AI In the News: Last Week's Biggest News 10-11-23

In this episode, the DAS crew discussed recent AI news topics including Adobe Firefly updates, Eleven Labs overdubbing, Disney using AI art for Loki poster, AMD challenging Nvidia with new chips, talking to animals with AI, detecting mental health issues from speech patterns, and more.

Key Points Discussed:

- Disney Loki Poster Controversy: Disney received backlash for potentially using AI to generate the Loki Season 2 poster background. This highlights entertainment industry concerns about AI use in creative work.

- Advances in AI Chips: AMD made a deal to create new AI chips to compete with Nvidia, which could increase access and lower costs. Computing AI models is very expensive currently.

- AI for Animal Communication: Scientists believe AI could enable human-animal communication within 5 years, starting with mimicking bird and whale sounds. This could provide valuable environmental insights.

- Detecting Mental Health from Speech: AI was able to differentiate schizophrenic patients by analyzing speech patterns for simple tasks. This demonstrates AI's potential for early detection of mental health issues.

- AI in Healthcare: Google Cloud launched AI search for doctors to analyze patient data. AI accuracy is approaching levels needed for medical use.

- Multilingual AI: 11 Labs released overdubbing for videos in other languages like Spanish and French. Huge potential for global business communications.

- Adobe Firefly Updates: Adobe updated its Firefly image generation with much higher quality outputs. Useful for marketers and designers.

Key Takeaways:

- AI continues rapid advancement across industries, presenting new opportunities and ethical concerns.

- Natural language processing, computer vision, robotics, and healthcare demonstrate particular promise.

- Businesses should monitor AI progress closely and pilot applications judiciously. With proper implementation, AI can provide major competitive advantages.

- Individuals should develop AI literacy and critical thinking skills to effectively leverage these emerging technologies.