The rise of Perplexity AI, the buzzy new web search engine

source: zapier.com  |  image: wikipedia.com

Perplexity’s answer engine is altering the way we interact with the internet and might even one day challenge Google’s search dominance.

Perplexity calls itself a “Swiss Army Knife for information discovery and curiosity,” but it’s essentially an AI-powered search engine. Think of it as a mashup of ChatGPT and Google Search—though it’s not a direct replacement for either. Really, it’s the direction Google is trying to go with Gemini—but less chaotically implemented. 

It works like a chatbot: you ask questions, and it answers them. But it’s also able to seamlessly pull in information from recent articles. It indexes the web every day, so you can ask it about recent news, game scores, and other typical search queries. 

But Perplexity is also a kind of search engine. Instead of presenting you with a list of websites that match your query, Perplexity gives you a short summary answer along with the references it used to create it. In some cases, the summary will be all you need. In others, you’ll want to dive into the different sources.

While Perplexity can’t yet replace a traditional search engine, it’s surprisingly functional and effective if you work within its limits. Here’s what you need to know about it. Continue reading “The rise of Perplexity AI” →

AI’s new power: Persuasion

source: axios.com | image: pexels.com

AI startup Anthropic says its language models have steadily and rapidly improved their “persuasiveness,” Axios’ Ryan Heath writes.

• Why it matters: Persuasion can foster disinformation and push people to act against their own interests, according to new research the company posted yesterday.

There’s relatively little research on how the latest models compare to humans when it comes to their persuasiveness — a skill with widespread social, commercial and political applications.

• The researchers found that the most capable Anthropic model, Claude 3 Opus, “produces arguments that don’t statistically differ” from arguments written by humans.

RESEARCH

AI could be as consequential to the economy as electricity

source: cnn.com (contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey)  |  image: pexels.com

Jamie Dimon believes artificial intelligence will have a huge impact on global business this year.

Dimon, one of the world’s most influential business leaders, said in his annual shareholder letter Monday that while he doesn’t yet know the full effect AI will have on business, the economy or society, he knows its influence will be significant.

“We are completely convinced the consequences will be extraordinary and possibly as transformational as some of the major technological inventions of the past several hundred years: Think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing and the Internet, among others,” the JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO wrote in the letter.

The AI explosion has already transformed workplaces across the world and nearly 40% of global employment could be disrupted by AI, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Continue reading “AI could be as consequential to the economy as electricity” →

AI robot wars heat up

source: axios.com (submitted by FAN, Bill Amshey)  | image: pexels.com

Walking, dexterous robots are gradually making the leap from the science lab to the workplace with more sophisticated AI-driven software, Axios’ Jennifer A. Kingson writes.

• Why it matters: There’s intense competition among humanoid robot manufacturers to get their products into the production lines of companies like Amazon and BMW.

Zoom in: An OpenAI-powered robot from a company called Figure was filmed using “common sense” to pick up an apple and hand it to a person who asked: “Can I have something to eat?”

• The wild demonstration video for Figure 01, released yesterday, also showed the robot explaining in plain English why it acted in the way it did: “So I gave you the apple because it’s the only uh edible item I could provide you with from the table.”

Figure garnered a massive investment from Jeff Bezos and OpenAI. It’s currently staffing a BMW production line.

• A robot from Agility — a Figure competitor — is being tested by Amazon and GXO Logistics, which recently deployed it at a Spanx warehouse in Georgia.

Welcome to the generative AI election era

source: axios.com, contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey  | image: pexels.com

Around one billion voters will head to polls all over the world this year, while wily campaigns and underfunded election officials will face pressure to use AI for efficiencies.

Why it matters: Conditions are ripe for bad actors to use generative AI to amplify efforts to suppress votes, libel candidates and incite violence.

• New companies providing powerful generative AI have untested and relatively small election integrity teams, while older companies have cut back those teams — at its peak in 2019, Meta’s integrity staff numbered over 500 globally..
• AI may end up disenfranchising voters as election officials use new tools for a variety of tasks, from identifying and removing ineligible citizens from voting registries to AI-powered signature matching.
• Chatbots and platform algorithms risk serving up inaccurate information to voters.

The big picture: This year, more people will vote than any other year between 2004 and 2048.

• It’s the first time in 60 years that the U.S. and U.K. are voting for new administrations in the same year and the first time since 2004 that the U.S. and EU are.
• AI is just one category in a growing list of problems for election officials from a poll worker shortage to violent threats and cybersecurity attacks.

Continue reading “Welcome to the generative AI election era” →