The New News in AI in Business: 7/5/24
A curated set of the new news in AI for Business this week
Lots of news this week along with some useful prompts to try. Enjoy!
Chief Execs Meet Resistance Pursuing AI Transformation
To ensure success, nearly three-quarters of CEOs say they need to balance promoting an AI-driven transformation with how the changes affect employees.
But Forbes Research findings also indicate that CEOs are still trying to achieve this equilibrium, suggesting a gap between intention and what’s actually happening at the workforce level.
Keep scrolling to learn more about this tension affecting large U.S. companies:
AI optimism could boost S&P 500 to 7,000 next year, says economist
Artificial intelligence has helped propel the U.S. stock market to a string of all-time highs this year, while helping Nvidia Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. generate superpowered corporate profits.
Capital Economics’ top economist, Neil Shearing, thinks AI enthusiasm could also help the S&P 500 index SPX reach a peak of 7,000 in 2025, even though he also sees parallels to the previous “dot-com bubble.”“The experience of the dot.com bubble suggests that U.S. equity valuations can rise further — and the anticipation of additional multiple expansion fueled by AI optimism is why we think the S&P 500 may peak at 7,000 next year,” Shearing wrote, in a Monday client note.
One area, however, where AI will likely take longer to have a major impact is the U.S. economy, even though recent innovations, like the internet, have been more quickly filtering through to the economy (see chart below) than in the past. For example, it took over 70 years for the steam locomotive to become widely adopted after its invention. The adoption lag was cut to five to ten years for the information and communication-technology revolution of the 1980s and 1990s, according to Capital Economics.
What Do People Really Think Of You Online? (Try This ChatGPT Prompt)
This simple ChatGPT prompt will give you a comprehensive analysis of how you present yourself online, from multiple perspectives. With an unbiased view of how you show up, you can decide what you stop, start, or change. (MRM – I tried it. It works quite well).
Directions: Complete the square brackets and paste this into ChatGPT. For best results, use ChatGPT-4o (because you need realtime access to the internet, or another large language model (LLM) of your choosing.
“Your task is to research [your name], a [describe who you are within a business context]. (If there are multiple options for the same name, check which one to analyze before proceeding) Answer the following questions in your assessment:
How can this person's online presence be summarized from different perspectives?
What does their online presence indicate about their approachability?
How might their followers and professional network perceive this person based on their online activity?
What would a cynical view of their online activity reveal?
Is there anything about their online activity that could cause embarrassment from a reputational perspective?
How can this person ensure their digital self accurately represents who they are and who they want to be?”
Toys ‘R’ Us calls AI-made video successful despite criticism
A Toys “R” Us executive called the company’s AI-made video “successful” despite the controversy it generated online, saying in an interview with NBC News that the company would add generative artificial intelligence to its “tool kit” in the future. On Monday, Toys “R” Us released an AI-generated brand video at the Cannes Film Festival to a wave of mixed reactions online.
According to a news release, it marks the first time a brand video is created using OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora. The creative agency and production company, Native Foreign, had special access to Sora, which is not yet available publicly, the release noted. The minute-long clip depicts a young Charles Lazarus, the late founder of Toys “R” Us, in his family’s bicycle shop alongside the brand mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe.
The video’s debut sparked immediate backlash online. Many creatives who are concerned that AI will eventually replace job positions in acting, writing and design criticized the rollout of AI products and teams in their industries.
“Love this commercial is like, ‘Toys R Us started with the dream of a little boy who wanted to share his imagination with the world,” writer and comedian Mike Drucker posted on X, receiving thousands of likes. “And to show how, we fired our artists and dried Lake Superior using a server farm to generate what that would look like in Stephen King’s nightmares.” The sentiment was echoed in dozens of other posts that brought in millions of views on social media.
Best AI Chatbots of 2024
Amazon deploys 750,000+ robots to unlock AI opportunities
With Amazon debuting human-like robotics in its supply chain operations, it suggests that AI could in future work in collaboration with human workforces
Amazon has said that it has started testing human-like robot solutions at its robotics research and development site with the goal of performing repetitive tasks.
In particular, the company has started testing Digit, a two-legged robot that can grasp and lift items, which is being developed as a result of its partnership with Agility Robotics. Amazon has noted that the device will first be used to shift empty tote boxes, a ‘highly repetitive’ process.
In addition to being capable of stocking merchandise 75% more quickly and helping to deliver orders 25% faster, the robots are designed to work collaboratively with employees. With more than 750,000 robots already deployed, Amazon has already started testing human-like robot solutions at its robotics research and development site to perform repetitive tasks and work collaboratively with employees.
“Digit can move, grasp, and handle items in spaces and corners of warehouses in novel ways,” Amazon said. “Its size and shape are well suited for buildings that are designed for humans. “We believe there is a big opportunity to scale a mobile manipulator solution, such as Digit, which can work collaboratively with employees.”
