Category Archives: Artificial Intelligence
Chinese companies offer to ‘resurrect’ deceased loved ones with AI avatars – NPR
Sun Kai, the co-founder of Silicon Intelligence, speaks with an AI avatar of his late mother whenever he feels stressed at work. Aowen Cao/NPR hide caption
TAIPEI, Taiwan Whenever stress at work builds, Chinese tech executive Sun Kai turns to his mother for support. Or rather, he talks with her digital avatar on a tablet device, rendered from the shoulders upby artificial intelligence to look and sound just like his flesh-and-blood mother, who died in 2018.
I do not treat [the avatar] as a kind of digital person. I truly regard it as a mother, says Sun, 47, from his office in Chinas eastern port city of Nanjing. He estimates he converses with her avatar at least once a week. I feel that this might be the most perfect person to confide in, without exception.
The company that made the avatar of Suns mother is called Silicon Intelligence, where Sun is also an executive working on voice simulation. The Nanjing-basedcompany is among a boom in technology startups in China and around the world that create AI chatbots using a persons likeness and voice.
The idea to digitally clone people who have died is not new but until recent years had been relegated to the realm of science fiction. Now, increasingly powerful chatbots like Baidus Ernie or OpenAIs ChatGPT, which have been trained on huge amounts of language data, and serious investment in computing power have enabled private companies to offer affordable digital clones of real people.
These companies have set out to prove that relationships with AI-generated entities can become mainstream. For some clients, the digital avatars they produce offer companionship. In China, they have also been spun upto cater to families in mourning who are seeking to create a digital likeness of their lost loved ones, a service Silicon Intelligence dubs resurrection.
Whether she is alive or dead does not matter, because when I think of her, I can find her and talk to her, says Sun of his late mother, Gong Hualing. In a sense, she is alive. At least in my perception, she is alive, says Sun.
The rise of AI simulations of the deceased, or deadbots as academics have termed them, raises questions without clear answers about the ethics of simulating human beings, dead or alive.
In the United States, companies like Microsoft and OpenAI have created internal committees to evaluate the behavior and ethics of their generative AI services, but there is no centralized regulatory body in either the U.S. or China for overseeing the impacts of these technologies or their use of a persons data.
Browse Chinese e-commerce sites and you will find dozens of companies that sell digital cloning and digital resurrection services that animate photographs to make them look like they are speaking for as little as the equivalent of less than $2.
Silicon Intelligences most basic digital avatar service costs 199 yuan (about $30) and requires less than one minute of high-quality video and audio of the person while they were living.
More advanced, interactive avatars that use generative AI technology to move on screen and converse with a client can cost thousands of dollars.
But theres a big bottleneck:data, or rather, the lack of it.
The crucial bit is cloning a persons thoughts, documenting what a person thought and experienced daily, says Zhang Zewei, the founder of Super Brain, an AI firmbased in Nanjing that also offers cloning services.
Zhang asks clients to describetheir foundational memories and important experiences, or that of their loved ones. The company then feeds those stories into existing chatbots, to power an AI avatars conversations with a client.
At Silicon Intelligence, a technician is preparing to film a person in the studio. The person will read a script and perform specific hand gestures as directed. This footage will be used to create an AI avatar. Aowen Cao/NPR hide caption
(Due to the rise in AI-powered scams using deepfakes of a persons voice or likeness, both Super Brain and Silicon Intelligence require authorization from the person being digitally cloned, or authorization from family and proof of kin if the person is deceased.)
The most labor-intensive step of generating an avatar of a person is then cleaning up the data they provide, says Zhang. Relatives often hand over low-quality audio and video, marred by background noise or blurriness. Photos depicting more than one person are also no good, he says, because they confuse the AI algorithm.
However, Zhang admits that for a digital clone to be truly life-like would need much higher volumes of data, with clients preparing at least 10 years ahead of time by keeping a daily diary.
The scarcity of usable data is compounded when someone unexpectedly dies and leaves behind few notes or videos.
Fu Shou Yuan International Group, a Chinese-listed company in Shanghai that maintains cemeteries and provides funeral services, instead bases its AI avatars primarily on the social media presence a person maintained in life.
In today's world, the internet probably knows you the best. Your parents or family may not know everything about you, but all your information is online your selfies, photos, videos, says Fan Jun, a Fu Shou Yuanexecutive.
