The SEC Newgate AI Weekly

This week we’ve seen some interesting stories around governance and regulation of generative AI, as well as new developments in the copyright concerns raised by media, broadcast and publishing companies a few months ago. But we start with the best and worst of new AI-driven apps. 

A number of publications have covered the story of Google’s DeepMind testing a new ‘personal life coach’ AI tool. Most raise concerns at this stage, but it’s a topic we see becoming more popular as general AI continues to become part of daily life. 

While BeReal users stand by its refreshing ‘anti-social media’ proposition (myself included), we now have its AI antithesis – BeFake. In a similar process, users receive a daily notification to post a photo, but this time “using a prompt to concoct any AI-augmented selfie their hearts desire.” 

As discussed in previous issues of AI weekly, we are continuing to see firms and publications take the lead around regulation and governance of AI. The Associated Press joined the party this week, issuing its own guidelines on AI, “saying the tool cannot be used to create publishable content and images for the news service while encouraging staff members to become familiar with the technology.” 

The narrative continues in the media, broadcast and publishing world, where creative industries have spoken of fears around copyright infringement – and this week has seen the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport voice its involvement. 

Bloomberg’s latest ‘The Big Take’ podcast addresses new risks that hackers and scammers pose with AI as a tool at their disposal – and how financial services firms are mitigating these new threats. 

Elsewhere in worrying news, Reuters reported that AI use in online influence and ‘manipulative information’ campaigns is on the rise, but that its impact is limited. 

A few stories have emerged predicting the end of OpenAI – citing recent debate around the filing for ‘GPT’ trademark and that leaner competitors with open source models will continue to threaten. 

“Cute, but not a game changer:” while Microsoft continues to invest in Bing’s AI capabilities – and sees it as a mechanism to get closer to its competitors – it’s still not looking like seriously challenging Google. 

Profound story of the week, for me, comes in Inside Higher Ed magazine’s down-to-earth take on how generative AI is similar to when the invention of the camera changed how we depict visual information – and the legal and ethical considerations that come with such a change. 

It addresses copyright concerns across written and visual content, but questions boundaries of how much of the artistic process is ownable. 

“It’s the same when David Hockney paints his spring still life in Normandy […] How much was he influenced by say, Monet? And how much was he influenced by some TV program that he saw the night before? Nobody really knows.”