EP 344: AI News That Matters - August 26th 2024

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Google employees have concerns over AI in the military. California's AI Bill is causing some major rifts in Silicon Valley. And Microsoft is set to finally release a kind of controversial new AI feature. What's going on, y'? All? My name is Jordan Wilson and I'm the host of Everyday AI. In every week on Everyday AI, we bring you the AI news that matters. On Monday, we understand that there's so much going on in the world of AI that it is hard to keep up. That's why once a week, usually every single Monday, we bring you the AI news that matters. We cut through the fluffy and tell you all what it actually means. All right, so if you're new here, thank you for tuning in. If you're on the podcast, make sure to check out the show notes. If you're here on the LinkedIn live stream, YouTube, whatever it may be, drop by, let me know what you think of what's going on in today's AI news. So make sure, if you haven't already, please go to your everydayai.com Sign up for that free daily newsletter. Will re will. We will be recapping all of these stories in depth and a whole lot more. Also, make sure while you're there to check out our Thanks A Million giveaway to thank you all for helping the Everyday AI Podcast reach a million downloads. We're giving away a year of premium Chat GPT or whether you want a year of Claude, a year of Gemini, whatever it is, we're giving it away to the winner of our contest. So go check that out if you haven't already. All right, and with that, let's talk about the important news for the week of August 26th. And y', all, this is going to be a little bit of a faster one. I'm feeling extremely under the weather. All right, so, you know, normally I might go into some. A little bit more discourse. So we're going to keep it a little, little straight away today. All right, so let's jump right into it. So Google DeepMind workers have expressed concern over Google's military contracts. So according to reports, at least 200 employees from DeepMind, which is Google's AI research division, have voiced their dissatisfaction regarding the company's military contracts, particularly with the Israeli army. So this internal letter was circulated back in May and it highlighted a growing tension between the ethical commitments of DeepMind and its parents company, Google. So employees argue that the involvement in military contracts undermines DeepMind's position as a leader in responsible AI, which is a core aspect of its identity. So this situation reflects a larger discussion within the tech industry about the ethical implications of AI development and the responsibility companies hold when engaging with military organizations. All right, so that, that is one to keep an eye on and see what materializes there. All right, our next one here. This one is big, especially if you're in sales. So Salesforce has unveiled both an AI driven sales agent to boost sales efficiency and more. So Salesforce has introduced two innovative AI driven tools aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of sales team. And that's reflecting a growing trend in automating the sales process. So the new offerings are the Einstein SDR agent and the Einstein Sales Coach agent. Both are designed to support salespeople in managing their pipeline and improving their pitches. So the Einstein SDR agent autonomously engages with inbound prospects, helping to nurture sales pipeline around the clock, which is a crucial as sales professionals reportedly spend 70% of their time on non selling tasks. That's a lot. Then we have the sales Coach agent which acts as a virtual mentor, providing real time feedback during sales calls and helping salespeople rehearse their pitches, thus enhancing their performance. Huh. Should I be using that for the Everyday AI show? Maybe if I did it today, it would. It would say like, hey, you sound like garbage. Don't do the show. All right, so these two new AI agents from Salesforce are not intended to replace human salespeople, but are positioned as a valuable team member that can expedite work workflows and improve outcomes. Pricing. Yeah, that part has yet to be disclosed, but Salesforce plans to announce the pricing soon during their annual Dream Force user conference. So, hey, let me know, live stream audience, you're going to be at Dreamforce. We got invited out. I think we'll be going. But let me know. Are you going to be there? If so, reach out, let us know. And you know, who knows, maybe we'll connect and, and meet in real life. All right, next, the California bill. And this one, y'. All. This one's been going all over. So the new California bill on AI regulation has sparked a lot of controversy among both innovators and legislators. So we've talked about it here on the Everyday AI show a couple of times, but a new bill in California aims to regulate the development of advance against artificial intelligence models. But it faces significant backlash from critics who argue it could hinder innovation in the field. So the proposed legislation, which has been updated a couple of times, is known as the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act. Yeah, that's a lot. So the ssifaim a mouthful. All right, so this new act in California seeks to establish safety standards for AI developers managing large scale models that cost a hundred, that cost over $100 million to train. So yeah, there's a very few that fall in that category. So this does have bipartisan support in the legislator. But critics, including influential figures like Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Stanford professor Fifi Lee, who is called the godmother of AI, argued that the bill's