The AI Artifacts Podcast

This week’s episode of "The AI Artifacts Podcast" kicks off with fresh news that Sam Altman was ousted as CEO at OpenAI on Nov. 17. Brian and Sarah get into the known details and review other stories, including Ed Newton-Rex leaving Stability AI and Sundar Pichai’s comparison of AI to climate change.

Then, the podcast welcomes Jade Newton, an AI data expert who has worked at large-scale companies in a variety of contexts, as she discusses the future of AI regulation. Get a deep look into standards for responsible use, as well as a very special dog-themed edition of "Two truths and l’AI."

Timestamps for this episode:

[0:00] Intro

[0:27] Breaking news from Friday on Sam Altman being pushed out at OpenAI

[5:07] Altman confirmed plans for GPT-5, though training has not yet begun

[7:15] Ed Newton-Rex leaves Stability AI, criticizing fair use approaches toward training data

[12:22] Sundar Pichai compares AI to climate change in regulation context

[17:44] "Two truths and l’AI: Dog edition"

[25:36] Interview with Jade Newton

[28:45] What does "responsible AI" mean?

[32:33] How to solve issues of access

[36:26] Best and worst ideas for regulatory action

[45:43] How encryption and data privacy concerns relate to AI

[48:14] Risk of regulatory capture by incumbents

[51:39] Regulation in the European Union

[55:20] Best practices for companies implementing AI

Links for topics referenced in this episode:

OpenAI’s board fires Sam Altman as CEO (The Verge): https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/17/23965982/openai-ceo-sam-altman-fired

Official OpenAI announcement about Altman leaving (OpenAI): https://openai.com/blog/openai-announces-leadership-transition

Podcast episode from 2019 where Brian and Sarah interviewed Mira Murati, who is now OpenAI’s interim CEO (Apple Podcasts):

Altman confirms plans for GPT-5 at OpenAI (Decrypt): https://decrypt.co/206044/gpt-5-openai-development-roadmap-gpt-4

Ed Newton-Rex quits at Stability AI (BBC): https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67446000

Sundar Pichai makes AI and climate change comparison (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/16/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-compares-ai-to-climate-change-at-apec-ceo-summit.html

Microsoft makes Bing Image Creator changes after Disney copyright complaints (Ars Technica): https://arstechnica.com/ai/2023/11/fake-movie-posters-with-disney-logos-force-microsoft-to-alter-bing-image-creator/

Meta’s AI tools enable dog additions to any photo (Mashable): https://mashable.com/article/meta-ai-tools-emu

U.S. Census data on broadband internet access in 2018 (Census.gov): https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/12/rural-and-lower-income-counties-lag-nation-internet-subscription.html

Summary of individual parts in Biden’s executive action on AI (The Markup): https://themarkup.org/news/2023/11/01/the-problems-bidens-ai-order-must-address

Additional note on the White House’s executive action from Jade:

I think that people need to understand that the White House's executive order on AI is a good first step to putting guardrails in place when it comes to developing, testing, training, and optimizing emerging technologies that use machine learning. However, I also think that this executive order is very broad and there is this thinking that AI can solve systemic issues (think discrimination/bias/access, etc.). AI is not going to fix systemic racism, sexism, xenophobia, education funding, etc. These are issues that are rooted in the fabric of what America was designed to be. AI cannot change people's mindsets. And despite the daily advances of technology, there will always be a need for a human-in-the-loop. AI is a tool -- it is not the ultimate problem solver. Humans can use AI to solve some problems, but ultimately AI can't do it on its own.

I think it is important for those at the table (i.e., NIST, and whoever else the White House appoints to the committee(s) that are ensuring implementation of these guardrails to understand the above. AI can only do what the humans tell it to do. And the systemic issues that are rampant in American culture are too complex to be solved by technology. 

Jade Newton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j3n3r3/

More links to news that didn’t make the show:

Discord gets rid of its AI assistant Clyde (The Verge): https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/17/23965185/discord-is-shutting-down-its-ai-chatbot-clyde

Microsoft Ignite announcements related to AI (The Verge): https://www.theverge.com/23961007/microsoft-ignite-2023-news-ai-announcements-copilot-windows-azure-office

Reactions to the Humane AI pin (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2023/11/14/humane-ai-pin-smartphone-replace

Music used in this podcast comes from "Vanishing Horizon" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under an Attribution 3.0 United States License.

