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Google releases Bard, the ChatGPT competitor to the public

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Google finally releases the competitor to ChatGPT to the wider public in a move that will challenge OpenAI and others within the tech industry. The information was announced at the Google I/O conference yesterday along with a set of other AI-related announcements which will benefit the overall industry.

This move will ensure that Google stays competitive in the changing AI landscape that is just beginning to heat up.

In a blog post further adding more details on the chatbot, Sisse Hsiao, Vice president, and GM for Assistant and Bard at Google, states that, “As we continue to make additional improvements and introduce new features, we want to get Bard into more people’s hands so they can try it out and share their feedback with us. So today we’re removing the waitlist and opening up Bard to over 180 countries and territories — with more coming soon,” she wrote.

Google’s Bard AI chatbot is now available in English, Korean, and Japanese. The chatbot is equipped with PaLM 2, a new language model with improved multilingual reasoning and coding capabilities capable of supporting more than 100 languages.

John Krawczyk, senior product director at Google and one of the leads on Bard, announced at a press event ahead of the conference that they will be rolling out additional languages soon.

“We’re excited to bring Bard to more people around the world,” said Krawczyk. “We believe that Bard has the potential to be a powerful tool for communication, education, and creativity.”

Google also announced that it will soon add even more features to provide even more value for users. They will use multimodal content which allows the chatbots to provide more than just textual answers.

Overall, this is a very important move for the AI space that is going through a revolutionary moment for those within the space. Surely, this level of competition will surely be great for the industry and push others to innovate.

Elon Musk is on the verge of stepping down as CEO of Twitter

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Elon Musk is stepping down as CEO of Twitter after approximately 6-7 months in that role. Musk took over Twitter and became the CEO in late October of last year. Today he announced in a Tweet that he will no longer be steering the ship as CEO and will instead take on a more executive role as chairman and Chief Technology Officer.

Musk’s time at Twitter has been a period of tumultuous change across the entire company, he first came in and laid off half of the social network’s staff in November. At the time it was seen as a controversial move but other tech giants such as Google, Meta, Amazon and plenty of others followed suit.

He later pushed a subscription-based service that allows any user to acquire a blue checkmark for $8 per month. He also decided to place Twitter under X Corp which is a secret company or a conglomerate of companies he is building.

Another controversial move he made was to reinstate controversial accounts on the platform that was previously blocked under the old management such as Donald Trump.

To his credit, he did follow his word as he stated multiple times that he does not want to be the long-term CEO of the company and instead wanted to come in and make the necessary changes to make the company profitable and healthy.

This move seems like the logical move for Musk at this point, other ventures such as Tesla and SpaceX need his time and attention. Additionally, he is also secretly building an AI startup.

Investors are eagerly looking ahead to Google I/O Keynote Conference

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This will probably be a very important keynote conference for Google. Since the last one in 2022, there have been a lot of changes in the tech industry. Some of these changes will have an impact on Google’s overall outlook and strategy for the future.

AI will more than likely be the main talking point at this conference, how will they be able to adapt AI technology particularly Large Language Models (LLMs) into the business.

We have seen ChatGPT by OpenAI take the world by storm, will Google be able to compete and how will they be able to compete? Investors are going to be curious as to how they are going to approach this new world which is changing pretty quickly.

Otherwise from AI, investors will be looking to see how will they be able to evolve going forward given that their search business is probably under thread from chatbots that don’t require users to Google search that much.

Hardware will also be talked about a lot as well, Google is expected to unveil the Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, and even the company’s first foldable, the Pixel Fold, which the company leaked on Twitter last week.

They will also talk about Android 14 which is Google’s latest version of their mobile operating system that is set to be released this summer. Overall, it will be an interesting session for investors and tech viewers to watch to see what Google has in store.

Tesla is on the verge of releasing a limited free trial of FSD to the public

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Over the years Elon Musk has made broad predictions on the capabilities of the Full Self Driving (FSD) capabilities. There have been sparks of improvements here and there but there hasn’t been any large-scale initiative launched by Tesla to allow the average Tesla driver to implement this technology.

Reports are now coming out Tesla will soon be giving drivers these capabilities on a massive scale. Elon Musk tweeted Monday that they are planning to give customers a taste of FSD technology throughout North America

Despite its name, FSD does not allow a car to drive itself fully. The newest version of the beta software automates some driving tasks on both highways and city streets, but it still requires the driver to stay alert and take over control of the vehicle at any time.

Musk never went into details as to when it will be available beyond the borders of North America. Some analysts are looking at this as a clever trick in order to get additional data from clients dirt cheap which can then be used to improve the deep neural networks that power FSD which is still in its initial stages.

Training these systems is data intensive and reality is very complex, Musk recently released a tweet that can attest to this point.

Given the recent improvements in AI across the entire spectrum of the industry, Tesla will probably integrate some of these technologies into their overall capabilities of FSD.

Worldwide access to FSD will take sometime due to regulation and other factors such as complexity within a particular environment. These systems are not perfect as they are probabilistic and statistical models at its core which sometimes gives strange results.

Minimalism: Live More By Owning Less

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Minimalism means intentionally living with less and enjoying a more simple meaningful life.

Many of us can agree that ‘things’ don’t make us truly happy. Once you understand that there are pursuits in life that offer more fulfillment and longer-lasting satisfaction than collecting physical possessions you are closer to finding inner peace.

Live More By Owning Less

Minimalism is not only about cutting back on material possessions but realizing that they distract us from true happiness and what is really important.

Everything we possess requires time, money, attention, energy, and focus. The more we own, the more distant and preoccupied we become.

Owning less provides an opportunity to do more. Our finite resources can be better used on; a passion project, traveling, or helping a non-profit organization.

We all are passionate about different things and I think we genuinely want to make a difference. Minimalism allows us to do that. It provides the opportunity to spend less, own less, and care for less. Therefore it frees up our time and resources to help a struggling coworker, a family member with a medical bill, a single parent in need, or volunteering.

Minimalism is truly a blessing in disguise, having less does not equate to being unhappy but on the other hand, intentionally living with less brings a sense of happiness and ensures you focus only on the important stuff in life.

To all my current and aspiring minimalists, own less, live more and be happy.

What I learned about entrepreneurship from becoming an entrepreneur myself

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The first question one should ask is if entrepreneurship is the right path for you. In my opinion and from my experience, becoming an entrepreneur is not for most people. This field will destroy you if you don’t have a mind and heart of Steel.

For the most part, my entrepreneurship journey has been rough and filled with a lot of failures. It’s the first time in my life I’ve heard so many no’s. From startup until now because I’m still on the journey, it’s been nothing but obstacles that I’ve barely been able to maneuver.

The media and “influencers” make entrepreneurship seem like a golden road filled with success and riches as far as the eyes can see. For a small portion, it’s like that but not for the majority that endures a lot of stress and disappointments. They only show the good parts of entrepreneurship and deliberately leave out the dark side of becoming an entrepreneur.

Being an entrepreneur can be worthwhile and can definately make you wealthy but only if you do the right things, have a bit of luck, and stick with it.

You have to be passionate about becoming an entrepreneur but that alone is not enough. You will have to become a problem solver and be willing to stick to a plan and adapt as you go along.

I learned how to endure pressure and figure out creative and alternative ways of accomplishing each task. I’ve been told no a lot but I still try until I hear yes or get to the outcome I desire.

Another thing I learned is to take breaks especially when you are having a difficult time with your venture. A break is essential to coming up with better ideas and solutions to any problem. After 85% of my breaks, I’ve been able to solve my issues relating to my company.

I think the most helpful tip when pursuing entrepreneurship is building the right team for your venture. Recruit like-minded and smart people on your team that can accomplish various tasks without your supervision.

Don’t micromanage your venture, it’s a waste of valuable time and it doesn’t bring any value to your company based on my experience.

I saw a solid startup fail due to unnecessary micromanagement. The founder needed to promote and raise capital for his startup, instead, he micromanaged every aspect of the venture and neglected the most important parts of the business, and lost sight of what his role was as the founder and managing director.