punitive measures could stifle innovation, especially for startups and academic research institutions. So recent amendments to the bill have replaced criminal penalties with civil fines. Yeah, that was a big one. A change that some see as an improvement, while others still express concerns over its overall impact. So two of the big players on different sides of this. So OpenAI, obviously the creator of Chat GPT has voiced pretty strict opposition to the bill, advocating for a more unified national approach to AI regulation and not just being regulated in the state of California to avoid a fragmented regulatory landscape across states. In contrast, Anthropic, another large AI large language model worker, has indicated that the revised bill now offers more benefits than drawbacks after certain modifications and have seemingly signaled support. So Anthropic did not say that this new California AI bill was perfect by any means, but they did say that the benefits now outweigh the drawback after some of these more recent updates to the bill. So more prominent figures in the AI community, such as Jeffrey Hinton, you know, the former Google researcher who's called the godfather of AI, have supported the bill, arguing that it strikes, strikes a necessary balance between innovation and safety. Meanwhile, opposition from academic circles continue to grow, with professors at the California Institute of Technology warning that the legislation could impose unrealistic burdens on AI research and development. So yeah, this has been a pretty hot topic over the last couple of weeks. And here's what you need to know, especially if you're not in the US So California is where so many of the largest tech companies are located. So you know, we talked about OpenAI anthropic, but just about any large, you know, AI or tech company is likely located or headquartered in California. So you might be wondering, why is it that big of a, of a deal if there is a strict California law? Well, what it could do in theory is not just scale back these companies development in California, but actually worldwide. So kind of what OpenAI said there is. You know, they voiced opposition to the bill, saying that they need a unified approach to avoid a fragmented regulatory landscape across states. What that means is, you know, they can't have different rules for different states and different customers. And you know, what that ultimately might mean is different products. So even if you're not based in California or even if you're not based in the us, this bill ultimately does have a lot of impact in the same way that Europe's GDPR really impacted privacy for companies here in the US because if they are doing business in Europe, then they have to adhere to those kind of to those rules and legislations from out of the eu. Are you still running in circles trying to figure out how to actually grow your business with AI? Maybe your company has been tinkering with large language models for a year or more, but can't really get traction to find ROI on Genai. Hey, this is Jordan Wilson, host of this very podcast. Companies like Adobe, Microsoft and Nvidia have partnered with us because they trust our expertise in educating the masses around generative AI to get ahead. And some of the most innovative companies in the country hire us to help with their AI strategy and to train hundreds of their employees on how to use Gen AI. So whether you're looking for ChatGPT training for thousands or just need help building your front end AI strategy, you can partner with us too. Just like some of the biggest companies in the world do. Go to your everydayai.com partner to get in contact with our team or you can just click on the partner section of our website. We'll help you stop running in those AI circles and help get your team ahead and build a straight path to ROI on Genai Foreign, Our next piece of AI news for today as I take a sip of my water so I don't pass out, Google has struck a 250 million dollar deal with California California lawmakers to support local newsrooms, but it's really just helping them sidestep a bill. So this new groundbreaking agreement between Google and local journalism in California is set to reshape the landscape of journalism in California as it aims to address financial struggles faced by local news outlets while allowing Google to sidestep a potentially costly state bill. There we go. Another California state bill that potentially could have some nationwide ramifications. So Google will pay up to $250 million over the next five years to support California newsrooms with funding sourced from taxpayers, Google and possibly other private entities. So the agreement allows Google to avoid a proposed state bill that would have required the tech giant to compensate for linking to news articles, which could have cost them significantly more. So of that $250 million funding, 180 million doll is designed for California news outlets, excluding broadcasters, while $70 million is allocated for developing artificial intelligence resources aimed at enhancing the journalism workforce. All right, so the California News Publishers association express optimism that this initiative could lead to a more comprehensive program for sustaining local news in the long term. So this agreement follows a two year conflict between technology companies and the news industry over how to support local journalism, particularly as readership shifts online and advertising revenues decline. So the proposed California Journalism Prevention act estimated that Google and Meta could owe US publishers up to 13.9 billion billion annually if enacted. And that obviously prompted Google to test removing links to California news sites as a response. So, yeah, so some