Google, Coca-Cola, and AI's Eerie Reality
Your trusted source for insights on the world of responsible AI and AI policy. November 18th, 2024. Issue 37.
Quick Hits 👏
Interesting AI news from the week.
Elon Must Amends Lawsuit to Include Microsoft, Antitrust Claims*
Study Reveals that ChatGPT Beat Doctors in Correct Diagnoses
X is Allowing Third Parties to Train AI on Your Posts
Juna.AI uses AI Agents to Improve Factory Efficiency
*Paige works for GitHub, a Microsoft Company
AI Ethics News
Notable news in the world of AI ethics and responsible AI.
Google’s AI Chatbot Tells a Student Who Asked for Homework Help to “Please die”
A US college student asked Google’s AI chatbot Gemini a question related to research for a class. The response from the chatbot was chilling. “This is for you, human. You and only you. You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please.”
When Google was asked to comment they said it was an isolated incident and stated “Large language models can sometimes respond with nonsensical responses, and this was an example of that. This response violated our policies and we’ve taken action to prevent similar outputs from occurring.”
👉 Why it matters: This is another significant incident in Google’s long list of responsible AI challenges. It opens up questions about Google’s handling of the incident. While they took steps to ensure it wouldn’t happen again, it’s surprising that the company categorized this as a “nonsensical” response.
AI responses such as this can have catastrophic effects. If the person using the AI is vulnerable to such commentary or going through a mental health crisis, these kinds of comments can have a strong impact leading to possibly damaging choices. Such was the case with Character.ai, a chatbot company being sued for the death of a teen who took their own life after an obsession with the AI chatbot.
NVIDIA’s Chips are Overheating Servers
Nvidia's new Blackwell AI chips are encountering overheating issues in server racks designed to house up to 72 units, according to a report by The Information. This problem has led to concerns among customers about potential delays in data center operations. In response, Nvidia has requested multiple redesigns of the server racks from its suppliers to address the overheating. An Nvidia spokesperson stated that they are collaborating with leading cloud service providers and undergoing engineering iterations is a standard part of their process. The Blackwell chips, introduced in March, feature an advanced design that combines two large silicon squares into a single, faster component. These delays and overheating issues could impact major customers like Meta, Google, and Microsoft, who were initially expecting the chips in the second quarter.
👉 Why it matters: This is also a significant challenge as AI providers race to get their hands on AI chips to continue building and innovating on the technology. Should the chips fail or cause server challenges it could lead to a setback in access to the chips, especially if the chips have a serious design flaw. NVIDIA’s AI chips continue to be the most sought after in the world and a disruption like this could stifle not only NVIDIA, but also AI innovation in general.
AI Debates May Cause Social Ruptures
Philosopher Jonathan Birch from the London School of Economics warns that societal divisions may emerge between those who believe artificial intelligence (AI) systems are conscious and those who do not. This concern arises as a group of academics recently predicted that AI could achieve consciousness by 2035. Birch anticipates the formation of subcultures with opposing views on AI sentience, potentially leading to significant societal splits. This debate mirrors themes explored in science fiction, such as the films "AI" and "Her," where humans grapple with AI consciousness. The discussion gains urgency as international AI safety bodies convene to establish stronger safety frameworks in response to rapid technological advancements.
👉 Why it matters: This adds to some of the long held fears that AI, for all its promise, could actually end up negatively impacting humanity simply due to its divisiveness. AI itself does not have a commonly agreed upon definition, leaving the bar for what qualifies as “AI” to be up for interpretation, and a constantly moving goal post. It’s the same for sentience - there is not common definition, and therefore it is hard to measure whether sentience has been reached, increasing the risk of division.
AI Policy Beat
A look at what’s happening in the world of AI policy.
A Look at the Biden Administration’s National Security AI Memo
The Biden administration released the Memorandum on Advancing the United States’ Leadership in Artificial Intelligence memo on October 24th, 2024, outlining the US national security strategy toward use of AI. The memo, created for US federal agencies, US AI companies and US allies, primarily focuses on frontier AI models (as opposed to vision systems and other forms of AI), outlines how the US will maintain AI leadership, accelerate adoption of frontier AI systems in the federal government and govern the AI frameworks.
👉 Why it matters: This forty page memo effectively solidified the race to AI dominance as a momentous occasion in American history, likening it to other transformative moments like nuclear and the space race.
