Welcome to the newest edition of the AI Buzz!

This month we explore several developments in the expanding realm of AI. We examine Snapchat's new ‘My AI’ assistant and how it could shape creative content. Additionally, we outline free AI writing tools helping streamline productivity.

This issue’s AI in the World includes examining digital art copyright concerns as well as immersive experiences showcasing Da Vinci's works. We also profile a massive new LED art installation debuting in Las Vegas.

Our legal expert analyzes copyright lawsuits facing ChatGPT and potential trade secret implications. Simultaneously, UNESCO calls for regulating classroom AI use as educational institutions invest heavily in the technology.

In the business sector, large funding amounts pour into startups innovating text and video AI. In the tools realm, we introduce Google's new notebook assistant promising smarter note-taking.

I hope you find our coverage of AI’s expanding influence insightful. Please share your feedback as we aim to keep you informed.

What is Snapchat AI? A Writer’s Review into “My AI”
In the ever-evolving realm of social media, Snapchat has introduced 'My AI', a novel AI-powered chatbot poised to revolutionize content creation. Far from your average chatbot, 'My AI' acts as a dynamic assistant, offering innovative content suggestions, particularly helpful during those all-too-familiar writer's block moments. Users can personalize it, adding an intimate layer to the interaction, making it feel like another Snapchat friend. But it’s not without its quirks, occasionally surprising users with unexpected posts or offbeat replies.

Learn more >>

Free AI Writing Tools in Action
Generative artificial intelligence has revolutionized the content writing sphere, and this piece highlights the benefits and functionalities of four free AI writing tools: Ahrefs, ChatGPT, Copy.ai, and Rytr. Ahrefs, originally an SEO product, has expanded its services to include diverse writing tools with different tone options. ChatGPT, the iconic chatbot by OpenAI, offers a platform for generating diverse content, from songs to articles. Copy.ai, while primarily geared towards copywriting, also boasts a chatbot feature with internet searching capabilities. Lastly, Rytr offers a blend of content creation and chat functionality, even experimenting with image generation. As AI continues to grow, exploring these free tools can empower writers, both novice and experienced, to enhance their craft and streamline their process.

Learn more >>

Was This Written by AI? How to Avoid Robotic Content

Harnessing the power of AI in writing can be revolutionary, but no one wants their content to sound machine-generated. While tools like Quillbee, ChatGPT, and Perplexity can be assets in brainstorming and drafting, it's imperative to watch out for the pitfalls: AI often gets stuck in patterns, resulting in repetitive phrasing and consistent sentence structures. Moreover, while AI leans towards a formal tone, today's readers appreciate a more conversational style. To combat these challenges, writers should invest time in crafting thoughtful prompts, meticulously edit and fact-check the AI-generated content, infuse personal touches, and even utilize AI content detectors to ensure their writing retains a genuine, human feel.

Learn more >>

AI is moving fast, and most people aren’t fully experiencing the benefits of AI in their everyday lives. In each newsletter, our team looks over the happenings in AI in their specific areas of expertise to share their insights with you.

Feature Story: Visual Artists Take on AI

Visual artists like Kelly McKernan are at the forefront of a legal battle against AI companies that repurpose their work, raising significant concerns about copyright infringement. They argue that AI-generated imagery competes directly with their original creations. In a lawsuit awaiting a San Francisco federal judge's decision, artists are seeking to protect their work from AI developers' profits, potentially setting a precedent for creators in the digital age. The case targets AI tool makers Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt, and seeks class-action damages along with a court order to prevent the exploitation of artistic works without consent. While artists recognize AI's potential, they are determined to ensure they aren't exploited by it.

AI Art-Tech Spotlight: Google's SynthID

Google has unveiled SynthID, a groundbreaking digital watermarking and identification tool designed to enhance transparency in AI-generated images. SynthID embeds an invisible digital watermark directly onto an image's pixels, making it indistinguishable to the human eye. While Google has not revealed technical specifics to prevent workarounds, they claim that the watermark cannot be easily removed through simple editing techniques. The tool evaluates images based on three digital watermark confidence levels: detected, not detected, and possibly detected. Although not infallible, Google believes SynthID will empower individuals and organizations to responsibly engage with AI-generated content. The company plans to expand its use to various AI models in the future.

