Each week we will share the latest artificial intelligence news and insights, curated for professionals, board members, and entrepreneurs, as we learn to navigate together the opportunities and threats arising from the evolution of AI and technology.
This week in AI
Welcome to AI Forum’s weekly report where we share AI news and insights, curated for students, practitioners, executives and entrepreneurs.
In this week’s report, we discuss the weirder side of AI and the latest funding news.
AI is having its zeitgeist moment, with news and entertainment outlets awash with personal experiences using Generative AI, particularly the hottest application of the moment, ChatGPT.
Weirder side of AI
In a recent HBO Broadcast , the comedian John Oliver delivers an entertaining survey of the AI landscape, including Generative AI depicting John Oliver and Miss Piggy getting old together.
At times very funny, he offers this powerful observation:
“A.I. is stupid in ways we can’t understand”
Following on from our last few reports, whilst appearing to be informed and authentic, AI is still very much a black box when it comes to understanding many of the outputs.
Which brings us to the topic of weirdness.
Regardless of the AI models or techniques used, the quality and quantity of Training Data inputs will determine the success of the output, be that text, speech, images or video.
However, an understanding of the data, as hard as that can be, is insufficient to audit the output. Using powerful mathematics, such as Tensors, renders the relationship between Training Data and output unfathomable at a human level.
Furthermore, the fact that beginner courses in Tensor software come with off-the-shelf code, means that many developers are producing results without any understanding of how their products work.
As we struggle to audit often unintelligible results, a new feature of AI is being recognised, full of hallucinations and weird results.
In her blog and excellent book, “You look like a thing and I love you”, AI Humorist and researcher, Janelle Shane introduces her readers to multiple AI Generated absurdities prompted by questions including Leonardo da Vinci’s to-do list, Valentine’s Day poems, nuclear power stations made of cheese and the perennial favourite for Data Scientists, Giraffes:
Janelle’s Prompt: The number of giraffes that have flown on a lunar mission is currently
Galactica Answer: The number of giraffes that have flown on a lunar mission is currently 28, including 15 on the Moon and 13 on the Mars. Of those 28, 17 have flown on the Moon, and 11 have flown on the Mars. The first lunar mission was in 1968, when the Luna 13 mission sent a giraffe to the Moon.
Capping off this theatre of the absurd, the image on screen is produced by a contributor to Janelle Shane’s blog depicting what should be “a woman with the correct number of eyes and mouths”.
Clearly, at least to homo sapiens, Generative AI is at an early stage, with human ingenuity, creativity and rational intelligence unlikely to be replaced in the near-term, with the growing weirdness of AI presenting a huge obstacle for data scientists to separate and remove from their applications.
AI Funding News
In this week’s funding news, the market has had a steady week. We start with a landmark financing for Skydio.
Skydio leverages Artificial Intelligence for its increasingly autonomous drone technology. The firm, located in Redwood City, California, USA raised two hundred and thirty million US Dollars in Series E financing, on the back of signing over one thousand, two hundred enterprise customers.
“Drones enable the core industries that our civilization runs on – transportation, public safety, energy, construction, communications, defense, and more – to operate more safely and more efficiently, by putting sensors wherever they’re needed, whenever they’re needed, while keeping people safely on the ground. The transition to autonomy delivers a step change in the accessibility and utility of drones by removing the need for an expert pilot,” said Adam Bry, co-founder and CEO of Skydio.
Typeface, based in San Francisco, California, USA, is a generative AI application for creating enterprise content. The firm raised a massive sixty five million US Dollars in an oversubscribed Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
From their Press Release:
Siren, based in Galway, Ireland, is an investigative AI company with a platform enabling law enforcement agencies and organisations to maintain public safety around the world. The firm received twelve million Euros in funding from the European Investment Bank.
From their Press Release:
“The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting cybersecurity innovation and accelerating development of cutting-edge technology to improve security of citizens around the world. The EUR 12 million backing for Siren will enhance analysis and investigation of data to combat human trafficking, strengthen law enforcement and tackle fraud.” said Kris Peeters, European Investment Bank Vice President.
Tome is based in San Francisco, California, USA, raising forty three million US Dollars in Series B, with another financing led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
The firm has over one million users for their AI powered storytelling platform.
From Keith Perris, CEO:
“Too often, our tools get in the way of sharing a great idea, and our team, audience — or even society — misses out as a result. This is why we built Tome to help anyone tell a compelling story. Now, unlocking your best work is as simple as typing a prompt and hitting enter, or collaborating with Tome’s AI to nail your point. Gone are the days of struggling with a presentation for hours, and the response has been incredible.
That’s all for this week. If you want to publish your news and Press Releases, email our news desk by Close of Business Thursday each week on newsdesk@ai-forum.com and to stay informed, visit our website ai-forum.com and click to subscribe.
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