AI April 4, 2023
Google’s Bard Cannibalized ChatGPT Data Claims Outgoing Whistleblower
A former AI researcher at Google has claimed that the tech firm is training its propriety chatbot Bard on stolen ChatGPT data.
The top AI man resigned from his post earlier this year and made shocking claims about his former employer on the way out.
im not that annoyed at google for training on chatgpt output, but the spin is annoying
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 31, 2023
So long Google
Senior AI researcher Jacob Devlin recently switched allegiances from Google to OpenAI. In a parting shot to the company that formerly employed him, Devlin alleges that Google is playing less than fair by stealing information from ChatGPT.
According to Devlin, Bard is being trained on data taken indirectly from OpenAI. A spokesperson for Google has denied the claims.
“Bard is not trained on any data from ShareGPT or ChatGPT,” the spokesperson said to The Verge.
Devlin contradicts this denial. In conversation with The Information, Devlin says Bard is being trained on information taken from ShareGPT. ShareGPT is a site in which users share exchanges they have had with ChatGPT.
While training Bard on ChatGPT may appear to be a shortcut, Devlin warned executives at Google that their actions could prove damaging in the longer run. According to Devlin, training Bard from ChatGPT data runs the risk of making Bard little more than a ChatGPT clone.
Devlin also stated his firmly held belief that Google’s practices are in breach of OpenAI’s terms of service. What OpenAI intends to do about the breach is less clear.
Sam Altman seemed unconcerned with the story on Friday. The ChatGPT CEO took to his Twitter account to say, “I’m not that annoyed at google for training on chatgpt output.”
As others on social media were quick to point out ChatGPT is itself trained on data scraped from the internet.
Andrew Lacy’s response typified the response of users on Twitter.
“Good clarification,” said Lacy. “It would otherwise be ironical [sic] to get upset about someone training off chatGPT when openai trained off people-created data by scraping the web. What is good for the goose is good for the gander, no?”
The exodus
Devlin is not the only member of staff who has left Google to join the AI rival. As the race to chatbot supremacy shifts up a gear the demand for experienced researchers and developers increases. With a scarcity of talent the main contenders are poaching staff from each other.
According to research from LeadGenius and Punks & Pinstripes OpenAI hired upwards of 50 former staff from Google, as well as considerable numbers from Meta as well.
Many of the staff are not quiet about the transfers either, taking to social media to advertise their departure.
While many have made the switch Devlin is among the biggest scalps that OpenAI has claimed. The researcher worked at Google for 5 years and was the lead author of a significant research paper focused on training machine learning models for search accuracy. The paper has been credited with helping to initiate the AI boom, filtering into both Google and OpenAI’s large language models.
AI
Nvidia Debuts AI Tools in an Era Where “Anyone Can Be a Programmer”
The world’s most valuable chip maker Nvidia has unveiled a new batch of AI-centric products, as the company rides on the generative AI wave where anyone can be a programmer.
Nvidia announced a new supercomputer and a networking system, while the company also aims to make video game characters more realistic.
The wide range of products include robotics design, gaming capabilities, advertising services, and networking technology, which CEO Jensen Huang unveiled during a two-hour presentation in Taiwan on Monday.
Also read: Google Claims its AI Computer Outperforms Nvidia’s A100 Chip
Most notable of the new products is the AI supercomputer platform named DGX GH200 that will help tech companies create successors to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
According to the company, the new DGX GH200 supercomputers combine 256 GH200 superchips that can act as a single graphics processing unit (GPU). The result is a system that boasts nearly 500 times the memory of a single Nvidia’s DGX A100 system.
“Generative AI, large language models, and recommender systems are the digital engines of modern economy,” said Huang.
“DGX GH200 AI supercomputers integrate Nvidia’s most advanced accelerated computing and networking technologies to expand the frontier of AI.”
So far, Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., and Alphabet’s Google are expected to be among the first users, according to Nvidia.
The DGX GH200 supercomputers are expected to be available by the end of 2023.
The GH200 superchips which power the new supercomputer work by combining Nvidia’s Arm-based Grace GPU and an Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPU in a single package.
The chipmaker also revealed that it’s building its own supercomputer running four DGX 200 systems at the same time to power its own research.
