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Looking ahead, OpenAI’s got 9.9 problems, and Twitch ain’t one
By Gary Marcus | Apr 23, 2024
While late 2022 and 2023 were heady times for ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI, the AI darling faces many serious challenges in 2024 as its momentum slows and cracks in its business model become more apparent, argues best-selling AI author, entrepreneur, and professor Gary Marcus.
Will 2024 be the year of responsible AI, or just more controversy?
Algorithms are not alone in their tendency toward AI bias. Building a responsible AI this year will demand a global class of regulators drawn from diverse backgrounds and greater receptiveness to minority input in the sector, two Patrick J. McGovern Foundation scholars explain.
Neurosymbolic AI injects symbolic reasoning to give DL ‘the human touch’
Neurosymbolic AI is a novel method that empowers DL to reason symbolically, while also bolstering its already renowned ability to ingest and digest reams of data. SEO content creator Ava Addams maps a new route toward more intuitive AI, and forecasts a sea change in the offing.
Advantis Medical Imaging fuels innovation to redefine healthcare with AI
The Yuan recently spoke with Zoi Giavri, co-founder, president and chief product officer of leading medical software developer Advantis Medical Imaging to talk advances in healthcare. Eleni Natsi, a journalist focused on the transformative impact of AI, lets us in on their tête-à-tête.
GenAI offers a peek into the future of empathetic care in neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatric disorders are often difficult to treat because each patient’s case is unique and there are few, if any, other comparable cases to use as references. Fortunately, GenAI, a new tech, is now changing this outlook, argues Harvard Med Fellow Rohitashva Agrawal, MD,MPH.
AI algorithms worsen social, intellectual isolation by cocooning users
Increased isolation and fraying social ties are major problems worldwide, yet they have also largely sneaked up on society. AI algorithms are partly to blame for this malaise, but one can take steps to combat it. ML engineer and technical writer Jacia Ebubechi outlines a regimen.
A tale of two sciences: The symbiosis between AI, neuroscienceThe human brain served as the model for the advent of AI, which is now enabling a greater understanding of the brain’s inner workings. Their further interactions will open exciting real-life applications. Dr Gaurav Chandra presents these vistas.
Google shelved its Gemini AI image app after it tried to rewrite historyGoogle put the brakes on its Gemini AI image tool for generating “inaccurate images of historical figures.” An attempt to avoid reproducing toxic stereotypes - a common issue with image generation tools - led Gemini to commit the even worse offense of writing revisionist history.
How a public-private consortium could lead to democratic global AI governance
An open and democratic public-private consortium for AI would sustain growth, transparency, and competition, while averting an over-concentration of power and AI safety risks, argues Trustless Computing Association founder and President Rufo Guerreschi.
There is a strong case to be made for regulating GenAI through common law
Arguments over whose regulations are best regarding AI, LLMs, and other advance tech overlook the possibility that common law, with its case-by-case approach, offers the best solution for crafting sensible regulatory frameworks, argue profs S. Alex Yang and Angela Huyue Zhang.
UK and US AI regulatory frameworks precede AI safety summit, impact healthcare
Both the UK and US governments published AI regulatory frameworks ahead of the first-ever AI Safety Summit hosted at Bletchley Park in November 2023. The two frameworks are both organized by five similar principles, and by comparing them AI developers will be better equipped to create AI tools designed for use in both UK and US settings.
The Yuan favorites
Cognition
Q-learning strategies optimize healthcare decision-making, asset deployment
The Q-learning technique is an ML approach that allows AI algorithms to learn and improve over time. This self-learning has many applications, from finance to healthcare, and promises significant improvement in how AI and ML operate. AI engineer Douglas Amante shows us the ropes.
Cognition
A comparison reveals the stark contrast between AI, human stupidity
This year’s World Economic Forum offered a snapshot on the state of the world and its many ongoing crises. While AI is achieving impressive results in many ways, these are largely being overshadowed by human stupidity, cautions NYU Professor Emeritus of Economics Nouriel Roubini.
Cognition
Meaningful and impactful AI ethics requires an adaptive mindset
The second part of this series elaborates further on the Agile Leadership Framework™ and Strategic Hustler™ concepts introduced in the previous article, writes Dr Frank Lee Harper, Jr, AI thought leader and provost and vice chancellor at Cambridge Corporate University.