Fu Shou Yuan is hoping generative AI can lessen the traditional cultural taboo around discussing death in China, where mourning is accompanied by extensive ritual and ceremony though expressions of daily grief are discouraged.
In Shanghai,the company hasbuilt a cemetery, landscaped like a sun-dappled public park, but its no ordinary burial ground. This one is digitized: Visitors can hold up a cellphone to scan a QR code placed on select headstonesand access a multimedia record of the deceaseds life experiences and achievements.
If these thoughts and ideas were to be engraved like in ancient times, we would need a vast cemetery like the Eastern Qing tombs for everyone, Fan says, referring to a large imperial mausoleum complex. But now, it is no longer necessary. All you might need is a space as small as a cup with a QR code on it.
Fan says he hopes the experience will better integrate the physical and the spiritual, thatfamilies will see the digital cemetery as a place to celebrate life rather than a site that invokes fear of death.
In the digital cemetery created by Fu Shou Yuan in Shanghai, a headstone features a QR code that visitors can scan to access information about the deceased and pay tribute online. Aowen Cao/NPR hide caption
So far fewerthan100 customershave opted for placing digital avatars on their loved ones headstones.
For the family members who have just lost a loved one, their first reaction will definitely be a sense of comfort, a desire to communicate with them again, says Jiang Xia, a funeral planner for the Fu Shou Yuan International Group. However, to say that every customer will accept this might be challenging, as there are ethical issues involved.
Nor are Chinese companies the first to try recreating digital simulations of dead people. In 2017, Microsoft filed a patent application for simulating virtual conversations with someone who had passed, but an executive of the U.S. tech giant later said there was no plan to pursue it as a full commercial service, saying it was disturbing.
Project December, a platform first built off ChatGPTs technology, provides several thousand customers the ability to talk with a chatbot modeled off their loved ones. OpenAI soon terminated the platforms access to its technology, fearing its potential misuse for emotional harm.
Ethicists are warning of potential emotional harm to family members caused by life-like AI clones.
That is a very big question since the beginning of humanity: What is a good consolation? Can it be religion? Can it be forgetting? No one knows, says Michel Puech, a philosophy professor at the Sorbonne Universit in Paris.
There is the danger of addiction, and [of] replacing real life. So if it works too well, that's the danger, Puech told NPR. Having too much consoling, too much satisfying experience of a dead person will apparently annihilate the experience, and the grief, of death. But, Puech says, that in fact, it's largely an illusion.
Most people who have decided to digitally clone their loved ones are quick to admit every person grieves differently.
Sun Kai, the Silicon Intelligence executive who digitally cloned his mother, has deliberately disconnected her digital avatar from the internet, even if it means the chatbot will remain ignorant of current events.
Maybe she will always remain as the mother in my memory, rather than a mother who keeps up with the times, he tells NPR.
Others are more blunt.
I do not recommend this for some people who might see the avatar and feel the full intensity of grief again, says Yang Lei, a resident of the southern city of Nanjing, who paid a company to create a digital avatar for his deceased uncle.
When Yangs uncle passed away, he feared the shock would kill his ailing, elderly grandmother. Instead of telling her about her sons death, Yang sought to create a digital avatar that was realistic enough to make video calls with her to maintain the fiction that her son was still alive and well.
Yang says he grew up with his uncle, but their relationship became more distant after his uncle left their villagelooking for work in construction.
After his uncles death, Yang struggled to unearth more details of his life.
He had a pretty straightforward routine, as most of their work was on construction sites. They work there and sleep there, on site. Life was quite tough, Yang says. It was just a place to make money, nothing more, no other memories.
Yang scrounged around family group chats on various social media apps on his own phoneand came up with enough voice messages and video of his late uncle to create a workable digital clone of his likeness. But there was no getting around the lack of personal records, social media accounts and thus the lack of data his uncle had left behind.
Then Yang hit upon a more low-tech solution: What if a company employee pretended to be his uncle but disguised their face and voice with the AI likeness of his uncle?
In spring 2023, Yang put his plan into motion, though he has since come clean with his grandmother once she was in better health.
The experience has left Yang contemplating his own mortality. He says he is definitely going to clone himself digitally in advance of his death. However, doing so would not create another living version of himself, he cautioned, nor would such a digital avatar ever replace human life.
Do not overthink it, he cautions. An AI avatar is not the same as the human it replaced. But when we lose our flesh and blood body, at least AI will preserve our thoughts.
Aowen Cao contributed research from Nanjing, China.
