Plus, can AI bring back the Neanderthal?
Biden Issues Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence Safety and Regulations
President Biden has signed an executive order focusing on the safety, equity, and regulation of AI in the United States. The order emphasizes the need for new safety assessments, privacy guidelines, and research on AI’s impact on the labor market. It also aims to protect consumer rights, advance equity and civil rights, support workers, promote innovation and competition, collaborate with international partners, and develop guidance for federal agencies’ use of AI. This executive order marks a significant step towards concrete regulation of AI development in the country.
The Role of AI in Israel-Hamas Disinformation: A Complex and Subtle Impact
In the midst of the recent Israel-Hamas conflict, there has been an influx of disinformation flooding social media platforms. While AI tools have been used to generate deceptive content, they have played a relatively peripheral role. AI-generated disinformation has primarily been employed to solicit support or create the impression of wider support for a particular side. However, due to the sheer amount of misinformation already circulating, the impact of AI images remains minimal. Misinformation spreads through social media due to human amplification and the limitations of people’s attention spans, rather than the influence of AI-generated content.
Concerns Surrounding the Unregulated Use of AI Systems in Healthcare
Computer scientists and AI developers have expressed concerns about the unregulated use of AI systems in healthcare. There is evidence suggesting that AI systems used by physicians may lack proper testing, potentially leading to errors and racial bias. Despite the potential risks, there is no clear consensus on how to regulate AI systems in healthcare. The Food and Drug Administration is currently working on creating a regulatory framework to ensure the safety and efficacy of AI products. However, striking a balance between innovation and regulation is crucial to avoid stifling progress in the field.
How AI Is Changing Hiring and Recruiting
As the pace of AI automation accelerates, job seekers and hiring managers are witnessing a paradigm shift in the job market. While AI roles are growing quickly, they still represent less than 1% of all jobs on LinkedIn. However, existing job roles are increasingly incorporating AI skills, leading to a surge in job listings and members adding AI-related terms to their profiles. At the same time, soft skills that cannot be replaced by AI remain crucial for job seekers. A shift towards skills-based hiring and credentialing is also fostering a more equitable workforce.
AI and Molecular De-Extinction: Unlocking New Antibiotics
As the world faces the threat of antimicrobial resistance, researchers are turning to innovative solutions in molecular de-extinction. University of Pennsylvania bioengineering professor César de la Fuente and his team are using machine learning and AI to discover new antibiotics. By training a computer to execute Darwin’s algorithm of evolution, they were able to evolve initial antibiotics into more effective ones. Building on this success, they explored the proteome of the human body and identified over 2,500 peptides with potential anti-infective traits. Expanding their search, they investigated the proteomic and genomic data of Neanderthals and Denisovans. Through solid-phase chemical synthesis, they successfully created peptides that killed bacteria in petri dishes and animal models. One Neanderthal peptide, called “neanderthalin-1,” even showed promising results in reducing infections in a mouse skin model. This research opens up possibilities for developing new antibiotics to combat the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
Amazon’s AI-Generated Lifestyle Images Amplify Concerns About Trustworthiness
Amazon is facing criticism over its new AI technology that generates fake lifestyle images for advertising purposes. Although the company claims that these images are only used in advertising slots and not product listings, concerns about the erosion of trust among consumers are emerging. Critics argue that AI-generated images can mislead customers about the quality of products and the integrity of the sellers. As advertising becomes a critical profit center for Amazon, the company’s focus on generating more ad revenue raises questions about its commitment to the customer experience.
OpenAI Introduces New Beta Features for ChatGPT Plus Subscribers, Including File Upload and Multimodal Support
OpenAI has released new beta features for ChatGPT Plus subscribers, offering the ability to upload and work with files, as well as multimodal support. The update allows users to seamlessly interact with ChatGPT without manually selecting modes, as the AI algorithm automatically determines what users want based on context. The addition of these features brings a taste of the office capabilities found in ChatGPT Enterprise to the standalone individual chatbot subscription. The Advanced Data Analysis feature has also been tested, enabling the chatbot to summarize data, answer questions, and generate data visualizations based on prompts. Furthermore, the chatbot can process not only text files but also images, as demonstrated by a user who uploaded an image and asked ChatGPT to create a Pixar-style image based on it using DALL-E 3.