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- Which nation gets to control AI?
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Welcome back, Superhuman
Forget advanced weapons and classified intelligence. The real secrets these days are hidden in high-tech AI data centers, and the US and China are sparring over who gets to control them. And: AI is helping patients get their voices back.
Today’s Insights
The feud over which world power controls AI
Prompt: Friday Funday
How AI is helping patients with vocal loss
5 new AI tools to boost your productivity
Everything else you should know today
Chart: China rides the AI wave
AI-Generated Images: Brutalist surrealist
NEXT IN AI
A geopolitical AI rivalry is brewing
Source: New York Times/AP
Microsoft threw its employees in China a major curveball this week. It offered to relocate as many as 800 natives outside of the country…not because they were needed somewhere else but because tensions between the US and China over advanced AI models have become so heated in recent months. Microsoft likely feels caught in the middle, and it's trying to tell both governments, “Hey, keep us out of it.”
The timing probably wasn’t a coincidence: The two countries had their first-ever discussions about AI safety on Tuesday. US officials said the talks were “constructive” but warned they weren’t convinced that China would play by the rules.
How far behind is China? US companies still have the technological edge, with exclusive access to the high-tech data centers that train the world’s most advanced models. But that’s quickly changing. By 2022, China was home to about 26% of the most elite AI researchers, only two points behind the US, according to the MIT Technology Review.
There are also at least four major Chinese startups, each valued in the billions, working on their own ChatGPT rivals. It’s not clear how much control the government could exert over these companies, but the US says it isn’t taking any chances.
What’s the US doing about it? It’s starting to treat AI the same way it does military secrets — arguably for good reason. The US is worried that the PRC might use powerful models for nefarious purposes, like tracking citizens with AI-powered surveillance systems or spreading misinformation. In the short-term, it’s trying to prevent any advanced AI models from getting into China — but no one knows how long that measure can last.
PRESENTED BY SANA
How to create your own AI assistant for work
Sana AI is a knowledge assistant that helps you work faster and smarter. You can use it for everything from analyzing documents and drafting reports to finding information and automating repetitive tasks.
Here's how to use it:
Go to Sana’s website and sign in
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Go to Templates in the tab on the left to see all the ways you can use Sana AI
Pick one of the templates and begin delegating your tasks
Link meetings and upload files in the tab on the left and use them as part of your prompts to complete more complex tasks
Sana also integrates with your apps and is capable of understanding meetings and completing actions in other tools.
PROMPT OF THE DAY
Friday FunDay
Prompt: Start a game of ’20 Questions.’ You can ask me yes or no questions to try and guess the word I’m thinking of. I’ll give you a hint: it’s a type of fruit.You can adapt the prompt to your specific needs.
Source: Writesonic
AI & MIRACLES
How AI gave a young patient her voice back
Source: AP Photo/Josh Reynolds
Lexi Bogan’s life took a major turn last year when she learned that a tumor had formed near her brain. An intense 10-hour surgery damaged Bogan’s vocal cords, and the 22-year-old found that she could no longer use her voice in the way she’d used to. “It’s almost like a part of my identity was taken,” she told the Associated Press.
Then, doctors at Rhode Island’s Lifespan hospital group asked if she wanted to participate in an experiment that might be able to help. They were looking for a candidate to try out a new voicebot platform from OpenAI called Voice Engine. Bogan decided to give it a shot.
How does it work? To learn the ins and outs of Bogan’s voice, the model used a single, 15-second clip from a video she’d recorded in high school. Now, Bogan can type something into her phone and instantly have it read aloud in her own voice. It even works for laughter and other gestures that would ordinarily be hard to replicate.
Why it’s important: Patients with vocal loss say it can be difficult to hear someone else’s voice — or worse, a robotic-sounding voice — while using the types of prosthetics and electrolarynx devices that are common today. OpenAI is just one of several companies working on voice clone technology that can more accurately replicate patients’ unique tone and tenor.
Net positive? Rohaid Ali, one of Bogan’s doctors, said that for all the legitimate fears about AI voicebots spreading disinformation or impersonating real people without their consent, Bogan’s story shows that the technology can also be a life-changing social good: “We’re able to help give Lexi back her true voice and she’s able to speak in terms that are the most true to herself.”
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AI & TECH NEWS
Everything you need to know today
Source: OpenAI
New Powers: OpenAI says ChatGPT users will soon be able to interact with tables and charts and add files directly from Drive.
Brain Byte: Brain chip company Neuralink released a video with its first human recipient.
Unstable Exit: The struggling generative AI startup Stability AI is reportedly considering a sale after losing more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Tone Police: Japanese investment company SoftBank is testing out AI software that would soften the voices of angry customers to “ensure the psychological welfare” of its call center employees.
Silicon Scholar: Graduates at Buffalo, New York’s D’Youville University welcomed an unconventional commencement speaker this week: An AI-powered robot named Sophia.
CHART
How Chinese markets have responded to waves of AI interest
The CSI Artificial Intelligence Index, which tracks the performance of major companies within China’s AI sector, has seen a lot of volatility since ChatGPT launched in November 2022.
The index reached its lowest point in early 2024, after OpenAI showed off its text-to-video platform Sora. According to Bloomberg, that milestone prompted investors in China to back off as they searched for AI video competitors inside the country. The market has since recovered thanks in part to support and incentives from the Chinese government.
AI GENERATED IMAGES
Brutalist Surrealist
Source: u/Chance_Spread7620 on Reddit
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