Google AI Aided Researchers In Winning Two Nobel Prizes

This past week has been a whirlwind in the AI landscape. Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, unveiled his much-anticipated Cybercab, along with a rather unconventional windowless Robovan. Meanwhile, Google’s AI aided researchers in securing Nobel Prizes, Zoom introduced its latest digital assistant, and Meta launched its chatbots for Facebook and Instagram in the U.K.

Catch up on these stories and more from the latest AI headlines this week.

Google’s AI aided researchers in winning two Nobel Prizes

This Wednesday, the 2024 Nobel Prizes in chemistry and physics went to researchers closely associated with Google. Geoffrey Hinton, a former Google researcher, received the physics award for his groundbreaking work in foundational machine learning techniques that have significantly influenced the current AI landscape. Meanwhile, DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis was honored for decoding protein structures.

However, not every peer was pleased with the decisions. An associate professor in mathematics voiced skepticism about Hinton’s award, saying, “His contribution is remarkable, but can it really be classified as physics? Even if it draws from physics, it doesn’t propose a new theory or resolve an old physics issue.”

Adobe introduces a way for creators to validate their art isn’t AI-generated

With a staggering 57% of online content possibly being AI-generated, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to trust what you see online. To assist artists in proving the authenticity of their work, Adobe plans to launch a beta version of its Content Authenticity web app in the first quarter of next year. This tool will empower creators to certify that their art is genuinely human-made.

This is far more robust than basic metadata; Adobe’s system incorporates digital fingerprinting, watermarking, and cryptographic metadata to verify the origin of images, videos, and audio files, making it difficult to alter or bypass.

Meta’s AI Chatbot launches in London

Meta recently announced the expansion of its AI chatbot to Facebook and Instagram users in the United Kingdom and Brazil, in addition to its smart glasses, following its initial launch in the U.S. and Australia. This AI assistant, capable of generating both text and static images, will be enhanced using data provided by its users wearing the smart glasses.

Google releases Imagen 3, but access to human generation is for paying subscribers only

This week, Google released its latest image generation tool, Imagen 3, which boasts enhanced photorealism and fewer rendering artifacts. After testing it, I found that it effectively generated images from text prompts, with the ability to adjust outputs through iterations.

Nonetheless, there are restrictions on usage. Users on the free tier can only create images depicting non-human subjects. If you wish to generate images of people, a subscription to the $20 Gemini Advanced tier is required.

Zoom debuts its new customizable AI Companion

Zoom has significantly broadened its offerings from a video conferencing platform to a comprehensive suite of collaboration tools in recent years. This week, the company unveiled its next-generation AI Companion, a digital assistant designed to integrate seamlessly across its various applications to optimize and automate routine business tasks, including meeting transcription, agenda setting, and report summarization.

Users will also have the option to customize the AI using their organization’s specific knowledge base, although this feature will be available for $12 per user monthly. The updated AI Companion 2.0 will be accessible at no extra cost for Zoom Workplace subscribers.

Amazon launches AI ‘Shopping Guides’ for over 100 product categories

Similar to Google’s AI summary at the top of search result pages that many find intrusive, Amazon is introducing a comparable feature for over 100 types of products it offers.

Now, you can access vital details and key information about items like dog food or camping gear as part of the product listings tailored to your specific queries.