What Will Smart Software Change?
August 3, 2023
Note: Dinobaby here: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid. Services are now ejecting my cute little dinosaur gif. (´?_?`) Like my posts related to the Dark Web, the MidJourney art appears to offend someone’s sensibilities in the datasphere. If I were not 78, I might look into these interesting actions. But I am and I don’t really care.
Today (July 27, 2023) a person told me about “Photographs of People Making Books at the Collins Factory in 1960s Glasgow.” The write up is less compelling than the photographs. The online article features workers who:
- Organize products for shipping
- Setting type slugs with a hammer and chisel
- A person stitching book folios together
- A living artist making a plate
- A real person putting monotype back in a case.
I mention this because I have seen articles which suggest that smart software will not cause humans to lose their jobs. It took little time for publishers to cut staff and embrace modern production methods. It took less time for writers to generate a PDF and use an Amazon-type service to promote, sell, and distribute a book. Now smart software is allegedly poised to eliminate writers.
Will AI really create more work for humans?
The 1960s photos suggest that technology eliminates jobs in my opinion as it disrupts established work procedures and vaporizes norms which glue social constructs together. Anyone you know have the expertise to seat metal type with a hammer and chisel? I suppose I should have asked, “Does anyone near you scroll TikToks?”
Stephen E Arnold, August 3, 2023
The Authority of a Parent: In Question?
August 3, 2023
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
If we cannot scan the kids, let us scan the guardians. That is what the ESRB, digital identity firm Yoti, and kiddie marketing firm SuperAwesome are asking the Federal Trade Commission according to The Register‘s piece, “Watchdog Mulls Online Facial Age-Verification Tech—For Kids’ Parents.” The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires websites and apps to make kids under 13 get a parent’s permission before they can harvest that sweet, early stage personal data. It is during the next step the petitioners would like to employ age-verification software on the grown-ups. As writer Jessica Lyons Hardcastle describes, the proposed process relies on several assumptions. She outlines the steps:
“1. First, a child visits a website and hits an age gate. The operator then asks the kid for their parent’s email, sends a note to the parent letting them know that they need to verify that they’re an adult for the child to proceed, and offers the facial-age scanning estimation as a possible verification method.
2. (Yes, let’s assume for a moment that the kid doesn’t do what every 10-year-old online does and lie about their age, or let’s assume the website or app has a way of recognizing it’s dealing with a kid, such as asking for some kind of ID.)
3. If the parent consents to having their face scanned, their system then takes a selfie and the software provides an age estimate.
4. If the age guesstimate indicates the parent is an adult, the kid can then proceed to the website. But if it determines they are not an adult, a couple of things happen.
5. If ‘there is some other uncertainty about whether the person is an adult’ then the person can choose an alternative verification method, such as a credit card, driver’s license, or social security number.
6. But if the method flat out decides they are not an adult, it’s a no go for access. We’re also going to assume here that the adult is actually the parent or legal guardian.”
Sure, why not? The tech works by converting one’s face into a set of numbers and feeding that to an AI that has been trained to assess age with those numbers. According to the ESRB, the actual facial scans are not saved for AI training, marketing, or any other purpose. But taking them, and their data-hungry partners, at their word is yet another assumption.
Cynthia Murrell, August 3, 2023
When Wizards Flail: The Mysteries of Smart Software
July 18, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-30.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
How about that smart software stuff? VCs are salivating. Whiz kids are emulating Sam AI-man. Users are hoping there is a job opening for a Wal-Mart greeter. But there is a hitch in the git along; specifically, some bright experts are not able to understand what smart software does to generate output. The cloud of unknowing is thick and has settled over the Land of Obfuscation.
“Even the Scientists Who Build AI Can’t Tell You How It Works” has a particularly interesting kicker:
“We built it, we trained it, but we don’t know what it’s doing.”
A group of artificial intelligence engineers struggling with the question, “What the heck is the system doing?” A click of the slide rule for MidJourney for this dramatic depiction of AI wizards at work.
The write up (which is an essay-interview confection) includes some thought-provoking comments. Here are three; you can visit the cited article for more scintillating insights:
Item 1: “… with reinforcement learning, you say, “All right, make this entire response more likely because the user liked it, and make this entire response less likely because the user didn’t like it.”