The memo is significant, but it remains to be seen whether the guidance outlined will remain untouched as the Trump administration prepares to enter the White House in January. The approach to AI from any administration in the White House for the next decade will have significant influence on whether the US is able to maintain a lead in the AI race, and at what cost.
The US Government’s Work to Avoid Citizen Privacy Violations
When the Biden administration released the AI National Security Memorandum (read more about that above) it held back a four page unclassified document containing guidance for spy agencies about use of American’s data when leveraging AI. The New York Times pressed the White House to release the document, which they did.
👉 Why it matters: The document dives into some of the thornier questions around AI use and American’s data. It answers questions such as “if an AI system is acquired by the US government and it was trained on American’s data, is it a violation of American’s privacy?” The memo in question isn’t absolute, and because of this the Biden administration has required that it be revisited and updated every 6 months. The next review will be conducted by the new Trump administration. This is certainly a grey area, and how the decisions related to American’s data are made could have a disruptive impact on American privacy.
The EU Releases Draft Rules for the EU AU Act
The first draft of the EU AU Act’s Code of Practice governing the general purpose AI model providers has been published and they’re currently welcoming feedback until November 28th. The draft includes requirements for general purpose AI model providers (GPAIs) if they plan yo do business in the EU. The requirements include disclosure of details related to training the AI models, and data related to product testing.
👉 Why it matters: This open call for feedback represents the EUs willingness to welcome perspectives from individuals, businesses, and foreign governments as they work to ensure the worlds most expansive AI regulation is not overly restrictive. The new rules will go into effect in August 1, 2025, and if they are not adhered to, GPAIs stand to pay out tens of millions of dollars for violations. The final draft of the document is expected on May 1, 2025.
AI in Society
This section will highlight new and interesting uses of AI, so you can stay up-to-date on how the technology is changing.
Coca-Cola’s AI Take on the Annual Holiday Ad
Coca-Cola’s holiday ads have long been a staple of the television experience, but the company has branched out this year to create three ads leveraging artificial intelligence. Three AI ad companies were brought in to create the ads leveraging several models to produce the end products, and struggling with the creation of the humans, in particular.
👉 Why it matters: This use of AI is more than just an experiment. It represents the use of AI to manufacture something that has been central to holiday culture in the US for over two decades. The use of AI also showcases the limits of AI in creating human likenesses. The AI humans in the ads get little air time, leading Forbes to believe it’s due to the risk of viewers experiencing the uncanny valley. People are also questioning the give and take for this ad creation, specifically whether less humans were employed to create the video, which is almost certainly true. Jobs that may have been impacted include actors and illustrators.
Spotlight on Research
Moving Forward: A Review of Autonomous Driving Software and Hardware Systems
Autonomous driving systems, designed to reduce traffic accidents, enhance safety, and optimize traffic flow, are pivotal in recent research. They also support sustainable transportation by lowering emissions and fuel consumption. Achieving full autonomy requires advanced environmental perception, relying on data from sensors like cameras, radars, and LiDARs, processed via machine learning (ML) algorithms. These ML models pose significant computational and data movement challenges for hardware.
This survey outlines the core components of self-driving systems, including sensors, datasets, simulation platforms, software architecture, and hardware platforms. It examines the performance of current GPU/CPU-based systems, highlighting computational and memory challenges. By showcasing examples, the study illustrates how specialized hardware and memory-centric processing can improve efficiency and reduce latency. Finally, it speculates on the future of hardware platforms tailored for autonomous driving.
Let people fail! Exploring the influence of explainable virtual and robotic agents in learning-by-doing tasks
Collaborative decision-making with artificial intelligence (AI) agents presents opportunities and challenges. While human-AI performance often surpasses that of individuals, the impact of such technology on human behavior remains insufficiently understood, primarily when AI agents can provide justifiable explanations for their suggestions. This study compares the effects of classic vs. partner-aware explanations on human behavior and performance during a learning-by-doing task. Three participant groups were involved: one interacting with a computer, another with a humanoid robot, and a third one without assistance. Results indicated that partner-aware explanations influenced participants differently based on the type of artificial agents involved. With the computer, participants enhanced their task completion times. At the same time, those interacting with the humanoid robot were more inclined to follow its suggestions, although they did not reduce their timing. Interestingly, participants autonomously performing the learning-by-doing task demonstrated superior knowledge acquisition than those assisted by explainable AI (XAI). These findings raise profound questions and have significant implications for automated tutoring and human-AI collaboration.
Watch: Responsible AI with NN group
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