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Chinese companies offer to 'resurrect' deceased loved ones with AI avatars - NPR
Big data, social media and artificial intelligence will poison the 2024 election – Iowa Capital Dispatch
When news became digital at the turn of the century, I prophesied in Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age that people would seek affirmation over information, which the web readily provides, putting newspapers out of business and undermining democracy.
The second edition, Interpersonal Divide in the Age of Machine, documented how big data sliced the populace into consumer groups, dehumanizing them.
Heres an excerpt:
Big data reduce the global millions of Internet users into nodes interactive re-distribution points or little people, using personal, professional, educational, governmental, psychological, sociological and, most importantly, consumer demographics and psychographics to make seemingly instantaneous correlations of what each user-node likes, dislikes and is most likely to buy.
My 2017 book predicted that we would neglect ethical principles established in time, culture and place and replace those with machine values:
1. IMPORTANCE OF SELF over others.
2. BOREDOM over attentiveness.
3. OVERSHARING over privacy.
4. ENTERTAINMENT over knowledge.
5. INTERRUPTION over interaction.
6. DISTRACTION over concentration.
7. INCIVILITY over empathy.
8. AFFIRMATION over information.
9. BELIEF over fact.
10. ON DEMAND FANTASY over intimacy.
Technology gives us what we want, not what we need.
Devoid of fact-based science and informed social science, media personalities easily spread conspiracy theories. The Associated Press notes that these wild concoctions have proven lucrative for those cashing in on unfounded medical claims, investment proposals or fake news websites.
Now comes artificial intelligence and with it, automation bias (reinforcing stereotypes) and hallucinations (outright fabrications), leading to political sectarianism hating your adversaries more than loving your own party and designating others as immoral to justify actions against them.
That culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
ChatGPT and other large language models, trained on big data and social media, lie fluently with authority, knowing the public has forgotten how to verify claims or even cares anymore about doing so.
As such, Donald J. Trump who told 30,573 lies over four years of his presidency is the ideal candidate in the age of AI. His genius is manipulation. Technology is his friend, altering or swapping images of crowd size to support his exaggerations.
Consider the June 2024 debate, in which he fabricated achievements of his administration and gaslighted the audience about Jan. 6, claiming a relatively small number of people actually breached the Capitol and in many cases were ushered in by the police.
It doesnt matter that the news media covered the insurrection with video, audio, photographs and testimonials, as thousands of people descended on Capitol Hill, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with police. Many watching the debate overlooked that and other Trump lies while President Joe Biden, 81, struggled to recall the stats and facts of his administration. He over-prepped, imagining viewers still cared about data, however inaccurate or hyped.
Polls showed that 67% of debate watchers say that Trump triumphed whereas 33% said the President did.
In the months before the election, AI will continue to spread fabrications through deepfake productions pilfering a persons voice and image and lip-syncing any lie or invention. TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, X and other platforms inform the public more than traditional media, with half of U.S. adults relying on those platforms for news.
A good portion of those posts are bogus, mimicking what viewers already believe, as a matter of clickbait and text prompt rather than fact and check.
As the Associated Press reports, Artificial intelligence is supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, making it easy for anyone with a smartphone and a devious imagination to create fake but convincing content aimed at fooling voters.
A recent survey finds that 73% of Americans believe it is very or somewhat likely that AI will be used to manipulate social media, influencing the outcome of the presidential election. They also are aware of deepfakes and targeted use of AI to deceive voters.
We need warning labels on social media to protect children but thats not enough
As long as they are affirmed, anything goes.
Studies have shown that AI has advanced so quickly without human oversight that it is now able to deceive people without being programmed to do just that. Chatbots even can act on their own, fabricating news, uploading divisive messages, and impersonating candidates across media platforms.
When lies pollute the metaverse, truth becomes debatable and perception, reality.
Little can be done at this point, apart from requiring media and technology literacy in schools and hoping future generations correct the errors of our algorithmic ways.
When society cannot tell fact from factoid, the end of information is near, ensuring that we get the governments that we deserve.
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Big data, social media and artificial intelligence will poison the 2024 election - Iowa Capital Dispatch
HIMSSCast: Where population health is getting a boost from artificial intelligence – Healthcare IT News
It seems like artificial intelligence has applications everywhere in healthcare. But some applications might be better than others.
That's certainly what Dr. Michael Dulin has found in the realm of population health.
