Artificial intelligence

Foursquare makes parts of its database publicly available. Gary Little writes in “Foursquare Open Source Places: A new foundational dataset for the geospatial community” for foursquare.com In an effort to change that dynamic, we are announcing today the general availability of a foundational open data set, Foursquare Open Source Places (“FSQ OS Places”). This base layer of 100mm+ global places of interest (“POI”) includes 22 core attributes (see schema here) that will be updated monthly and available for commercial use under the Apache 2.0 license framework. ...

Recently I had a conversation with an experienced manager responsible for over 300 employees. She expressed the view that in the next ten years we could see such significant advances in artificial intelligence (AI) that the skills shortage will no longer be a problem and we could all work less for the same productivity. I find that perspective interesting, but I’m more skeptical about what AI can actually do. While AI can certainly help automate repetitive tasks, I find the fear that AI could fully replace human creativity and complex interpersonal skills problematic. Creativity is more than recognizing patterns; it involves creating something entirely new — something that often has subtle, authentic nuances. ...

This study »AI models collapse when trained on recursively generated data« compellingly shows what happens when an AI uses its own texts as a basis. If this process is repeated — i.e., the AI is repeatedly fed its own generated texts — a clear pattern emerges by the ninth iteration at the latest: the output becomes increasingly nonsensical. Therefore, developers of AI models must carefully weigh which sources are truly valuable and which are better avoided. In this context, applying digital fingerprints to texts could make sense, if not become essential, to prevent AIs from consuming their own output1. Technically, however, this will not provide complete protection, since these mechanisms could be circumvented by using different GPT models. Even if AI providers agree on common fingerprinting methods, truly free chatbots running on local hardware will always be able to bypass such measures. ...

The developers of Procreate® have a clear stance on generative AI: they firmly reject its use in their products. In a Statement they emphasize: Generative AI is ripping the humanity out of things. Built on a foundation of theft, the technology is steering us toward a barren future. We think machine learning is a compelling technology with a lot of merit, but the path generative AI is on is wrong for us. ...

Raspberry Pi Ltd. recently announced the launch of its “Raspberry Pi AI Kit”. It includes an M.2 HAT+ with a Hailo-8L AI accelerator module. It pairs perfectly with the Raspberry Pi 5 and aims to enable both hobbyists and researchers to develop AI applications. Despite accelerators having existed for several years, I consider this announcement noteworthy. The use of AI chips is still relatively limited, with most tasks being handled by the GPU. I’m confident the Raspberry Pi’s creatively progressive community will identify use cases where such a chip is significantly more efficient than a dedicated graphics card. ...