Welcome to the Daily AI News podcast.
Today, we're gonna be taking a deep dive into AI news.
Okay.
Exploring some recent developments
and just seeing how much AI is really impacting our world.
Yeah.
We've got legal dramas, artistic protests, corporate intrigue.
Oh, wow.
And we've got news articles, company announcements,
expert commentary, the whole shebang.
Cool.
You ready to get into it?
Yeah, I think what I find really fascinating
about all these sources that we have
is how they highlight just how multifaceted
this whole AI evolution is becoming.
It's not just about the tech anymore.
It's also about how it's impacting
all these different sectors
and the ethical and economic questions that are coming up.
Yeah, it's really interesting to see it all play out.
Where should we start?
Let's start with open AI.
Okay.
They've been making a lot of headlines lately.
Yeah, they have.
Both with Sora, their text to video AI model,
and also just some interesting financial moves.
Right, yeah.
So they've decided to let employees cash out
some of their shares, up to $1.5 billion worth.
And guess who's buying?
SoftBank.
Oh, wow.
Which, you know, they already pumped $500 million
into open AI during a recent funding round.
Right.
But apparently their CEO wanted a bigger piece of the pie.
So that's really interesting.
Could having a larger stake influence open AI's direction?
Potentially, yeah.
Like their research priorities?
Yeah, I mean, while financial investment
doesn't always mean like direct control,
I think a larger stake could give SoftBank more leverage
in decision making.
For sure.
So yeah, I think it definitely raises some questions
about how open AI is going to navigate its future development
and whether they can stay committed
to their stated mission, you know,
given these commercial interests that are coming into play.
Yeah, absolutely.
And speaking of open AI,
Yes.
Sora, remember Sora?
Yeah.
The text to video model.
Well, there's a group of artists now
that are claiming that they leaked access to it.
Really?
Yeah.
Interesting.
With a form of protest.
Oh, wow.
So what's their beef?
It seems like they're arguing that open AI
is basically using them for free research and development
through Sora,
that they're not being compensated fairly for their work.
Interesting.
And that open AI is engaging in this art washing thing.
Art washing, yeah.
Which is basically using the credibility of artists
to make their products seem more legit.
Yeah, makes sense.
And you know what else?
Apparently the leaked version of Sora
had a functional interface for creating videos.
Wow.
But open AI shut it down pretty quickly.
Oh, really?
And they're also requiring artists
to get every single output approved before they can share it.
Oh, wow.
That's a lot of control, isn't it?
Yeah.
Makes you wonder, you know,
is it really about responsible use?
Or is it more about open AI protecting
their intellectual property?
Or maintaining a very carefully curated image?
Yeah, it's definitely interesting.
Yeah, it definitely adds a new layer, I think,
to the debate that's going on about artist compensation
and the influence of these big tech companies
on the creative process.
Shifting focus now to how big tech
is using data to train AI.
Okay.
And Australian Inquiry recently concluded
that Amazon, Google, and Meta
are basically pillaging data for this.
Yeah, they weren't exactly transparent
about how they were doing it either, were they?
No, not really.
The report highlights that they dodged a lot of questions
about their data collection and usage,
especially when it came to AI development.
Yeah.
Which is, I think, a little bit worrying
considering the massive amounts of personal data
that they hold.
Oh, for sure.
I mean, if they're using our data to train AI,
shouldn't we at least have a clear understanding
of how it's being used?
Yeah, for sure.
And it's funny, because then you have Microsoft
claiming that they aren't using data from Office apps
to train their AI, but then you have platforms
like BlueSky with their open API.
Right.
Which basically means anyone can scrape
public posts for AI training.
So it seems like there's a little bit of a discrepancy there.
There is.
I mean, it just highlights this tension
that's growing around user privacy
and how much control we have over our own data
in the age of AI.
Absolutely.
It's like, what are the boundaries here?
You know?
Yeah.
And do we as users even have a say
in how our data is being used,
especially when it's for something
as potentially impactful as AI?
All right, so we've got corporate maneuvering,
artistic protests, big tech under fire.
Seems like there's never a dull moment, huh?
No, not at all.
Not in the AI world anyway.
Let's talk about how AI is impacting creative industries.
Sounds good.
That's where it gets really interesting, I think.
I think it too.
And I think you're gonna have some thoughts
about this next one.
Okay.
It's called Spines.
And they wanna publish 8,000 books next year.
8,000?
Using AI.
Wow, that's ambitious.
They're charging authors thousands of dollars
for this service, which includes AI-assisted editing,
formatting, and distribution.
Authors get to keep all the royalties,
but the whole thing is raising some eyebrows.
Is this the future of publishing
or is it a complete disaster waiting to happen?
It's certainly a bold move.
