March 16, 2023

CHINA

Baidu shares fall after Ernie AI chatbot demo disappoints

arsTECHNICA, 03/16/23. Baidu’s shares fell by nearly 10% after the company demonstrated its AI chatbot Ernie with a pre-recorded video. The company had claimed that Ernie would remake its business and drive generative AI into its products. The video reflected little progress.

OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT in November had caught Baidu off guard prompting it to divert resources to building Ernie. It had been falsely reported that Baidu’s investment in AI and development of natural language learning technology had given it a competitive advantage. READ MORE

ART

AI Will Make Human Art More Valuable

WIRED, 03/16/23. The rise of generative AI models has sparked debate over whether they make better art than humans. 

The meaning of “better” may shift as collective tastes evolve in response to technological progress. The William Morris effect shows that technical advances can change what is appealing or valuable. The change often runs against the grain of technology. 

People tend to prefer human-made art over computer-made art. This preference might grow stronger with time. AI is unlikely ever to produce “better” art than humans but it will transform our sense of quality in art. READ MORE

tools

Moon-gate: Samsung fans are mad about AI-processed photos of the moon

arsTECHNICA, 03/16/23. Samsung’s camera app has a “Moon Mode” using AI functionality tailored for moon photos. Some object as they see it as “faking” moon photos. 

The AI system can be tricked to add non-existent details to photos.  Samsung’s press release mentions a “detail enhancement engine” for the moon but it doesn’t go into much detail about how it works. READ MORE

china

Why China has edge on AI, what ancient emperors tell us about Xi Jinping

The Harvard Gazette, 03/16/23. Democratic nations excel in innovative technology. On the hand, China’s autocratic government AI “success” is due to its alignment with rulers’ goals, vast data collection, and predictive capabilities.

China dominates AI exports and sees increased purchases by autocratic regimes after recent unrest. READ MORE

GPT-4

What the New GPT-4 AI Can Do

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, 03/16/23. OpenAI has released GPT-4 that processes text and images and excels in reasoning and problem-solving tasks. However, It’s vulnerable to bias and generating falsehoods. 

GPT-4’s creativity has improved as has its use to assist visually impaired people. OpenAI is being very secretive sharing few details about its architecture and training. READ MORE