While artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in an increasing number of industries to drive innovation and provide never-before-seen insights, the dark side of AI is also on the rise.
As one of the most talked-about technologies of the year, especially with the explosion of generative AI’s ChatGPT, here’s a look at the news highlights related to AI this month.
‘Cheeky monkey’ declines award, calls winning entry ‘promtography’
In recent months, the use of AI in everything has been widely debated. Besides song and essay writing, driverless cars, chatbox therapists and the development of medicine, AI’s utility in photography came into focus when winner of Sony World Photography Award declined the trophy.
German artist Boris Eldagsen’s entry—Pseudomnesia: The Electrician—won the creative open category last week, but he pointed out: “Something about this doesn’t feel right, does it?” He added that he “used the picture to test the competition and to create a discussion about the future of photography”.
Eldagsen thanked the judges for selecting his image but questioned if any of them “knew or suspected that it was AI-generated”. “AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore, I will not accept the award,” he said.
Google search engine looks to conversational AI
With the rise in companies embracing generative AI for their products, Google has now announced it will add AI features to its search engine. The company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, has confirmed that Google plans to add ChatGPT-like AI powers to its search engine.
Google has been experimenting with the technology in its products, including Gmail. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Pichai also said that the “opportunity space, if anything, is bigger than before”.
How AI helped in remote learning and higher education in India
In the aftermath of COVID-19, remote learning platforms have transformed higher education in India. With online learning becoming a trend, a broader group of students, especially those in rural or remote locations, are now able to benefit from AI-powered solutions, such as adaptive learning systems and chatbots. These solutions have assisted students in personalizing their experiences, while providing real-time feedback on their progress.
China proposes measures to manage generative AI services
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) recently unveiled draft measures for managing generative AI services. The cyberspace regulator wants firms to submit security assessments to the authorities. At the same time, Italy also banned ChatGPT citing privacy concerns and several other governments are considering how to mitigate the dangers of the emerging technology. In China, the CAC added that content generated by generative AI had to be in line with China’s core socialist values. They reinforced that the country supports AI innovation and application and encourages safe and reliable use of software, tools and data resources.
India not considering any law to curb AI growth
India’s Parliament was recently informed that the government has no intention to enact legislation on AI to control its spread in the nation. In a written submission to the Lok Sabha, IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: “NITI Aayog has published a series of papers on Responsible AI #AIForAll. But the government is not considering bringing a law or regulating the growth of AI in the country.”
After Sana, here’s Fedha—the virtual news presenter
Launched at the India Today Conclave 2023 in March, Sana was unveiled as India’s first AI bot anchor, ‘who’ has been providing news updates in multiple languages. This trend is catching on and recently, a virtual news presenter generated by AI read the news for a Kuwaiti media outlet. Fedha is a woman in a black jacket and white a T-shirt with her light-colored hair uncovered. She said (in Arabic): “I’m Fedha, the first presenter in Kuwait who works with artificial intelligence at Kuwait News. What kind of news do you prefer? Let’s hear your opinions.”
New AI tool to act as a lie detector
Beware when you lie to your boss with an excuse of taking a sudden sick day as AI can now detect whether you are lying about being sick by analyzing the tone of voice pattern and determining whether a person has a cold or not. Using vocal rhythms or harmonics, researchers at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology in Gujarat’s Surat analyzed the voice patterns of 630 people and found 111 suffering from a cold.
ChaosGPT threatens to ‘destroy humanity’
After more than 1,000 technology leaders and researchers signed an open letter last month urging AI labs to pause development of the most-advanced systems citing the “profound risks to society and humanity”, AI bot ChaosGPT recently tweeted plans to destroy humanity. The bot was asked to complete five goals: destroy humanity, establish global dominance, cause chaos and destruction, control humanity through manipulation and attain immortality. This led to the bot attempting to recruit other AI agents, researching “most destructive weapons” on Google and sending out threat tweets about humanity. The process also included the bot “thinking” before writing. Luckily, what came to humanity’s aide was when the bot started recruiting other AI agents from GPT3.5. OpenAI’s Auto-GPT—designed to not answer questions that could be deemed violent and deny such destructive requests—did not respond to it, which left ChaosGPT to continue its search on its own. Its search for eradicating humanity eventually ended.
Scientist Russell hints at ‘a Chernobyl for AI’ if it’s kept unchecked
Prominent AI expert, Stuart Russell, a professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley and a leading expert in AI and ML, has issued a warning about the potential dangers of unchecked AI development. In an exclusive interview with Business Today, even though he acknowledged the unlimited potential for AI to benefit the world, he emphasized the need for safety measures and reasonable guidelines to prevent the possibility of a “Chernobyl for AI”, a catastrophic event that could have far-reaching consequences.
AI-powered ElasticOps helps HCLTech achieve AWS Cloud Operations Competency status
“As a global leader in technology services, HCLTech ElasticOps, driven by AI-enabled operations and automation framework, simplifies cloud operations on AWS and empowers our clients to accelerate their digital transformation journey,” said Prabhakar Appana, Senior Vice President and Head of AWS Ecosystem at HCLTech.
As an AWS Cloud Operations Competency partner, HCLTech has demonstrated expertise in helping clients build a strong and scalable foundation for their end-to-end cloud operations.