Brian and Sarah welcome David Hojah, the founder and CEO of Parrots, along with CBO Erin Janklow. Their startup focuses on medical assistive AI for patients with ALS and Parkinson’s disease, using a smart assistant called Polly, which is designed to speed up communication loops and enable people experiencing cognitive problems to engage with their caregivers and the world around them.

That interview, this week’s news on OpenAI and the end of the actors strike, and the most challenging round of "Two truths and l’AI" yet are all in this episode of "The AI Artifacts Podcast."

Timestamps for this episode:

[0:00] Intro

[0:29] This week’s biggest AI news

[0:44] OpenAI’s developer day

[2:56] Overview of announcements from OpenAI

[7:29] The end of the Hollywood actors strike

[15:30] "Two truths and l’AI"

[21:38] Interview with Parrots founder/CEO David Hojah and CBO Erin Janklow

[23:12] David Hojah’s background

[25:22] Origin: Why the startup is called Parrots

[26:25] How the technology at Parrots works

[28:25] What Parrots does

[30:08] The Polly smart assistant

[31:09] Use cases for patients and caregivers that Parrots targets

[35:20] Focus on ALS patients and Parkinson’s Disease, looking ahead at cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and Alzheimer's disease cases

[36:40] Early milestones

[41:17] Perspective on navigating and preparing for an evolving regulatory environment

[46:39] Approaches to data collection and feedback

[49:32] Next goals for Parrots

[50:37] Currently raising a seed round, looking for new patients and partnerships

[51:29] Guest contact info: [email protected] and [email protected]

Links for topics referenced in this episode:

Parrots, Inc. website: https://www.flyparrots.com/

OpenAI’s developer day (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/06/everything-announced-at-openais-first-developer-event

OpenAI announces custom GPT versions (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2023/11/06/open-ai-dev-day-chatgpt-custom

The Hollywood actors strike ends (Wired): https://www.wired.com/story/hollywood-actors-strike-ends-ai-streaming/

AI’s role in the actors strike’s final week (The Hollywood Reporter): https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/sag-aftra-ai-protections-for-high-earning-members-sticking-point-1235638247/

Why using an AI meeting surrogate could be a mistake (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2023/11/10/ai-bot-zoom-meetings-power-move-management-mistake-office-culture/

British royal astronomer Lord Marin Rees suggests AI aliens could appear (Futurism): https://futurism.com/the-byte/uk-royal-astronomer-ai-aliens

Study suggested Agatha Christie may have had Alzheimer's disease, based on textual analysis (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/apr/03/agatha-christie-alzheimers-research

Music used in this podcast comes from "Vanishing Horizon" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under an Attribution 3.0 United States License.

The second episode of "The AI Artifacts Podcast" welcomes Thomas Huitric as a guest. Thomas is a data science practitioner with experience in AI infrastructure across advertising, media, gaming, and the metaverse. He joins the podcast to talk about what’s going on behind the screen for users as AI scales up and its resource, infrastructure, and data needs grow.

In addition, co-hosts Brian and Sarah dig into the past week’s big stories about The Beatles, President Biden’s new executive order, and more. Listen in, play this week’s round of "Two truths and l’AI," and share your thoughts on AIArtifacts.net.

Timestamps for this episode:

[0:00] Intro

[0:53] This week’s biggest AI news

[1:00] The Beatles release "Now And Then" track produced using AI

[5:21] U.S. President Joseph Biden’s new executive order on AI

[10:50] "Bletchley Declaration" on AI safety published in Britain

[14:10] Google to invest up to $2 billion in Anthropic

[17:40] Google lays off voice assistant team

[18:59] Microsoft’s new 365 Copilot could generate $10 billion/year in revenue

[19:44] "Two truths and l’AI"

[25:08] Interview with Thomas Huitric

[27:03] What developments made today’s AI technology possible?

[29:27] Cloud vs. local processing for AI applications

[32:35] Apple reportedly spending $1 billion/year on AI to catch up to others

[38:30] Microsoft’s water usage in Iowa while training ChatGPT-4

[43:30] How much data will be required to create the next version of ChatGPT

[49:10] Open-source vs. proprietary AI

[52:48] Meta’s approach to Llama 2

[54:44] Were big tech companies actually surprised by OpenAI’s ChatGPT?

