Where we bring you news, innovations, and thought-provoking insights from AI, IT, and beyond. In this week’s newsletter we’re looking at:
- 12-character password minimums
- OpenAI’s new chatbot ‘store’
- Foldable phones are… cool?
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
🤖 Can Tomorrow’s Internet Be Trusted?
According to experts, AI-generated content is predicted to make up 99% or more of all internet information in the near future. This raises concerns because if social media acted as a catalyst for misinformation, AI only amplifies this by producing content that is faster, more intelligent, personalized, and persuasive. In fact, research indicates that AI-generated misinformation can be even more compelling than false content crafted by humans.
Samantha Bradshaw, a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and an assistant professor at American University’s School of International Service, explains that with AI, we may no longer encounter the spelling and grammar errors typical of human-generated misinformation. Instead, AI can write content that is not only more articulate and concise in the target audience’s language but can also be tailored to specific communities. Bradshaw explains that large language models (LLMs) can be instructed to make text kinder, more compassionate, or to align more closely with the values of a particular user community, thereby enhancing the persuasiveness of the message.
TL;DR
- It’s estimated that 99% to 99.9% of the internet’s content will be AI-generated by 2025 to 2030, especially if models like OpenAI’s GPT-3 achieve wider adoption.
- Models can generate incorrect text that appears convincing, which could be used to generate false narratives quickly and cheaply for conspiracy theorists and disinformation campaigns.
- AI is widely known to reproduce the biases of its creators — and that’s without getting into the fear that it will start to fill the web with limitless amounts of targeted misinformation.
TECH HEADLINES FROM ACROSS THE WEB
🔒 LastPass is Enforcing Longer Passwords
LastPass is implementing a 12-character minimum for master passwords, urging existing users with shorter passwords to reset them. While the 12-character requirement has been communicated to users since 2018, long-time users with shorter passwords were previously allowed. In a phased rollout this month, older accounts not meeting the minimum will receive prompts to update their passwords. This action follows a LastPass breach in early 2022 that exposed millions of customers’ password vaults.
🛒 OpenAI to Open Chatbot ‘Store’
OpenAI is introducing a marketplace designed for the trading and sale of personalized artificial intelligence (AI) models. This “store” enables users to sell or share modified chatbots, catering to specific needs like lesson planning for educators. Originally scheduled for a November 2023 launch, the opening of was postponed due to a leadership crisis at OpenAI, a prominent player in the development of chatbots driven by extensive language models.
👾 Competition in the Chip Market Heats Up
Qualcomm has unveiled an enhanced iteration of its chip, tailored for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) devices, with the aim of enhancing the detail and realism of headsets. The Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 Platform represents an upgrade to Qualcomm’s XR2 Gen 2 platform, previously utilized in Meta’s Quest 3 VR headset. Companies like Samsung and HTC Vive are building devices based on the new chip as they prepare to compete with Apple’s upcoming mixed-reality Vision Pro.
FOLDABLE PHONES ARE IN
Although smartphone sales are anticipated to slow down globally this year, there’s a continued upward trend in premium phone sales. Apple remains the dominant player in the premium market; however, new data reveals an interesting shift: foldable phones are making inroads against the iPhone.
As of the close of 2023, Apple retained a 71% market share, down from 75% in 2022. This shift is attributed to the sales success of Huawei’s foldable Mate 60 series and Samsung’s latest flip and foldable models in the Chinese market, establishing themselves as distinguishing factors in the premium segment.
