AI-Authored Books Flood Amazon
This week in AI and ML news: Computer vision for smart cities, a survey on AI in healthcare, and more.
Author’s Note
Last week, I shared a short snippet from my podcast conversation with James Joslin, Mitchell Scott, and Paul Murphy, the Co-Founders of MarineSitu. On Tuesday, we published Part 1 of the three-part episode. Topics of discussion include the broad range of expertise the MarineSitu team brings to their work, the challenges their technology helps Blue Economy leaders address, and some of the ways Plainsight has helped supplement their solutions. Check it out on our blog.
AI News
Chattanooga Deploys LiDAR for Traffic Insights
In the largest ever US-based project of its kind, Chattanooga, Tennessee (home to nearly 200,000 residents), is collaborating with researchers at Seoul Robotos and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to deploy LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) at more than 80 intersections. The project, supported in part by Department of Transportation funding, aims to collect and analyze visual data to improve the flow of traffic and promote safety for both drivers and pedestrians. Chattanooga initially initiated these efforts in 2019 and is now just one of several U.S. cities leveraging emerging solutions to gather visual data and improve daily life for residents.
Though LiDAR is most often associated with self-driving cars, the sensors deployed across Chattanooga suggest the ways computer vision solutions for detection, monitoring, and tracking can turn other types of facilities into self-contained smart cities. Enterprises can make computer vision a catalyst for digital transformation with solutions deployed across locations like warehouses, stores, and restaurants. Check out some of our CEO and Co-Founder, Carlos Anchia’s thoughts on how airports in particular function like smart cities thanks to visual data analytics.
Survey: How Do Americans Feel About AI in Healthcare?
Though a slight plurality of Americans (38%) agree that artificial intelligence could improve patient outcomes, 6 in 10 are still uncomfortable with the idea of healthcare providers who rely on AI-powered solutions. The results of a new Pew Research survey on AI in healthcare echo a similar survey on AI’s growing role in daily life. Both surveys suggest growing awareness combined with lingering concerns.
On the negative side, surveyed Americans suggested AI would put patient privacy at risk and harm the personal connection between providers and patients. They felt more positive, however, about AI’s potential for reducing bias in patient care and eliminating mistakes. Respondents were also generally enthusiastic about the use of AI solutions like anomaly-detecting computer vision for diagnosing skin cancer.
Generative AI Continues to Rock Publishing
ChatGPT can add co-authoring hundreds of eBooks to its growing assortment of headline-grabbing accomplishments. Amazon’s Kindle marketplace currently includes more than 200 texts listing ChatGPT as a primary or contributing author. The site now even lists several sub-categories related to OpenAI’s generative text solution. Since some authors likely neglect to disclose their use of ChatGPT, it is not possible to accurately assess the amount of AI-written content now crowding the site.
Speaking to Reuters, Mary Rasenberg, executive director of the Authors Guild, expressed her concerns that authors could soon be out of work. She also noted the low quality of auto-generated writing and remarked, “There needs to be transparency from the authors and the platforms about how these books are created.” Alternatively, some authors who have made use of ChatGPT to quickly publish books have suggested they have no intention to make such disclosures. Amazon’s policies do not require them to.
The news comes at a time when generative solutions are shaking up the worlds of publishing and audiobook recording. Apple announced a series of AI-narrated audiobooks stirring controversy about the future career prospects of human narrators and raising questions about whether some of their voices were used to fine-tune solutions without their knowledge. Clarkesworld, a sci-fi and fantasy magazine, has temporarily stopped accepting submissions due to a glut of AI-generated stories.
About the Author & Plainsight
Bennett Glace is a B2B technology content writer and cinephile from Philadelphia. At Plainsight, he plays a central role in planning and delivering content that supports Plainsight’s efforts to make vision AI success a repeatable, scalable reality for enterprises across a range of industries.
Plainsight provides the unique combination of AI strategy, a vision AI platform, and deep learning expertise to develop, implement, and oversee transformative computer vision solutions for enterprises. Through the widest breadth of managed services and a vision AI platform for centralized processes and standardized pipelines, Plainsight makes computer vision repeatable and accountable across all enterprise vision AI initiatives. Plainsight solves problems where others have failed and empowers businesses across industries to realize the full potential of their visual data with the lowest barriers to production, fastest value generation, and monitoring for long-term success. For more information, visit plainsight.ai.