Cognition
AI brings disconcerting change. Beware the “weaponised nostalgia” of populism
The populism that has recently surged can be summarised as ‘weaponized nostalgia.’ Best-selling AI author, keynote speaker and London Futurist Podcast co-host Calum Chace cites historical examples to warn of the perils that demagogues will pose in the age of AI.
Post-pandemic
How different countries leveraged the power of AI to navigate COVID-19
This first part of a series explores how AI helped the world weather COVID-19 and at least partially cushion its impact. While the pandemic exposed many shortcomings, it also shed light on future improvements. Biomedical engineer and med-tech innovator Anjali Rajan presents a glimpse into popular AI applications in pandemic management deployed by five countries.
Post-pandemic
Lessons learned during the pandemic must never be forgotten
As the COVID-19 pandemic fades into the past, people are eager to put it behind them and move on with their lives. However, the lessons taught by the pandemic must be remembered to prevent such a disaster from happening again.
Post-pandemic
Deep learning is a great tool for automatically detecting COVID-19
Intelligent methods help medical professionals detect and diagnose COVID-19 more quickly and so expedite treatment for patients suffering from severe cases, as ear, nose, and throat specialist Dr Mehrnaz Ataei and genetic and healthcare ML developer Dr Sara Moein succinctly explain.
Post-pandemic
A viable path out of the pandemic is crucial
Most people now act as if COVID-19 is over, yet the virus remains active and dangerous. The limited ability of current vaccines and drugs to prevent infection or treat long-COVID means much more must be done before the threat posed by this pathogen is truly a thing of the past.
Game-changers
Rapid rise of CRISPR gene editing is revolutionizing a myriad of fields
CRISPR is a keen gene editing and engineering tool that won its discoverers the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. While undoubtedly upending this field, its uses do not stop there. Academy of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences researcher Shipra Asthana gives an overview of its applications.
Game-changers
Infotainment systems for voice-controlled cars represent a big step forward
Alexa and Siri are well-known voice assistants but deliver mixed results. Similar technology is now going a step further to create smarter car infotainment systems, with AI researcher and tech expert Parisa Naraei shedding light on the specific methodology involved.
Game-changers
Vision Pro realizes Steve Jobs' last vision, but Apple does not yet see it
If Steve Jobs were still alive, Apple Vision Pro would have come out earlier and featured AI at its core, writes award-winning tech columnist Satyen K. Bordoloi as he outlines a vision for AVP that Apple would do well to adapt.
Game-changers
The AI revolution is creating new possibilities in climate science
AI is transforming the world’s weather forecasting systems, helping scientists better understand Earth and giving them access to new tools for the world’s fight against climate change, says Giulio Boccaletti, Scientific Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change.
Emerging markets
Market power is permanent even with intense technological competition
Contrary to what one might think, the competition and ceaseless innovation that are hallmarks of today’s globalized, digital, hyperconnected world are actually increasing and entrenching market power for large, established players, argues Stanford economics prof Mordecai Kurz.
Emerging markets
AI octopus flexes its tentacles to entrench Big Tech’s hegemony
No end looms in sight to Big Tech companies’ chokehold on the digital economy, and AI’s steady rise bids fair to buttress this trend based on these corporate leviathans’ access to data and knowledge of consumer and business behavior, argues author and Law Prof Eric Posner.
Emerging markets
AI roots out corruption in India’s troubled healthcare terrain
India, the world’s most populous country, has a complex healthcare system prone to inefficiency and corruption. As the country digitalizes, AI is already bearing fruit by exposing graft and granting more Indians access to quality care, writes AI and Big Data expert Disha Ganguli.
Emerging markets
Norway’s billion-kroner investment in AI should target innovation
To get the most bang for one’s buck - or krone - means carefully choosing how AI funds are allocated. Innovation Prof Tor W. Andreassen of NHH Norwegian School of Economics and tech executive Yngvar Ugland discuss the pros and cons of prioritizing AI inventions vs. innovations.
Domain knowledge
Can AI deliver long-awaited breakthroughs in assessing stroke risk?
Medical professionals toil hard to gauge stroke risk among aging populations earlier and more accurately. Incremental improvements have come, but big breakthroughs remain elusive as lack of access to care and AI jitters thwart efforts, as Harvard Med Fellow Rohit Agrawal, MD, MPH explains.
