1 year ago
142 This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.
Chinese tech elephantine Baidu conscionable released its reply to ChatGPT
Yesterday, Robin Li, Baidu’s cofounder and CEO, took the signifier successful Beijing to showcase the company’s caller ample connection model, Ernie Bot.
He showed disconnected pre-recorded examples of what the chatbot tin do, including solving mathematics questions, penning selling copy, and answering questions astir Chinese literature.
The Chinese nationalist has been bare for a ChatGPT alternative; some OpenAI and the Chinese authorities person barred individuals successful China from utilizing the American chatbot. But Ernie Bot’s merchandise felt comparatively rushed, and Li repeatedly said that the strategy is inactive imperfect. Read the afloat story.
—Zeyi Yang
If you’d similar to larn much astir however AI is changing the written word, cheque out:
+ GPT-4 is bigger and amended than ChatGPT—but OpenAI won’t accidental why. Read the afloat story.
+ How AI could constitute our laws. Read the afloat story.
+ Take an exclusive look astatine the inside communicative of however ChatGPT was built, arsenic told by the radical who made it.
Tech that aims to work your caput and probe your memories is already here
In caller years, we’ve seen neurotechnologies determination from probe labs to real-world use. Schools person utilized immoderate devices to show the encephalon enactment of children to archer erstwhile they are paying attention. Police forces are utilizing others to enactment retired whether idiosyncratic is blameworthy of a crime. And employers usage them to support workers awake and productive.
These technologies clasp the singular committedness of giving america all-new penetration into our ain minds. But our encephalon information is precious, and letting it autumn into the incorrect hands could beryllium dangerous. Jessica Hamzelou, our elder biotech reporter, had a fascinating telephone with Nita Farahany, a futurist and ineligible ethicist astatine Duke University, who’s written a publication arguing for caller rules to support our cognitive liberty. Read the afloat story.
Jessica’s communicative is from the Checkup, her play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things biotech. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Baidu’s Ernie chatbot isn’t precise impressive
China’s dense net censorship could beryllium portion of the crushed why. (NYT $)
+ The company’s shares plummeted aft its lackluster unveiling. (The Guardian)
+ Why ample connection models are starting to behave successful weird, unpredictable ways. (Quanta)
+ The ChatGPT-fueled conflict for hunt is bigger than Microsoft oregon Google. (MIT Technology Review)
2 China is apt to reason immoderate forced TikTok sale
The standoff betwixt the US and China shows nary motion of ending. (The Information $)
+ How TikTok became a governmental blistery potato. (WP $)
3 We could beryllium 1 measurement person to confirming covid’s origins
A caller investigation suggests that raccoons whitethorn person carried the microorganism successful 2019. (The Atlantic $)
4 Inside Elon Musk’s warfare room
Twitter’s inactive desperately scrabbling astir for ways to prevention money. (FT $)
5 Meta’s caller AI instrumentality tin foretell millions of macromolecule structures
In theory, it could assistance to velocity up cause discovery. (WSJ $)+ Biotech labs are utilizing AI inspired by DALL-E to invent caller drugs. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Silicon Valley Bank built an empire retired of pandering to VCs
Some of them are inactive struggling to travel to presumption with what happened. (Motherboard)
+ The bank’s illness is the tech industry’s archetypal existent fiscal crisis. (Insider $)
7 How the tech clang has reverberated crossed the world
Its interaction is being felt acold beyond Silicon Valley. (Rest of World)
8 LinkedIn is crawling with spies
Sophisticated state-backed groups are connecting with unsuspecting targets. (Wired $)
+ The 1,000 Chinese SpaceX engineers who ne'er existed. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Scientists person built a ‘living computer’
It’s powered by tens of thousands of encephalon cells from mice. (New Scientist $)
10 What Spotify’s TikTok-esque makeover means for artists
Unfortunately, it astir apt doesn’t mean much money. (The Guardian)
+ Is AI-generated euphony immoderate good? It depends who you ask. (Wired $)
Quote of the day
"Let’s alteration the taxable and speech astir thing else."
—Gipi Talk, a ChatGPT-style chatbot developed by a radical of engineers successful China, refuses to reply whether Xi Jinping is simply a bully leader, the Wall Street Journal reports.
These scientists are moving to widen the beingness span of favored dogs—and their owners
Matt Kaeberlein is what you mightiness telephone a canine person. He has grown up with dogs and describes his German shepherd, Dobby, arsenic “really special.” But Dobby is 14 years old—around 98 successful canine years.
Kaeberlein is co-director of the Dog Aging Project, an ambitious probe effort to way the aging process of tens of thousands of companion dogs crossed the US. He is 1 of a fistful of scientists connected a ngo to improve, delay, and perchance reverse that process to assistance them unrecorded longer, healthier lives.
And dogs are conscionable the beginning. One day, this probe could assistance to prolong the lives of humans. Read the afloat story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon tweet 'em astatine me.)
+ In praise of loving your neighborhood, and everything successful it.
+ Happy St Patrick’s Day! Enjoy this implicit classic from immoderate of Ireland’s finest sons. 🍀
+ What should I work next? This handy website should beryllium capable to assistance you out.
+ Uber meets Succession meets Industry? Count maine in.
+ An AI-powered cookbook is helping to trim nutrient waste—and to whip up immoderate steadfast look inspiration on the way.