Item 2: “… The other big unknown that’s connected to this is we don’t know how to steer these things or control them in any reliable way. We can kind of nudge them
Item 3: “We don’t have the concepts that map onto these neurons to really be able to say anything interesting about how they behave.”
Item 4: “… we can sort of take some clippers and clip it into that shape. But that doesn’t mean we understand anything about the biology of that tree.”
Item 5: “… because there’s so much we don’t know about these systems, I imagine the spectrum of positive and negative possibilities is pretty wide.”
For more of this type of “explanation,” please, consult the source document cited above.
Several observations:
- I like the nudge and watch approach. Humanoids learning about what their code does may be useful.
- The nudging is subjective (human skill) and the reference to growing a tree and not knowing how that works exactly. Just do the bonsai thing. Interesting but is it efficient? Will it work? Sure or at least as Silicon Valley thinking permits
- The wide spectrum of good and bad. My reaction is to ask the striking writers and actors what their views of the bad side of the deal is. What if the writers get frisky and start throwing spit balls or (heaven forbid) old IBM Selectric type balls. Scary.
Net net: Perhaps Google knows best? Tensors, big computers, need for money, and control of advertising — I think I know why Google tries so hard to frame the AI discussion. A useful exercise is to compare what Google’s winner in the smart software power struggle has to say about Google’s vision. You can find that PR emission at this link. Be aware that the interviewer’s questions are almost as long at the interview subject’s answers. Does either suggest downsides comparable to the five items cited in this blog post?
Stephen E Arnold, July 18, 2023
Financial Analysts, Lawyers, and Consultants Can See Their Future
July 17, 2023
It is the middle of July 2023, and I think it is time for financial analysts, lawyers, and consultants to spruce up their résumés. Why would a dinobaby make such a suggestion to millions of the beloved Millennials, GenXers, the adorable GenY folk, and the vibrant GenZ lovers of TikTok, BMWs, and neutral colors?
I read three stories helpfully displayed by my trusty news reader. Let’s take a quick look at each and offer a handful of observations.
The first article is “This CEO Replaced 90% of Support Staff with an AI Chatbot.” The write up reports:
The chief executive of an Indian startup laid off 90% of his support staff after the firm built a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence that he says can handle customer queries much faster than his employees.
Yep, better, faster, and cheaper. Pick all three which is exactly what some senior managers will do. AI is now disrupting. But what about “higher skill” jobs than talking on the phone and looking up information for a clueless caller?
The second article is newsy or is it newsie? “Open AI and Associated Press Announce Partnership to Train AI on New Articles” reports:
[The deal] will see OpenAI licensing text content from the AP archives that will be used for training large language models (LLMs). In exchange, the AP will make use of OpenAI’s expertise and technology — though the media company clearly emphasized in a release that it is not using generative AI to help write actual news stories.
Will these stories become the property of the AP? Does Elon Musk have confidence in himself?
Young professionals learning that they are able to find their future elsewhere. In the MidJourney confection is a lawyer, a screenwriter, and a consultant at a blue chip outfit selling MBAs at five times the cost of their final year at university.
I think that the move puts Google in a bit of a spot if it processes AP content and a legal eagle can find that content in a Bard output. More significantly, hasta la vista reporters. Now the elimination of hard working, professional journalists will not happen immediately. However, from my vantage point in rural Kentucky, I hear the train a-rollin’ down the tracks. Whooo Whooo.
The third item is “Producers Allegedly Sought Rights to Replicate Extras Using AI, Forever, for Just $200.” The write up reports:
Hollywood’s top labor union for media professionals has alleged that studios want to pay extras around $200 for the rights to use their likenesses in AI – forever – for just $200.
Will the unions representing these skilled professionals refuse to cooperate? Does Elon Musk like Grimes’s music?
A certain blue chip consulting firm has made noises about betting $2 billion on smart software and Microsoft consulting. Oh, oh. Junior MBAs, it may not be too late to get an associate of arts degree in modern poetry so you can work as a prompt engineer. As a famous podcasting person says, “What say you?”