Domain knowledge
5G-driven AI, ML forecast traffic snarls within an ever-expanding range
AI, ML, and 5G are allying to achieve breakthroughs in traffic pattern management, easing congestion, and making highways everywhere safer, smarter, and more efficient. Purva Joshi, a PhD candidate in Healthtech at the University of Pisa, gives the green light to future mobility.
Domain knowledge
AI is advancing preventive medicine, promoting better health
AI draws much attention for transforming areas of healthcare such as cancer treatments and surgery, but its greatest impact lies in keeping more people healthy so they do not need such intervention, argues Ahmed Zahlan, a Fulbright Scholar doing his PhD on AI healthcare startups.
Domain knowledge
AI fails to flag autoimmune diseases, of which women form 80% of victims
Autoimmune diseases are tricky for both AI and humans to spot and diagnose. Even specially-bred algorithms often fail to find their quarry, with devastating consequences for their mostly women sufferers. ML engineer and technical writer Jacia Ebubechi kindles a beacon of hope.
Generic
Will 2024 be the year of responsible AI, or just more controversy?
Algorithms are not alone in their tendency toward AI bias. Building a responsible AI this year will demand a global class of regulators drawn from diverse backgrounds and greater receptiveness to minority input in the sector, two Patrick J. McGovern Foundation scholars explain.
Generic
Lawyers using AI almost sounds like a joke, but arouses growing concerns
US lawyers are increasingly landing in hot water for using GenAI in their practice. Attorney, professor, and AI expert Eran Kahana examines the reasons for this, the lessons to be learned, and the impacts it exerts on ethics, malpractice, and professional responsibility.
Generic
The Yuan contributor Ivana Bartoletti vows women’s rights in AI at UN
The Yuan’s contributor Ivana Bartoletti yesterday told the UN Women Assembly that, as AI increasingly fuels our societies, stronger links between privacy and equality must tackle the widening digital divide. The UN passed the first global AI resolution the same day. Her speech appears below.
Generic
AI is overhauling the workplace in ways both promising and unsettling
From automating time-consuming, repetitive tasks to driving pioneering innovation, AI is reshaping the labor market, offering huge opportunities and presenting challenges. Will AI steal jobs and make humans redundant, or foster a better work-life balance and deliver inclusivity?
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Special reports
The synergy of humans and AI: Nurturing humanity in the age of innovation
Crossing from the Old World that launched the Age of Exploration to the New World that bore its brunt, our voyage of intelligent discovery lands on day five on the shores of Brazil, named for a tree yielding a dye as red as embers (brasas) so precious Portugal’s bandeirantes eagerly shed the equally carmine blood of the area’s indigenes to obtain the colorant, before these bannermen mixed their own with them and others to produce Brazil’s largely Pardo people. On day five of our quest, radiologist Gustavo Meirelles takes the helm in the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest city to relate how other historic advancements that aroused dire fears at the start were ultimately also fully incorporated into human society.
AI, ML, Big Data supercharge drug discovery, development - Part 2
AI and associated technologies are taking the drug discovery sector by storm by shifting it into warp drive. Technology writer Priya Dialani, host of The Yuan’s Delta Dialog podcast, showcases inspiring examples of intrepid pioneers applying AI and supercharging drug development.
Has the concept of the metaverse failed, or is it still too early to tell?
This, the fourth in an article series titled Life and Crime in the Metaverse, examines the metaverse today and the question of whether it will ever reach its potential. Some already view it as a failure, but it could just be a steppingstone to something bigger and better.
Can ‘AI’ outsmart humans? That depends on how one defines ‘smart’
Whether machines will ever outsmart humans is a question of the use of language and the inadequacy of programming because, on their own, machines are not clever, says Nigel Morris-Cotterill, author of The Yuan’s ‘Imaginary Friends’ series, on day 14 of The Yuan’s voyage of intelligent discovery.
The next trillion-dollar business: personal AI assistants - part 3
The first two parts of this three-part series describe PAI assistants and how ChatGPT’s rise reflects the popular desire for them. In this final part, award-winning tech columnist Satyen K. Bordoloi examines how such a system might function in daily life.
‘AI ethics’ are doomed to failure - Part 1
As efforts to improve AI governance and devise rules governing its use gain momentum, ‘ethics’ is a buzzword that often pops up in talks of how to make AI more benign. The problem, however, is that the concept of AI ethics lacks substance and thus risks becoming meaningless. How to resolve this seeming paradox? Emmanuel R. Goffi, co-founder and co-director of the Paris-based Global AI Ethics Institute, weighs in.
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