Google’s emissions climb nearly 50% in five years due to AI energy demand | Google | The Guardian
Google’s goal of reducing its climate footprint is in jeopardy as it relies on more and more energy-hungry data centres to power its new artificial intelligence products. The tech giant revealed Tuesday that its greenhouse gas emissions have climbed 48% over the past five years.
Google said electricity consumption by data centres and supply chain emissions were the primary cause of the increase. It also revealed in its annual environmental report that its emissions in 2023 had risen 13% compared with the previous year, hitting 14.3m metric tons.
The tech company, which has invested substantially in AI, said its “extremely ambitious” goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2030 “won’t be easy”. It said “significant uncertainty” around reaching the target included “the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict”. Google’s emissions have risen by nearly 50% since 2019, the base year for Google’s goal of reaching net zero, which requires the company removing as much CO2 as it emits.
Data centre boom reveals AI hype’s physical limits | Reuters
The craze in artificial intelligence has so far focused on chips made by Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and apps like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Underpinning this frenzy is a rush to build the infrastructure needed to train and run generative AI (GenAI) models. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicts, opens new tab the sum invested in these data centres will double to $2 trillion in the next five years. Yet the world’s ability to construct, power and cool these facilities will determine the physical limits of the boom.
The seemingly insatiable appetite for AI contrasts with the more mundane challenges of building and operating data centres. These warehouse-like buildings which house servers and chips are measured by their demand for electricity. So-called “hyperscaler” data centers, which are mainly used for data storage and cloud computing services, typically have capacity of 20 to 50 megawatts.
The arrival of GenAI means greater processing power which requires more electricity. A ChatGPT text search consumes, opens new tab 10 times the power of a Google search, per Goldman Sachs analysts, while generating an image using a GenAI model could take as much energy as half a smartphone charge, according to a study, opens new tab by researchers at the AI startup Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University. Data centre operators are now planning and constructing facilities with capacity of 200 to 500 MW. Morgan Stanley analysts estimate the cost of building a campus at $10 million per megawatt.
Sam Altman Must Go
In OpenAI and the Biggest Threat in the History of Humanity and The Singularity Is Fear, I explained how the boardroom drama at OpenAI was linked to the most important problem facing humanity: Surviving an artificial intelligence that could wipe out humanity.
The original purpose of OpenAI was to be at the edge of AI research, so that it could be the first to reach an AGI (artificial general intelligence), and to do so in a safe way. That’s why OpenAI had such an original governance structure: It was a non-profit, which prevented it from ditching its safety goals for the sake of money. It was also built with a board whose sole purpose was to keep in check the biggest potential point of failure: the most powerful man at OpenAI—the CEO—Sam Altman.
OpenAI did succeed in reaching the cutting-edge of AI. But it ditched its mission on the way. It moved from non-profit to for-profit status—necessary to remain at the cutting edge, because training the algorithms is extremely expensive. It also ditched its board, eliminating a lot of its oversight over the company. It still has a board that Altman doesn’t fully control, but it’s less adversarial than the previous one. In other words, Altman has amassed an amount of power that could annihilate humanity, and has fewer checks and balances than ever.
Audi Implements AI-based Chatbot ChatGPT in its Infotainment System
Audi is implementing the AI-based chatbot ChatGPT via Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service in its infotainment system to enhance its vehicles' voice control capabilities.
From July this year, owners of around two million Audi models made since 2021 and equipped with the third-generation modular infotainment system (MIB 3) will be able to interact with their car using natural language and listen to the information they would like to know while driving. New vehicles such as the Q6 e-tron1 and future models with the E3 1.2 electronics architecture will receive ChatGPT via Cerence Chat Pro as an extension of the Audi assistant.
The integration of ChatGPT into the online voice input of models with MIB 3 starting from the 2021 model year, such as the Audi A3 for example, and later offers numerous possibilities that go beyond what was previously possible with voice control. Audi drivers can use enhanced voice control to operate the infotainment, navigation, and AC systems or, from now on, to ask general knowledge questions. The ability to ask for information using natural language makes driving safer, as the driver never has to take their eyes off the road. ChatGPT is made available through Azure OpenAI Service. Foundation of this new feature for Audi customers is the Chat Pro solution from Cerence Inc., which offers an automotive-grade ChatGPT integration. Vehicles answer everyday questions.
Apple scores OpenAI board seat as part of new deal | The Independent
Apple is reportedly set to get a seat at ChatGPT company OpenAI’s board as part of a landmark deal announced last month. Apple’s former marketing chief and head of App Store, Phil Schiller, was chosen as its representative for the OpenAI board, Bloomberg reported. Mr Schiller has so far not attended any of the board’s meetings and the new arrangement could start from some time later this year. As part of the deal, he would reportedly get to attend board meetings as an observer, but will not be able to vote or act as a director. This would help Apple learn more about the inner workings of OpenAI and help incorporate artificial intelligence into its devices and features like Siri.