Five Top Tech Takeaways: Apple's AI Gambit, Meta's Forays into AI, Canada Deals with LegalGPT, and Moody's Take on Shell Companies

 

Apple's AI Revolution: iPhone 16 to Feature Cutting-Edge Generative AI

Apple is set to integrate advanced generative AI features in its upcoming iPhone 16 series, leveraging acquisitions and internal developments to enhance AI capabilities, particularly in video compression and large language model efficiency. With significant investments in AI technology, Apple aims to run AI applications directly on iPhone hardware, reducing reliance on cloud services. This move positions Apple as a strong competitor in the generative AI space, with significant reveals expected at the Worldwide Developers Conference, including potential Siri advancements powered by a large language model.

(Source: iPhone in Canada).

Key Takeaways:

• Apple is intensifying its integration of generative AI into the iPhone 16, focusing on in-house AI capabilities and acquisitions.
• The company's goal is to enable AI applications to run directly on iPhones, minimizing cloud dependency.
• Significant advancements, including Siri's potential upgrade with a large language model, are anticipated at Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference.

Transforming the Future of Connectivity: Meta's Focus on AGI

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is actively entering the race to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), reorganizing Meta's AI research group, FAIR, to align closer with its generative AI product teams. This move aims to leverage Meta's AI breakthroughs directly for its vast user base. Zuckerberg, facing fierce competition for AI talent and resources, emphasizes the importance of generative AI in achieving general intelligence. Meta, boasting significant computing power with a large stock of Nvidia GPUs, is focusing on open-source AI development, contrasting with other companies' more closed approaches. This strategy reflects Zuckerberg's vision of AI's role in future connectivity, blending human and AI interactions across Meta's platforms.

(Source: The Verge).

Key Takeaways:

• Meta restructures to focus on AGI, integrating FAIR with its generative AI product teams.
• Zuckerberg commits to open-source AI development amid intense industry competition for talent and resources.
• Meta's vision includes blending AI with human interaction, enhancing connectivity across its platforms.

Seven Risk Indicators to Identify Shell Companies: Moody's Latest Tool

Moody’s has developed a Shell Company Indicator to aid in detecting financial crimes involving shell companies, identifying seven key indicators of risk: outlier directorships, mass registration, jurisdictional risk, financial anomalies, dormancy, circular ownership, and outlier ages. These indicators help in identifying suspicious behaviors and patterns that may suggest the presence of shell companies, used for illegal activities like money laundering and fraud. The tool is crucial for compliance, risk analysis, and due diligence processes, especially in light of global events like Russia's invasion of Ukraine affecting jurisdictional risk flags. National legislations are also evolving to combat the misuse of shell companies, underlining the importance of tools like Moody’s Shell Company Indicator in the fight against financial crime.

(Source: Moody's).

Key Takeaways:

• Moody's data indicates a staggering 11.5 million outlier directorships, highlighting individuals with an unrealistic number of roles in multiple companies.
• The Shell Company Indicator has identified 4.2 million instances of mass registration and over 655,000 cases of company dormancy, signaling potential shell company activities.
• The tool flags more than 60,000 instances of circular ownership and over 38,000 cases involving outlier ages of beneficial owners, both critical indicators of shell company risk.

AI in the Courtroom: Canada's First Encounter with Fake Legal Cases

A recent incident in a B.C. courtroom marks Canada's first case involving the use of artificial intelligence to create fake legal cases. (This was seen previously in the US; see here.) Lawyers Lorne and Fraser MacLean discovered that opposing lawyer Chong Ke used ChatGPT to prepare legal briefs, unknowingly submitting fictitious cases. This misuse of AI in legal proceedings has raised serious concerns about the integrity of the legal system, highlighting the potential for erroneous judgments and wasted resources. The incident has prompted warnings from legal experts and regulatory bodies, emphasizing the need for lawyers to verify AI-generated content and the potential consequences of misusing such technology in court proceedings.

(Source: Global News).

Key Takeaways:

• AI-generated fake legal cases were discovered in a B.C. courtroom, marking a first in Canada's legal history.
• The incident has sparked concerns about the reliability and misuse of AI tools like ChatGPT in legal research and documentation.
• Legal authorities and experts are warning of the serious implications and potential consequences for lawyers misusing AI technology in legal proceedings.

