AI Weekly Digest #34: OpenAI Updates, and the Rising Alarm Over Deepfakes

Hello, tech enthusiasts! This is Wassim Jouini and Welcome to my AI newsletter, where I bring you the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence without the unnecessary hype.

You can find me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Medium! Let’s connect!

Now let's dive into this week's news and explore the practical applications of AI across various sectors.

Main Headlines

Here are the three main trends to keep in mind if you are working in AI today.

#1 OpenAI - New embedding models and API updates

This week, OpenAI made several announcement regarding its GPT models, here what you need to remember.

TL;DR:

• Better cheaper gpt-models as well new state of the art, cheaper, embedding representations. In this blog post, I evaluate the details of the release.

• A YoY 95% price cut ! Check my analysis here.

#2 Miscellaneous: AI adoption in various popular products

• Google puts AI to work to help you build the best Search Ad.

• Latest Bard update (with Gemini Pro) seems to be performing way better than before. It is compared to GPT-4 on the latest LLM benchmark (see image below).

• Google Chrome can use AI to reorganize your tabs (and we all need that!)

• Finally, Apple podcast offer AI generated transcripts.

Adoption is continuing slowly but steadily!

#3 ElevenLabs Introducing Dubbing Studio 

Already known for voice cloning, ElevenLabs has announced an $80 million Series B fundraising and introduced a new, powerful dubbing studio!

Key Features:

• Dubbing Studio: Dubbing Studio is a tool that allows precise control over transcript, translation, timing, and more for localizing videos across 29 languages.

• Automatic Translation: Dubbing Studio automatically transcribes content, translates it, and generates audio tracks in the target language while maintaining the original speaker's voice.

• Editing Capabilities: Users can edit transcripts, translations, and audio segments, adjust voice settings, and synchronize dialogue with on-screen action.

#4 DeepFakes strike again!

This week, two significant incidents underscored the sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its widespread accessibility, raising important concerns about its potential for misuse.

On the one hand, a robocall campaign employed a cloned voice of US President Joe Biden, crafted using ElevenLabs's voice-cloning technology, with the intent to disrupt voter participation in New Hampshire's primary election.

One the other hand, the public faced another controversy as nude deepfake images of the pop icon Taylor Swift circulated widely on the social platform X, bypassing the site's moderation systems and igniting widespread condemnation.

These incidents not only showcases the challenges of moderating AI-generated content but also emphasizes the ethical implications of deepfake technology, particularly in the context of consent and personal rights.

These events echo the foresight of organizations like OpenAI, which had already been mobilizing its teams in anticipation of challenges related to the 2024 American election cycle. The incidents this week affirm the pressing need for a collective effort to establish robust ethical standards and regulatory frameworks for AI, ensuring its responsible use and preventing its exploitation for malicious purposes.

This is it for Today!

Until next time, this is Wassim Jouini, signing off. See you in the next edition!

Have a great Sunday and may AI always be on your side!