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  • #68 A paralyzed woman speaks using an AI brain-computer interface

#68 A paralyzed woman speaks using an AI brain-computer interface

Plus: How will we know?

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The AI Plug
August 24, 2023

Today’s issue brings great news and amazing developments, where a paralyzed woman finds her digital voice. Nvidia is also surfing the AI tidal wave, and Google dances on the tightrope of AI and copyright. Prepare to be awed, informed, and maybe even a bit overwhelmed by the pace of innovation in this AI-powered world. Let's dive in.
 

In today’s newsletter:

  • Hottest stories: AI gives a voice to a paralyzed woman, Nvidia making bank, and Google hypocrisy at it’s finest

  • TL;DR Rundown: AI snake oil, how ChatGPT changed everything, and how will we know if AI becomes sentient?

  • Tool of the day: Awesome self portraits from just one photo

HOTTEST STORIES 
Today’s biggest stories if you’re in a rush 

In an absolutely earth-shattering, life-changing breakthrough, UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley researchers have unveiled a new brain-computer interface allowing a paralyzed woman to communicate through a digital representation.

This step forward is the first of its kind, turning brain signals directly into speech or facial movements. It's efficient, transforming these signals into text at close to 80 words per minute.

What sets it apart? It catches phonemes, the building blocks of speech, for more speed and precision. This isn't just tech; it's a hope for those paralyzed to communicate seamlessly. Edward Chang, MD at UCSF, envisions this research paving the way for a system sanctioned by the FDA, turning brain signals into speech soon.

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Nvidia is making waves, and the tidal force? Artificial Intelligence. The chip heavyweight not only doubled its quarterly sales, hitting a whopping $13.5 billion by the close of July, but it also left Wall Street's $11.2 billion projection in the dust.

Context matters: their stock has seen a jaw-dropping 220% surge this year. Why the fuss? Nvidia’s processors are the lifeblood of generative AI – yeah, the magic behind tools like ChatGPT. The plot thickens with their GH200 chip on the horizon. Tailored for the beefiest of AI challenges, it’s poised to elevate Nvidia from a mere market player to potentially the undeniable kingpin of AI chip tech. 

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Google has made clear that it will use the open web to inform and create anything it wants, and nothing can get in its way. Except maybe Frank Sinatra.

Google is signaling that it will pay off the music industry with special deals that create brand-new private intellectual property rights, while basically telling the rest of the web that the price of being indexed in Search is complete capitulation to allowing Google to scrape data for AI training.

This, broadly, is the position that Google is taking after announcing a deal with Universal Music Group yesterday “to develop an AI framework to help us work toward our common goals”.

The quick background here is that, in April, a track called “Heart on My Sleeve” from an artist called Ghostwriter977 with the AI-generated voices of Drake and the Weeknd went viral. Drake and the Weeknd are Universal Music Group artists, and UMG was not happy about it, widely issuing statements saying music platforms needed to do the right thing and take the tracks down.

This all created a gigantic policy dilemma for Google, which, like every other AI company, is busily scraping the entire web to train its AI systems. None of these companies are paying anyone for making copies of all that data, and as various copyright lawsuits proliferate, they have mostly fallen back on the idea that these copies are permissible fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Ultimately it seems Google will call the shots.

GIVE US A CLICK AND TAKE YOUR PICK  
A gentleman’s agreement 

TL;DR RUNDOWN
Listicle of what else is happening today 

Google enhanced: How Google Analytics 4 is using AI to enhance your marketing data, which is driving recommendations for consumers and businesses alike.  

Any SEOs out there? How generative AI will, and already is, totally changing SEO as a profession.

AI snake oil: Princeton University’s Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor discuss the current hype around AI, and why they’re calling it snake oil.

How will we know? If AI becomes conscious, how will we know? Google engineer Blake Lemoine already claimed LaMDA was sentient in 2021 (he got fired for that) - so how will we know if it happens?

Music bitchin’: Selena Gomez, Drake, and others are all speaking out about AI. If you give a damn, there’s more listed here.

Germany wants it: Germany has announced its intention to double AI funding to nearly $1B euros over the next two years, attempting to close the AI skills gap with industry leaders China and the US.

Anything tool: ChatGPT has totally changed the game. Until recently, AI models were specialized tools. Modern LLMs, like ChatGPT, are different.

TOOL OF THE DAY (SPONSORED) 
AI tools we’ve used, loved, and recommend above all others. Some of these are sponsored, and others are just tools we stand by.  

AIportraits.org is a really fun AI tool that allows you to transform your selfies into stunning works of art. With the latest AI technologies, you can choose from dozens of portrait art styles based on genuine masterpieces of all time. Ever wanted to be one of those people portrayed in the most famous paintings? Now you can, with AIportraits.org.

It’s easy and fun to use, so why not give it a try and see yourself in a whole new light? 😊 

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