Several questions:
- Will trusted, reliable, research supporting real news organizations embrace smart software and say farewell to expensive humanoids?
- Will those making videos use computer generated entities?
- Will blue chip consulting firms find a way to boost partners’ bonuses standing on the digital shoulders of good enough software?
I sure hope you answered “no” to each of these questions. I have a nice two cruzeiro collectable from Brazil, circa 1952 to sell you. Make me an offer. Collectible currency is an alternative to writing prompts or becoming a tour guide in Astana. Oh, that’s in Kazakhstan.
Smart software is a cost reducer because humanoids [a] require salaries and health care, [b] take vacations, [c] create security vulnerabilities or are security vulnerabilities, and [d] require more than high school science club management methods related to sensitive issues.
Money and good enough will bring changes in news, Hollywood, and professional services.
Stephen E Arnold, July 17, 2023
Microsoft Causing Problems? Heck, No
July 14, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-27.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
I cruised through the headlines my smart news system prepared for me. I noted two articles on different subjects. The two write ups were linked with a common point of reference: Microsoft Corp., home of the Softies and the throbbing heart of a significant portion of the technology governments in North America and Western Europe find essential.
“What’s the big deal?” asks Mr. Microsoft. “You have Windows. You have Azure. Software has bugs. Get used to it. You can switch to Linux anytime.” Thin interesting scene is the fruit of MidJourney’s tree of creativity.
The first article appeared in TechRadar. an online real news outfit. The title was compelling; specifically, “Windows 11 Update Is Reportedly Slowing Down PCs and Breaking Internet Connections.” The write up reports:
KB5028185, the ‘Moment 3’ update, is proving seriously problematic for some users … The main bones of contention with patch KB5028185 for Windows 11 22H2 are instances of performance slowdown – with severe cases going by some reports – and problems with flaky internet connections.
The second story appeared on cable “real” news. I tracked down the item titled “US and Microsoft Sound Alarm about China-Based Cybersecurity Threat.” The main idea seems to be:
The U.S. and Microsoft say China-based hackers, focused on espionage, have breached email accounts of about two dozen organizations, including U.S. government agencies.
Interesting. Microsoft seems to face two challenges: Desktop engineering and cloud engineering. The common factor is obviously engineering.
I am delighted that Bing is improving with smart software. I am fascinated by Microsoft’s effort to “win” in online games. However, isn’t it time for something with clout to point out that Microsoft may need to enhance its products’ stability, security, and reliability.
Due to many organizations’ and individuals’ dependence on Microsoft, the company seems to have a knack for creating a range of issues. Will someone step up and direct the engineering in a way that does not increase vulnerability and cause fiduciary loss for its customers?
Anyone? Crickets I fear. Bad actors find Microsoft’s approach more satisfying than a stream of TikTok moments.
Stephen E Arnold, July 14, 2023
A Lesson in Negotiation: A Scholarly Analysis of the Musk-Zuck Interaction
July 10, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-22.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
“Zuck Is a Cuck: Elon Musk Ramps Up His Attacks on Mark Zuckerberg With Shocking Tweet” provides an example of mature decision making, eloquent rhetoric, and the thrill of the high school insult. Maybe, it is a grade-school thrill, similar to someone pointing at overweight me with thick glasses and a book to read just for fun. I can hear the echoes of these memorable words, “Look at smarty pants. Yah yah yah.” I loved every minute of these insults.
“What did you call me? You keep your mouth shut or my friends and I will post on both Threads and Twitter that you do drugs and steal to buy junk.” Yes, the intellectual discourse of those in the prime of adolescence. And what’s the rejoinder, “Yeah, well, I will post those pix you sent me and email them to your loser mom. What do you think about that, you, you [censored]?”
The cited article from Mediaite (which I don’t know how to pronounce) reports:
Threads drew tens of millions of users since its launch three days ago, so the competition between Musk and Zuckerberg is being waged on social, legal, and perhaps even physical fronts with talk of a cage match fight between the two. Despite the numerous setbacks Twitter has seen since Musk took it over, he has spent the weekend hyping up improvements to the platform while taking shots at Zuckerberg.
What business school teaching moment is this? [a] Civil discourse triumphs, [b] Friendly competition is a net positive, [c] Ad hominem arguments are an exceptional argumentative tool, [d] Emotional intelligence is a powerful opportunity magnet.
What? Why no [e] All of the above?
Note for those who don’t like my characterization of Silicon Valley luminaries’ manifestation of “the high school science club management method. Isn’t it time to accept HS-SC-MM as the one “true way” to riches, respect, and power?
Stephen E Arnold, July 10, 2023
Databricks: Signal to MBAs and Data Wranglers That Is Tough to Ignore
June 29, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-34.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
Do you remember the black and white pictures of the Pullman riots? No, okay. Steel worker strikes in Pittsburgh? No. Scuffling outside of Detroit auto plants? No. Those images may be helpful to get a sense of what newly disenfranchised MBAs and data wranglers will be doing in the weeks and months ahead.
“Databricks Revolutionizes Business Data Analysis with AI Assistant” explains that the Databricks smart software
interprets the query, retrieves the relevant data, reads and analyzes it, and produces meaningful answers. This groundbreaking approach eliminates the need for specialized technical knowledge, democratizing data analysis and making it accessible to a wider range of users within an organization. One of the key advantages of Databricks’ AI assistant is its ability to be trained on a company’s own data. Unlike generic AI systems that rely on data from the internet, LakehouseIQ quickly adapts to the specific nuances of a company’s operations, such as fiscal year dates and industry-specific jargon. By training the AI on the customer’s specific data, Databricks ensures that the system truly understands the domain in which it operates.
MidJourney has delivered an interesting image (completely original, of course) depicting angry MBAs and data wranglers massing in Midtown and preparing to storm one of the quasi monopolies which care about their users, employees, the environment, and bunny rabbits. Will these professionals react like those in other management-labor dust ups?
Databricks appears to be one of the outfits applying smart software to reduce or eliminate professional white collar work done by those who buy $7 lattes, wear designer T shirts, and don wonky sneakers for important professional meetings.
The DEO of Databricks (a data management and analytics firm) says:
By training their AI assistant on the customer’s specific data, Databricks ensures that it comprehends the jargon and intricacies of the customer’s industry, leading to more accurate and insightful analysis.
My interpretation of the article is simple: If the Databricks’ system works, the MBA and data wranglers will be out of a job. Furthermore, my view is that if systems like Databricks works as advertised, the shift from expensive and unreliable humans will not be gradual. Think phase change. One moment you have a solid and then you have plasma. Hot plasma can vaporize organic compounds in some circumstances. Maybe MBAs and data wranglers are impervious? On the other hand, maybe not.
Stephen E Arnold, June 29, 2023
Amazon AWS PR: A Signal from a Weakening Heart?
June 26, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-31.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
I read “Amazon’s vision: An AI Model for Everything.” Readers of these essays know that I am uncomfortable with categorical affirmatives like “all”, “every”, and “everything.” The article in Semafor (does the word remind you of a traffic light in Lima, Peru?) is an interview with a vice president of Amazon Web Services. AWS is part of the online bookstore and digital flea market available at Amazon.com. The write up asserts that AWS will offer an “AI model for everything.” Everything? That’s a modest claim for a fast moving and rapidly changing suite of technologies.
Amazon executives — unlike some high-technology firms’ professionals — are usually less visible. But here is Matt Wood, the VP of AWS, explaining the digital flea market’s approach to smart software manifested in AWS cloud technology. I thought AWS was numero uno in the cloud computing club. Big dogs don’t do much PR but this is 2023, so adaptation is necessary I assume. AWS is shadowed by Microsoft, allegedly was number two, in the Cloud Club. Make no mistake, the Softies and their good enough software are gunning for the top spot in a small but elite strata of the techno world. The Google, poor Google, is lumbering through a cloud bedecked market with its user first, super duper promises for the future and panting quantum, AI, Office 365 with each painful step.
