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| Here are today's top AI stories: - Pope Francis urges international treaty to regulate AI.
- U.S. regulators warn of AI's risks to financial system.
- Intel reveals AI-optimized chips for PCs and data centers.
- Putin interacts with AI-generated deepfake of himself.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Pope Francis is urging global countries to work together to adopt a legally binding treaty to regulate AI. His message for World Peace Day, themed "Artificial Intelligence and Peace," highlighted the pope's concerns about dangerous technology advances and their risks to democratic societies, including AI-generated disinformation campaigns. More: - Francis is calling for an international treaty to regulate AI's development and use.
- In his message, he wrote that human morality and ethics are "more than a complex collection of algorithms," and questions need to be asked about new tech's impact on lives and societies.
- The Pope warned against AI-driven weapons, calling them a grave ethical concern, and raised concerns about technology misuse, such as election interference and the rise of surveillance.
- His prayer for the New Year is that AI's rapid growth won't "increase cases of inequality and injustice all too present in today's world."
- Rather, Francis said he hopes AI "will help put an end to wars and conflicts and alleviate many forms of suffering that afflict our human family."
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| 2 | | U.S. regulators issued their first warning about AI as an "emerging vulnerability" to financial markets. In its annual report, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) identified AI as a risk to financial stability. More: - During an FSOC meeting, which included leaders from the Federal Reserve and SEC, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed the group's commitment to monitoring evolving technologies like AI and their risks.
- The group's report identified risks from AI in financial institutions, such as lending bias, particularly in AI programs that operate as "black boxes."
- AI systems with explainability issues could generate or mask biased or inaccurate outcomes, affecting areas like fair lending, the report stated.
- The council noted that AI can drive innovation and efficiencies, but using it in financial services will require "thoughtful implementation and supervision to manage potential risks."
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| 3 | | Intel unveiled three AI-optimized processors for PCs and data centers. Intel's latest chips, revealed at its "AI Everywhere" event on Thursday, will rival offerings from Nvidia and AMD. More: - Intel showed off its Gaudi 3 AI accelerator, a chip for generative AI software, which is scheduled to launch next year, competing with Nvidia's H100.
- Its new Intel Core Ultra processors, previously codenamed "Meteor Lake," have a built-in neural processing unit (NPU) to run AI programs faster. They are designed for Windows laptops and PCs.
- Intel also introduced its fifth-generation Xeon server chips for data centers, featuring NPUs and AI acceleration in each core. They are optimized for AI inferencing tasks.
Zoom out: - CEO AI Pat Gelsinger said AI innovation could potentially boost the digital economy's impact up to as much as one-third of global GDP.
- The company also forecasts that AI-powered PCs will make up 80% of PC sales by 2028.
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| 4 | | Google unveiled MedLM, a pair of healthcare-focused AI models available to cloud customers through its Vertex AI platform. MedLM includes a large and medium-sized AI model that can perform tasks like summarizing doctor-patient interactions and translating them into medical notes. Details: MedLM is specifically designed to deliver high-quality generative AI results within the medical field. The larger MedLM model is more suitable for complex tasks, like analyzing data from patient populations, while the medium-sized model is recommended for specific or real-time functions, like summarizing doctors' appointments. The bigger picture: MedLM is built on Google's Med-PaLM 2 large language model, which was trained on a vast amount of medical data. In July, Google said it was testing the Med-PaLM 2 AI chat technology at hospitals like Mayo Clinic. While still in the early stages, the AI tool can also answer medical questions and offer healthcare assistance. What the numbers show: Google's medical AI rollout comes after a Wolters Kluwer Health survey showing mixed public views on GenAI in healthcare. 44% of Americans surveyed expressed concerns about GenAI in healthcare, while only 20% said they were excited. Four out of five people said they would be concerned knowing GenAI was used in their care, though that figure dropped to three out of five if they knew the AI was created by doctors, updated, and came from a long-time healthcare source. Despite the concerns, 44% of Americans still believed GenAI is ready to be used in healthcare, though that support for readiness varied by use case: 
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| 5 | | Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged with an AI-generated version of himself during a public Q&A session on Thursday. The AI "double" questioned Putin about the existence of his alleged digital lookalikes and the risks posed by the technology. More: - The interaction occurred during an annual news conference, where callers from Russia connected to Putin via video link.
- Putin appeared surprised when a person claiming to be a student from Saint Petersburg phoned in appearing as an AI deepfake of the president.
- The person asked about rumors of Putin using digital "body doubles" and the "dangers" posed by AI and neural networks.
- Putin, after a brief hesitation, responded that only he should resemble him and speak with his voice.
- "That is my first double, by the way," Putin added.
Zoom out: - During a conference last month, Putin said his country aims to develop AI capabilities to prevent Western countries from "monopolizing" the sector.
- Putin said existing AI systems are "trained on Western data" and "reflect Western ethics" to which Russia does not adhere.
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| 6 | | Cruise, GM's self-driving car subsidiary, is laying off nearly 25% of its workforce after suspending its driverless operations on U.S. streets. The layoffs will impact roughly 900 of its 3,800 full-time employees, mainly in non-engineering roles, with affected workers receiving a minimum of 16 weeks' pay. More: - The company is managing the fallout from an Oct. 2 incident in which a pedestrian was struck by a Cruise vehicle in San Francisco.
- Following the incident, California DMV suspended the company's driverless permit, and Cruise halted its driverless operations entirely.
- In November, Cruise recalled 950 robotaxis after reports that its AI technology had difficulty identifying children and large holes in the road.
- The company was reportedly aware of the issue but kept the vehicles operational.
Zoom out: - Shortly after the Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt and co-founder Daniel Kan resigned, Cruise let go of nine executives, including COO Gil West.
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- H&R Block has launched AI Tax Assist, a chatbot that answers tax-related questions.
- Spotify is testing its AI-driven playlist creation feature. Users can type in their own prompts or select from suggested ones, and the AI chatbot will generate a sample playlist.
- Instagram has rolled out an AI-powered "backdrop" tool that helps users create imaginative backgrounds for their Stories.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for notable publications like USA Today and the Arizona Business Gazette. During her time as a public policy reporter at The Arizona Republic, she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for her collaborative reporting on pension cost increases. Beth also authored a book on the solar photovoltaic industry in 2016. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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