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The race of the AI labs heats up

Also: 73% of consumers globally say they trust content created by generative AI

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AI KATANA
June 20, 2023

Welcome!

The AI landscape is in an exciting competitive phase with both global tech giants and novel players pushing generative AI models' transformative potential. A Capgemini Research Institute study reveals that 73% of global consumers trust AI-generated content, with a particular interest in various applications like financial planning and medical advice. Meanwhile, the audiobook industry is exploring the use of AI voices, despite concerns over narration quality and ethical voice cloning issues. Thought leaders like Yuval Noah Harari are pondering AI's impact on humanity's future. In the corporate sector, Omnicom Group plans to debut a generative AI tool for advertising, while the music startup WAVs AI has secured $20 million in funding, highlighting the growing investment interest in AI applications.

Slice it up:

  • 🏎️ The race of the AI labs heats up

  • 👍 73% of consumers globally say they trust content created by generative AI

  • 📚AI voice clones are coming for the Amazon, Apple, Google audiobook

  • 🔮 AI and the future of humanity

The AI landscape is undergoing a revolution, catalyzed by innovative chatbots like ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, with global giants like Microsoft, Google, Baidu, and others vying for supremacy. Large corporations and smaller startups alike, are pushing the boundaries of AI, emphasizing the importance of generative AI models and their transformative potential across multiple sectors. Though once dominated by big tech, the arena is now teeming with novel players including Anthropic, Character AI, and Stability AI, among others. Despite this, large companies continue to drive significant breakthroughs, given their computational power and rapid product incorporation capabilities. Interestingly, Chinese labs have demonstrated dominance in the subdiscipline of computer vision. While Microsoft's ChatGPT and Google's LaMDA are prime contenders in the AI race, experts suggest that the edge in AI technology is constantly shifting due to the rapid diffusion of AI knowledge. The future of this competitive landscape may be determined by factors such as the organization of labs, the evolution of technology, and the continued influx of capital into generative AI startups.

A new study from the Capgemini Research Institute reveals that 73% of consumers worldwide trust content created by generative AI, with the technology used for applications such as financial planning, medical diagnoses, and relationship advice. More than half of consumers, regardless of age or location, are aware of and have explored generative AI tools. Users are particularly satisfied with chatbots, gaming, and search use cases, with 67% seeing benefits from medical advice and diagnoses, and 66% open to personal and career advice from the technology. Despite the potential for misuse in creating fake news or phishing attacks, awareness of such risks remains low among consumers. Businesses and technology partners are urged to provide education and enforce safeguards against misuse. The study also found that 70% of consumers use generative AI for recommendations of new products and services, with 64% open to making purchases based on these suggestions. The survey involved 10,000 consumers over 18 across 13 countries in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

AI-generated voice technology is increasingly being adopted in the audiobook industry, offering an alternative to traditional human narration. The industry, which has seen a decade of double-digit growth, with sales projected to exceed $35 billion by 2030, is ripe for AI infiltration. Major platforms like Google Play and Apple Books already use AI-generated voices to some degree, providing publishers the option to create auto-narrated audiobooks. However, there are concerns about the quality of narration and the ability of AI to establish a connection with listeners, as narration involves acting skills and timing that are hard for AI to perfect. Even with AI, voice actors still play a role in the process, but there are ethical considerations around voice cloning, especially regarding actor rights to credit, consent, and compensation. Some voice actors are choosing to avoid work that involves creating AI models from their voices. Nevertheless, the industry is recognizing the potential of AI to improve workflows, even as it continues to evolve with technological advancements. Generative AI chatbots and graphics models are also making significant changes in text and image production. Despite the rise of audiobooks, they still form a relatively small segment of the overall publishing industry, and the added time and cost implications of AI will continue to shape decision-making.

In this pivotal plenary session coupled with an interactive Q&A, Yuval Noah Harari delves into a discourse on 'AI and the Future of Mankind', offering both a synopsis and projection. Several queries arise from this exploration, including those questioning how AI might influence the formation of culture, the risk it might pose to humanity upon mastering human intimacy, whether it represents the cessation of human history, whether the average person will be able to construct potent AI tools independently, and how we might effectively govern AI. This insightful event was skillfully arranged and executed by the Frontiers Forum, an organization deeply committed to bridging global connections across diverse spheres like science, policy, and society, with an aim to hasten worldwide scientific initiatives.

New AI jobs being created

🛠️ AI tools update

Ad holding company Omnicom Group is set to introduce its first generative AI tool, Omni Assist, in collaboration with Microsoft. Developed using OpenAI's GPT models via Microsoft Azure, the tool aims to assist advertising agency employees in tasks such as compiling audience insights and building media plans. Omni Assist analyses data within Omnicom's existing Omni platform to provide smart, time-efficient solutions, thereby bringing data science to non-technical employees' desktops.

💵 Venture Capital updates

AI music startup, WAVs AI, recently raised $20 million in a funding round led by Toronto-based VC firm Regal Investments. WAVs AI is described as making compromises with record labels and artists in the AI music revolution, and its service aims to provide users with personalized music creations, curated playlists, and a seamless discovery process. The platform functions as a Spotify/iTunes-style front-end for tracks by familiar-sounding artists, essentially serving as a directory of deepfake music. It also claims to be the world's leading AI music provider, working with clients such as Instagram, Apple Music, Google, Shazam, Amazon Music, and many others. The nature of these deals, the company's plans for using its funding, and the reactions from music rights holders are yet to be fully understood​.

🫡 Meme of the day

⭐️ Generative AI image of the day

Before you go, if you’re interested in creating macro shots in Midjourney then check out this guide on twitter 📷