In a gym, high above the clouds in a sky scraper in the Pacific northwest, a high powered denizen of the exclusive Cloud Club, experiences a chest pain in the rarified air. After saying, “Hey, I am a-okay.” The sleek and successful member of an exclusive club, yelps and grabs his chest. Those in the club express shock and dismay. But one person seems to smile. Is that a Microsoftie or a Googler looking just a little bit happy at the fellow member’s obvious distress? MidJourney cooked up a this tasty illustration. Thanks, you plagiarism free bot you.
The Semafor interview offers some statements about its goals. No information about AWS and its Byzantine cloud pricing policies, nor is much PR light shed on the yard sale approach to third party sourced products.
Here are three snippets which caught my attention. (I call these labored statements because each seems as if a committee of lawyers, blue chip consultants, and interns crafted them, but that’s just my opinion. You may find these gems worthy of writing on a note card and saving for those occasions when you need a snappy quotation.)
Labored statement one
But there’s an old Amazon adage that these things are usually an “and” and not an “or.” So we’re doing both.
Got that? Boolean, isn’t it? Even though Amazon AWS explained its smart software years ago, a fact I documented in an invited lecture I gave in 2019, the company has not delivered on its promise of “off the shelf, ready to run” models, packaged data sets, and easy-to-use methods so AWS customers could deploy smart software easily. Like Amazon’s efforts in blockchain, some ideational confections were in the AWS jungle. A suite of usable and problem solving services were not. Has AWS pioneered in more than complicated cloud pricing?
Labored statement two
The ability to take that data and then take a foundational model and just contribute additional knowledge and information to it very quickly and very easily, and then put it into production very quickly and very easily, then iterate on it in production very quickly and very easily. That’s kind of the model that we’re seeing.
Ah, ha. I loved the “just.” Easy stuff. Digital Lego blocks. I once stayed in the Lego hotel. On arrival, I watched a team of Lego professionals trying to reassemble one of the Lego sculptures some careless child had knocked over. Little rectangles littered the hotel lobby. Two days later when I checked out, the Lego Star Wars’ figure was still being reassembled. I thought Lego toys were easy to use. Oh, well. My perception of AWS is that there are many, many components. Licensees can just assemble them as long as they have the time, expertise, and money. Is that the kind of model AWS will deliver or is delivering?
Labored statement three
ChatGPT may be the most successful technology demo since the original iPhone introduction. It puts a dent in the universe.
My immediate reaction: “What about fire, the wheel, printing, the Internet?” And I liked the fact that ChatGPT is a demonstration. Let me describe how Amazon handles its core functions. The anecdote dates from early 2022. I wrote about ordering an AMD Ryzen 5950 and receiving from Amazon a pair of red female-centric underwear.
This red female undergarment arrived after I ordered an AMD Ryzen 5950 CPU. My wife estimated the value of the giant sized personal item at about $4.00US. The 5950 cost me about $550.00US. I am not sure how a warehouse fulfillment professional or a poorly maintained robot picker could screw up my order. But Amazon pulled it off and then for almost a month insisted the panties were the CPU.
This picture is the product sent to me by Amazon instead of an AMD Ryzen 5950 CPU. For the full story see, “Amazon: Is the Company Losing Control of Essentials?” After three weeks of going back and forth with Amazon’s stellar customer service department, my money was refunded. I was told to keep the underwear which now hang on the corner of the computer with the chip. I was able to buy the chip for a lower price from B+H Photo Video. When I opened the package, I saw the AMD box, not a pair of cheap, made-heaven-knows-where panties.
What did that say about Amazon’s ability to drive the Bezos bulldozer now that the founder rides his yacht, lifts weights, and ponders how Elon Musk and SpaceX have become the go-to space outfit? Can Amazon deliver something the customer wants?
Several observations:
First, this PR effort is a signal that Amazon is aware that it is losing ground in the AI battle.
Second, the Amazon approach is unlikely to slow Microsoft’s body slam of commercial customers. Microsoft’s software may be “good enough” to keep Word and SharePoint lovers on the digital ranch.
Third, Amazon’s Bezos bulldozer drivers seem to have lost its GPS signal. May I suggest ordering a functioning GPS from Wal-Mart?
Basics, Amazon, basics, not words. Especially words like “everything.” Do one thing and do it well, please.