AI, Art & Da Vinci: Inside a Genius Mind with Google

Google has partnered with 28 institutions worldwide to present "Inside a Genius Mind," an online retrospective exploring the genius of Leonardo da Vinci. This project leverages machine learning to categorize Leonardo's extensive writings and drawings into thematic sections, making them more accessible to art enthusiasts and experts alike. The retrospective showcases over 3,000 drawings, including pages from his famous codices, providing insights into the complexities and connections within Leonardo's genius. Google has also created impressive 3-D models and animations of Leonardo's inventions and digitized his wall paintings. "Inside a Genius Mind" aims to offer a unique and immersive experience, bridging the gap between art history neophytes and experts.

Art in the Digital Age: Refik Anadol's Spectacular Canvas

Digital artist Refik Anadol is poised to showcase his AI-generated art on an extraordinary canvas—the world's largest LED screen, located on the exterior of the Sphere in Las Vegas. Titled "Machine Hallucinations: Sphere," Anadol's creation is an artificial intelligence data sculpture that draws inspiration from public data and machine learning. The artwork explores themes of outer space, nature, and urban environments. Divided into two chapters, it offers a generative and ever-changing experience. The first chapter utilizes 1.1 million publicly available satellite and spacecraft images, while the second incorporates 300 million publicly sourced images of flora and fauna from national parks worldwide, along with environmental data. This monumental project redefines the boundaries of art and architecture, offering viewers a multi-sensory journey into alternative realities.

On August 28, OpenAI filed motions to dismiss the “ancillary claims” within the federal class actions currently pending against them in California, Ars Technica reports. These actions were filed earlier this year by Sarah Silverman, Paul Tremblay, and other authors who allege that the output of ChatGPT infringes their copyrights in their respective books. OpenAI now seeks to dismiss the claims of vicarious infringement, negligence, the DMCA, the California UCL, and unjust enrichment. This kind of motion is typical at this stage, and it occurs in nearly all litigation between sophisticated parties. Hearing is set for December 7.

I suspect OpenAI’s principal objective in these motions is to avoid revelation of its underlying processes. The vicarious liability claim is based on a theory that OpenAI has the right to supervise ChatGPT, and untangling that could be a minefield for OpenAI’s trade secrets. The looming question is how much OpenAI might have to reveal as the case proceeds to discovery, and no matter the outcome, these motions are unlikely to put that question to rest. After all, OpenAI could win the litigation outright and still lose if the black box of ChatGPT is pried open in the process.

X Corp–which is to say, Twitter–is the latest tech giant to not-so-sneakily amend its privacy policy to inform users that they may now have their data, including biometric data, used to train AI, according to Bloomberg Law. Afterwards, X owner Elon Musk was quick to join the ranks of Google, other name change casualty Meta (Facebook), and Zoom in attempting to reassure users that the change is not as dystopian as it seems. While cynicism is certainly appropriate, I hope this trend prompts lawmakers and regulators to adopt more robust legal protections, without which consumers who wish to protect their personal data from Big Tech may be left with no alternative but to unplug entirely.

OpenAI, the company behind the popular Large Language Model ChatGPT, has recently posted a guide for teachers who are interested in how to use AI in their classrooms. As a new school year begins in most parts of the United States, teachers are scrambling to find best practices around the usage of AI within their classrooms. It's good to see OpenAI take an interest in helping teachers discover and create those best practices.

This guide provides some very interesting examples of how teachers are currently using ChatGPT in the real world, as well as providing examples to get teachers started with using ChatGPT.

How teachers are using ChatGPT

1. Role playing challenging conversations: Dr. Helen Crompton from Old Dominion University uses ChatGPT to simulate personas for her education graduate students, helping them explore information in a conversational setting.

2. Building quizzes, tests, and lesson plans from curriculum materials: Fran Bellas at Universidade da Coruña suggests using ChatGPT as an assistant for crafting educational materials, including quizzes, exams, and lesson plans.

3. Reducing friction for non-English speakers: Dr. Anthony Kaziboni at the University of Johannesburg encourages students to use ChatGPT for translation assistance, improving English writing, and practicing conversation.

4. Teaching students about critical thinking: Geetha Venugopal at the American International School in Chennai advises students to use ChatGPT responsibly, emphasizing critical thinking and cross-referencing information.