Nvidia also released its ACE generative AI model for video games, enabling gaming companies to use generative AI for large games with multiple non-player characters, giving them unique lines of dialogue and ways to interact with players that would normally need to be individually programmed.
Easy ad content
Alongside the hardware announcement, the company said it has partnered with advertising giant WPP to create a content engine that uses its Omniverse technology and generative AI capabilities to help build out ad content.
The move is intended to cut down the time and cost of producing ads by enabling WPP’s clients to lean on Nvidia’s technology.
Electronics manufacturers such as Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron are using Omniverse technology to create digital twins of their factory floors, so they can get a sense of how best to lay them out before making any physical changes.
A new computing era
Presenting at the forum, Huang acknowledged that advancements in AI are ushering in a new era in computing. He says anyone can be a programmer simply by speaking to the computer.
According to the Nvidia boss, gone are the days when programmers would write lines of code, only for it to display the “fail to compile” response because of a missing semicolon.
“This computer doesn’t care how you program it, it will try to understand what you mean, because it has this incredible large language model capability. And so the programming barrier is incredibly low,” said Huang.
“We have closed the digital divide. Everyone is a programmer. Now, you just have to say something to the computer,” he added.
Huang said his company has managed to bridge the digital gap, and the tech giant will continue to capitalize on the AI frenzy that has made Nvidia one of the world’s most valuable chipmakers.
Nvidia’s stock price is rising
Nvidia’s major announcements came as shares of the tech giant jumped last week on news that the company anticipated second quarter revenue above Wall Street’s expectations, based on the strength of its data center business.
The company hit the $1 trillion market cap just before the US markets opened on Tuesday. Its shares are trading at $407 in the pre-market, nearly 5% up from Monday.
Nvidia’s shares were up more than 165% year-to-date as of Friday afternoon, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) just 9.5% higher in the same frame.
Rival chip maker AMD has experienced a similar boost in share price, rising 93%. However, Intel (INTC) is lagging behind with shares up just 8%.
According to Yahoo Finance tech editor Daniel Howley, while analysts see Nividia well ahead of its chip rivals in the AI processing space, how long that continues to be the case is anyone’s guess.
AI
ChatGPT’s Bogus Citations Land US Lawyer in Hot Water
A lawyer in the United States is facing disciplinary action after his law firm used popular AI chatbot ChatGPT for legal research and cited fake cases in a lawsuit.
Steven A. Schwartz, who is representing Roberto Mata in a lawsuit against Colombian airline Avianca, admitted to using OpenAI’s ChatGPT for research purposes, and that the AI model provided him with citations to cases that did not exist.
Mata is suing Avianca for a personal injury caused by a serving cart in 2019, claiming negligence by an employee.
Also read: Opera Unveils GPT-Powered AI Chatbot Aria
Bogus all the way
According to a BBC report, the matter came to light after Schwartz, a lawyer with 30 years experience, used these cases as precedent to support Mata’s case.
But the opposing counsel flagged the ChatGPT-generated citations as fake. US District Court Judge Kevin Castel confirmed six of them as non-existent. He demanded an explanation from Schwartz, an attorney with New York-based law company Levidow, Levidow & Oberman.
“Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations,” Judge Castel wrote in a May 4 order.
“The court is presented with an unprecedented circumstance.”
The supposed cases include: Varghese v. China South Airlines, Martinez v. Delta Airlines, Shaboon v. EgyptAir, Petersen v. Iran Air, Miller v. United Airlines, and Estate of Durden v. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, none of which did not appear to exist to either the judge or defense.
Lawyer claims ignorance
ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. Launched in November, the AI is trained on billions of data from the Internet and can perform a variety of tasks like generate text, translate languages, and even write poetry, and solve difficult math problems.
But ChatGPT is prone to “hallucinations” – tech industry speak for when AI chatbots produce false or misleading information, often with confidence.
In an affidavit last week, Schwartz said he was “unaware of the possibility that its [ChatGPT] content could be false.” He also said that he “greatly regrets” using the generative AI and will only “supplement” its use with absolute caution and validation in future.
Schwartz claimed to have never used ChatGPT prior to this case. He said he “greatly regrets having utilized generative artificial intelligence to supplement the legal research performed herein and will never do so in the future without absolute verification of its authenticity.”
