A selection of the most important recent news, articles, and papers about AI.
General News, Articles, and Analyses
1. The Root Causes of Failure for Artificial Intelligence Projects and How They Can Succeed: Avoiding the Anti-Patterns of AI | RAND
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2680-1.html
Authors: Ryseff, James; De Bruhl, Brandon; and Newberry, Sydne J.
(Tuesday, August 13, 2024) “By some estimates, more than 80 percent of AI projects fail — twice the rate of failure for information technology projects that do not involve AI. Thus, understanding how to translate AI’s enormous potential into concrete results remains an urgent challenge. The findings and recommendations of this report should be of interest to the U.S. Department of Defense, which has been actively looking for ways to use AI, along with other leaders in government and the private sector who are considering using AI/ML. The lessons from earlier efforts to build and apply AI/ML will help others avoid the same pitfalls.”
2. Amazon aims to launch delayed AI Alexa subscription in October
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/26/amazon-ai-alexa-launch-subscription-election/
Author: Caroline O’Donovan
(Monday, August 26, 2024) “The revamp of the voice assistant, which documents say will include a daily AI-generated news summary, would come just weeks before the U.S. presidential election.”
3. GenAI Increases Productivity & Expands Capabilities | BCG
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/gen-ai-increases-productivity-and-expands-capabilities
Authors: Daniel Sack; Lisa Krayer; Emma Wiles; Mohamed Abbadi; Urvi Awasthi; Ryan Kennedy; Cristián Arnolds; and François Candelon
(Thursday, August 29, 2024) “A new experiment shows that GenAI isn’t just a tool for increasing productivity—it can expand the range of tasks workers can perform.”
4. How AI Is Affecting Data Center Power Consumption | EdTech Magazine
Author: Tom Mangan
(Friday, August 30, 2024) “The waves of enthusiasm over generative artificial intelligence and apps such as ChatGPT are hitting the rocks of energy reality. With electricity costs climbing, higher education leaders are wondering how to fit AI into their sustainability goals.”
5. OpenAI, Anthropic agree to get their models tested for safety before making them public – Computerworld
Author: Anirban Ghoshal
(Friday, August 30, 2024) “The agreements signed with the US AI Safety Institute also include the entities engaging in collaborative research on evaluating capabilities and safety risks, and methods to mitigating those risks.”
6. Amazon Games ‘Regrets Confusion’ Over CEO’s AI and Voice Actor Comments After Harsh Online Criticism
Author: Kat Bailey
(Friday, August 30, 2024) “In a statement sent to IGN, Amazon Games sought to clarify remarks by Christoph Hartmann, saying that it “regrets the confusion” over his comments on voice actors and AI and calling them “essential creative contributors.” SAG-AFTRA was among the groups to criticize the remarks, calling for a “direct dialogue” on how AI can be used responsibly in voice acting.”
7. Generative AI backlash hits annual writing event, prompting resignations | Ars Technica
Author: Benj Edwards
(Wednesday, September 4, 2024) “NaNoWriMo refuses to condemn AI as accessibility tool, faces criticism from writers.”
8. How to Regulate Generative AI in Health Care
https://hbr.org/2024/09/how-to-regulate-generative-ai-in-healthcare
Authors: David Blumenthal and Bakul Patel
(Wednesday, September 4, 2024) “A challenge confronting the Food and Drug Administration — and other regulators around the world — is how to regulate generative AI. The approach it uses for new drugs and devices isn’t appropriate. Instead, the FDA should be conceiving of LLMs as novel forms of intelligence. It should employ similar approaches to those it applies to clinicians.”