Example prompts to get you started

1. Come up with lesson plans: In this prompt, educators can engage ChatGPT to help design customized lesson plans with various teaching techniques.

2. Create effective explanations, examples, analogies: This prompt guides teachers in seeking clear and simple explanations, examples, and analogies for complex topics.

3. Help students learn by teaching: In this scenario, ChatGPT acts as a student willing to explain a chosen topic and apply it creatively, receiving feedback from the teacher.

4. Create an AI tutor: Educators can use ChatGPT as a tutor to help students understand concepts by providing explanations, examples, and asking guiding questions.

For a full version of these prompts, please check out the article.

Again, it's refreshing to see OpenAI start a conversation about how to use their LLM within an educational setting. Hopefully this leads to the eventual creation of a system of best practices that teachers everywhere can use.

Further Reading:

• Reading, writing, and ChatGPT: High school English teachers adjust to the new realities of AI - Teachers are responding to the increasing use of AI like ChatGPT in education by promoting handwritten in-class assignments to reinforce basic writing skills while recognizing the importance of educating students about AI, its benefits, and limitations. - GeekWire

• UNESCO: Governments must quickly regulate Generative AI in schools - UNESCO calls on governments to swiftly regulate Generative AI in schools to ensure a human-centered approach, providing guidance on ethical use and data privacy standards, setting an age limit of 13 for AI tool use, and emphasizing inclusivity and equity in AI education, citing concerns over the lack of governance and rapid adoption of Generative AI in educational settings. - UNESCO

• Risks and Rewards as Higher Ed Invests in an AI Future - US colleges and universities are investing heavily in AI for education and research, but experts urge them to proceed with caution, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations, strategic planning, and the development of AI fluency, while leveraging AI for operational efficiency and maintaining a skeptical approach to avoid hype. - Inside Higher Ed

Researchers Used AI to Rezone School Districts. Here’s What They Found - Researchers used AI to simulate new school attendance zones in large districts, finding that algorithm-based updates could reduce segregation between white and minority students by 14%, improve efficiency, and require some students to change schools. - EducationWeek

The innovations we're seeing week after week are truly shaping the future of how we interact with machines, program software, and conduct business. Here are some of the latest highlights in AI and tech that you shouldn't miss.

This week Anthropic, the makers of the Claude LLM, have given some excellent tips and tricks in prompting their AI model more effectively. One of the more interesting things to come out of that video is the advent of XML tags to help structure data in a way that the model can understand, giving developers and prompters alike a way to help AI understand a task better and potentially output more structured results as well.

Several new projects are making waves in the developer community as useful tools to take LLMs to the next level. Open Interpreter is a toolset similar to OpenAI’s Code Interpreter but is built to be local to your machine and is able to interface with lots of MacOS’s system applications like terminal, browsers, system messages, and more. The project has fewer limitations on the length of tasks, timeouts, and more than the Code Interpreter from OpenAI.

On the coding side of new projects, DevOpsGPT is making a splash as a way to handle coding tasks, requirement generation, and more. While still in the early stages, it allows developers to automate basic code generation and validate the code it writes. While it is an extremely interesting project, it’s not without drawbacks including the potential to introduce vulnerabilities into a code base and not being as creative as a human developer in solving novel problems.

The future of AI and technology is incredibly exciting, and these developments represent just a few of the steps forward in the industry. As the boundaries of what AI can accomplish continue to expand, so too will the opportunities for all of us to learn, grow, and innovate.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of business operations, the influence of Artificial Intelligence cannot be overlooked. AI has cemented its position as a magnet in the tech investment arena. Venture capitalists and corporations are continually rallying behind its immense potential, spotting opportunities, and infusing capital to spur innovation. A recent glimpse into the funding dynamics sheds light on this trend.

Take Tavus for instance, a pioneering generative AI video platform, has made headlines by bagging $18 million, pushing its valuation to a noteworthy $80 million.

But if there's one entity that stands out in this AI investment renaissance, it's Israel’s AI21 Labs, the company behind Wordtune. Specializing in text-based generative AI services, they've managed to rake in an astounding $155 million, catapulting their valuation to a jaw-dropping $1.4 billion. And it's not just the numbers that impress, but also the names backing them. Industry heavyweights like Google and Nvidia are rallying behind AI21 Labs, placing them in a position where they're not only thriving but also challenging established giants in the language model domain like OpenAI.

