 |
| RoboTaxi Watching a Lost Satellite |
BlackBerry Research Reveals Workplace Caution Against Generative AI
BlackBerry's new research indicates that 75% of organizations globally are either implementing or considering bans on ChatGPT and other generative AI applications on work devices. The study involved 2,000 IT decision-makers from eight countries, with 61% of them considering a permanent ban. Risks to data security, privacy, and corporate reputation are driving up the decisions to take action, with 83% voicing concerns that unsecured apps pose a cybersecurity threat to their corporate IT environment. Despite this inclination towards blocking widespread use of the technology, most IT decision-makers recognize the opportunity for generative AI applications to have a positive impact in the workplace. (Source: CTV)
Robotaxis Take Over San Francisco: A Glimpse into Waymo and Cruise's Future
Driverless cars have become a common sight in San Francisco, with Waymo and Cruise offering robotaxi services to the public. These services work similarly to traditional ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft but are operated by autonomous vehicles. Currently, San Francisco is the only city where two companies provide 24/7 driverless services to the public, though there are limitations in areas of operation, and Waymo is yet to charge for its rides. Despite some minor safety incidents and political opposition, the experience with these services has been mostly positive, with conservative driving behavior and smooth rides. Waymo's current fleet consists of about 200 cars and is doing around 10,000 trips per week, aiming to increase this tenfold by next summer. Cruise, operating with 300 customized Chevy Bolt vehicles, averages 1,000 trips a day in San Francisco. Both companies are planning to expand, with Waymo seeking a permit to charge for rides and Cruise targeting $1 billion in robotaxi revenue by 2025. (Source: Bloomberg)
Magic or Menace? Disney's AI Task Force and the Debate Over Jobs in Hollywood
Walt Disney Company has formed a task force to study artificial intelligence (AI) applications across its various businesses, ranging from movie and TV production to theme parks and advertising. The task force aims to develop in-house AI solutions, forming partnerships with startups, and is looking to hire experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Disney's embrace of AI could help control the ever-increasing costs of producing big-budget films, enhance customer support in theme parks, and even create lifelike characters that interact with guests. Although the task force was established earlier in the year, the company's decision to hire during the writer's strike raised eyebrows. More broadly, the move towards AI has ignited tensions in Hollywood, particularly among writers and actors, who see AI as a threat to their livelihoods. This concern has become a central issue in contract negotiations with both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), resulting in an ongoing strike. (Source: Reuters)
Decline in ChatGPT's Mathematical Abilities: A New Research Study
New research from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley has revealed a decline in the mathematical abilities of ChatGPT, specifically in identifying prime numbers and other basic operations. This deterioration is an example of a phenomenon known as "drift," where attempts to improve one aspect of the complex AI models can cause other parts to perform worse. Between March and June, the premium GPT-4's success rate in identifying whether numbers were prime dropped from 84% to 51%. The research showed that GPT-4 became worse at six out of eight different tasks, although GPT-3.5 improved in some measures. This inconsistency in performance, along with the unexpected rate of drift, emphasizes the complex challenges in AI development and calls for systematic and continuous monitoring and testing to understand their evolving capabilities.
OpenAI responded to the research with the following: "When we release new model versions, our top priority is to make newer models smarter across the board. We are working hard to ensure that new versions result in improvements across a comprehensive range of tasks. That said, our evaluation methodology isn’t perfect, and we’re constantly improving it." (Source: WSJ)
37 Hours of Anxiety: How Voyager 2 Was Nearly Lost Forever
On July 21, Suzanne Dodd's team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory accidentally sent a wrong command to Voyager 2, causing its antenna to point slightly away from Earth, resulting in a loss of communication with the probe that's 12.4 billion miles away. Recognizing the error, the team crafted a solution to send a "shout" command to adjust the antenna back. Utilizing the high-elevation, 70-meter, 100-kilowatt S-band transmitter at the communication station in Canberra, Australia, they sent the highest-power signal and anxiously waited 37 hours for a response. Contact was restored on August 3, much to the team's relief. Had the attempt failed, a backup option of onboard flight software’s fault protection routine would have been the last resort. Despite this two-week gap, the scientific work was not interrupted, but the incident served as a stark reminder of the spacecraft's age and vulnerability. (Source: Wired)
Author: Malik Datardina, CPA, CA, CISA. Malik works at Auvenir as a GRC Strategist that is working to transform the engagement experience for accounting firms and their clients. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent UWCISA, UW, Auvenir (or its affiliates), CPA Canada or anyone else. This post was written with the assistance of an AI language model. The model provided suggestions and completions to help me write, but the final content and opinions are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment