Each week on the Zero podcast, Bloomberg Green’s Akshat Rathi invites guests working at the forefront of climate

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UPDATE: Oct. 10, 2023, 5:15 p.m. EDT This article has been updated with new deals

People in the UK want to know how artificial intelligence works, how to use it to make money and whether it will take their jobs, according to Google. The search engine company revealed the UK’s most googled questions about AI over the past three months ahead of Rishi Sunak’s AI summit. Here, PA takes a look at some of the burning questions the UK wants the answers to. What is AI? In a nutshell, AI refers to the training of machines to solve problems and make decisions in a way that is similar to how the human brain works. However, to boil AI down to a short definition would be to underestimate its complexity and variations. For example, “weak” or “narrow” AI is AI trained to perform specific tasks and enables technology people may be familiar with in their home, such as Amazon’s Alexa or autonomous vehicles, while “strong AI”, comprised of Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Super Intelligence, refers to AI where a machine would have an intelligence equal to or surpassing humans. What is generative AI? Generative AI refers to models which can create something completely new based on the vast data they have been trained on. Recent examples of this include ChatGPT, where users can make requests such as “write a poem that features the Battle of Waterloo”. ChatGPT would then produce a new poem based on the material it had been trained on, in this case vast quantities of history books and poetry. How to make AI song covers? Much like the production of a new poem using AI, it is possible to create new music using models which have been trained on previously recorded sounds. However, this is proving tricky ground for human musicians who fear their work may be used without their consent to produce brand new creations, or even to imitate them. Spotify boss Daniel Ek told the BBC he thought there were legitimate use cases for the technology in music, but that it should not be used to impersonate real artists without their consent. He said there were three “buckets” of AI use in music: tools such as auto-tune, which he said was acceptable; software which impersonated artists, which was not; and a more controversial middle ground where AI-generated music was inspired by a specific artist but did not directly mimic them. How to make money with AI? The possibilities for making money using AI are seemingly endless, with people using it to produce music, books, essays, translations and much more. AI can also be used to streamline processes in existing jobs, producing presentations or documents in a fraction of the time it would usually take. However, the issue of copyright looms large over AI’s creative uses. Who created AI? While the concept has been discussed in art and culture for centuries, the 20th century will be remembered as the period when AI began to take practical shape. In 1950, wartime codebreaker Alan Turing published a paper called Computing Machinery and Intelligence in which he considered whether machines could think, introducing what became known as the Turing Test where a human would attempt to distinguish between the responses of another human and a computer. Six years later computer scientist John McCarthy coined the term “artificial intelligence” during the inaugural AI conference at Dartmouth College, while in the same year the first running AI software programme was created by Allen Newell, JC Shaw and Herbert Simon. Is AI dangerous? Tesla, SpaceX and X owner Elon Musk told the PA news agency at the UK’s AI Safety Summit: “I think AI is one of the biggest threats (to humans). “We have for the first time the situation where we have something that is going to be far smarter than the smartest human. “We’re not stronger or faster than other creatures, but we are more intelligent, and here we are for the first time, really in human history, with something that is going to be far more intelligent than us. “It’s not clear to me if we can control such a thing, but I think we can aspire to guide it in a direction that’s beneficial to humanity.” Will AI take my job? As with all technological advances, AI will change the way we work, making some jobs redundant but creating others too. Rishi Sunak recently attempted to assuage people’s fears, saying: “It’s important to recognise that AI doesn’t just automate and take people’s jobs. “A better way to think about it is as a co-pilot. “As with all technologies, they change our labour market, I think over time of course they make our economy more prosperous, more productive. “They create more growth overall but it does mean that there are changes in the labour market.” Read More Big tech poses ‘existential threat’ to UK journalism, survey of editors finds King warns of urgent need to ‘combat significant risks of powerful AI’ Kamala Harris arrives in the UK ahead of AI safety summit Study finds ‘deepfakes’ from Ukraine war undermining trust in conflict footage More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says AI being used to create child abuse imagery, watchdog warns