adjustments from Google and a up to $250 million program with them supporting California journalists has essentially allowed them to sidestep a bill where they could have potentially had to contribute up to $14 billion annually. So critics of this new agreement, including California State Senate leader Mike McGuire, have raised concerns that the deal does not adequately address the inequities in the industry and that it may not benefit journalism workers as intended. The Media Guild of the west criticized the deal as lacking transparency and failing to represent the interests of journalists and news workers, calling it undemocratic and secretive. So y', all, as a former journalist here and now someone that covers AI every single day, this story obviously has caught my eye. But it is also indicative of much larger implications here. Right. In the same way that we just talked in the previous story about the new California AI bill, we could see this type of rule enacted across other states for some certain pieces of legislation. California, with a more progressive approach to technology, is sometimes the first state to enact certain measures such as this. So I would not be surprised if we see this rolled out to other in other states and we might even see something like this come up federally. Although I don't see that gaining any steam, particularly as Google and other companies such as Perplexity and OpenAI with their new search GPT, as they essentially start to offer all of us users the answers or the information that these stories, these new stories would essentially entail. Right. So I don't think that this is the last page to turn in this story. So keep an eye on what happens here. All right, our next piece of AI news. This one. Finally, Microsoft is set to launch a controversial AI feature called the Recall for Windows Insiders in October. So Microsoft has announced that its AI search feature, Recall will be available for testing by Windows Insider starting in October. This feature, which essentially just captures screenshots of user activity kind of non stop and then you can later ask the Windows Recall as part of the Copilot suite of AI tools, you can essentially talk to Recall and be like, oh, what was that email from last week or what was that website from, you know, a month ago about A, B and C. So this feature, which I said captures screenshot of user activity for later searches, has raised significant privacy concerns among security researchers. So here's how Recall works. It automatically takes screenshots of users screens, allowing them to search for information they previously viewed. But this has prompted fears about the potential for personal data to be accessed by malicious actors. So in response to these concerns, Microsoft has stated that Recalled will be disabled by default and will include enhanced security measures. So yes, this was initially announced at Microsoft's Build conference, but they had to table it for a lot of reasons. And two of those big things there is number one, now it will be disabled by default where previously it was reported that it was going to be enabled by default. And now there's going to be some enhanced security protocols. So Microsoft has not yet provided a timeline for wider release or a release to the public outside of the Insider's program. And it will also only be for compatible window PCs known as Copilot Plus PCs, which are designed to handle AI workloads locally rather than relying on cloud services. So yeah, that's the other thing to keep in mind is only kind of some of the newest versions of Microsoft PCs this would work on so the Copilot Plus PCs which have more powerful hardware that allows or that could allow Recall to do this. So timing is crucial for Microsoft as the holiday season, which, yeah, it's around the corner, could bring increased consumer interest in new features if Recall is widely available by then. Microsoft has re emphasized its commitment to security, especially after a Department of Homeland Security reports raised alarms about breaches affecting US Government officials emails, accounts. So Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has reiterated the company's focus on security, highlighting that cybersecurity contributions will now factor into employee evaluations and pay. All right, yeah, we got a lot going on this week, y'. All. A lot. All right. So Microsoft or Sorry, no Fortune 500 companies have identified AI risk in SEC filings amid declining enthusiasm. So according to reports, a recent study shows a growing concern among Fortune 500 companies regarding the risks associated with generative AI, reflecting a shift in focus for the technology's potential benefits. So in this study, over half of Fortune 500 companies are now citing AI as a potential risk factor in their SEC filings, according to an analysis of by Arise AI published this month. So nearly two thirds of those companies mentioned in their earnings calls or sorry in their SEC filings talked about AI in their latest reports, with 1 in 5 specifically referencing generative AI. So only 31% of companies discuss the benefits or use cases of generative AI outside of the risk sections in their reports. So the industries most likely to disclose AI risk include the media, technology, telecom, healthcare and financial services. So analysts suggest that initial efforts in generative AI may have been overly influenced by hype, rather than aligning with broader business goals, contributing to the difficulties in achieving measurable outcomes. You know what? It's not hot take. It's just the Monday news that matters. But here's my take. You'd be surprised. Fortune 500 companies had just kind of blanket rolled out generative AI to users