The Future of Smart Glasses: A Look at Meta AI's Capabilities

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have introduced new AI features, including "multimodal AI" and real-time information updates. While multimodal AI, which responds to queries based on visuals, shows promise, especially in applications like real-time translations and landmark identification, its real-time information accuracy is questionable. Meta AI struggles with current events, often providing incorrect answers. Despite the potential for useful applications, the current version of Meta AI demonstrates significant limitations in reliability and practicality.

(Source: Engadget)

Key Takeaways:

• Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses now feature multimodal AI, allowing interaction based on visual inputs, useful for translations and text summaries.
• The glasses' real-time information capability is currently unreliable, often providing inaccurate responses to basic questions.
• Despite the innovative technology, the practical application and accuracy of Meta AI need significant improvement to be truly useful.

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.

The Furious Five for June 13: Tech and Business Stories You May Have Missed

The EV Charger to Rule them All

Apple Unveils is Vision Pro Headset: Are we Ready for Spatial Computing?

Apple has announced its much awaited VR headset. Last week, they unveiled the Vision Pro Headset, which is designed to seamlessly blend digital content with the physical world. This much awaited device allows users to interact with a three-dimensional user interface controlled by eye movements, hand gestures, and voice commands, and is powered by visionOS, the world's first spatial operating system. Careful to separate themselves from the competition, they classified the Vision Pro as their first spatial computer. The Vision Pro Headset is priced at $3,499 and is slated for release in early 2024. (Sources: Apple, Wired) 

For a great summary on Apple's latest, check out Cold Fusion's review:

Crypto Crackdown Continues: SEC Sues Binance and Coinbase

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Binance and Changpeng Zhao (Binance’s Canadian founder and controlling shareholder) for operating an illegal trading platform in the U.S. and misusing customers’ funds. Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC said that Binance and Zhao misused customers’ funds and diverted them to a trading entity that Zhao controlled. That trading firm, Sigma Chain, engaged in manipulative trading (known as "wash trading") that made Binance’s volume appear larger than it actually was, the SEC said. Binance also concealed that it commingled billions of dollars in customer assets and sent them to a third-party, Merit Peak, which was owned by Zhao, the SEC alleged. The SEC filed the case in federal court in the District of Columbia and is asking a federal judge to freeze Binance’s assets and appoint a receiver. (Source: WSJ)

SEC then filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, for allegedly operating as an unregistered broker and exchange. Unlike Binance, Coinbase is listed on the NASDAQ and hence regulated by the SEC. The SEC claims that Coinbase violated rules that require it to register as an exchange and be overseen by the federal agency. Coinbase has denied the allegations and intends to defend itself in court. The SEC’s strategy has centered on using its enforcement division to subdue crypto companies and show why its regulations apply to crypto activities, with increasing focus on the biggest players rather than just the companies and currencies at the margins. Coinbase pushed back on Tuesday, accusing the SEC of taking an “enforcement-only approach” with the crypto industry in the absence of clear rules. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, had the following take:  

“The solution is legislation that allows fair rules for the road to be developed transparently and applied equally, not litigation,” Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, said in a statement. “In the meantime, we’ll continue to operate our business as usual.” The lawsuits are part of a growing regulatory crackdown on the crypto industry in the post-FTX fallout. (Source: WSJ)

Global Tech Giants Bet Big on AI, Back Cohere with $270M Funding

AI startup Cohere has raised $270M in a Series C financing round, attracting investors from around the globe and notable tech firms like NVIDIA, Oracle, and Salesforce Ventures. This surge in investment underlines the growing recognition of AI as a critical driver of business success in the coming decade. The round was led by Inovia Capital and included participation from investors in the USA, Canada, Korea, the UK, and Germany. Cohere's CEO, Aidan Gomez, emphasized the company's readiness to lead in the next phase of AI products and services that will revolutionize business, while NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen Huang, hailed Cohere's contributions to generative AI as foundational. (Source: Cohere)

