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☎️ The FCC to make AI-generated robocalls illegal

🎙️ New podcast episode: 'Ageism and the AI Age'

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Martin Crowley & Liam Lawson
February 01, 2024

This morning’s biggest news story could see robocalls, that use AI-generated voices, made illegal.

Plus, it’s Thursday, which means a new ‘AI Tool Report Live’ podcast episode has just dropped! In this one, we discuss ‘Ageism and the AI age’ with AI educator, Claire Farwell.

Give it a listen.

P.S. Don’t forget to hit ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ wherever you get your podcasts, so you never miss an episode! 👆

🌤️ This Morning on AI Tool Report

  1. ☎️ The FCC to make AI-generated robocalls illegal

  2. ⚗️ OpenAI to stop ChatGPT from creating bioweapons

  3. 🚗 Volkswagen to open AI lab

  4. 🛒 Shopify launches new AI tools

  5. 💳 Users will pay for ‘Bard Advanced’

Read Time: 5 minutes

FINANCE

Brought to you by YellowBrick

LEGISLATION

Our Report: Following the President Biden robocall fiasco last week—which attempted to suppress the voters of New Hampshire—The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing that all robocalls, that use AI-generated voice tech, should be made illegal.

🔑 Key Points: 

  • Currently, under the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the FCC prohibits “artificial” voices, but the Act doesn’t specify if a voice emulation, created by AI, falls under this category.

  • This means that robocalls are currently only illegal when they are found to be breaking the law—like using AI to mimic voices to influence public opinion, for example.

  • The FCC wants to make this law clearer by including ‘AI voice cloning’ under the “artificial” umbrella of the existing TCPA, with the commission expected to pass the change urgently.

🤨 Why you should care: If robocalls that use AI to clone voices are made illegal, it will become easier to take legal action against the operators behind these frauds, making the world a safer, more ethical place to live.

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SECURITY

  • OpenAI assembled 50 biology experts and 50 biology students to test whether GPT-4 has the potential to help users create harmful biological weapons.

  • The team used a research version of GPT-4 (which has no restrictions on which questions it could answer) to complete a set of tasks related to making a biological threat.

  • Based on their findings, OpenAI is developing a ‘blueprint’ that will identify and mitigate risks associated with creating bioweapons, when using their technology.

  • This comes after President Biden signed an executive order last year, in an attempt to govern the use of AI and prevent it from creating chemical, biological, or nuclear risks.

✅ YouTube video ideation

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“I'm looking for a YouTube video idea that will draw in my [ideal customer persona] with a relatable and authentic message, and then persuade them to take [desired action] with a strong call-to-action and compelling visuals.”

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“Our ideal candidate has deep experience in Indigenous education and is interested in ensuring the impact of Artificial Intelligence for Native communities is positive. They love working with Native youth and excel at building coalitions to create positive change. They have used AI systems, have an interest (and ideally an understanding) of how they work, and have a desire and ability to learn quickly.”

Remote / $50,000/yr - $55,000/yr / Flexible hours

“The successful candidate will be responsible for producing multiple stories a day across several beats and topics, using AI tools to assist in the production of these stories. They will pitch and be assigned multiple stories daily. They will obtain source and expert comments, and use authoritative primary sources.”

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“You'll be part of the Data Science/Machine Learning and Platform team, responsible for developing innovative data solutions at Chime. You will work across teams at Chime to ensure that the data-related needs of various business domains such as fraud, credit, marketing, and product are met. You will own strategic initiatives end to end, influence decision-making, mentor data scientists and engineers, serve as a role model, and lead others in solving business problems based on Chime's evolving requirements.”

AUTOMOTIVE

  • VW is planning to build an AI lab designed to develop AI breakthrough ideas and internally coordinate the production of AI-driven prototypes for their cars.

  • They’ll partner with tech companies (from Europe, China, and North America) to build prototypes for testing, and eventually license the AI technology for use in their vehicles.

  • Solutions they’re planning to advance with the AI lab include optimizing EV charging, predictive vehicle maintenance, and in-car voice recognition.

  • This move comes after they announced they were partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its cars, enabling them to compete with Mercedes, Tesla, and BYD.

E-COMMERCE

  • As part of its Winter rollout, Shopify has announced 100 new updates, including an AI-powered search update (Semantic Search) and image editor (Magic Media Editor).

  • Semantic Search can interpret the context behind a customer’s query, allowing them to use natural phrases like, “warm clothes for winter”, to find what they’re looking for.

  • The Magic Media Editor allows merchants to add filters, create new backgrounds or remove unwanted ones, and match background styles from previous imagery, for brand consistency.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

  • Google is set to unveil ‘Bard Advance’ later this year, with Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, announcing that users will need to pay a subscription if they want to use it.

  • Bard Advanced will be powered by Gemini Ultra (Google’s largest, AI model) which can perform complex tasks like understanding, summarising, reasoning, and coding.

  • Although the cost for the subscription is unknown at this stage, experts are expecting it to be around the $20 mark, to rival the ChatGPT-4 subscription.

  • Google’s decision to offer Bard Advanced on a subscription-only basis was made to boost its subscription revenue (which already brings in $15B annually).

Will you be paying for Bard Advanced?

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Over the past year, AI Tool Report has worked with Hubspot, Brave Browser, SurfShark, Guidde, Graft & many more—presenting their AI products/services to over 490,000 AI enthusiasts, boasting:

  • A consistent 52% open rate

  • Best-in-class ad performance

  • A growing ecosystem of AI products/services

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Until next time, Martin & Liam.

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