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- China's new ChatGPT competitor
China's new ChatGPT competitor
AND AI in city government and the courtroom
Jack Shields
October 19, 2023
Welcome back!
We have three huge news stories on deck so no AI training today. Let’s get right to it.
In today’s Daily Update:
🗞️ Baidu claims new AI model rivals GPT-4
🤖 NYC mayor uses AI to make robocalls in different languages
📸 Rapper says lawyer botched his case by using AI
🚨 AI Roundup: Four quick hits
Read time: 2 minutes
LATEST NEWS
🗞️ Baidu claims new AI model rivals GPT-4
Source: PR Newswire
Chinese tech giant Baidu just unveiled its Ernie 4.0 AI model, claiming that it matches the capabilities of leading U.S. models like GPT-4.
What you need to know:
Baidu CEO Robin Li demoed Ernie 4.0 at the company’s annual conference in Beijing.
The model was able to understand complex questions, generate lengthy creative content and apply reasoning and logic to generate answers.
“It is not inferior in any aspect to GPT-4,” Li said.
Baidu plans to incorporate Ernie 4.0 into its search engine, maps and cloud drive services and business intelligence offerings.
Why it matters: Despite heightened U.S. efforts to curb China’s AI development, tech giants like Baidu claim they are continuing to keep pace in the AI race. Verifying these claims is challenging in itself because Ernie 4.0 is unavailable to the public, but competition between the U.S. and China is nonetheless tenser than ever in AI.
🤖 NYC mayor uses AI to make robocalls in different languages
Source: Luiz C. Ribeiro | Getty Images
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is using AI to make robocalls in languages he doesn’t speak. The calls have raised concerns that the mayor is misleading people.
The details:
Adams has made thousands of robocalls in Spanish, more than 250 in Yiddish, more than 160 in Mandarin, 89 in Catonese and 23 in Haitian Creole.
Critics say the mayor is unethically using AI to convince New Yorkers that he speaks languages that he doesn’t. The calls currently don’t tell people that they use an AI-generated voice.
Adams says that in order to run the city he needs to be able to speak to people in languages they understand.
NYC chief technology officer Matthew Fraser says the technology will eventually expand across the entire city “so that all services [are] serviced through a bot.”
Why it matters: NYC is way ahead of the curve when it comes to embracing AI. Fraser recently released the New York City Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, which outlines the administration’s plans to use AI in city government responsibly. There’s no doubt that AI could enhance the administration’s ability to serve its constituents, but Mayor Adams’ use of the technology does raise ethical concerns about misleading the public.
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
📸 Rapper says lawyer botched his case by using AI
Pras Michél (center) performing with the Fugees. (Source: Angela Weiss | Getty Images)
Rapper Pras Michél, known by many as a member of the Fugees hip hop group, claims his former lawyer mishandled his criminal conspiracy case by using AI to write closing arguments.
Key points:
Michél was convicted by a Washington federal court in April for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. His new legal team filed a motion for retrial.
The team alleges Michél’s former lawyer, David Kenner, used an experimental AI program to write a flawed closing argument.
In May, Kenner gave a quote to a press release for EyeLevel.AI. The company said Kenner’s use of its platform in this trial was the first use of generative AI in a federal case.
There are currently no regulations that prohibit lawyers from using generative AI in the courtroom.
The bottom line: Remember when a lawyer cited cases fabricated by ChatGPT earlier this year? Generative AI seems like more trouble than it’s worth for lawyers at this point.
MORE TRENDING NEWS
🚨 AI Roundup: Four quick hits
Source: Adobe Firefly
AI Alliance: Nvidia partners with iPhone maker Foxconn to build AI factories.
Black Box Broken: Stanford researchers rank 10 “foundation” large language models on transparency.
OpenAI Upgrade: ChatGPT officially gets web search as DALL-E 3 integration arrives in beta.
Smart Bots: Nvidia brings generative AI capabilities to robotics platforms.
THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY