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- AI Under the Microscope: UK's Safety Treaty and Ethical Dilemmas in Education and Beyond
AI Under the Microscope: UK's Safety Treaty and Ethical Dilemmas in Education and Beyond
Niel de Kock
September 05, 2024
Welcome to the latest news in AI and AI in educational news.
Education AI News
UK Signs Landmark AI Safety Treaty to Safeguard Human Rights and Democracy
The UK has signed the Council of Europe’s AI convention, a significant AI safety treaty aimed at protecting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law from the potential risks of artificial intelligence. Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood highlighted the treaty's importance in harnessing AI's benefits while preventing harm. The treaty mandates signatory nations to monitor AI development, enforce strict regulations, and combat threats such as misinformation, algorithmic bias, and data privacy violations. It also focuses on safeguarding public services and ensuring responsible AI deployment. Collaboration between governments, industry, and academia will be crucial in maintaining AI governance and ethical standards.
How Do You Know When AI Is Powerful Enough to Be Dangerous? Regulators Try to Do the Math
As AI technology advances, regulators grapple with identifying when AI systems become powerful enough to pose security risks. Current regulations focus on measuring the computational power of AI, specifically models capable of performing 10^26 floating-point operations per second (flops), a threshold that triggers oversight in the U.S. and California. This metric is seen as a proxy for determining the potential dangers of AI, but critics argue it is arbitrary and oversimplifies the complexity of AI risk. Proponents of regulation, however, believe such measures are necessary to mitigate potential harms as AI grows more capable, while opponents fear that these restrictions could hinder innovation. The debate continues as governments, including the U.S., the EU, and China, implement regulations based on computing power, with the understanding that these rules may evolve as the technology progresses.
AI Chatbots Reflect Cultural Biases. Can They Become Tools to Alleviate Them?
Jeremy Price, an associate professor at Indiana University, conducted an experiment to explore whether AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Bard reflect cultural biases related to race and class. He asked these chatbots to generate stories about two people meeting and learning from each other and had experts analyze the responses for bias. Price found that the chatbots, which are trained on internet data, often mirror societal biases, particularly favoring white perspectives. His broader goal is to develop tools to mitigate these biases, such as a secondary AI "agent" that would monitor chatbot outputs for bias and prompt revisions if needed. Price believes this approach could help reduce bias in AI-generated content and raise awareness of personal biases, but he also cautions against the risks of AI reinforcing societal inequalities if left unchecked.
Will AI Make Standardized Tests Obsolete?
ith the rise of AI technology, traditional standardized tests like the SAT may be losing relevance. Major test providers, such as ETS, are rethinking how to assess students' skills, moving away from cognitive testing to focus on behavioral assessments. Instead of asking students to answer questions, new tests aim to measure skills like perseverance, collaboration, and critical thinking by analyzing how students approach tasks, such as asking for help or using resources. This shift is part of broader efforts, including the Carnegie Foundation's Skills for the Future initiative, which uses data from extracurricular activities and AI-powered tools to assess student development in real-world skills.
AI is also being explored for dynamic content generation and interactive assessments. However, concerns remain about the potential for AI to reinforce existing biases, especially when using training data that may disadvantage underprivileged students. Despite these concerns, AI's role in assessments is expected to grow, potentially transforming how we evaluate learning and skills.
AI News
How Niche AI Assistants Are Unlocking the True Potential of AI Technology
AI assistants have experienced significant growth, evolving into advanced systems that can understand context, predict user needs, and perform complex tasks. While the global AI market continues to grow, niche AI solutions have emerged as a way to bypass challenges faced by general-use systems. Specialized assistants, like CARA, focus on specific domains, enabling users to navigate ecosystems efficiently. With the continued rise of generative AI, niche assistants are becoming valuable tools for industries, contributing to the projected $15 trillion AI could add to the global economy by 2030. These specialized AI assistants provide tailored solutions, offering new possibilities in gaming, Web3, and personalized user experiences.
Shifting from AI Hype to Practical, Ethical, and Sustainable Implementation
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just a concept but a reality shaping industries and business operations worldwide. However, to maximize AI’s potential, companies must shift from the initial excitement to focusing on practical, ethical, and sustainable implementation. This includes understanding the real costs of running AI systems, ensuring they provide a return on investment, and augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing them. The future of AI lies in building ecosystems that enhance human productivity and creativity while maintaining ethical standards, as discussed by AI experts Henry Nash and Tim El-Sheikh in the AI Geeks Podcast.
AI May Not Steal Many Jobs After All — It May Just Make Workers More Efficient
AI has the potential to enhance workplace productivity rather than eliminate jobs entirely. Companies like Alorica are using AI translation tools to improve customer service efficiency without cutting jobs, while firms like IKEA are retraining workers for higher-value tasks. Studies suggest that AI, including tools like ChatGPT, could boost worker productivity by handling routine tasks, allowing employees to focus on more creative work. Despite fears that AI could lead to job losses, many businesses are still hiring and adapting AI to complement their workforce rather than replace it.
AI's Solution to the 'Cocktail Party Problem' Revolutionizes Court Audio Evidence
The "cocktail party problem," which involves filtering out competing voices in noisy environments, has long posed a challenge for technology. Wave Sciences, led by electrical engineer Keith McElveen, has developed an AI-based solution that separates overlapping voices by analyzing sound reflections in a room. This breakthrough has major implications for audio forensics, having already been used in a U.S. murder trial to turn previously inadmissible audio into critical evidence. Beyond courtrooms, the technology has applications in military sonar, hostage negotiations, and consumer devices like smart speakers. The discovery even hints at similarities between AI algorithms and human auditory processes, suggesting that the technology may mimic the way our brains solve this problem.
OpenAI Co-Founder Sutskever's New AI Safety Startup SSI Raises $1 Billion
Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a new AI safety startup co-founded by Ilya Sutskever, former chief scientist at OpenAI, has raised $1 billion in funding. SSI aims to develop safe AI systems that surpass human capabilities while focusing on ethical AI development. The startup, with just 10 employees, plans to use the funds to acquire computing power and hire top talent across locations in California and Israel. Major investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and DST Global, with SSI valued at around $5 billion. The company seeks to avoid AI risks like rogue systems causing harm to humanity. SSI will partner with cloud and chip providers but has yet to reveal specific partners. Sutskever's departure from OpenAI and his new vision for AI scaling are central to the company’s mission, focusing on safe superintelligence rather than rapid scaling at any cost.
AI Tools
Korbit AI: Enhancing Software Development with AI-Powered Code Reviews and Mentorship
Korbit AI is a powerful tool that enhances software development by improving code quality and team collaboration through AI-powered features. Its Automated Pull Request Reviews instantly identify bugs, performance issues, and security vulnerabilities, ensuring high coding standards. The AI Mentor offers interactive explanations, coding exercises, and fix suggestions, helping developers learn while they work.
Seamlessly integrating with Atlassian Products, Korbit AI improves collaboration by enabling issue management within workflows. It also tracks coding activities, providing insights on project health and individual performance, fostering continuous learning and code quality improvement.
Momen AI: Simplifying AI Application Development with a No-Code Platform
Momen AI is a no-code platform that simplifies AI-powered application development for users without coding expertise. It allows easy creation of custom apps using AI Integration with tools like GPTs for context-aware responses and task automation. Its User-Friendly Interface features drag-and-drop components and templates for fast development.
With advanced features like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), structured output, and external API tool invocation, Momen enhances app functionality. The platform also supports team collaboration and offers flexible pricing, including free tokens for new users. Momen empowers businesses to innovate without technical barriers.