Dulin is a nationally recognized leader in the field of healthcare information technology and applying analytics and outcomes research to improve care, drawing on his years of frontline experience to explain how population health should work.
As director of the Academy for Population Health Innovation at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he is one of the nation's leading authorities on population health. And AI increasingly is becoming part of his work.
Dulin is this week's guest on HIMSSCast. We discuss AI advancing the integration and curation of complex data required for population health initiatives, AI being used to evaluate the disease burden and risk for population health planning, CIOs and other health IT leaders and clinicians using AI to predict changes in population health needs over time, and much more.
Like what you hear? Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play!
Talking points:
How can hospitals, health systems and researchers use AI to advance the integration and curation of complex data required for population health initiatives?
How can AI be used to evaluate the disease burden and risk for population health planning?
How can CIOs, other health IT leaders and clinicians use AI to predict changes in population health needs over time?
How can AI be used to assist with development and deployment of population health interventions, for example, tailored messaging?
What about patient-facing AI? How can AI be used as a tool to improve self-efficacy engagement of patients?
More about this episode:
Atlantic Health System CIDO offers lessons on AI in cybersecurity
Tech leader attempts to work MAGIC with AI incubator and research collaborative
Phoebe Physician Group gains big ROI by using AI for no-shows
AI has a role to play during the patient intake process
If a doctor and an AI app both have 95% accuracy, whats the difference?
How AI can boost cancer, depression and perioperative care
Follow Bill's HIT coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki Email him:bsiwicki@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
The HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum is scheduled to take place September 5-6 in Boston. Learn more and register.
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HIMSSCast: Where population health is getting a boost from artificial intelligence - Healthcare IT News
The question that will determine the future of AI – CTech
After two years of great enthusiasm for generative artificial intelligence, a pressing question is starting to preoccupy the major players: can the field generate sufficient income to offset its substantial operating costs? Many doubts arise. David Cahn, a Partner at Sequoia Capital, recently raised what he calculated as "AIs $600B Question", explaining that the AI bubble is reaching a tipping point and navigating what comes next will be essential.
According to Cahn, the math doesn't add up, a claim he supports with a simple calculation. He doubled Nvidia's revenue projections to account for the costs associated with operating data centers, which require chips, electricity, buildings, and water for cooling. He then doubled this amount again to reflect the profit margins of end users (e.g., startups purchasing AI computing from companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google). This calculation suggests that the field should generate annual revenues of $600 billion. However, even with the optimistic assumption that each of the technology giantsAlphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Metawill generate $10 billion annually from AI, and that smaller companies such as Oracle, ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, and Tesla each generate $5 billion in annual revenue, there is still a $500 billion gap between expenses and revenues in the field. Where will the money come from?
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
(Photos: Bloomberg, Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)
Jeremy Grantham, an investor known for predicting the financial crises of 2000 and 2008, suggested last year that artificial intelligence is a bubble that may soon deflate. He added that technology stocks have reached an "eye-popping peak" and will likely experience a sharp decline.
How eye-popping? In 2023, nearly $190 billion in investments flowed into AI. A total of 1,812 startups raised funds that yeara 40% increase compared to 2022, according to a report by Stanford HAI. With the publication of financial reports for the first quarter in April, all the major technology companies announced increased investments in the field: Meta raised its forecast for AI expenses this year to $10 billion; Alphabet announced it would invest $12 billion (or more) each quarter, primarily in data centers; and Microsoft, which invested $14 billion in the last quarter, expects this figure to increase "substantially."
Capital Group estimates that the technology giants alone will invest $189 billion in 2024over a fifth of all investments among S&P 500 companies. While the tech giants can afford this due to strong revenues and profits, what about the smaller companies?
The numbers are staggering, doubts are emerging, and signs of problems are surfacing with end users. Stability AI, a prominent startup in the field with a valuation of over $1 billion at the end of 2022 and over $250 million raised, has reportedly only generated $11 million in 2023 while incurring $153 million in operating costs. The company recently announced layoffs of 10% of its workforce. Emad Mostaque, the former CEO of Stability AI, who resigned in March, predicted last year that this would be the biggest bubble of all time, dubbing it the "dot AI" bubble.
This month, the alarmed community was joined by the first huge institutional player - Goldman Sachs, which published the first sober report of its kind on the artificial intelligence industry. For the bank, the question is greater than $600 billion. "Tech giants and beyond are set to spend an estimated $1 trillion on AI capex in coming years. Will this investment pay off? And if it doesnt, what does that mean for businesses and investors?" they wrote.
