Gemini is here…

Hello! Google has released an AI model which it claims to "think more carefully" (implicitly acknowledging its OpenAI competitor?) when answering hard questions.

— Lavena Xu-Johnson

Gemini is here…

Google’s Long Awaited Answer to ChatGPT Launches today. Google reveals the AI assistant it's been working on a year after its competitor, ChatGPT, was launched by OpenAI.

Gemini will be introduced into other Google products. This includes generative search, ads, and Chrome in “coming months,” according to Google. 

The most powerful Gemini version of all will debut in 2024. Google says Gemini Ultra, the model that will debut next year, scores 90 percent, higher than any other model including GPT-4, on the Massive Multitask Language Understanding (MMLU) benchmark, developed by academic researchers to test language models on questions on topics including math, US history, and law.

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Apple joins AI fray with release of model framework

Nvidia’s not the only company selling AI chips! AMD announced the availability of new accelerators and processors geared toward running large language models, or LLMs. 

MI300X “is the highest performing accelerator in the world.” AMD CEO Lisa Su claimed MI300X is comparable to Nvidia’s H100 chips in training LLMs but performs better on the inference side — 1.4 times better than H100 when working with Meta’s Llama 2, a 70 billion parameter LLM. 

AMD partnered with Microsoft to put MI300X in its Azure virtual machines. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, a guest during Su’s speech, also announced the Azure ND MI300X virtual machines — first revealed in November — are now available on preview. 

Pricing information was not immediately available. 

McDonald’s will use Google AI to make sure your fries are fresh, or something?

The fast food company says it will be applying generative AI to its operations starting in 2024.

The collaboration involves hardware and software upgrades in "thousands" of stores, impacting systems such as ordering kiosks and the mobile app. The aim is to leverage AI on extensive data for optimizing operations, promising customers "hotter, fresher food."

AI's role in McDonald’s operations and workforce dynamics: While McDonald’s remains vague on specific AI applications, the system, utilizing both on-location upgrades and Google Cloud services, is expected to help managers swiftly address issues and minimize disruptions. The statement carefully avoids addressing concerns about AI replacing human workers, emphasizing its intent to "reduce complexity" for store crews and create "exciting new experiences" for both staff and customers.

The generative AI push coincides with the introduction of a new "bespoke" operating system to unify the McDonald’s mobile app and store kiosks. The company claims these changes will lead to "more informed tests and automated solutions" for improved restaurant operations. However, questions linger about the potential impact on the workforce and the nature of AI-driven automation in the fast-food industry, with comparisons drawn to other companies like Wendy’s, also experimenting with Google Cloud AI.

How nations are losing a global race to tackle AI’s harms

Big Tech's Water Challenge: Tech giants, like Microsoft and Google, see a surge in water consumption due to the AI race, notably with models like ChatGPT. This raises concerns about the environmental impact and the future responsible use of AI.

Crucial data centers demand significant water to cool servers. Microsoft and Google report substantial water use increases in 2022. Despite sustainability goals, launching new AI models like Bing Chat and Google Bard may heighten water consumption concerns.

Hidden Costs of AI: AI's efficiency gains have an unseen environmental cost, increasing water use. Microsoft invests in research to measure and reduce AI's impact, while Google claims tested practices for carbon footprint reduction. However, experts warn that AI's efficiency gains might come with higher energy, carbon, and water usage.

Meta will let you ‘reimagine’ your friends’ AI-generated images

Meta’s New “Imagine” AI Tool Allows Users to “Reimagine” Images. By pressing and holding on the picture and adding a text prompt. For example, if I sent you a picture of a Hippo, you could use Imagine to write “imagine this hippo in a sushi restaurant” and it would send an AI generated picture of the same hippo in a sushi restaurant!

Meta is also bringing the imagine tool out of chats. Users in the US will also access it on the web at imagine.meta.com. The company says that the tool is designed for “creative hobbyists” and is powered by its Emu image foundation model. 

The company wants to add watermarks to images made with its other AI tools. But it didn’t give a very detailed commitment: “We aim to bring invisible watermarking to many of our products with AI-generated images in the future,” Meta says in the post.