I love being an entrepreneur and it’s necessary for every economy to innovate and develop but ensure that you are in it for the long haul. Most importantly, follow your passion and make it happen, having regrets is the worse feeling ever.

FosRich had another great quarter beating analysts estimates

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FosRich has broken the J$1 billion revenue mark in the quarter ended March 2023. This is a significant achievement for the company as this is the first time the company has been able to do that. Revenue for the quarter came in at J$1.08 billion, which is a 20% improvement from the J$900.3 million they earned during the same period a year prior.

For the energy distribution giant, the increase in revenue is a result of increased sales in six of the company’s 11 product groups: Solar, LED, Hardware, Wires, etc.

However, operating profit declined slightly to J$138.9 million compared to J$158.9 million in the prior period.

There was notable in Admin costs for the quarter, the number stands at J$260.2 which is approximately a 25% increase in the figure compared to the same time in 2022. Analysts are looking at the fact that staff-related costs played a primary role.

Finance cost for the quarter went up to J$47.4 million compared to $37.2 million for the prior period, an increase of $10.2 million.

Cecil Foster, managing director of FosRich commented on the fact that the company maintains a strong level of liquidity which is essential to meet certain financial obligations. “It is expected that FosRich will continue to be able to generate sufficient cash to meet obligations when they fall due. Liquidity is provided primarily from sales revenues and loan financing. “

He also stated that the excess of current assets over current liabilities amounted to J$1.9 billion compared to J$1.23 billion, as of December 31, 2022, with an improvement in the ratio to 2.17:1, up from 1.69:1 in December 2022.

Vice is on the verge of bankruptcy

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Media giant Vice is headed for bankruptcy based on recent reports which state that the company is actively looking for a buyer.

“Vice Media Group has been engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of strategic alternatives and planning,” Vice said in a statement on Monday to the Times. “The company, its board, and stakeholders continue to be focused on finding the best path for the company.”

Vice has been around the media landscape for quite some time and they have had an impact on the overall media game since they have entered the space. For a company that started out as a Canadian alternative publication and later became a digital powerhouse that caters to a unique segment of the market that wants edgy investigative content, they have achieved a lot.

Prior to the announcement of Vice being up for sale, the company had a valuation of $5.7 billion. Currently, analysts are stating that the current figures are way below the last estimate.

Last week, the company announced it would cancel its flagship “Vice News Tonight” show and lay off dozens of employees amid a larger corporate restructuring, the latest in a bruising season of media layoffs that saw cuts at Insider, NPR, Paper magazine, and the demise of Buzzfeed News.

That follows reports that Vice got an emergency $30m in financing to pay off a growing number of debts. In February, Vice Media chief executive Nancy Dubuc left the company. The company fell short of a 2022 revenue goal by more than $100m, The Wall Street Journal reported in December.

The previous year, the company scuttled plans to go public through a special purpose acquisition company.

The media game is going through a vast restructuring, it’s more of a disintegration, every day we are seeing new types of media being cropped up. All these smaller media outlets are taking away attention from the larger centralized medium. Additionally, they are also cheaper to produce and sometimes are of better quality.

Amazon is improving the AI powering Alexa

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Amazon is building a more “summed up and proficient” enormous language model (LLM) to drive Alexa, said Amazon President Andy Jassy during the organization’s first-quarter profit call yesterday.

A LLM, as ChatGPT, is a profound learning calculation that can perceive, sum up and produce text and other substances in view of information from gigantic measures of text information.

That’s what Jassy said in spite of the fact that Amazon has had a LLM driving Alexa, the tech goliath is dealing with one that is more competent than the ongoing one. The Amazon leader accepts that the expansion of a superior LLM will assist Amazon with pursuing its objective of building “the world’s best private colleague,” however, he recognized that it will be challenging to do as such across numerous spaces.

“I think when individuals frequently get some information about Alexa, what we frequently share is that in the event that we were simply fabricating a shrewd speaker, it would be a lot more modest venture,” expressed Jassy during the call. “Yet, we have a dream, which we have feeling about that we need to fabricate the world’s best private partner.

Furthermore, to do that, it’s troublesome. It’s across a ton of spaces and it’s an exceptionally wide surface region. In any case, assuming you contemplate the appearance of Enormous Language Models and generative computer-based intelligence, it makes the hidden models considerably more powerful with the end goal that I think it truly speeds up the chance of building that world’s best private right hand.”

Jassy proceeded to say that he accepts Amazon as a decent beginning stage with Alexa, as it has “two or three hundred million endpoints” being utilized across diversion, shopping, and shrewd homes. He likewise noticed that there is a ton of contribution from outsider environment accomplices.

“We’ve had an enormous language model under it, however, we’re building one that is a lot bigger and considerably more summed up and proficient,” Jassy said. “What’s more, I believe that will actually quickly speed up our vision of turning into the world’s best private aide. I believe there’s a critical plan of action under it.”

During the call, Jassy featured that Amazon has put resources into computer-based intelligence and LLMs for a really long time and that while it can put vigorously into building LLMs, few organizations don’t, which is the reason the organization sent off Bedrock recently.

Bedrock gives a method for building generative computer-based intelligence-fueled applications by means of pre-trained models from new companies including AI21 Labs, Human-centered, and Security computer-based intelligence. Accessible in a “restricted review,” Bedrock likewise offers admittance to Titan FMs (establishment models), a group of models prepared in-house by AWS.

Since its send-off last year, ChatGPT has ruled the web and become progressively famous. With all the publicity encompassing ChatGPT, nothing unexpected significant tech organizations are hoping to consolidate LLM-based enhancements to their own contributions to stay aware of the quick-moving simulated intelligence space.

For example, The Data detailed yesterday that Apple is creating LLM-based upgrades for Siri. Basically, Google is reasonably accomplishing something almost identical for Collaborator.

Amazon wasn’t the main organization to raise computer-based intelligence during its quarterly call with financial backers, as Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta accentuated their interests in enormous language models too. Alphabet’s President, Sundar Pichai said that Google would keep on consolidating artificial intelligence to propel search.

In contrast, Microsoft’s Chief Satya Nadella said the organization would keep on putting resources into man-made intelligence, taking note that Microsoft has proactively seen an expansion in use for Bing after the web crawler was refreshed with a ChatGPT mix.

Moreover, Meta’s President, Zuckerberg said the organization will put resources into simulated intelligence and will present new artificial intelligence-related refreshes across its applications.

Amazon revealed first-quarter profit that beat assumptions and at first, sent shares flooding, yet later turned around course after its Chief raised worries of continuous shortcoming in cloud development. Income for the quarter expanded 9.4% to $127.4 billion while working pay came in at $4.8 billion.

Shifting to an AI strategy

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Similar to how software is practically eating the world at this point through every facet of society. I am figuring that AI will do the same over a period of time, I base this on three main premises: Abundance of data, accessibility to tools, and the dispersion of information. Let’s dive into each of these arguments a bit further.

Abundance of Data

One of the main reasons why AI is so powerful today is due to the fact that data is ubiquitous and it is increasing every single day. Businesses today have a lot of data sitting around and not being used to get any form of insights in order to drive growth or solve a problem.

Some of these data are indeed worthless while others are pretty valuable if they can find the correct methods to tap into the data and generate insights.

You have two types of data that can be collected today, Internal and external, internal data is normal data that a business collects such as sales data, financial data, document data, and other miscellaneous forms of data.

External data is data from the wild, this can be from an external data source such as from the internet that can be collected and further add value to the overall pipeline.

Accessibility to Tools

Tools are all around us to get the job done these days. Especially with the creation of ChatGPT and other chatbots, it’s quite remarkable the value you can derive by interacting with a chatbot. This talk below can show you the powers of ChatGPT and a glimpse of the future.

Dispersion of Information

Information on how to use tools and take advantage of this era of analyzing data is all around us. It’s way easier today to learn how to use these tools from a simple Google search or by talking to a chatbot. There are no excuses at all as the information is out there.

Now What?

Basically, research on how to incorporate some of these tools into your business workflow the value they provide is quite immense and it will pay off in the future.