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An AI Chatbot May Be Your Next Therapist

Also: Generative A.I. Can Add $4.4 Trillion in Value to Global Economy

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AI KATANA
June 15, 2023

Hi!

Today we explore the potential of AI chatbots as mental health therapists, the implications of which reach far beyond individual well-being and into the larger healthcare system. McKinsey Global Institute’s latest report offers a quantifiable glimpse into the enormous economic value generative AI could add to the global economy, while Satya Nadella of Microsoft reminds us of the transformative power that AI holds for the corporate world. The EU Parliament's movement towards AI regulation reflects a global push towards establishing ethical guidelines for AI development, an important milestone in balancing technological advancements and societal needs. Lastly, our Venture Capital updates spotlight exciting new startups emerging on the AI scene, from Mistral AI's ambitious endeavor to rival OpenAI to Bito's innovative use of AI to revolutionize software development.

Slicing some reads today:

  • 🤖 An AI Chatbot May Be Your Next Therapist

  • 📄 McKinsey Global Institute Report - Generative A.I. Can Add $4.4 Trillion in Value to Global Economy

  • 🦾 Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Is Betting Everything on AI

  • 👩🏼‍💼 AI Regulation Is Here. Almost.

The proliferation of AI chatbot mental health apps is driven by the massive demand for mental health services and the gap in supply, with up to 20,000 apps emerging in recent years. While many entrepreneurs and startups are enthusiastic about the potential of these tools to transform healthcare, the effectiveness of these applications remains largely unproven, with little independent research or FDA scrutiny. Critics argue that AI lacks the capacity to establish the vital human connection that underpins effective therapy. Although some apps may eventually prove beneficial, concerns exist about their potential harm due to their scripted nature and inability to adapt beyond basic cases of mild anxiety and depression. The possibility of insurance companies promoting these apps as a cheaper, easier alternative to human therapists is also raising concerns. Meanwhile, regulatory agencies like the Department of Labor and the FDA are stepping up efforts to enforce mental health parity requirements and vet these apps as medical devices, respectively.

The McKinsey Global Institute's report estimates that Generative AI could contribute $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy and expedite work automation, boosting productivity by saving 60-70% of workers' time. The report states that generative A.I. tools, such as chatbots, can augment individual worker capabilities by automating specific tasks, potentially automating half of all work between 2030 and 2060. This estimation is quicker than McKinsey's prior forecast due to the recent surge in generative A.I. tool development. Despite the positive outlook, the report warns of potential risks, like misinformation spread and a lack of human control, as well as uneven benefits across companies. The primary economic contribution from generative A.I. is expected in areas like customer operations, sales, software engineering, and R&D. However, experts caution that these predictions are preliminary, and further innovation and leadership will be necessary to manage the changes brought by this technology.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, is significantly investing in AI, aiming to place the company at the forefront of the new AI revolution. Nadella, who has been at Microsoft since 1992, and has led the company through various transitions, is now turning his focus to AI. He has aligned Microsoft with OpenAI, marking a strong partnership that allows Microsoft to leverage OpenAI's advanced AI capabilities and computational power. This partnership has already led to the development of Copilot, an AI tool that automates certain elements of coding, and the integration of OpenAI's large language model into Bing via a chatbot named Sydney. Microsoft is expanding the use of generative AI into many of its products, with its massive investment in OpenAI being seen as increasingly valuable. Nadella's bold and swift adoption of AI, along with his effective leadership, are positioning Microsoft as an emerging heavyweight in the AI field. Nadella's belief in the power of AI was bolstered when he saw the capabilities of GPT-3 and GPT-4, specifically their ability to understand and generate complex and nuanced content, such as translating poetry across languages while preserving its essence. Nadella envisions a unified approach towards AI, where foundational models like those developed by OpenAI serve as the basis for various applications, thereby creating a 'platform effect'.

The European Union parliament has voted to advance a draft legislation known as the AI Act, aimed at regulating the development and application of AI. The proposed rules would prohibit real-time remote biometric surveillance in public spaces, the harvesting of surveillance footage or internet scraping for facial-recognition databases, and predictive policing systems. The legislation would also regulate how companies train AI models, in some instances requiring them to disclose AI-generated content and ensure their models do not produce illegal content. Companies would also need to publish summaries of copyrighted data used in training their models, providing a potential revenue share for content creators whose works are used by AI tools. Noncompliance could lead to fines of up to 6-7% of a company's global revenue. The draft bill has generated mixed responses; while tech companies argue that it may impede innovation, others believe it could set necessary safety standards for AI development. The proposed law is expected to set the standard for AI regulation globally.

💵 Venture Capital updates

Mistral AI, a Paris-based startup founded by Google's DeepMind and Meta alumni, has raised a $113 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, valuing the company at $260 million. The company, which is only four weeks old, aims to compete with OpenAI in the development, training, and application of large language models and generative AI. Co-founders Arthur Mensch (CEO), Timothée Lacroix (CTO), and Guillaume Lample (Chief Science Officer) plan to focus on open source solutions and target enterprises to "make AI useful". Their strategy involves building models using publicly available data to avoid legal issues, with users able to contribute their own datasets. The company's first models for text-based generative AI are expected in 2024. Mistral AI intends to use the funding to build a world-class team dedicated to creating the best open source models.

Bito, a company leveraging ChatGPT and OpenAI to provide personalized responses to developers' questions and accelerate the full lifecycle of development tasks, has launched its first publicly available platform following a $3.2 million funding round. The platform, currently in Alpha release, offers tailored solutions from code generation to testing, documentation, and code search, and is compatible with Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, and the CLI. Bito's users include engineers from major tech companies and its funding round was led by Eniac Ventures and supported by The Cap Table Coalition and several tech pioneers. The Bito AI assistant can answer developer questions, generate source code, provide feedback on existing code, and offer a variety of other assistance, making developers 31% more productive. The company aims to accelerate innovation by using AI to help developers increase their output, reduce bugs, and spend more time on critical thinking rather than menial tasks.

🫡 Meme of the day

⭐️ Midjourney prompt of the day

80s 90s anime city pop

Before you go, this startup team won Grand Prize in LA TechWeek Virtual Worlds hackathon, creating a fully-playable RPG in 1 day 😮