Welcome to The Week in Generative AI, a weekly column for marketers from Quad Insights that quickly sums up need-to-know developments surrounding the rapidly evolving technology.
ChatGPT’s ‘Browse with Bing’ is disabled for now
AI giveth, and AI taketh away. On July 3, OpenAI’s ChatGPT temporarily disabled its “Browse with Bing” feature due to concerns about misuse. The feature allowed ChatGPT Plus users to leverage the internet to help answer questions with the benefit of recent information. However, it was discovered that the feature could be used to bypass paywalls and display content in inappropriate ways. According to OpenAI, “out of an abundance of caution” it paused the week-old search function in ChatGPT Plus because it might “occasionally display content in ways we don’t want.”
This is a blow for the current generative AI leader (and its partner, Microsoft), as the internet search option was the primary upsell for the paid version of the app.
As of July 7, there is no timeline for when ChatGPT Plus will reinstate the feature, but according to Kyle Wiggers of TechCrunch, OpenAI has formed a “superintelligence team” that will help keep ChatGPT under control. (Read more on the OpenAI blog, if you’re up for a little machine learning tech jargon.)
Related coverage:
- “ChatGPT disables ‘Browse With Bing’ amid legal challenges” (Search Engine Journal)
- “ChatGPT app downloads are slowing down, BofA finds” (CNBC)
- “Panic about overhyped AI risk could lead to the wrong kind of regulation” (Vox)
- “How tech companies are approaching generative AI copyright” (The Drum)
AI startup market grows along with Inflection AI
It’s a heady time for AI startups across all sectors. Just ask Inflection AI, a startup that develops consumer-facing AI products, which just raised $1.3 billion from deep-pocketed investors that include Microsoft and Nvidia.
Pi (for Personal intelligence) is Inflection’s chatbot. It’s being marketed as a “personal assistant” that can answer questions, provide advice and even help with creative tasks. In Forbes, Alex Konrad writes that “with this latest funding, Inflection plans to continue expanding its computing capabilities… to engage in a conversational back-and-forth with users to tease out more valuable questions and answers.”
Meanwhile, Typeface.ai, which bills itself as a “generative AI app to supercharge personalized content creation for work,” just raised $100 million in its latest funding round. According to IBL News, “Typeface places emphasis on brand governance, content safety and privacy. For example, using brand-approved wording and assets, a content marketing manager can generate an Instagram post, repurpose an event video into a blog post, or draft a follow-up email.”
Related coverage:
• “Inflection AI Raises $1.3 Billion From Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and Nvidia” (Bloomberg)
- “The 10 biggest rounds of June: Inflection AI’s huge raise, CleanCapital cleans up” (Crunchbase News)
- “7 generative AI startups you should keep an eye on” (Make Use Of)
Now broadcasting from Centre Court: AI on the mic at Wimbledon
For those following the action from the All England Lawn Tennis Club via the official Wimbledon app, IBM tasked Watson to produce the “Wimbledon Cognitive Highlights Solution,” AI-powered audio and text commentary that provides fans with match play-by-play. The AI also creates a personalized feed of news, videos and statistics for tennis fans. Early reactions are mixed, according to Will Leitch of The Atlantic, who writes that “nothing about the technology feels ready for prime time, and it seems that Wimbledon and IBM know it. It’s limited to short clips, and the feature is nearly hidden on Wimbledon’s site — it requires you to click on a video, then click on tiny headphones in the corner, then choose ‘AI Commentary’ mode.”
With all of the hype around AI, the Wimbledon example serves as a reminder of the human touch with live events, especially those laden with tradition.
Related coverage:
Further reading
- “The US military is taking generative AI out for a spin” (Bloomberg)
- “I use an AI chatbot after my mom died to ask for advice on mundane things. It won’t replace her, but it’s been a huge comfort.” (Business Insider)
- “NYC’s new AI hiring software regulations hit with pushback from business groups” (Fox Business)
- “AI boom stems tech’s downturn” (The Wall Street Journal)
- “Gizmodo’s io9 published an AI-generated Star Wars article that was filled with errors” (Variety)
- “Uncensored Chatbots Provoke a Fracas Over Free Speech” (The New York Times)
- “All of the internet now belongs to Google’s AI” (Digital Trends)
Thanks for sticking with us while we track the generative AI beat. Check back next week for more.
