?? Wiser! #140: Google's Free AI Utility Strategy | Who's Regulating Who? | Deutsche Bank's AI Bankers

What's In Wiser! This Week

First, many thanks for the kind words and well wishes last week after my scuffle with covid. I’m back on my feet and almost back to normal.

For PLUS! subscribers I look, again, at the battle for AI dominance between Google and OpenAI. Both have come out with new features with the promise of more to come.

For the main stories, I lead with 2 this week. The first is about regulating AI. A dry subject at the best of times but it’s important to pay attention when the bosses of the biggest tech firms are the ones educating the lawmakers on what laws to make. History tells us that regulation favour the incumbents. Pay attention!

The other is about Deutsche Bank, one of the largest banks in the world, and their pilots to replicate the functions of junior bankers with AI. Frankly, I could have chosen a number of corporates to focus on, they’re all doing the same. The point is that AI is proving capable of doing work that humans do, but they don’t need too. AI does it just as well, only without the maintenance overhead of a human.

For Chart of the Week, I’ve picked an interesting visual that talks to the environmental impact of AI, as measured in how much water Microsoft uses. The ESG agenda has not yet hit AI, but it will. Pay attention here too!

In the What Else section, there’s over a dozen relevant tech stories to whet your appetite.

Finally, I got to interview my daughter, Emily, a couple of weeks ago about the impact of AI for small business owners. You can watch it here.

ATB, Rick

P.S. REMEMBER: Insight and Information Gives You Leverage!

BigTech

Google's Free Utility Strategy: A Threat to OpenAI in the AI Gold Rush?

A Wiser! Reader sent me an article from The Economist this week about OpenAI (thanks Pat). It asked the question, “Is OpenAI the Next BigTech Giant?” The article makes the case that OpenAI is putting together the building blocks for the AI generation. Blazing the trail while others follow. The story made a compelling point, much of it I agree with. After all, who knows if OpenAI can keep it going and join The Four, Five or Six, however you count BigTech?

But, where I diverge from the article is that, IMHO, the key player isn’t OpenAI.

It’s not OpenAI that’s building the picks and shovels at scale, its Google. Just like they did with Internet Search, they’ll do the same with AI. In this week’s PLUS!, I make the case that it will be Google, not OpenAI/Microsoft, that give us the tools to make AI a free-to-use utility, just like Search.

Read it here....

Or watch this week's issue of Wiser! in Tech on YouTube.

w/Artificial Intelligence

Deutsche Bank is Experimenting with AI to Transform its Business

According to Business Insider, Deutsche Bank is pushing hard with 25 AI pilots that are scheduled to be launched next year. The bank has identified use cases that include automated client briefings and a chatbot to handle corporate banking inquiries. The bank demonstrated an AI system in one use case to show that the AI could effectively perform the tasks of a junior banker. The AI tool facilitated client briefings and generated reports to assist investment bankers in preparing for client meetings.

Here’s The Thing: The reason I chose this story is because it perfectly illustrates how some, not all, major corporations are tackling the adoption of AI. They’re focused on the activities that do NOT rely totally on human input, such as gathering data, compiling standard reports, answering routine questions. Deutsche Bank are no newcomers when it comes to AI. In 2019, the bank reported it had saved “680,000 hours of manual work ” using AI. The point is that, thanks to generative AI, what would typically require a team of junior bankers a day or two to compile can now be produced in a matter of seconds. The bank has expressed its intention to double or even triple the current number of about 400 staffers working on AI-related projects.

Business Insider / Reuters (Morgan Stanley)

w/Artificial Intelligence

Who Exactly Is Writing AI Regulations: Silicon Valley or Washington?

A big meeting just took place in the USA. AI tech executives including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wang met with the US lawmakers in a closed door forum to discuss AI regulation. The purpose was apparently so that US lawmakers can be educated on the issues for AI regulation. However, The New York Times reported how the tech executives “pushed” differing agendas in the room and expressed disagreement over issues like open source AI development. Plus there was the usual narratives; Musk warned of existential risks from AI, whilst Pichai and Zuckerberg highlighted AI's potential benefits as well as the need for transparency

Here’s The Thing: It sounds great, doesn’t it? That the busiest corporate executives give up their time to educate a bunch of crusty fuddy duddies about how they should write the laws to regulate tech. After all, Musk, Altman, Zuckerberg have been calling on AI to be regulated to months. But here’s the question you have to ask yourself, in whose interests are “they” acting? Because history tells us that, especially in the USA with its systemic reliance on lobbying and political donations, that when industries are regulated, the incumbents win. It’s known as “regulatory capture.” Google, Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft were all in the room trying to shape the regulations, but to what end, and who’s benefit? I’m all for regulation, but am cynical about asking the people most impacted by them, to also write them.

New York Times / Bill Gurley 2,851 Miles on YouTube HIGHLY RECOMMENDED WATCHING!!

w/Chart Of The week

AI Is A Thirsty Beast

In 2022, Microsoft consumed enough water to fill over 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools as it continued to fuel and cool its growing stable of AI tools and projects.

