Democratization or Shadow IT? Amazon and Samsung both launch their own Large Language models. And Facebook joins Google in forcing advertisers to reveal changed or altered ads created by AI.
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These and more top tech stories on Hashtag Trending
I’m your host Jim Love, CIO of IT World Canada and Tech News Day in the US.
The IT landscape is evolving into a ‘digital democracy’ where departments beyond the traditional IT realm are taking charge of their tech needs. Thanks to low-code and no-code platforms, Gartner’s study highlights a shift where 46 per cent of EMEA CIOs say they are stepping away from being the sole digital gatekeepers.
This democratization, however, raises red flags about potential ‘shadow IT’ and chaos without proper governance.
The rise of AI is seen as a game-changer by most CIOs, yet there’s a knowledge gap regarding its implications.
Sources include: The Register
Amazon is investing in a new large language model named ‘Olympus’, with an impressive 2 trillion parameters, aiming to be a major player in AI alongside OpenAI and Alphabet.
Led by Rohit Prasad, who headed up Alexa, this move signifies Amazon’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities, especially within its AWS offerings.
There’s no set release date for Olympus, but its development is a strategic bet on the growing importance of AI technologies, which are integral for creating advanced, human-like digital interactions. Just the type of thing that Amazon would love to have as its own product.
Amazon is investing big in AI by looking to save money in other business areas like retail fulfillment and transportation.
Sources include: Reuters
Not to be outdone, Samsung is also launching its own Large Language Model AI with the introduction of Samsung Gauss, a generative AI model named after the famed mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss.
This new AI promises a smarter interaction with Samsung devices, offering features like language modeling for composing emails, translating content, and enhanced device control.
Samsung Gauss will also write code, and generate and edit images. But apparently will not come up with good names for AI systems. Currently the company is focused on enhancing employee productivity, Samsung plans to weave this AI into their products soon, potentially making them one of the first to bring generative AI to handheld devices.
Meanwhile, Apple, Samsung’s main competitor in smartphones, is being outdone. Apple is still hinting at their generative AI offering, but are remaining tight-lipped on specifics.
Sources include: CNBC
Facebook is rolling out a new disclosure policy for politically or socially charged ads created or altered digitally, including those utilizing AI.
Set to take effect globally in the new year, the policy mandates advertisers to reveal when ads contain digitally crafted or modified images, videos, or audio that misrepresent real people or events.
Changes considered trivial, like image resizing or colour correction, are exempt unless they impact the ad’s central message. Meta will flag ads that comply during the ad creation process and in the Ad Library. Advertisers who fail to disclose as required will face ad rejection and potential penalties.
Eduardo Azanza, CEO at Veridas flagged this story for us via his publicist. His comments about it were:
“With Meta joining Google in requiring political ads to disclose the use of AI, we are on track to establish a more trustworthy and transparent media landscape. This move could not come at a more important time, with the 2024 US Presidential elections approaching and political campaigns ramping up.
The free use of AI in political ads with no label or indication makes the spread of misinformation significantly easier. We’ve already seen politicians take advantage of AI and deep fakes, leaving voters confused and questioning what is true. Voters have the right to make political decisions on the truth and leaving AI-generated content unlabeled creates a powerful tool of deception, which ultimately threatens democracy. It is important for other media companies to follow the steps of Meta (and we would also add Google) and place guardrails on AI. That way, we can build trust in technology and secure the sanctity of elections.”
Couldn’t agree more.
Thanks for the tip on this one.
Sources include: Facebook’s Official Policy Update
General Motors has issued a recall for 950 of its Cruise autonomous vehicles following a severe collision involving a pedestrian in San Francisco.
This incident, which led to the temporary ban of these driverless cars in the city and has prompted GM to recall the cars and update their software for better crash response and prevention.
A pedestrian was seriously injured on October 2nd after being hit by another vehicle and then by a Cruise car, which reportedly attempted to brake but still hit the pedestrian.
While any autonomous vehicle crash is going to make the news, Cruise estimates the risk of serious injury from their system could occur every 10 million to 100 million miles driven, which is probably a lot safer than human drivers.
Nevertheless, GM is taking this seriously and in addition to the recall announced the hiring of a chief safety officer and promised an engineering firm’s analysis of the crash.
Sources include: Axios
And that’s the top tech news for today.
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