Pope & Taiwan unite against AI 🤖

Reading time: 5 minutes  

 Newsletter | News | Tools 

Today we will discuss-

• ✊🏻Taiwan backs Pope's AI concerns

• 📳U.S. FCC proposes making AI robocalls illegal

•  ✍🏻UK and Canada sign AI agreement

• 😱11 amazing AI tools you might not have heard of

All this and more - Let's dive in!

👩‍🍳What’s cooking in the newsroom?

Taiwan President extends support to Pope Francis on AI concerns

♨️News - On 31 January, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen penned a letter to Pope Francis, extending support for his concerns about the use of AI technology. 

The letter was a reply to the pope's World Day of Peace message on 1 January, in which he emphasized the importance of preserving human values from algorithms and cautioned about a possible "technological dictatorship" that could put humanity at risk.

📬What did the letter say? In the letter, President Tsai acknowledged that AI-generated false information poses a significant challenge for democracies like Taiwan. She expressed a strong agreement with the Holy See's stance, stressing that human rights should not be controlled by algorithms.

To this end, the president noted that Taiwan would lead AI development by incorporating human values alongside technological advancements. She highlighted plans to collaborate with like-minded partners to minimize potential AI impacts and also committed to fostering stronger collaboration with the Vatican across various domains.

🏁Where does Taiwan stand in the AI race though? Taiwan is a key player in global AI development, known for being a powerhouse in chip development. The country is home to the world's largest contract chip maker - TMSC. It is worth noting that TMSC is a major supplier of semiconductors used by companies like Nvidia for AI applications, contributing significantly to the island's economic recovery.

FCC moves one step closer to making AI robocalls illegal in the U.S.

🗣️News - On 31 January, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced plans to criminalize unwanted robocalls featuring AI-generated voices.

An FCC spokesperson mentioned that the five-member commission is likely to vote on and approve the change in the upcoming weeks.

🧐What change will the proposal bring? The proposed change would make robocalls illegal under the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which regulates automated calls made without the receiver's consent. The change will specifically grant state attorneys general the authority to legally go after spammers who use AI.

However, it is important to remember that some automated calls are valid, and authorities will step in only if a call operation breaks the law.

🤔Why has this issue become important? In a recent statement, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pointed out that the use of AI-generated voice cloning and images is already creating confusion, as it deceives consumers into thinking scams and frauds are authentic.

The issue gained more attention last week when a false message, generated using AI to mimic President Joe Biden's voice, told New Hampshire residents not to vote in the state's primary election.

UK and Canada sign deal to share computing power for AI development

🤝🏻News - The UK and Canada have entered an agreement to work together and share computing power required for the advancement of AI research and development.

The agreement on compute power was signed in Ottawa by UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan and Canadian Minister for Innovation, Science, and Industry François-Phillippe Champagne. 

👨🏻‍💻What is compute power? Simply put, compute power is a computer's ability to process and analyze large amounts of data quickly. In AI development, it is vital for running complex algorithms and training advanced models. 

The availability of sufficient compute power enables researchers and developers to train more sophisticated AI models, handle larger datasets, and achieve better performance in terms of accuracy in AI applications.

Thus, as part of the agreement, the UK and Canada will explore ways to offer researchers and companies economical access to the high-powered computing capacity needed for state-of-the-art AI systems, helping them stay competitive on a global scale.

👩🏼‍💻What else is happening?

• US receives thousands of reports of AI-generated child abuse content in growing risk

• Tesla robot Optimus accompanies Elon Musk ‘for a walk’

• Microsoft, OpenAI in talks to fund figure AI’s humanoid robots

• Volkswagen sets up its own AI lab as car industry looks to embrace the tech

• More than half of UK undergraduates say they use AI to help with essays

👨🏻‍🎓Did you know?

• The first AI program to recognize faces was created in 1998 by Mitsubishi Electric. The program was called Face Recognition System, and it was able to recognize faces with 90% accuracy.

• The very first AI program to write news articles was created in 2012 by The Associated Press. The program was called Wordsmith, and it was able to write news articles that were indistinguishable from those written by humans.

• In 2020, the Estonian Ministry of Justice introduced the world's first AI-powered "robot judge." The AI, known as Liisi, was used to handle small claims disputes with the hopes of clearing the backlog for judges and court clerks.

👩🏼‍🚒Discover mind-blowing AI tools

1. Happyml - A tool that allows users to create, educate, and deploy chatbots with customizable prompts, appearances, tones, and actions**

2. You Got Cooking - A free online tool that provides recipe suggestions based on the ingredients you already have at home

3. StudyX - An all-in-one homework help tool that provides access to millions of community answers

4. Doors - A tool that allows homeowners, real estate investors, and architects to visualize home makeovers

5. Taranify - A platform that uses AI technology to provide mood-based recommendations for music, shows and books

6. WELLNESS.XYZ - An AI-powered tool developed to assist long COVID patients with symptom management

7. Fornax - A tool that offers instant slide-by-slide feedback on pitch decks

8. Thumbly - A tool that generates attention-grabbing YouTube thumbnails in seconds

9. Mememes - An app that allows users to turn themselves into famous memes

10. Human or Not? - A Turing test game where users chat for two minutes to determine if they are talking to an AI bot or a human

11. Virtual CMO - A free marketing tool that helps solopreneurs solve any marketing problem in just one minute

🤳AI-generated influencers

• Qai Qai is an AI family doll owned by Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian. The digital darling is rapidly gaining viral status with her witty and sassy persona. On TikTok, she has 3.7 million followers, where she dances and lip-syncs.

• Blu is an AI character that portrays an alien content creator living aboard the Xanadu spaceship. His Instagram offers a unique, cosmic perspective on life. His personal mission is to take over the galaxy and build his own empire.

• Bermuda is a virtual influencer from Los Angeles, who identifies as a robot woman. Her aim is to motivate young entrepreneurs to go after their business goals. She also hopes to further her music career and has already released a cover of Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers on Spotify.

[The tool marked with ** is a sponsored feature.]