GM and Ford's EVs to Plug into Tesla's Charging Network

General Motors (GM) and Ford electric vehicles will gain access to Tesla’s vast U.S. charging network starting early next year. Both GM and Ford are aligning their electric vehicles to be compatible with approximately 12,000 out of Tesla's 17,000 chargers. The Detroit auto giants are advocating to establish Tesla's connector as the industry standard. At first, GM and Ford EV owners will need an adapter to hook into the Tesla stations, but both GM and Ford will switch to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard connector starting with new EVs produced in 2025. (Source: CBC, CNBC)

Data Management: An Inescapable Necessity in the World of Generative AI

As interest in Generative AI rises, the importance of robust data management in businesses comes to the fore. Efficient data storage, filtering, and protection are necessary for successful AI integration. A properly structured data management system is essential for companies to effectively utilize large language models. A key concern for these companies is the quality of data, which must be well-structured, relevant, and organized for effective AI training. Therefore, firms must carefully cleanse, categorize, and format their data to avoid retaining useless information. As highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, organizations such as Syneos Health are prioritizing such data cleansing efforts. Syneos spent roughly 18 months prepping this repository for AI model training and construction. This process involved a team of data scientists and business experts who created centralized, reusable machine-learning elements. (Source: WSJ)

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.

Virtual Reality and the CPA: A secret way to success?

This past summer I started biking. Although I had a bike when I was young, I never really got into it.

Now that I live in Hamilton, Ontario, the street that I live on actually ends and then becomes a trail complete with paved roads that are great for biking.

And it's been amazing. Although I (try to) go to the gym 2 to 3 times a week, it's something else to force yourself to go up a steep hill. And yes I had to get off the bike and walk it. But just the first time ;).

But alas, summer is coming to an end. What can I do? Will virtual reality come to my rescue?

As it turns out, my local gym has a solution that just may fit the bill. Although no it does not offer VR helmets, they do have a simulation mimics going out on the trail - video game of sorts. There are different courses to choose from. 

It also offers you the ability to login and tracks your progress as illustrated in this video. :

Although not totally virtual reality, it is a good illustration of how a "real world" activity can be simulated through technology. As I want to keep up my biking in the winter, the experience does give you some of the feedback that you would experience when biking. For example, when you go up a hill it does feel tougher to pedal. And it is an immersive experience as you focus on the course instead of the regular gym experience where you kind of bored.

Why am I writing about this on a blog about CPA and tech?

The experience made me reflect on how such a simulation can be leveraged by the CPA profession for the purpose of education.

As we move up the automation curve, one of the looming challenges will be reimagining the training of a CPA. For example, let's say testing cash becomes completely automated due to easy access to banking data; how do CPAs learn to test accounts for completeness (e.g. subsequent disbursement testing), testing outstanding cheques, etc. That is, if junior auditors are no longer needed to do these routine tasks, then how do they get their experience?

Virtual reality and augmented reality may be the answer.

My colleague, Eric Barsky, trying out VR at the 2019 CPA One Conference in Montreal.

In Canada, the business case has been the chief tool to test CPAs in the Common Final Exam (CFE) and the UFE (Uniform Final Exam; as it was called when I wrote it). The idea is that the case simulates a business experience to enable CPAs to test their knowledge before going out into the real world. Consequently, adding technology to the mix may give examiners the ability to test CPAs in ways that were not possible before. For example, immersive technology could simulate an inventory count, client interactions or site inspection that was not possible before.

Too advanced?

Well, other industries are already trying this approach out. As noted in this July 2019 CIO article:

"Accenture is enabling inexperienced caseworkers to receive training simulations through VR headsets. The content uses immersive storytelling and interactive voice-based scenarios to help caseworkers hone their people and decision-making skills. The goal, DuBoff says, is to get new staff up to speed with real-world scenarios as quickly as possible. And it beats hiring consultancies to help coach new hires. VR/AR training will top $8 billion by 2023, according to IDC."

A key advantage that CPAs have is that we as a professional body have the natural ability to form a network. By contributing resources and time to this network - for projects such as "immersive training" - can give a unique value to the profession. Just imagine being able to put on a VR helmet and actually experience what it's like to interact with challenging situations - in a way that goes beyond a static case.  Although it seems like the stuff of Sci-Fi, the fact others are already doing is a good indication that this is an innovation worth exploring. 

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