The sperm whale 'phonetic alphabet' revealed by AI

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

1. The sperm whale 'phonetic alphabet' revealed by AI

Researchers studying sperm whale communication have discovered structures similar to those found in human language. Sperm whales are slow swimmers, capable of diving over 3km and holding their breath for two hours. They are in constant communication with one another, even when foraging alone at depths.

The Dominica Sperm Whale Project has been listening to sperm whales for almost 20 years, and modern technology is helping researchers uncover previously unknown diversity and complexity in animal communication. They have also used AI to decode a "sperm whale phonetic alphabet."

Read the full story here

2. The first Miss AI has been crowned — and she’s a Moroccan lifestyle influencer

Moroccan lifestyle influencer Kenza Layli has won the Miss AI contest, showcasing her commitment to diversity and inclusivity in the AI creator landscape. With nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram and 45,000 on TikTok, Layli uses AI-generated images, captions, and acceptance speeches to promote diversity.

The contest, organized by Fanvue, draws entries from 1,500 AI programmers worldwide. Layli will receive $5,000 cash, support on Fanvue, and a publicist to raise her profile. However, experts have expressed concern about the implications of an AI beauty pageant, as stylized AI-generated images may further homogenize beauty standards.

Read the full story here

3. Why The Atlantic signed a deal with OpenAI

Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, has signed a deal with OpenAI to use The Atlantic's archives as training data. He has a background in tech and was previously the editor-in-chief of Wired.

The deal allows OpenAI to gain control over data usage, display, and compensation. Nick believes that AI companies are getting more than they are giving with these deals, and that allowing creativity to be commodified may come with a price tag that big money cannot pay back.

Read the full story here 

4. Watch a robot navigate the Google DeepMind offices using Gemini

Google's DeepMind Robotics team has demonstrated the potential of generative AI in robot navigation. They used Google Gemini 1.5 Pro to teach a robot to respond to commands and navigate around an office. The robot was familiarized with the space using Multimodal Instruction Navigation with demonstration Tours, which involves walking the robot around the office while pointing out landmarks with speech.

The team then used hierarchical Vision-Language-Action to combine environment understanding and common sense reasoning power. The robot responded to written and drawn commands, as well as gestures, with a 90% success rate across over 50 interactions with employees.

Read the full story here

5. This climate tech startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down

280 Earth, a startup spun out of Google's "moonshot factory" X, has signed a $40 million agreement to capture carbon dioxide emissions for major tech companies through an initiative called Frontier. The deal, which was launched in 2022, includes Autodesk, H&M Group, JPMorgan Chase, Workday, and other brands. 280 Earth uses modules containing absorbent materials called sorbents to filter CO2 out of the air, similar to large industrial facilities called direct air capture plants.

However, 280 Earth's technology can run more efficiently, working in tandem with data centers and drawing power from their waste heat. The company saves energy by not working in batches, moving the sorbent between two chambers to avoid energy loss. The technology is similar to a professional pizza oven, which retains heat better and stays at the same temperature.

Read the full story here

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

Get your brand in front of 65,000+ businesses and professionals who rely on Pivot 5 for daily AI updates. Book future ad spots here.