Although the report tries to provide a complex and balanced picture, the general feeling is pessimistic. According to Daron Acemoglu, an economics professor from MIT who is quoted in the report, artificial intelligence will automate less than 5% of tasks in the next decade, and will contribute a measly 0.9% to GDP growth. Head Goldman Sachs Global Equity Research Jim Covello adds that the technology is not designed to solve complex problems that would justify the high costs.
Although the report attempts to present a balanced view, the overall sentiment is pessimistic. Daron Acemoglu, an MIT economics professor quoted in the report, predicts that AI will automate less than 5% of tasks in the next decade and contribute only 0.9% to GDP growth. Jim Covello, head of Goldman Sachs Global Equity Research, adds that AI technology is not designed to solve complex problems that would justify its high costs.
This marks a sharp contrast to a Goldman Sachs report published in May, which estimated that generative AI would increase U.S. productivity by 9% and GDP by 6.1% within a decade. Capital Economics predicts that the bubble may burst as early as 2026, leading to a decade of disappointing average annual stock gains of 4.3%.
Investment funds and banks responsible for injecting significant capital into AI over the past two years are reluctant to use the term "bubble," as they remain caught up in the hype. For example, SoftBank recently announced a preference for investing in AI companies over other strategies, including share buybacks. SoftBank has previously made high-profile investments, such as its $12 billion investment in WeWork, which failed. In June, Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, described the previous investment round as a "warm-up round."
A bubble requires careful consideration, measured investment, and a critical attitude towards the valuations of certain companies. The current situation bears a striking resemblance to the dot-com bubble, with parallels in the rapid price increases of companies like Nvidia and Cisco during the late 1990s, just before the bubble burst. The technology sectors dominance in the S&P 500, making up 32% of the indexits highest rate since the dot-com erafurther fuels these comparisons. Only three companiesApple, Microsoft, and Nvidiaaccount for a fifth of the index, which raises concerns.
Regarding a potential bubble, the crucial question is not when or how it will burst, but what will remain afterward. The dot-com bubble, despite causing significant damage, eventually cleared the sector of ineffective companies and laid the groundwork for future technological advancements. The AI bubble, while still evolving, holds great potential. Todays AI products, such as text-to-image generators and chatbots, are popular with users, but the big capital is not yet found in their immediate uses by CPAs, developers, or advertisers.
Do these uses justify the enormous operating costs? Not yet. However, the knowledge gained in developing these products, the data centers, and the infrastructures supporting them could create new opportunities and sustainable products after the bubble bursts.
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The question that will determine the future of AI - CTech
A cautionary tale about the medical uses of artificial intelligence – Myasthenia Gravis News
Review scientific articles only and summarize the content to explain what treatments are available for a person with myasthenia gravis experiencing breathing difficulties due to diaphragm and intercostal weakness.
This was the question I posed to Microsofts Copilot software, the companys version of ChatGPT, both of which are artificial intelligence (AI) software easily accessible on the internet.
Why am I using AI to research this? Because frankly, Ive been frustrated with the unbalanced improvements in my myasthenia gravis (MG). Ive managed to increase my step count to 2,000 a day, I currently require fewer naps, and Ive generally been feeling better and stronger except for my breathing.
This summer, Im still experiencing air hunger and an increased need for support from a BiPAP machine.
What really frustrated me and got me going down this rabbit hole was needing my BiPAP machine before a daytime event because the air was heavy. Heavy and humid air always seems to trigger air hunger and a need for BiPAP support.
Anyway, back to my search. My initial question was pretty specific, in my opinion. It worked well and provided the usual suspects for treatment: steroids and noninvasive ventilatory support. But it also included a new option called diaphragm pacing (DP), also known as diaphragmatic pacing or phrenic nerve stimulation. I was intrigued.
Id never heard of DP, so I researched it a little more. It turns out that surgeons can implant a pacemaker in your diaphragm, much like they do with the heart. It stimulates the diaphragm to do its job in assisting with breathing. It eliminates the need for mechanical ventilation in those dependent on it. Cool!
So I did another search using the AI software: Summarize scientific literature only and determine if diaphragmatic pacing is safe for a patient with myasthenia gravis and provide sources.
The summary indicated that yes, this treatment is safe for someone like me. I got a little excited. But before I got my hopes up, I read the resources it provided.
