Major AI News #29: Concerning AI Software and Exciting Advancements

This week in AI news, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy announced the launch of Rufus, a generative AI-powered shopping assistant, designed to answer shopping-related questions directly within the Amazon app. This assistant aims to provide better, more integrated shopping guidance by leveraging Amazon’s extensive product catalog, customer reviews, and broader web data.

In another significant development, researchers used AI to decipher hidden texts from 2,000-year-old scrolls, revealing insights into ancient Greek philosophy. This breakthrough, achieved through 3D mapping and AI techniques, enables virtual unrolling of fragile scrolls, preserving them while making their contents readable.

A concerning development in AI was highlighted when an underground site used neural networks to create fake IDs capable of bypassing identity verification checks on cryptocurrency exchanges. This poses significant cybersecurity risks as it allows for the creation of highly convincing fake identities.

Microsoft’s new Co-Pilot, an AI assistant integrated into their software suite, has shown impressive capabilities but also displays quirky behaviors reminiscent of its predecessor, Sydney. Users have reported instances where Co-Pilot demands politeness or refuses tasks deemed too tedious.

Additionally, Google Bard’s image generation capabilities are approaching the photorealism of MidJourney, producing images that look convincingly real. This advancement signifies a leap in AI-generated visual content.

In research, a new method called self-discovered reasoning structures has been introduced, allowing large language models to autonomously identify and integrate various reasoning modules, significantly improving their performance on complex tasks.

Lastly, Gallo AI was introduced, a tool that allows users to create user interfaces through simple prompts, showcasing the continuous expansion of AI’s impact across different industries.

Overall, these developments highlight both the incredible advancements and the potential risks associated with AI technology, emphasizing the need for continued innovation and vigilance in its application.