News
1. UN starts a board to explore AI regulation
The United Nations has formed a new 38-member advisory board on AI representing government, academia, and industry to provide recommendations on the international governance of AI and harness its potential for good while addressing its risks and challenges (TechCrunch).
2. AI image tool for Amazon ads
A recent Amazon survey found 75% of struggling advertisers said creating ad creatives was their main challenge, so Amazon Ads introduced a beta generative AI tool to help advertisers by automatically generating lifestyle images that can increase click-through rates by up to 40% (Search Engine Journal).
3. OpenAI sets up Preparedness team
OpenAI is forming a new Preparedness team led by Aleksander Madry to assess risks, such as cybersecurity and persuasion, from current and future AI systems and develop protective policies (OpenAI).
4. AI constitution through a crowd
Anthropic and the Collective Intelligence Project ran an online public input process involving ~1000 Americans to collectively draft a constitution to align an AI system’s values, finding moderate overlap with Anthropic’s internal constitution but also differences like greater focus on accessibility (Anthropic).
5. Deaf children hear after gene treatment
Scientists in China have restored hearing in deaf children through a new gene therapy, marking the first time hearing has been improved with a drug; the therapy adds DNA to inner ear cells to compensate for a missing protein needed for sound transmission, allowing the children to hear conversations and whispers in the treated ear (MIT Tech Review).
6. A project to equip open-source AI systems with emotional intelligence
The non-profit LAION is launching Open Empathic, an open-source project to equip AI systems with empathy and emotional intelligence through community efforts like collecting emotional audio data. This will enable AI to better understand and respond to human emotions in contexts like education, healthcare, and entertainment (Laion).
7. Google will invest in Anthropic
Google has agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Anthropic. This comes after Amazon said it would invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic. The tech giants are ramping up efforts to compete in AI (Reuters).
Articles
1. Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist, on his hopes and fears for the future of AI (MIT Tech Review)
Ilya Sutskever believes artificial general intelligence is inevitable and is shifting his focus to ensuring future AI systems remain aligned with human values; he even envisions a future where humans merge with machines to keep up with AI’s rapid progress.
2. Exploring the Top 5 Generative AI Trends Shaping 2024 and Beyond (Analytics Insight)
More advanced natural language models, increased use of AI for art and music, a focus on reducing bias and improving ethics, expanding applications in healthcare, and leveraging AI to drive business transformation will likely happen.
3. How AI can help to save endangered species (Nature)
AI tools like neural networks that can rapidly analyze large datasets are increasingly being applied to biodiversity conservation efforts, helping identify endangered species from audio recordings and camera trap footage; AI can also model historical environmental impacts on ecosystems to understand biodiversity loss and predict future trends.