And this, my friends, is where the cautionary tale begins. It turns out that DP is not approved for MG. The constant stimulation of the diaphragm that DP provides would not be a good alternative therapy in a disease that causes weakness the more a muscle is used.
Because AI is so readily available, there are some great uses for it, such as its ability to comb the interwebs, find and pull from specific content out of millions of pages online, and have it spit out a summary in seconds. The implications this resource has for the medical profession are profound.
But it should be used as a launching point and not taken as the answer. AI is still in its infancy and is still learning. Yes, AI learns from the people who use it. You can provide feedback by indicating whether the responses it provides were actually helpful. But I digress; this is an MG column, not a tech one.
Its important to understand how AI software like Copilot and ChatGPT work so that those of us with MG and other chronic conditions dont get our hopes up or try something that does more damage than good.
When using this new software, I urge you to do so with a chip on your shoulder and a grain of salt. Always add include sources in your query so that you can go to the source itself and double-check the findings. Its important to be informed, but its even more important to make sure the information comes from credible sources.
A quick tech tip: Use CTRL + F to open a special search window for that specific page or article. Its a keyboard shortcut for the find command. You can then type the term to be searched into that box, and itll highlight the word youre looking for. Remember to use all iterations or options, like myasthenia gravis, mg, neuromuscular disease, etc.
Note:Myasthenia Gravis Newsis strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice,diagnosis, ortreatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Myasthenia Gravis News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to myasthenia gravis.
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A cautionary tale about the medical uses of artificial intelligence - Myasthenia Gravis News
Nvidia’s Potential $50 Trillion Valuation, Tesla And xAI’s AI Expansion Plans, And Microsoft’s Trillion-Dollar Tech: This Week In Artificial…
The week was abuzz with major developments in the tech world, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence (AI). From a bold prediction about Nvidia Corp. NVDAs future market cap to calls for a complete overhaul of data center infrastructure, and Microsoft Corp. MSFT having its iPhone moment, the stories were as diverse as they were impactful. Lets dive into the details.
Nvidias Potential $50 Trillion Worth
James Anderson, an early investor in Tesla Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., predicted that Nvidia could reach a market capitalization of nearly $50 trillion in the next decade. Andersons optimism is based on Nvidias pivotal role in the growing demand for AI chips, which are essential for advanced generative AI models. This demand has driven Nvidias shares up by 168% since the start of the year, pushing its market value above $3 trillion.
Read the full article here.
AI Boom Sparks Infrastructure Redesign
Jacky Liu, President of Taiwans leading data center operator, Chief Telecom, called for a complete redesign of data center infrastructure to support the demands of AI servers. Liu believes that the current infrastructure is inadequate and requires massive upgrades to accommodate the AI boom.
Read the full article here.
See Also: How To Fix CrowdStrike Issue Causing Blue Screen Of Death On Your Windows PC
Microsofts Trillion-Dollar Tech
Wedbush Securities' Daniel Ives referred to the current era as Microsofts iPhone moment. As the AI revolution gains momentum, Ives and other analysts predict a significant boost to Microsoft's valuation, potentially adding $1 trillion to its market cap.
Read the full article here.
Tesla and xAIs AI Expansion Plans
Elon Musks Tesla TSLA and xAI are seeking networking engineers and technicians, with a focus on Memphis for elite fiber tech roles. Memphis, known for its thriving tech industry, is home to several fiber optic networks, making these roles highly desirable for tech professionals.
Read the full article here.
Microsoft Outpaces Apple with AI Tool
Microsoft has launched its AI image generation tool, Microsoft Designer, as a free iOS app, ahead of Apple Inc. AAPL. The tool, which was in preview for nearly a year, is now available to all users across multiple platforms.
Read the full article here.
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Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Rounak Jain
All eyes on AI to drive big tech earnings –
Over the next two weeks, the quarterly results of tech giants would offer a glimpse of the bankability of artificial intelligence (AI) and whether the major investments AI requires are sustainable for the long haul.
Analysts at Wedbush Securities Inc, one of Wall Streets biggest believers in AIs potential, expect growth and earnings to accelerate with the AI revolution and the wave of transformation it is causing.
The market generally agrees with this rosy AI narrative. Analysts forecast double-digit growth for heavyweights Microsoft Corp and Google, in contrast to Apple Inc, a latecomer to the AI party, with only 3 percent growth expected.
The iPhone maker, which releases its results on Thursday next week, unveiled its new Apple Intelligence system only last month and plans to roll it out gradually over the next months, and only on the latest models.
CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino said Apples upcoming earnings would show improvement in China sales, a black spot since last year.
Apples forecasts for the current quarter will be important in assessing the companys momentum, he added.
Zino said he was a little bit more concerned about Meta Platforms Inc, which raised its investment projections in April last year as it devoted a few billion dollars more on the chips, servers and data centers needed to develop generative AI.
CFRA expects Metas growth to decelerate through the end of the year. Combined with the expected increase in spending on AI, that should put earnings under pressure.
As for the earnings of cloud giants Microsoft (which is to release its results on Tuesday next week) and Amazon (which is to release its results on Thursday next week), we expect them to continue to report very good results, in line with or better than market expectations, Zino said.
Microsoft is among the best positioned to monetize generative AI, having moved the fastest to implement it across all its products, and pouring US$13 billion into OpenAI, the start-up stalwart behind ChatGPT.
Winning the big bet on AI is crucial for the group, Emarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman said, but the market is willing to give them a level of patience.
The AI frenzy has helped Microsofts cloud computing business grow in the double digits, something that analysts said could be hard to sustain.
This type of growth cannot hold forever, but the synergies between cloud and AI make it more likely that Microsoft holds onto reliable cloud growth for some time to come, Goldman said.
As for Amazon.com Inc, investors will want to see that the reacceleration of growth over the first quarter wasnt a one-off at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the companys world-leading cloud business, Hargreaves Lansdown PLC analyst Matt Britzman said.
Since AWS leads in everything data-related, it should be well placed to capture a huge chunk of the demand coming from the AI wave, Britzman said.
The picture might be a little less clear for Google parent Alphabet Inc, which would be the first to publish results on Tuesday, because of their search business online, Zino said.
Skepticism around AI Overviews, introduced by Google in mid-May, is certainly justified, Emarketer analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf said.
This new feature, which offers a written text at the top of results in a Google search, ahead of the traditional links to sites, got off to a rocky start.
Internet users were quick to report strange, or potentially dangerous, answers proposed by the feature that had been touted by Google executives as the future direction of search.
Data compiled by BrightEdge and relayed by Search Engine Land showed that the number of searches presenting a result generated by AI Overviews has plummeted in recent weeks as Google shies away from the feature.
Still, many are concerned about the evolution of advertising across the Internet if Google pushes on with the Overviews model, which reduces the necessity of clicking on links. Content creators, primarily the media, fear a collapse in revenues.
As long as Google maintains its status as the default search engine across most smartphones and major browsers, it will continue to be the top destination for search, and the top destination for search ad spending, Mitchell-Wolf said.
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All eyes on AI to drive big tech earnings -
United States and Singapore Sign SOI to Strengthen Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Cooperation – Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense and Singapore Ministry of Defence signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) regarding Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Cooperation. The SOI was signed by Dr. Radha Iyengar Plumb, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, and BG Yew Chee Leung, MINDEF's Deputy Secretary (Technology).
The SOI adopts a holistic approach to technological collaboration enabling both defense establishments to discuss approaches and exchange best practices on leveraging data, analytics, and AI at speed and scale. "Singapore, a key technology innovator in the Asia-Pacific region, remains one of our most valued defense partners and we look forward to further deepening this critical relationship," says Dr. Plumb.
Under this SOI, both nations have identified key areas of collaboration, such as quality data, the responsible development and use of AI, and talent management. This SOI represents an important opportunity to deepen collaborative efforts, strengthen interoperability, and promote values-based global leadership on responsible AI in defense.
Originally posted here:
United States and Singapore Sign SOI to Strengthen Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Cooperation - Department of Defense
AI will transform every aspect of our life, Gov. Healey says at artificial intelligence task force meeting at Northeastern – Northeastern University
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, state economic development and technology leaders and other officials visited Northeasterns Boston campus on Thursday to learn from university professors how artificial intelligence can solve some of the most pressing issues in the state and the world. AI is a technology with the potential to transform not just the potential, it will transform every aspect of our life, Healey said during an event at the EXP research complex. Massachusetts innovators, as well see in todays presentations, are already at the forefront.
Provost David Madigan said Northeastern was the exactly the right place to talk about AI, pointing out that AI research at the university is being used to detect cancers, track infant health, prevent climate change and more.
And all with an eye on ethical AI and responsible AI, Madigan said. That has been a key theme of everything we do here at this university how do we harness this extraordinary technology to do good.