A lawyer used ChatGPT to do "legal research" and cited a number of nonexistent cases in a filing, and is now in a lot of trouble with the judge 🤣 pic.twitter.com/AJSE7Ts7W7
— Daniel Feldman (@d_feldman) May 27, 2023
The career attorney now faces a court hearing on June 8 after accepting responsibility for not confirming the authenticity of the ChatGPT sources. Schwartz was asked to show cause why he shouldn’t be sanctioned “for the use of a false and fraudulent notarization.”
ChatGPT’s confident lies
According to the BBC report, Schwartz’s affidavit contained screenshots of the attorney that confirmed his chats with ChatGPT.
Schwartz asked the chatbot, “is varghese a real case?”, to which ChatGPT responded “yes, [it] is a real case.” When asked for sources, it told the attorney that the case could be found “on legal research databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis”.
Again, the attorney asked: “Are the other cases you provided fake?” ChatGPT responded “No”, adding that the cases could be found on other legal databases. “I apologize for the confusion earlier,” ChatGPT said.
“Upon double-checking, I found the case Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd., 925 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 2019), does indeed exist and can be found on legal research databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis. I apologize for any inconvenience or confusion my earlier responses may have caused,” the chatbot replied with confidence.
AI
Sandbox Founder Remains Bullish on Metaverse ‘Marathon of Many Sprints’
Sandbox founder Sebastian Borget has described the metaverse race as a ‘marathon of many sprints,’ as the industry moves beyond the hype cycle to build real value.
Borget remains bullish on the sector and sees opportunities for AI to play its role in building the metaverse stronger, better, and faster.
Raising funds
In November 2021, during the height of metaverse mania, Sandbox raised $93 million at an undisclosed valuation. Today Borget and the company he leads must contend with more challenging macroeconomic conditions, as well as the new technology hype trend – AI.
But Borget remains bullish despite tech’s shifting focus. The co-founder and COO is confident that the company can raise more capital if required, though it may take a little longer given current market conditions.
“Running the Sandbox is like a long marathon of many sprints,” an unfazed Borget told Forbes last week.
Borget firmly believes that the metaverse is poised to become a multi-billion dollar sector. Multiple industries are now finding real value in the metaverse and metaverse-related products, extracting profits from their forays into the virtual plane. As Borget sees it, this augurs well for Sandbox.
“We’ve been very attached to showing concretely what is possible in the metaverse as early as possible. We’ve showcased that it’s not just about gaming, but a new format of entertainment that lies between social interaction and gamification,” said Borget.
“And we’re going to showcase that the Sandbox is resilient and not depending on tech or crypto market crash,” he added.
🔷 @BBC is joining The Sandbox! 🔷
In partnership with @RealityPlusWeb3, favorite brands like @BBC_TopGear and @DoctorWho_BBCA will be bringing immersive new experiences to our community playing around the world! 🌐https://t.co/mpAPLj3ru5
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) May 25, 2023
That resilience will come down to Sandbox’s popularity and whether it can build critical partnerships and establish a thriving community of users. Since its launch in 2018, the virtual world has enticed 23,500 users to buy virtual land plots. The corporation has further signed 400 brand partnerships.
While these figures paint an optimistic picture of the future for Sandbox, there are still some challenges that lay ahead.
More to do
Sandbox has more to do if it is to be a long-term success story with usage of the platform in decline from last year. Sandbox had 100,000 players in the first quarter of 2023, representing a 72% drop from a comparable 10-week period that ended in November of 2022.
Active wallet addresses are also down 90% from their peak a year ago, according to data from CoinGecko and DappRadar.
Borget remains philosophical about the figures, pointing to the fact that users can visit the platform without making transactions. As for the transactions that were made, these amount to sales of $1 million.
“We have more creators than ever, more users than ever and more brands than ever,” said Borget. “It’s because there’s real utility behind virtual lands and avatars. People see that they can play, engage, and monetize their lands and creations.”
The co-founder is now predicting double-digit growth throughout the rest of the year. The next sprint cycle should see Sandbox fully open to the public as it moves beyond the beta phase.
Beyond that, the company plans to launch the metaverse project on smartphones next year. That would see Sandbox tap into the mobile gaming market, accounting for half of the gaming industry’s $183 billion revenue last year.
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