without even understanding it themselves, without providing proper training to their employees. So yeah, it makes sense why now they're saying, oh, you know, this is potentially risky. Yes. When you roll out generative AI to thousands or tens of thousands of employees and do not train them, there are risks involved. I know this because multiple Fortune 500 companies reach out to us and ask for help. And I always ask them, hey, what's your training been like so far? What are you guys getting in terms of education? And they say nothing, right? They say we have not been trained, we have not been educated. So I am not surprised by this recent report. But Also especially Fortune 500 companies, you have to invest in ongoing training and education. There's a reason why, you know generative AI is known as a black box, right? Because you cannot describe it. So you have to learn and understand. All right? Speaking of that black box, AWS's CEO has warned that developers need to upskill as AI threatens coding jobs. So Matt Garmin, the CEO of Amazon Web Services, has issued a starcore warning to software engineers about the potential impact of artificial intelligence on their roles, suggesting that AI could take over coding tasks within two years. So this prediction highlights a significant shift in the tech landscape that could affect many developers careers. So Garmin emphasized that while coding may become less central to developer roles, it does not mean they will lose their jobs. Instead of the focus will shift to more valuable skills like innovation and understanding customer needs. Garmin reassured employees that AWS would assist them in transitioning to new responsibilities, allowing developers to learn about emerging technologies. So the changes he discussed are not isolated to Amazon or Amazon Web Services, but reflect a broader industry trend, with Garmin suggesting that being a developer in 2025 will differ significantly than being a developer in 2020. So the anxiety surrounding AI's impact on jobs is echoed across the industry, with many workers fearing obsolescence. So a 2023 EY study found that 75% of employees are concerned AI could render certain jobs obsolete and 65% are anxious about AI replacing their roles. Well, I will tell you this. Nvidia CEO Jensen Wong said something similar. He said he didn't think that kids should be learning to code. And then you have here the aws, Amazon Web Services CEO kind of saying, yeah, developer jobs in a couple of years are going to look much different with generative AI. And I do say, and I've been saying this for a year, that coding and development is one of the job roles that will be hit hardest the soonest. Right? Especially as these are jobs that in theory, that generative AI can do a very job, a very good job assisting humans. I don't think that at least right now we're talking about, you know, AI just doing these development roles independently. But a human with augmented intelligence via AI can accomplish a lot more in these developer jobs are generally high priced jobs. So it is kind of that crossover, that Venn diagram crossover of where companies are looking to save a lot of money with where, you know, AI can actually do a pretty good job in assisting humans. All right, that is it, y' all a quicker one today. So as a very quick one recap, let's go over the AI news that we went over today. So first, yeah, there was a lot today, y'. All. DeepMind workers from Google have expressed their concern over Google's military contracts with AI ties. Salesforce has unveiled an AI driven sales agent to boost sales efficiency and an AI powered sales coach. California bill on AI regulations has sparked controversy among innovators and legislators, with Even companies like OpenAI and Anthropic on different sides of this potentially restrictive bill. Another California bill that is having some lasting implications. Google has striked a $250 million deal with California lawmakers to support local newsrooms, essentially in order to skirt a potential $14 billion investment they might have to make if they did not. Microsoft, after some delays, is finally set to launch a somewhat controversial AI feature in recall, but just rolling out first to Windows insiders in October. So no word yet on a general rollout. Fortune 500 companies have identified AI as a major risk factor in SEC filings, according to a recent report. And then last but not least, the AWS Amazon Web Service CEO has warned developers to upskill as AI threatens coding jobs. All right, that was a lot, y'. All. Sorry I didn't bring my. My normal pizzazz and normal insights. I think I'm gonna go, you know, shut my eyes. But I hope this was at least helpful in you being able to understand what's going on in the world of AI right now, because I get it. You can spend hours every single day trying to keep up, and it can be overwhelming. That's what we do here@everyday AI. We have a daily live stream, podcast and newsletter. So you can just spend, you know, about seven or eight minutes reading the newsletter every single day, you know, about maybe 30 minutes listening to the podcast. And you can not just stay ahead, but you can be the leader of AI in your organization, right? Yes. There's a lot of uncertainty around AI and how it might impact jobs and impact the economy and impact, you know, different business sectors. But I'll tell you this, if you can keep up and you can be a leader in your organization, I think that you're going to be safer than someone who is not. So that's how you do it. You do it right here with Everyday AI. So thank you all for tuning in. Hope to see you back tomorrow and every day for more Everyday AI. Thanks, y'. All.

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