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Ebay is facing a fine of nearly $2 billion for allegedly enabling the sale of ‘rolling coal’ devices and other deliberately polluting equipment that violates environmental laws. The US Department of Justice alleges that the online retailer sold more than 343,000 so-called defeat devices in violation of the Clean Air Act, with each sale the subject of a $5,580 fine. Rolling coal has become a form of anti-environmentalism protest in the United States, involving the modification of a diesel engine in order to emit black clouds of sooty exhaust fumes. Online video compilations show drivers of pickup trucks deliberately rolling coal as they pass cyclists and electric vehicles. Until recently, the devices required to perform it were relatively easy to find through online retailers, costing between $200-500. The Justice Department wrote in its complaint, which was filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a federal court in New York, that the rolling coal devices “defeat motor vehicle emission controls” set out in the Clean Air Act. “Aftermarket defeat devices significantly increase pollution emissions – including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and nonmethane hydrocarbons – that harm public health,” the complaint stated. The EPA criminalised the practice, which appears to be mainly confined to the US, in 2014, with some states warning of fines of up to $5,000 for anyone caught doing it. Several companies who sell coal rolling equipment have already been forced to pay fines of up to $1 million for breaking the law. “Our nation’s environmental laws protect public health and the environment by prohibiting the unlawful sales of defeat devices; unregistered, misbranded and restricted use pesticides; and unsafe products containing toxic chemicals,” David Uhlmann from the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said following the Justice Department’s latest action against eBay. “The complaint filed demonstrates that EPA will hold online retailers responsible for the unlawful sale of products on their websites that can harm consumers and the environment.” Ebay described the lawsuit as “entirely unprecedented”, claiming that sales of such devices were banned and that it was actively policing its site against their sale. “Maintaining a safe and trusted marketplace for our global community of sellers and buyers is a fundamental principle of our business,” the company said. “Indeed, eBay is blocking and removing more than 99.9 per cent of the listings for the products cited by the DOJ, including millions of listings each year.” Read More World’s first solar powered hybrid truck tested on public roads Why is Elon Musk obsessed with the letter X? How Elon Musk’s Twitter became a haven for fake news and misinformation Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake

MCLEAN, Va. & BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 15, 2023--

AI-generated faces of white people now seem more real than actual ones, according to a new study which raises concerns that the technology may be used to fool people. More people thought AI-generated white faces were human than the faces of real people, while the same wasn’t true for the images of people of colour, according to research published recently in the journal Psychological Science. “If white AI faces are consistently perceived as more realistic, this technology could have serious implications for people of colour by ultimately reinforcing racial biases online,” study co-author Amy Dawel from the Australian National University, said. One of the reasons for this discrepancy, according to researchers, is that AI algorithms are being trained disproportionately on white faces. “This problem is already apparent in current AI technologies that are being used to create professional-looking headshots. When used for people of colour, the AI is altering their skin and eye colour to those of white people,” Dr Dawel explained. The study also found that the people who identified AI faces as real were most often confident that their judgements were correct, indicating people may not know they are tricked using such images. This kind of AI “hyper-realism” when misused may lead to people not realising they’re being fooled, scientists warn. While there are still physical differences between AI and human faces, researchers say people tend to misinterpret them. For instance, the study found that white AI faces tend to be more in proportion which people mistake as a sign of humanness. However, we can’t rely on these kinds of physical cues for long, researchers say. With AI technology advancing rapidly, they say the differences between AI and human faces could “disappear soon”. When that happens, scientists warn that it could have serious implications for the proliferation of misinformation and identity theft, urging for action to be taken seriously. “AI technology can’t become sectioned off so only tech companies know what’s going on behind the scenes. There needs to be greater transparency around AI so researchers and civil society can identify issues before they become a major problem,” Dr Dawel said. “Educating people about the perceived realism of AI faces could help make the public appropriately sceptical about the images they’re seeing online,” she added. Read More Trump’s Truth Social warns company may be forced to shut down amid huge losses Solar panel world record smashed with ‘miracle material’ AI among biggest threats to next UK election, cyber security agency warns Trump’s Truth Social warns company may be forced to shut down amid huge losses Solar panel world record smashed with ‘miracle material’ AI among biggest threats to next UK election, cyber security agency warns

Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence firm Baidu has made its ChatGPT-equivalent language model, Ernie Bot, fully available to the public