Every time you ask the ChatGPT-powered Bing to inspire you with recipe ideas or travel suggestions, it's thirsty work for the AI chatbot. Researchers estimate that, owing to the cooling processes required for the hardware, ChatGPT almost guzzles a full 16-oz bottle of water for every 5-50 prompts it's fed. Bottom line: the environmental cost of AI has yet to become a topic of conversation and awareness, but it will do, very soon, mark my words!

Source: Chartr

AI Wisdom

Join Sam Altman, Co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, and Wade Foster, Co-founder and CEO of Zapier, for a fireside chat on Sept 28 about entrepreneurship, AI, and how this new technology will shape the future. FREE VIRTUAL EVENT .

Join the Wiser! mailing list and get your FREE copy of The Utility of Emerging Technologies, containing over 25 use cases for AI, blockchain, NFTs and virtual reality.

What Else Is Happening In Tech?

• eBay has introduced an AI tool called "magical listing" that uses artificial intelligence to analyse and summarise product details from images , helping sellers generate titles, descriptions, and other important information. The point here is that for many sellers, they get stumped by the creative process of creating an appealing and attractive product listing. eBay’s solution is a great use case for generative AI that enables the less able to become more competitive.
• On the other side of the same street, Amazon has seen a massive rise in the number of AI-generated ebooks listed on its Kindle store. They’re now insisting that authors and publishers declare if they’ve been autogenerated by AI. Frankly, it’s a hopeless task because there’s no way to check the answer. Despite what anyone tells you, there is no AI checking tool in existence.
• From books to music. Believed to be a first, Warner Music has signed a record deal with an AI virtual pop singer known as Noonoouri , who already has over 400k followers on social media. These last 2 stories illustrate how the perceived creativity of AI could/will flood the book and music industries with content, without producing a Bronte or a Beatles.
• Over 65 million people a day play on Roblox, the gaming platform of choice for the under 16s. This is the next generation of workers in the era of AI and they’re about to get a full introduction to AI. A new AI chatbot called Roblox Assistant uses prompts, just like ChatGPT, to generate virtual environments, add elements and characters to games and generate sophisticated gameplay and 3D model generation. This is important because, IMHO, within a year or so, every job application will ask for AI prompting skills alongside Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• On the subject of Roblox, another way that kids are learning about living in a digital world is by the purchasing of digital goods using digital money (Robux) on blockchain technology while on Roblox. Digital e commerce brand Threadless is selling digital apparel designs by converting hundreds of real-life designs from its artists into?digital clothes for Roblox avatars. It all happens under the hood, but the point is that kids are getting used to the idea of buying digital goods when it sounds completely insane to an older generation (like me.)
• A consortium of German startups and defence academics are testing AI systems in the metaverse , leading to new strategies and use cases for military hardware. The system, dubbed GhostPlay, allows officials to wargame new features for aerial drones and other unmanned vehicles.
• One area that is being advanced significantly by AI is in genetics and diseases. Two stories caught my eye this week; the Chan (Mark) Zuckerberg Initiative , is set to develop an AI-driven computing system specifically designed for life sciences research, to delve deeper into the study of human cells and diseases using AI.
• And, Google DeepMind has developed an AI, called AlphaMissense , that predicts whether genetic mutations are harmful or benign in DNA. By analysing 71 million mutations, it determined that 57% were likely harmless and 32% harmful, with the model outperforming current predictive tools, offering?faster and more precise insights into mutation-driven diseases, and expediting research and diagnosis of rare disorders.
• Elon Musk's company Neuralink has received FDA approval and clearance from an independent review board to?start human trials for its brain-computer interface, "the Link". This technology aims to allow users to control devices with their thoughts, and has the potential to bridge neurological gaps for the blind, deaf, motor impaired & more.
• Tiktok’s e-commerce live shopping experience is finally rolling out in the USA. No-one has managed to get social commerce, i.e., influencer led live stream shopping, to work outside of China. If anyone can, Tiktok can (and they will, IMHO).
• Microsoft's AI research team mistakenly shared a link that exposed?38 TB of the company's private data , including backups of employee computers with sensitive information.
• And finally, Apple?CEO Tim Cook?said?he watched the entire third season of “Ted Lasso” on his company’s Vision Pro headset. Good for him, I couldn’t get past episode 2 of the 3rd season because I thought it was rubbish!
• Amazon has updated Alexa with generative AI capabilities , making it smarter and more conversational. The new update includes a custom large language model (LLM) to enhance voice interactions, real-time audio and video call translations, calendar management through email, Alexa Emergency Assist, and Eye Gaze mode for people with speech and mobility disabilities.
• Britain’s controversial Online Safety Bill will soon become law after passing through parliament on Tuesday. The sweeping legislation places strict news content moderation rules on social media companies. Platforms will become legally responsible for the material they host.
• Estée Lauder is expanding its use of generative AI to monitor consumer feedback in real-time and streamline internal operations. By using large language models, Estée Lauder aims to analyse consumer sentiment on social media and call centers. This move highlights the growing importance of generative AI in digital transformation strategies for marketers.

Times Magazine have released its list of the 100 most influential people in AI for 2023.

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