Oxford study finds AI performance tests lack scientific rigor

Widely used tests to measure artificial intelligence capabilities may be fundamentally flawed and oversell AI performance, according to a new study from the Oxford Internet Institute. Researchers examined 445 benchmarks that AI developers use to evaluate their models and found significant methodological problems. Jared Perlo reports for NBC News that roughly half of the benchmarks …

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AI browsers can bypass paywalls and content blockers

OpenAI’s Atlas and Perplexity’s Comet pose new challenges for publishers trying to control AI access to their content. These AI browsers can retrieve paywalled articles that traditional AI interfaces cannot access, the Columbia Journalism Review reports. The browsers succeed because they appear identical to human users in website logs. While automated crawlers identify themselves with …

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Most employees use unapproved AI tools and share sensitive company data

A new survey reveals that 59% of employees in the United States use AI tools at work without their employer’s approval, with three-quarters of them sharing potentially sensitive information with these platforms. Cybernews reports on the findings, which highlight a growing shadow AI problem in corporate environments. The study shows that executives and senior managers …

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Coca-Cola uses AI to produce holiday ads faster and cheaper

Coca-Cola has released new holiday commercials created with AI, a year after its first AI-generated ads drew criticism from creative professionals. Katie Deighton reports for The Wall Street Journal. The new “Holidays Are Coming” campaign includes two commercials produced by AI studios Silverside and Secret Level. Chief Marketing Officer Manolo Arroyo says the production was …

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Adobe report finds 86 percent of creators use generative AI

The vast majority of global content creators have integrated creative generative AI into their work, according to a new study from Adobe. The company’s inaugural “Creators’ Toolkit Report” found that 86 percent of creators now use these tools, with 76 percent stating it has helped grow their business and personal brand. The global report, which …

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Real estate agents use AI to create listings, raising concerns about deception

Real estate agents are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence to create marketing materials for properties. Kat Tenbarge reports for Wired that agents use AI tools to generate videos from photos, virtually furnish empty rooms, and write listing descriptions. An expert from the National Association of Realtors estimates that a vast majority of real estate professionals …

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This simple sentence can make AI models more creative

Researchers have developed a method called Verbalized Sampling that uses a single sentence to make generative AI models produce more diverse and creative responses. The technique works on large language models like GPT-4 and Claude without requiring any retraining. Carl Franzen reports for VentureBeat that this method addresses the common problem of AI models giving …

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Wikipedia reports a significant drop in visitors due to generative AI

The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization behind Wikipedia, is experiencing a dangerous decline in human traffic. The foundation attributes this to generative AI chatbots and search engines summarizing Wikipedia content directly for users. Emanuel Maiberg reports for 404 Media. This trend means people get information without visiting the online encyclopedia, which threatens its long-term sustainability. …

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Airbnb CEO finds OpenAI tools not yet ready for a ChatGPT integration

Airbnb Inc. is holding off on integrating its travel app into OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. According to CEO Brian Chesky, the startup’s tools for app integration are not “quite ready” yet. Natalie Lung reports for Bloomberg that while competitors like Booking and Expedia have already launched integrations, Airbnb will wait. Chesky explained that because Airbnb is …

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MIT researchers create AI models that can teach themselves

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a technique that allows large language models to improve on their own. Carl Franzen reports for VentureBeat that the method, called SEAL, enables AI to autonomously generate its own training data. Instead of relying on fixed external datasets, models using the SEAL framework create instructions …

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