Latest developments in the World of AI — April 20. 2024

AI Today and Everyday

Meta new AI assistant, built with Llama 3.

Image credit: Meta

Meta AI is growing worldwide, powered by the advanced Meta Llama 3 technology. This AI assistant is made to blend smoothly into your daily tasks across various Meta platforms. It improves your experience by adding smart features and making it accessible to users everywhere.

The Details:

• Enhanced Assistant Capabilities: Meta AI, powered by Meta Llama 3, is now more intelligent and accessible, helping users with practical tasks like planning meals, studying, and more, across different Meta apps without switching interfaces.
• Global Rollout: The rollout of Meta AI extends to over a dozen countries outside the US, making it globally available in multiple languages, thereby broadening its reach and impact.
• Creative and Real-Time Features: Meta AI now offers faster image generation capabilities and real-time assistance, such as generating decor inspiration or planning social events directly within the app environment.

Why It Matters:

• Technological Innovation and Accessibility: The development represents a significant step in AI technology, making powerful tools more accessible and usable in everyday scenarios across the globe.
• Impact on User Engagement and Productivity: By integrating Meta AI across popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, Meta is enhancing user engagement and providing tools that boost productivity and creativity.
• Expansion of AI Features: The introduction of new features like real-time image generation and the ability to animate images underscores the rapid evolution of AI capabilities, setting new standards for interaction and creativity in digital spaces.

Microsoft’s VASA-1 Makes Realistic Talking Faces From Images and Speech

Microsoft’s VASA-1 generates real-time, high-resolution talking faces with emotional nuance from single images and audio, enabling independent control of facial features for versatile video editing.

Watch the demo

This AI model surpasses lip-syncing by incorporating natural head movements, expressions, and user control over gaze, distance, and emotions.

VASA-1 efficiently handles unexpected inputs like artistic photos or non-English speech. Its disentanglement approach separates facial features, head position, and expressions for independent editing within videos.

Notably, VASA-1 achieves real-time performance, generating high-resolution videos at impressive frame rates. Read more.

Big shakeup for Google AI teams

• Google is merging its Research, DeepMind, and Responsible AI teams so that AI developments will now be done within Google DeepMind, to accelerate its “capacity to deliver capable AI.”
• The new structure aims to streamline AI development, facilitate closer collaboration between research and practical application teams, and give the team an aligned focus.
• This comes after Google faced backlash earlier this year, after its text-to-image generator created inappropriate and inaccurate historical images, prompting a temporary pause.

CEOs worry AI could replace them.

Image credit: AI Secret

CEOs are increasingly worried that AI might replace not just regular jobs but also high-level positions, including their own. This worry is made worse by the fact that many business leaders are now dependent on AI tools, like ChatGPT, for important business choices.

The Details:

• Executive Anxiety: A significant portion of CEOs, as reported by AND Digital, fear AI might render their roles obsolete, with 43% believing AI could take their jobs.
• Ethical and Operational Concerns: Despite their reliance on AI for decision-making, these leaders claim that ethical considerations in AI adoption are a priority, highlighting a potential disconnect between their actions and stated priorities.
• Digital Literacy Initiatives: In response to the challenges posed by AI, about 76% of CEOs are investing in training programs to increase digital literacy among their employees.

Why It Matters:

• Impact on Leadership Roles: The potential for AI to replace executive positions challenges traditional views on leadership and decision-making in business.
• Ethical Implications: The tension between the use of AI for operational efficiency and ethical considerations raises important questions about the future of work and corporate responsibility.
• Preparation for Technological Integration: The focus on training for digital literacy underscores the need for a workforce that is adaptable and skilled in leveraging new technologies effectively.