AI at the World Economic Forum

Pivot 5: 5 stories. 5 minutes a day. 5 days a week.

1. AI at the World Economic Forum

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has warned that big tech companies are recklessly pursuing profits from AI, and urgent action is needed to mitigate the risks from the rapidly growing sector. Guterres linked the risks from AI to the climate crisis and said the international community had no strategy to deal with either. He challenged tech industry representatives to work with governments to put in place guardrails for AI, stating that AI has enormous potential for sustainable development but is likely to worsen inequality. 

Guterres argued that governments and international bodies like the UN needed to play a role in ensuring AI was a force for good. He called for governments to work with tech companies on risk management frameworks for current AI development and on monitoring and mitigating future harms. Guterres also criticized fossil fuel companies for preventing progress on climate change and urged a just and equitable transition to renewable energy.

Read the full story here 

2. Amazon’s latest Fire TVs can now use AI

Amazon's Fire TVs now offer users the ability to use AI to generate custom art backgrounds using voice prompts. The feature, which is powered by Alexa and a Titan Image Generator model, allows users to create up to four unique images for each prompt. Users can apply various artistic styles, including pixel art, oil painting, watercolor, and colored pencil.

The custom AI artwork can be set as the background on the Fire TV device and saved to Amazon Photos for easy sharing. However, AI Art is only available on Fire TV devices that include ambient mode, such as the Fire TV Omni QLED Series and the second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max. To use AI Art, users must activate the Ambient Experience by asking Alexa to "open Ambient" or access it from the Shortcuts menu.

Read the full story here 

3. AI can tell if prints from two different fingers belong to same person

An AI model has been trained to accurately identify whether fingerprints left by different fingers belong to the same person. This could make forensic investigations more efficient. The model was trained using over 50,000 fingerprints from almost 1000 people, all belonging to deceased individuals or had been de-identified from people still alive.

The model was tested on a separate set of over 7000 fingerprints from approximately 150 people, and it scored greater than a 0.75, suggesting it reliably identifies whether prints from different fingers belong to the same person. This technology could be useful in cases where fingerprints found at multiple crime scenes don't match anyone in databases. However, the accuracy isn't high enough for this model to decide this in the court of law.

Read the full story here

4. AI is using too much energy and will require breakthrough energy source

AI models like OpenAI's ChatGPT require a significant amount of electricity, with experts estimating that the industry could consume as much as an entire country. Sam Altman has suggested that future AI models may require even more power, leading to the need for a breakthrough energy source. Altman believes that fusion energy, a hypothetically limitless source of energy without nuclear fission risks, is the holy grail.

However, billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and Bill Gates have invested in the idea, with Altman investing $375 million in Helion Energy, a nuclear fusion company. Altman has also suggested that AI could crack the case for fusion energy. While fusion energy is a promising idea, there are no concrete results. The carbon footprint of the AI industry is increasing, with Google Search alone doubling its energy use. The world is heading for a bad energy crisis due to AI unless we fix a few things.

Read the full story here 

5. LinkedIn's new AI feature helps people find jobs

LinkedIn has introduced its new AI feature, Job Collections, which categorizes job postings into tailored groups. This feature, which uses generative AI and LLMs, saves time and helps people find suitable jobs. The feature is compared to Airbnb Experiences, where users can find great opportunities despite not knowing what they're looking for. 

LinkedIn's job applications have risen 50% in the US and 36% globally, with 85% of working people considering changing jobs this year. Users can use the feature by clicking on "Explore with Job Collections" in the Jobs tab, and can also send an "I'm Interested" notification if a job isn't exactly what they're looking for.

Read the full story here 

Advertise with Pivot 5 to reach influential minds & elevate your brand

Get your brand in front of 50,000+ businesses and professionals who rely on Pivot 5 for daily AI updates. Book future ad spots here.