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Generative AI commentary is coming to Wimbledon

Also: Can AI help drinkers buy a better bottle of wine?

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AI KATANA
June 26, 2023

Hi!

In today’s highlights, IBM introduces AI-generated commentary for Wimbledon, marking a significant leap in interactive sports viewing. Harvard University adopts an AI chatbot, 'CS50 bot', for its flagship coding course, signaling a shift in AI-assisted learning. Meanwhile, in China, AI 'griefbots' stir conversations around ethical implications and our perceptions of mortality and memory. In the consumer space, AI continues to personalize experiences, notably with the wine recommendation app, Sippd. In finance, FinGPT democratizes access to complex data analysis. Lastly, venture capital firm, Frst, reaches a first close of $80 million for its second fund, underlining the investment potential of AI.

Slicing like the Ginzu 2000:

  • 🎾 IBM is introducing generative AI commentary to Wimbledon

  • 🏫 Harvard's New Computer Science Teacher Is a Chatbot

  • 🤖 The living dead: the rise of AI griefbots in China

  • 🍷 Can AI help drinkers buy a better bottle of wine?

IBM is introducing generative AI commentary to Wimbledon, making tennis the first sport to trial this technology. This new feature is a collaboration with the All England Club and will provide AI-generated tennis commentary for all video highlights during the Wimbledon tournament, scheduled between July 3 and July 16. The commentary will be powered by IBM’s AI and data platform, Watsonx, and will include captions in highlight videos. To use the technology, users will need to visit the Wimbledon website on a desktop or download the smartphone app.

Harvard University has introduced an AI chatbot, known as 'CS50 bot', as a learning assistant for its flagship coding course, Computer Science 50: Introduction to Computer Science (CS50). Starting from the fall, students will be encouraged to use this AI tool to help debug code, give feedback on their designs, and answer questions about error messages and unfamiliar lines of code. This development marks a swift policy change as Harvard had no AI policy at the end of the fall 2022 semester. The bot differs from other popular tools like ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot in that it's designed to guide students towards answers rather than providing them outright. The new AI policy will also extend to the online version of CS50 available on the edX platform, which is free and open to non-Harvard students, and other institutions can license the course material for their own use.

Chinese software engineers are developing AI 'griefbots' that mimic the personalities of deceased loved ones, using photographs, archived recordings, and stored messages. This use of AI, which aims to transform the process of grief and memory conservation, is part of a broader trend across tech industries. It involves companies like Amazon and StoryFile, who are exploring similar applications. While potentially comforting for the bereaved, ethical issues arise around the posthumous use of personal data, the potential for psychological harm, and the inability of AI to truly replicate human connection. The concept is also connected to larger cultural narratives, such as the pursuit of digital immortality and the concept of transhumanism. As such technologies become more integrated into our grieving process, they are pushing us to reconsider our conceptions of mortality and memory.

The article discusses the use of AI in helping individuals select wines tailored to their preferences. The inspiration for the AI-powered wine recommendation app Sippd came from Blake Hershey's personal experience of his wife needing wine recommendations when he was not physically present. Unlike other apps incorporating AI, Sippd was built on AI technology from the start. The app, launched in 2021 and currently only available in the US, works by having users complete an online wine quiz. The AI then generates personalized wine recommendations, which get more accurate as users provide feedback on their purchases. The app is free to use and generates revenue through the direct sale of recommended wines.

🛠️ AI tools update

Finance is a rapidly evolving field requiring dynamic, adaptable AI solutions. BloombergGPT, though effective, is costly and time-consuming to retrain with financial data, making a lightweight, more flexible approach desirable for frequent updates. This is where FinGPT comes in, leveraging the best open-source large language models (LLMs) to provide democratized, Internet-scale financial data modeling that's accessible and cost-effective. The system emphasizes swift fine-tuning to new data instead of expensive, full-scale retraining. Furthermore, unlike BloombergGPT, FinGPT integrates the Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) technology, a key feature of advanced models like ChatGPT and GPT4, to learn and adapt to individual financial preferences such as risk tolerance and investing habits, which has immense potential in creating personalized robo-advisors.

💵 Venture Capital updates

Paris-based venture capital firm, Frst, has reached an initial closing of €72 million (nearly $80 million) for its second fund, continuing its strategy of being the first to invest in tech startups, often even before they are incorporated. The team, led by Pierre Entremont and Bruno Raillard, who previously worked for Otium Venture, raised their initial fund (Frst 2) in 2019, amounting to €90 million (nearly $100 million). Their new fund, Frst 3, is expected to reach an upper limit of €100 million ($110 million), with secured funding from several investors including the European Investment Fund, Bpifrance’s Fonds National d’Amorçage 2, Axa Venture Partners, and Isomer. Frst, which has more than €200 million of assets managed or advised, positions itself as the largest seed fund focused on French startups. The firm sees promising investment opportunities due to the rise of AI, and plans to invest between €1 million and €3 million in around 30 companies with its new fund.

🫡 Meme of the day

⭐️ Generative image of the day