Staying updated with the rapid advancements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) can be challenging. This article provides a comprehensive roundup of recent stories, notable research, and experiments in the world of machine learning.
Amazon’s AI-Powered Shopping Assistant, Rufus
Amazon recently announced Rufus, an AI-powered shopping assistant that lives inside Amazon’s mobile app. Rufus is trained on Amazon’s product catalog and information from around the web, assisting customers in finding products, performing product comparisons, and getting recommendations on what to buy.
However, the question arises whether generative AI, especially in chatbot form, is a technology that the average person cares about or even thinks about. Surveys suggest that the majority of people are not aware of or interested in using generative AI products.
Generative AI’s Challenges and Potential
Generative AI has its well-publicized problems, including a tendency to make up facts, infringe on copyrights, and spout bias and toxicity. Amazon’s previous attempt at a generative AI chatbot, Amazon Q, struggled significantly, revealing confidential information within the first day of its release.
Despite these challenges, generative AI like Rufus can help with specific, narrow tasks like shopping by occasion, comparing product categories, and surfacing top recommendations. However, a recent poll from e-commerce software startup Namogoo found that product images, reviews, and descriptions were the most important contributors to a good e-commerce experience, suggesting that generative AI may not be addressing most shoppers’ needs.
Other Notable AI Stories
Other recent AI stories include Google Maps experimenting with generative AI to improve discovery, Google releasing generative AI tools for creating music, lyrics, and images, and the FCC proposing to ban AI-generated calls. Additionally, the Allen Institute for AI has released several generative AI language models, Shopify is rolling out a generative AI media editor, and OpenAI is pushing the adoption of GPTs.
More Machine Learnings
Research is also being conducted on whether AI can identify ”typicality” within a dataset and quantify the concept of common sense. Furthermore, a startup called Latimer is aiming to create a more inclusive AI model, and researchers at Purdue’s Institute for Digital Forestry have developed a super-compact model that simulates the growth of a tree realistically.
Finally, researchers at Cambridge University have developed a robot that can read Braille faster than a human, testing the sensitivity and speed of robotic fingertips.
Read more news here.