Stephen E Arnold, June 26, 2023
Microsoft Code: Works Great. Just Like Bing AI
June 9, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-8.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
For Windows users struggling with certain apps, help is not on the way anytime soon. In fact, reports TechRadar, “Windows 11 Is So Broken that Even Microsoft Can’t Fix It.” The issues started popping up for some users of Windows 11 and Windows 10 in January and seem to coincide with damaged registry keys. For now the company’s advice sounds deceptively simple: ditch its buggy software. Not a great look. Writer Matt Hanson tells us:
“On Microsoft’s ‘Health’ webpage regarding the issue, Microsoft notes that the ‘Windows search, and Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps might not work as expected or might have issues opening,’ and in a recent update it has provided a workaround for the problem. Not only is the lack of a definitive fix disappointing, but the workaround isn’t great, with Microsoft stating that to ‘mitigate this issue, you can uninstall apps which integrate with Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Calendar.’ Essentially, it seems like Microsoft is admitting that it’s as baffled as us by the problem, and that the only way to avoid the issue is to start uninstalling apps. That’s pretty poor, especially as Microsoft doesn’t list the apps that are causing the issue, just that they integrate with ‘Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Calendar,’ which doesn’t narrow it down at all. It’s also not a great solution for people who depend on any of the apps causing the issue, as uninstalling them may not be a viable option.”
The write-up notes Microsoft says it is still working on these issues. Will it release a fix before most users have installed competing programs or, perhaps, even a different OS? Or maybe Windows 11 snafus are just what is needed to distract people from certain issues related to the security of Microsoft’s enterprise software. Will these code faults surface (no pun intended) in Microsoft’s smart software. Of course not. Marketing makes software better.
Cynthia Murrell, June 9, 2023
Sam AI-man Begs for Regulation; China Takes Action for Structured Data LLM Integration
May 24, 2023
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
Smart software is capturing attention from a number of countries’ researchers. The US smart software scene is crowded like productions on high school auditoria stages. Showing recently was OpenAI’s really sincere plea for regulation, oodles of new smart software applications and plug ins for browsers, and Microsoft’s assembly line of AI everywhere in Office 365. The venture capital contingent is chanting, “Who wants cash? Who wants cash?” Plus the Silicon Valley media are beside themselves with in-crowd interviews with the big Googler and breathless descriptions of how college professors fumble forward with students who may or may not let ChatGPT do that dumb essay.
US Silicon Valley deciders in action in public discuss the need for US companies to move slowly, carefully, judiciously when deploying AI. In private, these folks want to go as quickly as possible, lock up markets, and rake in the dough. China skips the pretending and just goes forward with certain guidelines to avoid a fun visit to a special training facility. The illustration was created by MidJourney, a service which I assume wants to be regulated at least sometimes.
In the midst of this vaudeville production, I noted “Researchers from China Propose StructGPT to Improve the Zero-Shot Reasoning Ability of LLMs over Structured Data.” On the surface, the write up seems fairly tame by Silicon Valley standards. In a nutshell, whiz kids from a university I never heard of figure out how to reformat data in a database table and make those data available to a ChatGPT type system. The idea is that ChatGPT has some useful qualities. Being highly accurate is not a core competency, however.
The good news is that the Chinese researchers have released some of their software and provided additional information on GitHub. Hopefully American researchers can take time out from nifty plug ins, begging regulators to regulate, and banking bundles of pre-default bucks in JPMorgan accounts.
For me, the article makes clear:
- Whatever the US does, China is unlikely to trim the jib of technologies which can generate revenue, give China an advantage, and provide some new capabilities to its military.
- US smart software vendors have no choice but go full speed ahead and damn the AI powered torpedoes from those unfriendly to the “move fast and break things” culture. What’s a regulator going to do? I know. Have a meeting.
- Smart software is many things. I perceive what can be accomplished with what I can download today and maybe some fiddling with the Renmin University of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Big Data Management and Analysis Methods, and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China method is a great big trampoline. Those jumping can do some amazing and hitherto unseen tricks.
Net net: Less talk and more action, please.
Stephen E Arnold, May 24, 2023
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