AI Week 28 2024 Summary
Recent AI news reveals a surge in advancements and ethicalcussions. China is leading in generative AI adoption, while researchers are developing safer robots with human-like movements using soft actuators. Microsoft is keeping an AI tool away from public use. Bio-inspired robots, like artificial maple seeds, show promise for environmental monitoring. India’s TCS is giving rival Accenture a billion-dollar run for their money.
China Leads the World in Generative AI Adoption
A recent survey has revealed that China is at the forefront of adopting generative AI technologies. China’s businesses are not only embracing AI but are also preparing for the inevitable regulations that accompany such advancements. In a survey of 1,600 decision-makers in industries worldwide by U.S. AI and analytics software company SAS and Coleman Parkes Research, 83% of Chinese respondents said they used generative AI, the technology underpinning ChatGPT.
The survey highlights China’s commitment to integrating AI into its industries, aiming to enhance productivity, innovation, and global competitiveness. This trend also underscores the importance of a regulatory framework that ensures safe and ethical use of AI technologies, balancing innovation with societal impact.
This proactive approach is seen in various sectors, including healthcare, finance, and manufacturing. Still, organizations in the United States are ahead in terms of maturity and having fully implemented GenAI technologies at 24% compared to China’s 19%, and the United Kingdom’s 11%.
Microsoft Says No to AI Speech Synthesizer VALL-E 2
Microsoft has developed VALL-E 2, a remarkably sophisticated text-to-speech AI system capable of generating highly realistic speech with just a three-second audio sample. This “zero-shot” TTS model surpasses its predecessor, VALL-E, by incorporating advancements like Repetition Aware Sampling and Grouped Code Modeling, resulting in more natural and robust speech synthesis. While VALL-E 2 demonstrates impressive capabilities, Microsoft has chosen to keep it under wraps as a research project for now.
The decision to withhold VALL-E 2’s public release stems from concerns about potential misuse. Its ability to clone voices with remarkable accuracy raises ethical concerns about impersonation, scams, and the spread of misinformation. Microsoft acknowledges these risks and is prioritizing responsible AI development, emphasizing the need for safeguards and ethical guidelines before such a powerful tool is made widely available.
An End to the Paralegal? Hercules AI Secures $26M
HerculesAI, a company that creates AI software for law firms and large enterprises secured $26 million in funding to support its growth. With a client base that includes a third of the top 100 law firms in the U.S. and Fortune 500 companies like S&P Global Inc. and State Farm, HerculesAI experienced “fourfold growth” in the year leading up to their recent funding round.
HerculesAI (officially Zero Cognitive Systems Inc.) offers five AI applications, each optimized for a different set of tasks. One of their products, Artemis, automates data extraction from documents using multiple AI models to ensure each task is handled by the most suitable neural network. This tool can extract text and information from complex data structures like embedded tables. Another product, Rosetta Stone, changes the format of large datasets, such as distilling a product documentation repository into a spreadsheet.
Three applications focus on reducing manual work in organizing and analyzing business documents, the traditional work of a paralegal, while two are designed to help law firms bill clients more efficiently.
- VERIFY – Legal Billing Compliance: Detects potential invoice deductions and proactively fix them to increase realization rates and reduce time spent on pre-bill review.
- ATHENA – Lawyer Email Filing: Automates email classification and filing by mapping the filing structure of the DMS to lawyers’ email inboxes. Athena predicts classification for incoming and outgoing emails.
- APOLLO – Lawyer Timekeeping & Activity Capture: Optimizes time capture with OCG-compliant narratives and predictive client/matter assignment. Lawyers can track time effortlessly, improving productivity.
Developments in AI Robotic Systems: Soft Actuators That Won’t Hurt You
Northwestern University engineers have developed a new soft, flexible device that makes robots move by expanding and contracting — just like a human muscle. This innovative actuator technology, which expands and contracts , represents a substantial advancement in the field of robotics. These soft actuators are designed to enhance the safety and versatility of robots, making them more adaptable to various tasks and environments.
One of the key applications of these soft actuators is in creating safer and softer robots for human interaction. Traditional rigid robots can be hazardous in close contact with humans, as illustrated below:
Whereas these soft robots can operate more safely and effectively in environments that require delicate handling. This technology is poised to revolutionize sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, and service industries, where human-robot collaboration is increasingly vital. And keep people safe.
India’s TCS Closing in on Accenture with $1.5 Billion in AI
India’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has $1.5 billion worth of artificial intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (Gen AI) projects in the pipeline as of the first quarter ended June 30, said CEO and MD K Krithivasan, closing in with rival Accenture’s $2 billion in cumulative Gen AI revenue. This achievement follows a strong fiscal year 2024 thus far, during which TCS secured 900 million in AI and GenAI projects, nearly matching the revenue earned by competitor Accenture in the first two quarters.
The company has over 250 Gen AI opportunities in progress, fueled by numerous use cases across various industries, partnerships with major companies who are early adopters of the technology, and a workforce of 100,000 employees prepared for GenAI implementation. TCS is actively promoting its AI and GenAI capabilities through its new platform, TCS AI WisdomNext™. This platform combines multiple Generative AI services into one interface, enabling organizations to quickly adopt these advanced technologies at scale, reduce costs, and operate within regulatory boundaries
Advancements in Environment Monitoring: Light-Controlled Artificial Maple Seeds
Researchers from Tampere University, Finland, and the University of Pittsburgh, USA, have developed a tiny robot replicating the aerial dance of falling maple seeds. This innovative approach leverages the unique flight dynamics of maple seeds, enabling the robots to disperse over large areas and gather data on environmental parameters like temperature, humidity, and air quality. In the future, this robot could be used for real-time environmental monitoring or delivery of small samples even in inaccessible terrain such as deserts, mountains or cliffs, or the open sea.
Since these light-controlled artificial seeds can monitor environmental conditions in hard-to-reach locations, the technology could actually be a game changer for fields such as search-and-rescue, endangered species studies, or infrastructure monitoring. This information can help in making informed decisions, mitigating the impact of natural disasters, and fostering sustainable practices in agriculture and forestry. The development of such autonomous monitoring systems represents a significant leap in environmental science and technology.