It’s not just capital investments you should be watching. Take a look at the recent plays by the early leaders in the AI space with recent announcements of tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude.ai's Claude Pro, it's clear that AI is not just a buzzword but a transformative force for all business sectors.

OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Enterprise, a tailored AI solution emphasizing enterprise-level security, privacy, and enhanced features. This new release caters to businesses by providing faster GPT-4 access, expanded input processing, and robust data analysis tools. Since its inception, ChatGPT has garnered significant interest from the corporate world, finding its place in a majority of Fortune 500 companies. Esteemed businesses, including Canva, PwC, and Klarna, utilize this tool for diverse tasks from clarifying communications to aiding creative endeavors. In addition to ensuring data protection, the Enterprise edition promises a 32k context capability, an attribute facilitating longer interactions. OpenAI also hints at upcoming features like customization options and dedicated tools for various job roles, emphasizing its commitment to refining this enterprise offering.

Claude.ai has unveiled its premium offering, Claude Pro, following its successful launch in July. Users have been raving about Claude.ai for its impressive context comprehension, swift responses, and sophisticated reasoning. Recognizing a demand for more expansive features, the company has introduced Claude Pro, granting users five times the access to the Claude 2 model for a monthly rate of $20 in the US and £18 in the UK. This enhanced subscription promises increased efficiency in tasks ranging from research summaries to intricate coding projects. Subscribers can also expect priority service during peak hours and early bird access to the platform's latest features.

Incorporating these tools and trends, SMBs are positioned at an exciting juncture. On one hand, there's the opportunity to harness tools like ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude Pro to reshape business processes, while on the other, the investment dynamics in the AI realm offer insights into future trajectories.

As businesses embrace the culture of AI, it's essential to also keep an eye on the broader industry momentum. The end game? To not just be passive beneficiaries of the AI revolution but active participants, continuously adapting, innovating, and propelling forward.

Hey, Note-Takers! Meet Google’s Cool New Buddy: NotebookLM

Heads up, folks! Remember that buzz at the Google I/O event about some AI game-changer called 'Project Tailwind'? Well, it’s here, but with a swankier name: NotebookLM. And guess what? It's all about making our note-taking game strong and smart. 📒✨

What’s the Deal with NotebookLM?

So, here’s the lowdown. The peeps at Google Labs dreamt up NotebookLM. Imagine waking up one day and deciding to redo the whole note-taking gig, but with a brainy AI buddy to help you out. That's the vibe with NotebookLM. A lucky few in the U.S. are getting first dibs, but Google’s all ears, tweaking and refining based on feedback.

Drowning in Info? NotebookLM's Got Your Back!

Let's face it. We’re all kinda swamped with info these days. Be it students, professors, or just anyone trying to make sense of heaps of data, the struggle is real! Google saw our SOS signals and thought, "Why not make a tool that helps folks connect the dots faster?"

How's NotebookLM Gonna Rock Your World?

Think of NotebookLM as your go-to digital sidekick. It's like having a brainy pal who's read all your notes and is ready to chat about them. Here's the fun part: You can feed it your Google Docs, and it’s like giving it a quick download of your brain! Once it’s all synced up, you can:

1. Get the Gist: Upload a doc and BAM! You get the highlights and the juicy bits in a snap.
   
   

2. Ask Away: Go deep with specific questions about your docs. Whether you’re a med student or a budding author, NotebookLM's got your answers.
   
   

3. Brainstorming Bonanza: Got a project? Need ideas? Let NotebookLM toss some your way.

And because we all love a trustworthy buddy, it even shows where it's getting its info from. But hey, always a good idea to double-check!

Safety First, Always!

Google Labs, the cool cats behind NotebookLM, are super keen on two things: teaming up with us users to make it even better and rolling this tech out responsibly. They’re all ears for feedback, and your chats with the AI stay just between you two. No eavesdropping!

Ready to Buddy Up with NotebookLM?

Feeling the buzz? Dive in and join the waitlist. Who knows, your note-taking game might just level up! So, there you have it. With NotebookLM, Google's offering us not just a tool but a new BFF for all our note-taking adventures. Dive in and have fun! 🚀📝🤖

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