It speaks, I think, to this growing influence
that AI is having in creative fields.
I mean, we've already seen AI being used
to generate content, write music, even create art.
But this, this is taking it to a whole other level.
I mean, using it to mass produce books
on this kind of scale.
Like, what does that even mean for quality?
Exactly.
What about human creativity?
Will this benefit the literary world
or is it gonna harm it in the long run?
Yeah, it's almost like a factory-style approach
to book publishing, isn't it?
Yeah, there's definitely a sense of that.
And, you know, it's understandable in a way
because there's this pressure on authors
to constantly produce more content faster.
But I think it's so important that we step back
and think about the consequences.
You know, will this lead to a ton of mediocre content?
Will it devalue the work of actual human authors
and editors?
These are big questions that we need to figure out.
Right, right.
And it's, I mean, remember the whole thing
with Harper Collins and Microsoft?
Oh, yeah.
They allowed some of their titles to be used to train AI.
Right.
This almost seems like it's taking that a step further,
doesn't it?
It does, and it really highlights this key issue
that's at the heart of a lot of those conversations
we're having about AI and creative work,
which is ownership and control.
Who owns the rights to AI-generated content?
How should authors be compensated when their work is used?
Right, right.
These are big, complex questions,
and we're really just starting to think about them.
Absolutely.
And this brings us to another area
where AI is making a big impact,
and that's the legal system.
Oh, yeah.
It seems like the law is constantly playing catch up,
you know?
Trying to figure out how to deal with all these advancements.
And sometimes the results are,
well, let's just say they kind of highlight
the need for some clearer guidelines.
Yeah.
Yeah, we've seen some interesting cases
that really drive this point home.
Oh, yeah.
Like, for example, remember that lawyer in Texas
who got fined for submitting court filings with fake citations?
From AI.
That were generated by AI?
It was wild.
He said that he didn't know they were fake.
Right.
But it doesn't really matter, does it?
No.
He's still gotten trouble.
Yeah, and the FTC is also getting involved.
They're cracking down on companies
that make misleading claims about their AI-powered products.
Like, remember Evolve Technologies?
Oh, yeah.
The security scanners?
They claim that their AI-powered scanners
could detect all weapons.
Right, right.
But there's a bit of a problem.
Oh, yeah.
There's a big problem.
Turns out that their scanners missed a knife that
was used in a school-stabbing incident.
That's awful.
Yeah.
So the FTC is making it very clear
that they're not going to tolerate these misleading claims.
Rightfully so.
Especially when public safety is on the line.
Right.
And it just seems like with AI, we
have to really reconsider our assumptions
about security, trust, and accountability.
Absolutely.
I think that's where transparency and ethics become so important.
As we're integrating AI more and more into our lives,
we need to be sure that it's being
developed and deployed responsibly.
Speeding your responsible development,
there's been some really interesting news in open source AI.
Yeah.
Have you heard about Olmo 2?
I have.
I'm really fascinated by this.
Yeah.
It's this new family of open source language models
that's being developed by AI too.
And the thing is, they're claiming that it's as good
as Meta's Lama model.
So I mean, what does that mean for the AI landscape?
What's so special about it being open source?
Well, the fact that it's fully open source
means that everything, like the tools and data used
to develop it, is public.
Anybody can access it.
Wow.
Which is a big deal, because it just makes everything
more transparent.
Yeah.
It encourages collaboration in research.
Anybody can examine the code, the data.
Wow.
And it allows for a lot more scrutiny and accountability,
which I think is really important.
So it's kind of like opening up that black box of AI
development and letting everybody peek inside.
Exactly.
And I think that that kind of openness is so crucial.
Yeah.
If we want to build trust and make sure
that AI is developed in a way that actually benefits everyone.
Right.
Not just to select few.
Exactly.
And this whole open source thing,
it seems like a positive step toward a more ethical and
collaborative AI.
Because that's what we're doing.
It's trying to get to the ecosystem.
Right.
But before we go too far down that road,
I want to go back to something you mentioned earlier.
Right.
The Harper Collins deal with Microsoft.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Can you just remind us what that was all about?
Yeah.
So earlier this month, it came out
that Harper Collins made this agreement with Microsoft.
OK.
And it allowed them to use some of their book titles
to train their AI models.
Right.
But the key thing here is that they're
requiring permission from the authors.
Oh, yeah.
Before their work can be used.
sourcing happening. Yeah, there is. But it still brings up all those questions, right?
About copyright and ownership and how should authors be compensated?
Well, absolutely. I mean, it's not just authors who are wrestling with this. Yeah.
We're seeing musicians, artists, journalists, all raising concerns about
their work being used without their consent or, you know, without being paid for it.