The event occurred prior to a meeting at Northeastern of the Artificial Intelligence Strategic Task Force commissioned by Healey, who also attended the session.
The taskforce was established in February to study AI and generative artificial intelligence technology and its impact on the state, private businesses, higher education institutions and constituents. It is made up of leaders from large companies, startups, academia, investors and nonprofits.
Northeasterns Usama Fayyad is a member of the task force, and described his work as executive director of The Institute for Experiential AI at the university to those in attendance.
Rupal Patel, a professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the Bouve College of Health Sciences, showcased her work using AI to create bespoke synthesized voices for individuals with various health conditions.
Auroop Ganguly, director of AI for climate and sustainability at The Institute for Experiential AI, gave a presentation on how AI can help predict local flooding particularly flooding around Bostons Logan Airport from extreme precipitation events.
College of Engineering Distinguished Professor Jennifer Dy explained her research with hospitals in New York City and Boston using AI to detect skin cancer and to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The nice thing about being an AI person in Massachusetts, and in Boston in particular, is that we have world-leading hospitals that are highly concentrated in the area, Dy said. And with advances in AI, theres a lot that we can do together.
Taskin Padir, director of the Institute for Experiential Robotics at Northeastern, finished the presentations by showcasing a robotic arm with a gripper inspired by chopsticks that can help seafood processors sort and grade scallops.
We are so fortunate to have you all here in Boston, Healey told the professors before she, Wu and Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao took turns operating the robot. I know theyll appreciate this in New Bedford.
Healey said repeatedly during the event that she wants Massachusetts to become a global hub for applied AI finding real-world applications for AI just as the state is a hub for the life sciences.
She said a $2.8 billion economic development bond bill she has proposed called the Mass Leads Act is crucial to this goal.
The bill includes $100 million to leverage AI to spur technological advances in the life sciences, health care, advanced manufacturing and robotics sectors, support incubation of AI startups, advance AI software and hardware tech development, and support commercialization activities. This funding would also incentivize public-private partnerships between industry and academia.
Its about taking that knowledge and making it practical, Healey said.
Also crucial to the goal are universities like Northeastern, as Healey referenced the Huskies who recently completed projects for the state through the AI for Impact Co-op Program.
What I saw with the students is it can just cut exponentially the amount of time it takes to get answers to people, Healey said, referencing one of the students projects, which included work for The Ride paratransit service and streamlining the grants process with the Office of Energy and Environmental Affair.
It will get better service and better answers to customers, whether theyre people looking for grant funding, people looking for permitting, you know, or other customers that we serve as a government and its really exciting, she said.
Our universities are really our secret sauce, and they have been for so many parts of our economy, added Hao.
She noted that Massachusetts leads the country in terms of AI graduates per capita and is among the top states for AI graduates.
We have the talent here at our universities, Hao continued. Working closely with our cities and our state government and all of our different private sectors, we can really lead here.
Researchers Used Artificial Intelligence To Identify Three New Distinct Subtypes Of Parkinsons Disease In A Groundbreaking New Study – Chip Chick
Over 10 million people around the world are living with Parkinsons disease, according to the Parkinsons Foundation. The causes of this neurodegenerative disorder also remain largely unknown.
But, artificial intelligence is helping expand scientists understanding of this complex condition and how to treat it.
Using machine learning techniques, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have identified three new distinct subtypes of Parkinsons disease based on the rate of symptom progression. The discovery could lead to more tailored treatments based on individual patient symptoms.
Parkinsons disease is highly heterogenous, which means that people with the same disease can have very different symptoms, explained Dr. Fei Wang, the studys senior author.
This indicates there is not likely to be a one-size-fits-all approach to treating it. We may need to consider customized treatment strategies based on a patients disease subtype.
The three new subtypes are known as Inching Pace, Moderate Pace, and Rapid Pace.
The Inching Pace (PD-I) subtype affects approximately 36% of patients and has mild symptoms that progress gradually. The Moderate Pace (PD-M) subtype affects approximately 51% of patients and begins with milder symptoms that progress at a moderate pace. Lastly, the Rapid Pace (PD-R) subtype progresses the quickest.
The researchers used deep learning a form of artificial intelligence capable of analyzing massive datasets to uncover patterns that might elude human detection to discover these subtypes.
By examining anonymous clinical records from two different sizable databases, the researchers identified these three distinct patterns of Parkinsons progression.
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