This week in AI news, major players in the tech industry have been making groundbreaking announcements, from the launch of new AI programs to the development of advanced language models and combatting misinformation. With innovations in robotics, video creation, and mobile technology, the AI landscape is rapidly evolving.
Udacity Launches Generative AI Nanodegree Program
Udacity has launched a Generative AI Nanodegree Program to help professionals keep up with the fast-growing field of generative AI. The program aims to equip professionals with essential skills to navigate this dynamic and rapidly growing field, addressing the increasing demand for skills in an era where generative AI is poised to reshape industries and functional areas. Taught by instructors from leading organizations, the program offers a comprehensive understanding of generative AI and provides hands-on experience within organizational contexts. The program is instantly available to All Access subscribers and has prerequisites of intermediate Python and SQL programming skills.
DeepMind’s AlphaGeometry AI System Solves Complex Geometry Problems Comparable to Human Gold Medalists
DeepMind, the UK-based AI lab owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has developed an AI system called AlphaGeometry that can solve complex geometry problems close to human Olympiad gold medalists. In a new paper in Nature, DeepMind revealed that AlphaGeometry was able to solve 25 out of 30 benchmark geometry problems from past International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) competitions within the standard time limits. This nearly matches the average score of 26 problems solved by human gold medalists on the same tests. The AI system combines a neural language model with a rule-bound deduction engine, providing a synergy that enables the system to find solutions to complex geometry theorems. AlphaGeometry represents a breakthrough in mathematical reasoning for AI, bringing it closer to the level of human mathematicians and is seen as essential for advancing artificial general intelligence.
Samsung Unveils Galaxy S24 Lineup with Enhanced AI Features and Price Increase
Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy S24 lineup with a focus on integrating more AI-powered features, including live translation during phone calls, advanced photo manipulation, and Google’s “Circle To Search” tool. The top-of-the-line Galaxy S24 Ultra will be priced at $1,300, reflecting an 8% increase from the previous model. Samsung’s efforts to make AI more mainstream in smartphones align with Google’s push for AI integration in its Pixel phones. This move signals a trend of AI becoming a more integral part of smartphones, with potential implications for productivity, creativity, and privacy.
Introducing Stable LM 2 1.6B: Multilingual Language Model Released with Training Details
Introducing Stable LM 2 1.6B: Today, we are introducing our first language model from the new Stable LM 2 series: the 1.6 billion parameter base model and an instruction-tuned version. The base model is trained on approximately 2 trillion tokens for two epochs, incorporating multilingual data in English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Dutch. We leverage recent algorithmic advancements in language modeling to strike a favorable balance between speed and performance, enabling fast experimentation and iteration with moderate resources. Data details will also be available with this release so that the open community can reproduce similarly performant models. Along with this, for the first time, we are releasing the final pre-training checkpoint before the cooldown, including the optimizer states, to help developers smoothly continue pre-training and fine-tuning their data – as some recent pre-trained models may be harder to fine-tune due to late-stage optimizations. In the upcoming days, we will share a comprehensive technical report that explores and describes the data mix and training procedure we followed.
AI Dominates World Economic Forum in Davos
At the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, artificial intelligence has taken center stage, capturing the attention of world leaders and corporate executives. The rapid advancements in generative AI have drawn the elite crowd’s interest, with the technology’s geopolitical importance being emphasized by leaders from China to Europe. As the global race for AI development intensifies, the European Union has taken a significant step by devising comprehensive AI rules ahead of a busy election year. The impact of AI on various industries and its potential to transform tasks and streamline business functions were also highlighted at the event.
OpenAI Announces Plan to Combat Election Misinformation
ChatGPT maker OpenAI has outlined a plan to prevent its tools from being used to spread election misinformation in 2024. The company plans to ban the use of its technology to create chatbots that impersonate real candidates or governments, misrepresent voting processes, or discourage voting. Additionally, it will digitally watermark AI images and partner with the National Association of Secretaries of State to direct users to accurate voting information. While these measures are seen as positive steps, the effectiveness of their implementation remains to be seen.
Meta CEO Zuckerberg Announces Development of Open Source AGI
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Instagram that the company is developing open source artificial general intelligence (AGI) by bringing its FAIR and GenAI research teams closer together. The long-term vision is to build general intelligence, open source it responsibly, and make it widely available. This announcement follows recent comments by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta chief scientist Yann LeCun, and is expected to spark further debate about open source vs. closed source AI.
Runway Revolutionizes AI Video Creation with Multi Motion Brush for Gen-2 Users
Runway has updated its Gen-2 foundation model with a new tool called Multi Motion Brush, allowing creators to add multiple directions and types of motion to their AI video creations. This is a first-of-its-kind feature in the commercially available AI video market, providing better control over the generated videos. The tool was previously previewed through Runway’s Creative Partners Program and is now available for all Gen-2 users. The update strengthens Runway’s position in the rapidly growing creative AI market.
Google Introduces ASPIRE: An AI Technique Promoting Honesty and Reliability
Google researchers have developed a new AI technique called ASPIRE that encourages AI to express doubt when unsure of an answer. ASPIRE acts as a confidence meter for AI, assigning a confidence score to its answers and promoting honesty over guesswork. This system aims to create a more reliable AI that can acknowledge when a human might be better suited to answer, making AI interactions more trustworthy. The innovation was showcased at the EMNLP 2023 conference and is set to revolutionize how we interact with digital assistants.
Smallest, Lightest, Fastest Micro-Robots Developed for Various Applications
Researchers at Washington State University have developed the smallest, lightest, and fastest fully functional micro-robots to date. These insect-like robots, a mini-bug and a water strider, could be used for artificial pollination, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, micro-fabrication, and robotic-assisted surgery. Weighing in at eight and 55 milligrams respectively, the mini-bug and water strider can move at about six millimeters a second. The key to their remarkable performance lies in the development of tiny actuators, making these robots a groundbreaking advancement in micro-robotics.