[59:37] Reasons for optimism in AI and LLMs

[1:02:25] Thanks, sign-off, and outro

Links for topics referenced in this episode:

New Beatles song "Now And Then" released (CNBC) https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/02/a-new-beatles-song-is-set-for-release-after-45-years-with-help-from-ai.html

Official music video for "Now And Then" by The Beatles (YouTube)

President Biden’s new AI executive order (The New York Times): https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/us/politics/biden-artificial-intelligence.html

Text from White House briefing room explaining Biden’s AI executive order (The White House): https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/30/executive-order-on-the-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence/

Full text from the Bletchley Declaration (Gov.uk): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-safety-summit-2023-the-bletchley-declaration/the-bletchley-declaration-by-countries-attending-the-ai-safety-summit-1-2-november-2023

Google invests in OpenAI rival Anthropic (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-agrees-invest-up-2-bln-openai-rival-anthropic-wsj-2023-10-27/

Google lays off 20 data scientists who worked on voice assistant team (San Francisco Chronicle): https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/google-layoffs-california-companies-18465600.php

Microsoft launches 365 Copilot (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/01/microsoft-365-copilot-becomes-generally-available.html

Joe Biden worried about AI after seeing "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning" (Variety): https://variety.com/2023/film/news/joe-biden-worried-ai-mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-1235775115/

Suspected AI-written review content at Gannett (The Verge): https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23931530/gannett-ai-product-reviews-site-reviewed-union-newsguild

Thomas Huitric (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashuitric/

Apple reportedly "caught flat-footed" by ChatGPT, now spending $1 billion/year to catch up (Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-10-22/what-is-apple-doing-in-ai-revamping-siri-search-apple-music-and-other-apps-lo1ffr7p

Apple spending millions of dollars per day on AI training (The Verge): https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/6/23861763/apple-ai-language-models-ajax-gpt-training-spending

Microsoft reportedly used about 11.5 million gallons of water at Iowa data centers in July 2022 (Brian Warmoth): https://warmoth.org/2023/09/10/how-much-water-ai-is-going-to-drink/

Stanford researchers publish Foundation Model Transparency Index: https://crfm.stanford.edu/fmti/

ZenML’s vision for small, in-house AI models (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/23/zenml-empowers-companies-to-build-their-own-ai-stack-based-on-open-source-tools/

Music used in this podcast comes from "Vanishing Horizon" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under an Attribution 3.0 United States License.

Welcome to the first episode of "The AI Artifacts Podcast." Meet the co-hosts, Brian Warmoth and Sarah Luger, who break down what this podcast will explore, who will be appearing on the show, and what else to expect.

Also, find out if you can tell the difference between real news and news and AI-dreamed news about AI.

Respond on AIArtifacts.net to let Brian and Sarah know what you think:

* What are the biggest questions you have about AI and machine learning?

* What’s the most useful AI tool you have found so far?

* What are your biggest concerns about AI and large language model (LLM) adoption right now?

Timestamps for this episode:

[0:00] Intro

[0:38] Who we are and why we launched this podcast

[4:17] The current AI boom and recent bust prediction

[7:52] "Two truths and l’AI"

[13:08] What defines the current moment for AI capabilities and adoption?

[18:26] AI’s jump from mainstream novelty into mainstream utility

[33:15] Who will our guests be on the first season of "The AI Artifacts Podcast"?

[34:50] Thanks and sign-off

[35:29] Outro

Links for topics referenced in this episode:

CCS Insight predicts generative AI will fizzle in 2024 (Business Insider): https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-industry-overhyped-cold-shower-analyst-firm-predicts-2024-2023-10

Snapchat launches "Phantom House" series: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/snapchat-phantom-house-halloween-content-maybelline-disney/695945/

Young boy dances in M3GAN costume: https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/boy-terrifies-neighbours-crawling-around-130923

Music used in this podcast comes from "Vanishing Horizon" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under an Attribution 3.0 United States License.

Join co-hosts Brian Warmoth and Sarah Luger in a new series of interviews with founders, technical experts, and practitioners to put AI’s rise into context. Season 1 will bring on guests with a range of perspectives to discuss sectors, use cases, and big-picture context that makes today’s AI trends easier to understand.

Then, see if you can pass each episode’s test to tell the real AI news from the fake.

Subscribe on AIArtifacts.net or listen on your podcast platform of choice. The first episode of "The AI Artifacts Podcast" will arrive in time for Halloween.

Music used in this trailer comes from "Vanishing Horizon" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under an Attribution 3.0 United States License.