Hello, AI Connoisseurs!

BREAKING NEWS!!!

This week’s edition comes with 3 different stories. While writing this newsletter, OpenAI introduced us to Canvas, “a new way of working with ChatGPT to write and code”.

Microsoft's AI chief announces the debut of “ever-present” advanced AI assistants with long-term memory, prompting discussions about their potential advantages, privacy and data security.

MIT's "Future You" AI system simulates a user's potential future self at age 60, enabling interactive conversations to enhance future self-continuity and help long-term decision-making.

This week’s edition:

• OpenAI Unveils 'Canvas': Your writing and coding buddy

• Microsoft: "Perpetually Present" AI Assistants Are on Their Way

• MIT AI Simulation Offers a Look at Users' Future Selves

• Your 5-Min AI Learning: Fact Check Any News using FactBot AI

• New AI Tools

• More AI News

• AI Image of the Week

Read time: 10 minutes

LATEST NEWS

OpenAI Canvas

OpenAI Unveils 'Canvas': Your writing and coding buddy

What you need to know: OpenAI has introduced 'Canvas', a revolutionary interface for ChatGPT that enhances collaboration on writing and coding projects. This new feature provides a separate workspace alongside the chat window, allowing users to generate, edit, and refine content more efficiently. Canvas is currently in beta for ChatGPT Plus and Teams users, with plans to extend access to Enterprise and Education tiers, and eventually to all users.

The finer details:

• Canvas automatically opens for longer outputs or complex coding tasks, offering a more intuitive workspace for users.

• The interface includes specialised tools for both writing and coding, such as adjustable text length, reading level modifications, and code review functions.

• Users can highlight specific sections of text or code for targeted edits or explanations, enhancing the collaborative process.

• Canvas supports basic markdown formatting and allows direct editing of content within the workspace.

• The feature is designed to work seamlessly with GPT-4o, OpenAI's latest language model.

So what? Canvas represents a significant evolution in how users interact with AI assistants, moving beyond simple chat interfaces to more sophisticated collaborative environments. This development could potentially increase the productivity and effectiveness of writers, coders, and other professionals who rely on AI tools. However, as with any new AI technology, questions about data privacy, intellectual property, and the impact on traditional workflows may arise. As Canvas moves out of beta and becomes more widely available, its adoption and integration into various industries could reshape how creative and technical projects are approached and executed.

Microsoft AI Assistants

Microsoft: "Perpetually Present" AI Assistants Are Coming

What you need to know: Microsoft's head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, predicts that AI assistants with advanced long-term memory capabilities will be available within a year. These AI companions are expected to be ever-present in daily life, encouraging users to share more personal information with them. Microsoft is positioning itself as a market leader in AI development, investing billions in OpenAI and introducing new features to its CoPilot AI assistant range.

The finer details:

• Microsoft is launching new CoPilot features, including a voice function, daily news digest, and a slower chatbot for in-depth questions called Think Deeper.

• CoPilot Vision, a tool within the Edge browser, will observe web pages to assist with online activity but won't record or store data.

• The company paused and plans to relaunch an AI tool called Recall with additional security measures.

• Suleyman argues that privacy expectations have changed, citing examples of devices already recording in everyday environments.

• Research suggests that while many people have tried AI tools like ChatGPT, daily usage remains low.

So what? The integration of AI assistants into daily life raises concerns about privacy, data security, and the potential for AI to give bad advice or display bias. The introduction of AI tools with extensive data access and analysis capabilities may require new regulatory frameworks and user education to ensure responsible use. And while AI technology is rapidly evolving and transforming industries, its adoption may not match smartphone usage, potentially creating a divided user base.

MIT AI Simulation

MIT AI Simulation Offers a Look at Users' Future Selves

What you need to know: MIT researchers have developed an AI system called "Future You" that simulates a user's potential future self at age 60. The system uses generative AI to create an interactive, text-based conversation with this simulated future self, aiming to improve users' sense of future self-continuity. Initial studies show that interacting with Future You for about 30 minutes decreased anxiety and increased users' connection with their future selves.

The finer details:

• Future You uses a large language model that draws on user-provided information to generate a relatable virtual version of the individual at age 60.

• The system creates "future self memories" as a backstory for the AI to use during interactions.

• Users engage with the tool through introspection and retrospection, considering their current life, goals, and potential future experiences.

• The system generates an age-progressed photo of the user and uses phrases like "when I was your age" to enhance realism - similar to the ever-popular aging filters on SnapChat.

• Safeguards are in place to remind users that this is just one potential future and not a prophecy!

So what? Future You offers a personalised and interactive approach to visualising one's future self, potentially helping people make better long-term decisions and self-development. It has applications in various fields from career exploration to financial planning to being able to visualise the impact of everyday choices on issues like climate change. Researchers are working to prevent misuse , such as companies creating false future scenarios to sell products, while exploring new avenues for psychological research into future self-continuity.

