Hi there
Hope the weekend has treated you well and that you’re settling into what is shaping up to be a very exciting 2024 🤩 🔥
A few headlines from the world of AI to kickstart your Mondays:
Google Gemini – worth the hype? Maybe…
Bar their absolutely historic marketing disaster in February (probably history’s most expensive – costing Alphabet/Google $144bn?!) Google was almost conspicious in its absence in the AI wars until the very end of 2023. This is particularly interesting as they invented a range of key mechanisms underlying the current models of Generative AI (e.g., the transformer model) but maybe that absence is changing with the launch of Gemini. Demo video pitch here (which was reportedly heavily staged so take it with a pinch or two of salt) and an overview from MIT’s Tech Review here.
IBM and Meta’s new AI Alliance. Is 2024 the year of Open (Source) AI?
Remember that exhausting couple of days at OpenAI late November last year? Sam Altman got fired by the OpenAI board, joined Microsoft, the vast majority of OpenAI staff threatened to join him there unless the board resigned, which they then did and so Altman was reinstated at OpenAI with Microsoft now formally on the board – a busy three days or so that was. And days that raised interesting questions re. concentration of AI power in one set of hands… so it’s perhaps good news that IBM and Meta have instituted what they are calling the AI Alliance with the aim to advance open, safe, and responsible AI. They have convened a truly impressive global group of leading technology companies, universities, science organisations and non-profits ranging from Hugging Face to the Linux Foundation, from ETH Zurich to the University of California Berkeley, from CERN to NASA, and beyond (see pic). Watch this space…
AI Alliance Members (AI Alliance, 2023)
What do educators want to hear about generative AI? (Danny Liu – University of Sydney)
There’s a good chance you’ve heard of Danny Liu (University of Sydney) but, if not, definitely check him out. As far as innovative and influential Australasian “AI in HE” thinkers and innovators go, he is right up there. Over the course of 2023, Danny gave over 70 talks both domestically within Australia and internationally (including a fantastic and extremely well-received one for RMITV back in August). From this rich body of experience, he has collated a collection of what he has found speaks most to educators. Rich with resources, helpful metaphors, and links – this is a very generous share from a key Australasian AI in HE thought leader and well worth a look.
The AI Pedagogy Project (Harvard)
Fantastic resource out of Harvard seeking to answer key questions: how do we make informed, intentional decisions about the role of AI in the classroom? How can students develop critical relationships with these tools? How can imaginative applications of AI technologies enhance learning? The AI Pedagogy Project helps educators engage their students in conversations about the capabilities and limitations of AI informed by hands-on experimentation.
The Wizard of AI: the world’s first ever AI documentary – made by AI #meta
Visually stunning (see the image at top of this page and pics directly below) and, in a time where anyone with a Midjourney account/access to Dall-E can produce amazing artworks, probably an overdue bit of advocacy for artists. The Wizard of AI, commissioned by the Open Data Institute, is a 20m documentary on AI, WonderPanic, and “The Futch” that is very much worth a look.
The Wizard of AI (Open Data Institute, 2023)
The Wizard of AI (Open Data Institute, 2023)
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Until next time!