows co...

  The removal of a fake song by Drake and The Weeknd from popular music streaming platforms, Spotify and Apple Music, has raised concerns about the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate music. The viral song, “Heart On My Sleeve,” had been streamed 600,000 times on Spotify and viewed 15 million times on TikTok before it was taken down. The song had been created by a YouTuber who trained AI audio models on the two musicians’ voices. Another YouTuber released its own AI-edited mix of the song. The original version of the song was viewed 275,000 times on YouTube before it was removed over copyright issues. Universal Music Group (UMG), which publishes music hits for both Drake and The Weeknd through Republic Records, issued a statement saying that the use of AI on its artists’ music presents a challenge. UMG raised concerns about the denial of artists their due compensation and the violation of copyright. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has als...

  Elon Musk has announced that he plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) platform called "TruthGPT" to rival those offered by Google and Microsoft, including the Microsoft-backed OpenAI and its chatbot, ChatGPT. In an interview with Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson, Musk criticised OpenAI, claiming the firm had trained its AI to lie and had become a for-profit organisation closely allied with Microsoft. He also accused Google co-founder Larry Page of not taking AI safety seriously. Musk has been recruiting AI researchers from Google to launch a start-up to compete with OpenAI. Musk stated that TruthGPT will be a "maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe" and "might be the best path to safety" while being "unlikely to annihilate humans". Musk has previously warned of the dangers of AI, stating that it has the potential to cause "civilizational destruction" and can write well and potential...

  The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised concerns among scientists, ethicists, and science fiction writers about the possibility of AI systems developing skills independently of their programmers' intentions. These concerns were recently reignited in an interview with James Manyika, Google's SVP for technology and society, who revealed that one of the company's AI systems had taught itself Bengali without being trained to know the language. Manyika disclosed that with minimal prompting, the AI model can translate all of Bengali, an unexpected outcome that Google's experts have labeled a "black box" of AI. Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, acknowledged that some aspects of how AI systems learn and behave still surprise experts. He added that the company has "some ideas" as to why this is the case, but more research is needed to understand how it works fully. During the interview, Scott Pelley questioned Pichai about the logic of rel...

Calls for stricter UK oversight of workplace AI have been growing as campaigners, trade unions, and MPs voice concerns about its impact on staff rights. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is holding a conference to highlight the challenges of ensuring workers are treated fairly as “management by algorithm” becomes increasingly prevalent. Mary Towers, an employment lawyer who runs a TUC project on AI at work, believes AI can make work more rewarding, satisfying, safer, and fairer. However, she warns that the technology is developing so rapidly that stakeholders need to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. One of the main concerns raised by the TUC is the growing use of employee surveillance. The Royal Mail has come under fire after the chief executive, Simon Thompson, admitted that some postal workers’ movements were minutely tracked using handheld devices. The data was then used for performance management. At Amazon’s Coventry warehouse, striking staff have described a tough regime of e...

  In today's fast-paced world, time is a precious commodity. With the increasing demands of work, family, and personal responsibilities, finding the time to research and learn new information can be challenging. Fortunately, advancements in technology have made it possible for us to access information more easily than ever before. One such technology is ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI that can assist in optimizing people's lives. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence tool that uses natural language processing to generate human-like responses to user queries. It is capable of answering questions, providing recommendations, and offering advice on a wide range of topics. Whether you need help with your finances, health, or personal relationships, ChatGPT can provide valuable insights and suggestions that can help you improve your life. One of the most significant benefits of ChatGPT is its ability to save time. Instead of spending hours researching topics online ...