Data Science

My Sunday essay, "Talking to Data: The Real Power of Generative AI," is about the prevailing misconception that platforms like ChatGPT have a near-magical ability to answer intricate business questions… but the devil is in the details. The true magic of generative AI emerges when businesses create systems that empower their workforces to "talk" directly to their own data. Continue Reading →

A prevailing misconception suggests that generative AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, possess an almost mystical ability to provide answers to intricate business queries. "How can I sell more widgets in Wyoming?" seems like a simple question, but without the right data, even the most advanced AI systems won't help you. At the heart of this misconception is an overestimation of AI's capabilities. While generative AI is undeniably powerful, it cannot conjure insights from thin air. The adage "Garbage in, garbage out" remains as relevant as ever. In the context of AI, this translates to "You can't analyze data you don't have." Continue Reading →

As we stand on the precipice of an overwhelmingly AI-driven financial world, we must ask ourselves: Are we prepared for the potential fallout? Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, has sounded the alarm bells, suggesting that AI could be at the heart of future financial crises. His insights, drawn from a paper he penned in 2020, shed light on the risks of AI in financial markets and the limitations of regulatory bodies in addressing these challenges. Continue Reading →

Meta AI has introduced AudioCraft, a text-to-music AI model that does an impressive job of composing, arranging, orchestrating, and playing in a wide range of musical styles. Not only can it create or mimic a melody, but it also engineers and produces fully finished work, some of which is already suitable for commercial use – and this is only V1. Imagine where the state-of-the-art will be a year from now. Continue Reading →

At CES 2017, wearing complexity as a badge of honor, Mark Fields (Ford Motor Company CEO) told a room full of tech analysts and reporters that the onboard computers in a Ford GT 25 were running 10 million lines of code – more than Lockheed used in an F-35 fighter jet. He proudly announced that all Ford motor vehicles were going to be, "computers on wheels." Continue Reading →

Can you name the three most famous Impressionist artists? Or describe the color palette and techniques that define Color Field Painting or Naive Art? Your ability to answer these questions will have a big impact on your experience with text-to-image generators like Midjourney. But what if you haven’t been to art school or spent years studying art history? Continue Reading →

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has open-sourced LLAMA 2, its advanced AI model. Zuck might be onto something here. Let's explore what LLAMA 2 brings to the table, its potential applications, and the implications of this open-source move for the AI community at large. Continue Reading →

China has laid out a blueprint for regulating generative AI – technology that powers chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. Overseen by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the new regulations set parameters on the public use of AI. The law instructs Chinese AI systems to adhere to "core socialist values," which raises some interesting questions. Continue Reading →

Large Language Models (LLMs) are transforming the way we interact with technology. These models, developed by leading tech companies such as OpenAI, Replicate, Cohere, Hugging Face, and Anthropic, to name a few, are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in natural language processing. Here's a short overview of the most popular LLMs from these companies, exploring their unique capabilities and best use cases. Continue Reading →

For the past several years I've been publishing various versions of the "11 Hottest Tech Trends of 1776." This year, I thought it would be fun to ask ChatGPT for some help. So I asked it to read the previous versions of the article and if it could "think of any other technological advancements between 1750 and 1800 that would be a good addition to this story." It could and it did. So here, for your Independence Day reading pleasure, are the 18 hottest tech trends circa 1776. Continue Reading →