ByteSize Daily Wrap - 2023/06/23

Hello, hello fellow tech enthusiasts, and welcome to another exciting edition of Atometrix ByteSize! Today, we have some juicy updates from the world of AI, low code, and tech to quench your thirst for knowledge. We'll briefly uncover a bunch of fascinating stories, from the White House ramping up AI regulations to Dropbox's new AI features and a revolutionary AI model that outperforms benchmarks!

Isn't it wild how quickly technology is advancing? Discovering these stories is like a rollercoaster ride through the futuristic metropolis of what we once thought was only possible in sci-fi movies. For instance, ChatGPT accounts being targeted by hackers really emphasises the importance of upgrading cybersecurity measures. On the other hand, the Fast Segment Anything method being 50x faster than previous approaches highlights just how rapid tech developments continue to be, ironically making "speed matters" an understatement. It's truly a turbulent albeit thrilling time to be alive!

In today's proliferation of AI and tech, we see both their pitfalls and their remarkable potentials. Privacy and safety commitments from the big players – Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI – indicate the importance of keeping AI in check, while innovations like Figma's Dev Mode and MotionGPT's goal to teach machines human motion reveal how interconnected technology and creativity can be. Projects like Coach VOX AI Tool bring us closer to the age of digital doppelgangers – and raise questions about the implications and ethical concerns that come with it. Amid all these advancements, it's crucial to maintain a balance between embracing innovation and ensuring responsible development. So buckle up, folks, it's going to be a wild ride through these tech updates!

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News & Articles

• (Link) Over 100,000 ChatGPT Accounts Hacked: Time to Upgrade Security!: Uh oh! Group IB reported that hackers breached over 100,000 ChatGPT accounts on the dark web between June 2022 and May 2023. It's time to beef up security measures and add a two-factor authentication system to prevent this from happening again. Let's hope the hackers find more productive things to do than mess with people's online accounts!

• (Link) White House gears up for AI regulation: The White House is now prioritising AI policy and has been meeting weekly to advance AI work in areas like cybersecurity, misinformation and economic transformation. Several policy actions are planned for this summer, including executive orders to regulate and harness AI technology. Google, Microsoft and OpenAI are also planning to unveil privacy and safety commitments, which will help to support the regulations. With ChatGPT flourishing, action must be taken to control and regulate AI sooner rather than later. Let's hope no robots come in and take over the White House!

• (Link) Dropbox introduces new AI features to boost productivity: Dropbox has announced two new artificial intelligence (AI) features: Dropbox Dash and Dropbox AI. Dash is a universal search engine that uses machine learning to show the most relevant search results, while AI offers personalised content recommendations based on user activity. Both features aim to improve productivity by making it easier for users to find and access needed information. Dropbox believes these additions to their platform will firmly establish them as a leader in the technology industry. Looks like we won't be losing our jobs to robots just yet!

• (Link) A Brand New Design Experience with Figma Dev Mode: Figma has launched Dev Mode, which functions like a browser inspector for designs. The feature, which also works with VS Code, allows designers to view a design's code behind the interface, spot problems and edit properties. Alongside Dev Mode, a Dev Mode Playground has also been released to allow users to experiment with design code, test out new techniques and gain a deeper understanding of design. So, designers can now expect an easier, more interactive design experience.

• (Link) Google's Anti-Money Laundering Tool to Fight Illicit Money Flows: Google has created an anti-money laundering tool for banks that aims to stop illicit money flows. The tool, named 'Transaction Laundering Detection', intends to tackle trade-based money laundering. It uses machine learning technology to identify the individuals involved in fraudulent money transfers and the connections between these individuals. Google anticipates that the tool will help banks enforce their anti-money laundering policies more efficiently. With this new release, Google is another tech giant joining the fight against financial crime. Who knew you could count on a search engine to fight money laundering?

Insights & Papers

• (Link) Revolutionary AI Model Outperforms Original and Challenging Benchmarks!: The use of highly curated data and synthetic textbooks with exercises have resulted in extreme AI performance by a 1.3B parameter model, achieving 50+ on HumanEval, a challenging code benchmark. This exceeds the original 12B Codex model and matches ChatGPT. The paper, which follows the Tiny Stories line of work, provides several interesting details and insights. You may want to keep your textbooks close by!

• (Link) Revolutionary Fast Segmentation Method 50x Quicker!: The Fast Segment Anything method offers performance comparable to the SAM method, but is 50 times faster. This means that objects can be segmented at a much quicker rate, making it useful for a range of applications. "Looks like speed really does matter!"

Code & Engineering

• (Link) Put Your Predictive Models to the Test with OpenSTL!: Looking to test out your predictive learning models? Check out OpenSTL, a benchmark repo that assesses models based on their ability to predict future patterns using past data. With a range of datasets to choose from, OpenSTL categorises approaches and provides thorough evaluations. Get ready to put your models to the test!

• (Link) Revolutionising Transformers: Lightning-Fast Serving Times: Transformers are becoming increasingly popular, but serving them can be expensive and slow. However, a new GitHub repo outlines clever optimisations that make transformers more efficient by using memory layout on GPUs, resulting in much faster serving times.

