🧑‍⚖️ Sam Altman gives testimony in front of the Senate

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What to decode:

• 🧑‍⚖️ Sam Altman gives testimony in front of the Senate

• 🤖 AI-powered robots make their debut

• 🧬 Transforming healthcare through AI innovation

• 🎓 Texas A&M professor penalizes all students for utilizing AI

Read time: 4 minutes

🧑‍⚖️ Sam Altman gives testimony in front of the Senate

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, along with other prominent industry leaders, recently provided testimony on artificial intelligence during a Senate Committee hearing.

The hearing lasted for three hours and offered a whirlwind of discussions. Among the various noteworthy points, there was unanimous agreement that regulation is necessary for AI. However, the challenge lies in the complexity of the issue, with no clear consensus on the best approach to tackle it.

During the hearing, Sam Altman made a surprising revelation: he does not hold any equity in OpenAI and solely receives a paycheck covering his health insurance expenses. This fact implies his genuine passion for the job he performs.

For those who wish to delve into the details, the complete hearing can be watched at this link. Alternatively, if you prefer a concise summary, you can enjoy a comprehensive recap by our favorite AI YouTuber, Matt Wolfe, available here.

🤖 AI-powered robots make their debut

Sanctuary AI, a robotics firm headquartered in Vancouver, has recently unveiled Phoenix, their latest humanoid robot intended for various workforce applications.

Standing at a height of 5'7" and weighing 155 pounds, this advanced robot possesses intricately designed hands that closely mimic human dexterity. With a lifting capacity of up to 55 pounds and a top speed of three miles per hour, Phoenix has showcased its practical capabilities during a week-long pilot program conducted at a retail store. Throughout the pilot, it successfully performed a wide range of tasks, including merchandise packing, cleaning, and tagging.

Almost immediately after the introduction of Phoenix, Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, also emerged onto the scene, announcing its presence through a debut tweet.

It's evident that the era of robots is upon us. The potential of humanoid robots like Phoenix is undeniably remarkable, but it also evokes a sense of trepidation in some individuals.

🧬 Transforming healthcare through AI innovation

Hippocratic AI, a healthcare-focused artificial intelligence (AI) company, is dedicated to developing AI-powered tools that prioritize safety. Their flagship product, a large language model (LLM), aims to replace WebMD and provide patients with reliable and secure AI-driven medical expertise.

The company was co-founded by a diverse team comprising physicians, hospital administrators, Medicare professionals, and AI researchers. Recently, Hippocratic AI successfully secured $50 million in seed funding from reputable investors General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz.

Munjal Shah, the CEO of Hippocratic AI, highlights the superior performance of their AI system compared to leading models such as GPT-4 and Claude across more than 100 healthcare certifications.

With both ample funding and a talented workforce, Hippocratic AI is poised to revolutionize the healthcare industry. It's exciting to observe the progress and development of this innovative venture.

🎓 Texas A&M professor penalizes all students for utilizing AI

In a shocking Reddit post, it was revealed that a commerce professor at Texas A&M University has allegedly failed every student in his entire class of seniors, thus preventing them from graduating.

The reason behind this drastic action was the professor's belief that the students had utilized ChatGPT to complete multiple assignments. The original poster (OP) shared an email from the professor, in which he explained that he had employed his personal ChatGPT account to review the students' assignments. Whenever the AI claimed to have generated the content, the students received a grade of zero.

However, it became evident that the professor had misunderstood the functioning of ChatGPT. The AI is not designed to identify whether the content was generated by an AI, and it often responds affirmatively with "Yes, I wrote that text" to almost any text presented to it.

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FASCINATING FINDS

• On this day - May 17, 1943, The US Army and the University of Pennsylvania sign a contract to develop ENIAC, which would become the world’s first fully electronic computer, making the use of vacuum tubes rather than electromagnetic switches. The Army wanted to use this computer to calculate ballistic firing tables in World War II. However, ENIAC was not completed until after the war was over and went on to solve complex mathematical problems in fields such as atomic energy and rocketry. (link)

• Weird but interesting - Without saliva, humans are unable to taste food.

• Mind-boggling statistics - Humans have existed for 0.000011% of the Universe's history.

MISCELLANEOUS

(News, podcasts, videos, blogs etc)

• Tom Hanks: I could appear in movies after death with AI technology. (link)

• Google Cloud launches AI powered tools to accelerate drug discovery, precision medicine. (link)

• Should we be polite to chatbots? (link)

• a16z-backed Rooms.xyz lets you build interactive, 3D rooms and simple games in your browser. (link)

• How people reacted to greatest inventions in history - From printing press to generative AI. (link)

• Kevin Systrom explains why Artifact wants to treat writers like the creators they are. (link)

• How small can language models be and still speak coherent English? (link)

• A guidance language for controlling LLMs. (link)

• Tech companies are racing to run generative AI on mobile but face hurdles like limited memory and processing power. (link)

• What Lightspeed is reading, listening, and thinking about AI. (link)

• SoundStorm - Efficient parallel audio generation. (link)

That's all for now!

As always, thanks for reading, and see you next time. 🫡