YOUR 5 MIN AI LEARNING

Fact Check Any News using FactBot AI

What you need to know:  Snopes FactBot AI is an innovative tool designed to revolutionise the way you verify information and combat misinformation! Whether you're a curious individual or want to stay informed with accurate facts, FactBot AI can transform your fact-checking experience into a quick and efficient process. This tool is perfect for those who want to cut through the noise of online rumours and get straight to the truth.

Never lose an argument again, with facts and logic powered by the FactBot!

Step-by-step:

1. Go to Snopes FactBot AI

2. Search up whatever news you want to fact-check.

3. You will get a concise summary of the news with trustworthy facts!

Have fun fact-checking with FactBot AI! It's an excellent tool for winning bets about Bigfoot or confirming stories about your favourite celebrities. Plus, it's particularly useful in our current era of widespread misinformation, helping you discern fact from fiction and make informed decisions based on reliable data.

LATEST AI TOOLS

Raena AI📝
A resource for tutoring that transforms study materials into engaging interactive quizzes (Freemium)
“What if your notes could teach you? Turn your study notes into fun, interactive quizzes with Raena AI! Make studying a breeze and learning more engaging.”

PodSnap.AI🗣️
A resource for creating summaries of podcast episodes (Freemium)
“Never miss a podcast episode again! Get an AI-generated summary to your inbox as soon as an episode goes live.”

Bookeeping.ai💸
A solution for automating accounting tasks and providing financial insights (Free)
“Automate 95% of financial tasks. Go Stress-Free with AI Accountant. Auto import transactions from your csv or bank account.”

Zivy ☎️
A resource for prioritising and organising workplace communications across various platforms to enhance productivity (Paid)
“Introducing Zivy! Manage communication chaos with a purpose-built AI for engineering and product leads. Prioritize messages relevant for you automatically, learning and getting better everyday.”

AI HIGHLIGHTS

Accenture and NVIDIA Partner for Enterprise AI Adoption

One of our team’s former employer’s Accenture has formed a new NVIDIA business group to accelerate enterprise adoption of agentic AI, leveraging Accenture's AI Refinery platform built on NVIDIA's AI stack. The partnership aims to overcome common hurdles in AI implementation, with Accenture estimating that only 10% of companies have fully scaled generative AI. To support this initiative, Accenture is training over 30,000 AI practitioners and establishing AI Refinery Engineering Hubs across global locations to provide specialised capabilities for autonomous AI systems.

French AI Summit to Address Environmental Impact and Transparency

The upcoming French AI summit will focus on the environmental impact of energy-intensive AI technologies, with proposals to rank AI companies based on their ability to meet climate goals. World leaders will discuss AI's effects on the environment and job market, as well as initiatives to ensure global access to AI technology and expand international AI governance efforts. The summit, scheduled for February 10-11, aims to promote transparency among AI companies and potentially create a ranking system to highlight their ecological impact.

AI Exploitation in Organised Crime Targeting Children

An LBC investigation has uncovered that organised crime gangs are using AI to manipulate children into county lines drug dealing, with evidence of "How To Manuals" being shared online to teach groomers blackmail techniques. The investigation also revealed that AI is being used to create deceptive videos of celebrities and manipulate voice messages, potentially luring children into dangerous situations. Experts warn that AI exploitation poses significant risks to young people's safety and calls for increased regulation and control of these technologies.

Character.ai Pivots After Google Deal

Character.ai, following a £2.06 billion ($2.7 billion) deal with Google, has shifted its focus from building AI models to improving its consumer products. The company's new interim CEO, Dominic Perella, cited the "insanely expensive" costs of training frontier models as the reason for abandoning the race against well-funded competitors like OpenAI, Amazon, and Google. Instead, Character.ai will concentrate on enhancing its popular chatbot platform, which simulates conversations with various characters and celebrities, while continuing AI research and seeking future funding from venture capital.

Microsoft Unveils AI-Powered Updates for Windows PCs

Microsoft has announced significant updates to its Copilot AI platform for Windows, introducing new features such as voice interaction, context-aware Click to Do options, and improved Windows Search capabilities. The company is also rolling out enhancements to photo editing and image upscaling, as well as developing Copilot Vision, which can analyse screen content and respond to user inquiries. These updates, along with the revised Recall feature, are part of Microsoft's ongoing efforts to integrate AI into both consumer and enterprise products, aiming to boost the appeal of Copilot+ PCs in the competitive PC market.

AI IMAGE OF THE WEEK

After The Simpsons opening episode of season 36 stirred up controversy with its ‘Series Finale’ (will it be renewed?),  it felt only appropriate to have them be our image of the week. For those of you in the UK may know, The Simpsons used to come on every weekday evening at 6pm on Channel 4. The whole MegaSuperAI team used to be ready to watch the episodes shown, along with the omnibus on the weekend, in case we missed any days so this image definitely felt fitting!

The prompt we used to generate this image in Bing Image Creator:

“The Simpsons family (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie) waving in front of their house.”

P.S.: The Lisa-style Pokemon hybrid sure makes for an interesting image, classic AI!

Send us your AI generated art for a chance to be featured.

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