• (Link) Start Your AI Weekend Project: The AI Getting Started repo on GitHub provides a handy starter stack for weekend projects, equipped with image and text models, vector stores for data management, authentication, and deployment configurations. Get ready to kickstart your next AI-related passion project this weekend! Just don't forget to take breaks and stay hydrated.

Tools & Products

• (Link) Unleash Your Productivity with BeforeSunset AI: BeforeSunset AI is a new productivity tool that aims to help users organise their workday and increase their productivity. It uses artificial intelligence to help manage emails, tasks, and schedules in an efficient and organised way. The platform promises to declutter your work life and create a stress-free environment. Give it a try and say goodbye to chaotic workdays! Just don't forget to take some breaks and enjoy some sunshine.

• (Link) Meet Your Digital Twin: Coach VOX AI Tool: Coach VOX is a new AI tool that allows you to create a virtual version of yourself. By uploading a photo, Coach VOX will analyse your features, voice and tone to create a personalised chatbot that you can use for various purposes. Whether you want to use it for customer service or personal communication, the avatar can be trained to mimic your language and behaviour, creating a more personalised experience. With Coach VOX, you'll never have to worry about being in two places at once.

• (Link) Teaching Machines to Dance: The MotionGPT Project: MotionGPT is an open-source project on GitHub that aims to teach machines to understand human motion as a foreign language. The project's goal is to create a model that can accurately predict human movement in real-time. By doing so, it could have countless applications, from improving motion tracking in movies and video games to revolutionising physical therapy for people with mobility issues. With MotionGPT, machines may soon be able to dance like humans, or even teach us new moves.

Videos

• (Link) EU Takes Major Steps to Regulate AI!: The article explains the European Union's proposed legislation on AI, called the AI Act. The act aims to promote ethical and safe AI practices and address concerns around transparency and bias in AI systems. It includes regulations on high-risk AI applications, such as facial recognition, and mandates data quality, privacy, and security standards. Companies are required to comply with the regulations or face steep penalties. In short, the EU is taking important steps towards regulating AI. Maybe AI is becoming more accountable than politicians these days!

• (Link) Revolutionise Your AI Learning with Lastmile's AI Workbooks: Lastmile has introduced AI workbooks, which feature a user-friendly notebook interface for combining language and audio-visual models. The workbooks facilitate seamless application of language models (LLMs), image and audio models in one space, making it easier for data scientists to create machine learning (ML) projectsand test various models. The AI workbooks streamlines the entire ML workflow, making it accessible and more straightforward for novices. Get ready to master the next-generation of AI with Lastmile's AI workbooks!

• (Link) Unleash Your Inner Artist: Mastering High-Quality Line Art: The Controlnet Lineart article shares tips on how to create high-quality line art like a graphic designer, even if you're not one. The article details the importance of keeping lines clean, using the right tools and settings, and applying shading and textures to add depth to your work. With easy-to-follow steps and helpful images, this article is a great resource for anyone looking to up their line art game. Plus, you'll impress your friends with your new skills.

Training & Education

• (Link) Harvard's CS50 Course Upgrades to AI Programming: Harvard University's CS50 class will now include artificial intelligence (AI) in its course curriculum. This course will teach students how to program AI models and understand its ethical implications. This will provide students with valuable lessons and a strong understanding of AI development and usage in the future. Looks like Harvard is ready to level up their education game. Maybe I should have studied there instead of attending "keyboard typing 101".

Miscellaneous

• (Link) Marvel's Secret Invasion Shapeshifts with AI: The opening credits for Secret Invasion, a new Marvel Cinematic Universe series, used AI to create a seamless morphing effect that showcases the shapeshifting abilities of the alien race in focus, the Skrulls. Director Ali Selim was amazed by the AI's success, and who wouldn't be? AI truly is changing the game.

• (Link) Unsung Heroes: The Vital Workers Behind AI Development: The development of artificial intelligence (AI) depends on a team of workers who are often overlooked - data labellers. These individuals are the ones responsible for labelling the data that trains the AI models. However, this work is often repetitive, tiresome, and underpaid. Despite this, their work is vital to the continued advancement of AI technology. It seems AI is a lot of work, and the real heroes behind it are often unsung. Let's appreciate and recognise their contributions to our advancing world of technology.

• (Link) Future humans: Stronger legs and smaller noses?: The article looks at the potential physical changes that humans could experience by the year 3000 through factors such as technological advancements, environmental changes and evolution. These changes could include a shortened face with a smaller nose and larger ears due to the impact of technology on communication, stronger legs due to increased activity, and changes in skin pigmentation due to depletion of the ozone layer. The article also considers the possibility of interbreeding between different races leading to a more homogenous appearance. Jokingly, the article proposes that humans could ultimately resemble "potato people."

Art of the Day

_{“Cute cabbage monster , Octane render, amazing lighting, colorful and playful” By @myau}

And that's a wrap, folks! We've reached the end of this ByteSized extravaganza. A huge thank you to our lovely listeners for sticking with us till the end—you rock! Now go seize the day, unleash your inner techie, and remember, always stay ByteSized!

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