AI Revolutions, From Putin's Deepfake to Pope, plus Healthcare Breakthroughs and fiascos

The December 14 intelligist AI Newsletter

Author

Joaquin Bueno
December 14, 2023

Greetings, intelligists!

I hope all is well on this lovely Thursday.

Here are some of today’s big headlines:

  1. Google's MedLM: Revolutionizing Healthcare with AI

  2. AI-Generated Putin Faces Off with the Real Putin

  3. Intel Steps Up Its Core Ultra CPUs for AI

  4. Google DeepMind Achieves Math Breakthrough

  5. Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses: One Fatal Flaw

  6. The Pope Warns About AI Risks

  7. Humana Faces AI-Based Lawsuit, Accused of Being Inhumane

Google's MedLM: Revolutionizing Healthcare with AI 

Every day, AI makes huge inroads into the healthcare industry. We aren’t talking robot doctors (yet), but rather the use of powerful models that can help medical staff make decisions and diagnose patients.

Google announced the launch of MedLM, a set of AI models designed to assist in healthcare tasks. These models, including a larger one for complex tasks and a smaller, fine-tunable version, aim to support healthcare workers in areas like drafting patient notes and identifying biomarkers.

While there is excitement about their potential, critics have raised concerns about the accuracy of generative AI in healthcare as well as data privacy issues. Read More

AI-Generated Putin Faces Off with the Real Putin

A recent event saw Russian President Vladimir Putin momentarily speechless when faced with an AI-generated version of himself.

Putin was answering questions from video callers when he received a call from Putin. Wait a minute. Let’s clarify. A deepfake Putin called the real Putin and asked him about the reported use of body doubles. Confusion and hilarity ensued. Real Putin responded by saying that the only person he would authorize to look and talk like him is Putin himself.

This incident highlights the growing capabilities of AI in creating realistic simulations and raises questions about its implications for public figures. It also shed light on the use of deepfakes for making fun of dictators.

Intel's Steps Up Its Core Ultra CPUs for AI

Not wanting to fall behind in the AI game, Intel has introduced the Core Ultra mobile processor family.

These processors claim improved performance and power efficiency. The new H- and U-Series processors are designed for workstations and gaming laptops, featuring up to 16 cores. What makes them “special” is the addition of dedicated AI acceleration and global availability. These processors could be a significant step in computing innovation as AI starts making its way onto user devices.

Google DeepMind Achieves Math Breakthrough

So far, AI has proven impressive for some tasks but rather unintelligent for logic and reasoning.

However, in an impressive feat, Google DeepMind's large language model, FunSearch, has solved the cap set problem, a long-standing puzzle in pure mathematics. This problem has long stumped even the brightest human mathematicians.

This marks the first instance of a large language model, or LLM contributing to scientific discovery. FunSearch's success opens new possibilities for AI in solving complex problems in various fields.

Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses: One Fatal Flaw

A recent Mashable review for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses showed that they are a fun, fascinating toy. They offer a hands-free, phone-extension experience with features like a camera, AI assistant, and call functionality.

As cool as they are, the reviewer unwittingly discovered a fatal flaw. The case that the glasses come with is the only way to charge them. If you lose the case, your glasses are useless. The reviewer found this out the hard way, as she saw that there are no replacement chargers available from the manufacturer at this time.

And we criticized Apple for being testy with its proprietary chargers! Meta-Ray Ban might win here!

The Pope Warns About AI Risks

Pope Francis has expressed concerns about the unchecked development of AI, warning it could pose a significant risk to humanity.

In his address for the World Day of Peace, the Pope emphasized the importance of using technological advancements for the common good and peace rather than for selfish interests and power.

Humana Faces AI-Based Lawsuit, Accused of Being Inhumane

The ironically named Humana health insurance provider has been busted for using AI with a 90% error rate to evaluate elderly persons' insurance claims. The rejected claims denied medical care to an unspecified number of elderly clients.

One of the plaintiffs is an 86-year-old who suffered several coverage denials by Humana after breaking her leg. The health care company attempted to send her home from the hospital despite being entirely bedridden and forced to use a catheter.

Have a great rest of the week, and we’ll be back with more news and updates!

Joaquin