It's clear that the legal and ethical frameworks surrounding AI, they're still
very much in development. Oh, for sure. And as this technology keeps evolving,
yeah, we really have to rethink how we approach these issues. One of the things
that I find fascinating about this whole thing is the tension that exists between
the potential of AI and the very real risks. Right. I mean, on one hand, you've
got the potential to revolutionize entire industries, you know, to make our
lives better, to solve some of the world's biggest problems. But on the other
hand, you also have these serious concerns about bias and privacy and, you
know, jobs being displaced. And I mean, even AI being used for like malicious
purposes, right? We're already seeing those play out. So where do we go from
here? Right. How do we navigate this, this whole landscape? Yeah. And ensure that
it's being used for good. That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Yeah. I
think it's going to require a lot of different things, you know. We need to
invest in some strong ethical guidelines. Right. We need clear legal frameworks.
Yeah. And we need to be promoting transparency and accountability for sure
how AI is developed. And maybe this push towards open source AI, like we saw
with Olmo 2, is a step in the right direction. I think it could be. I mean,
open source AI has the potential to make this technology more accessible, you
know, for everybody, not just a few. Right. It could foster more collaboration,
more innovation. For sure. But it also comes with its own challenges, right? We
need to make sure that these open source AI models are being developed and used
responsibly. Right. That we have safeguards. Yeah. To prevent misuse. It feels like
we're constantly playing catch up. I know. You know, AI is advancing so quickly. It
really is. And are we really understanding the implications? Yeah, I agree. And this
is why I think it's so important for everybody to be part of this conversation.
Yeah. This isn't just something that's happening in some labs somewhere. Right.
It's impacting all of us in huge ways. Okay. So let's talk about what that
future might look like. Yeah. I mean, we've covered a lot of ground here today.
Yeah, we have. From the financial world to artistic pushback to legal battles,
the rise of open source, AI is everywhere. It really is. And I think one of the key
takeaways here is that AI is not some future concept anymore. Right. It's here,
it's happening now. Yeah. And it's impacting everything from how we create
art to how our laws are enforced. So as AI becomes even more integrated into our
lives, what should we be paying attention to? Right. What are the big questions?
The big questions. Yeah. I think one of the most urgent questions is how do we
balance the potential benefits with the risks? How do we make sure that it's
empowering people and not exploiting them? That's a big one. Yeah. And there's no
easy answer. No, no, definitely not. It's going to require a lot of ongoing
dialogue, thoughtful regulation, and a real commitment to ethical development.
Yeah. We need to be asking ourselves tough questions about data privacy, bias,
and algorithms, the potential for people to lose their jobs. We have to think
about all of that. And we need to make sure those questions are being asked by a
lot of different people. Yes, absolutely. We need perspectives from artists,
ethicists, social scientists, policymakers, everyday people, people who are
going to be impacted. I think this whole conversation just highlights how
important it is to stay informed about this stuff. Yeah. Because it's moving so
fast. It is. And having such a huge impact on the world. Yeah. We can't just sit back
and watch it happen. We can't. And I think it's important to remember that AI
isn't this one big scary thing. Right. It's a collection of tools, techniques
that can be used in all sorts of ways, good and bad. The future of AI really
depends on the choices that we're making right now. So for our listeners out there,
what can they do to be a part of shaping that future? Well, I think the most
important thing is to stay curious. Yeah. Stay informed. Yes. Stay engaged. You know,
ask questions, challenge assumptions, don't be afraid to speak up. Yeah. It's
about being a participant. Yes. Not just a consumer. Exactly. The future of AI
isn't set in stone. Right. It's something we're creating together. It feels like
we've just scratched the surface. I know, right? We could talk about the stuff for
hours and still only, like, barely cover it. Yeah. But for our...
Maybe a little overwhelmed by all of this. What's the one thing you want them to
take away? Just remember that AI is a tool. It's a really powerful tool, but it's
still just a tool. Yeah. And like any tool, it can be used for good or bad. Right. It
really all comes down to, like, who's using it and what their intention is.
It's not about being afraid of AI or rejecting. No. No, no, no, no. It's about
understanding it. Yeah. Both the good and the bad. Absolutely. And then figuring out
how to, like, integrate it responsibly. Exactly. AI is not this, like, predetermined
force that's going to control our future. Right. We have a say in this. Yeah. We can
shape how it develops. And we can make sure that it's actually used to make the
world a better place. Well, on that note, thanks for joining us for this deep dive
into the world of AI. I hope you found it informative. Yeah. Maybe a little thought
provoking. It's been great. Yeah. Yeah. And remember,
Securious, stay engaged. Yeah. Stay informed. The future of AI really does depend on all
of us. It does. Thanks for listening to the Daily AI News Podcast and stay tuned for more.