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What’s brewing in AI #35

GPT-4 Turbo just a got a big improvement, making it better at most common tasks. With the update, GPT-4 Turbo again tops the leaderboards over at LMSYS Chatbot Arena.

While it will become available in all paid ChatGPT subscriptions and the API, apparently it’s not fully rolled out yet. I had it for a day, then my ChatGPT went back to the old version again. My first impression was that it was much less verbose, in a good way. Looking forward ‘til we all get it soon.

Why it matters

ChatGPT is back topping the charts, and to be frank, it’s still the AI tool I use 90% of the time.

OpenAI just opened its new office in Tokyo (it’s fourth globally). Tadao Nagasaki joins as the new President, leading the Japanese branch’s commercial efforts and responsible for building up the local team.

Local businesses are getting early-access to a custom GPT-4 model optimised for the Japanese language. It’s faster and cheaper for Japanese language applications than its predecessor; OpenAI used the example of the English learning app Speak, which increased response speeds 2.8x and while slashing costs 47% in Japan with the new model. The new model will be released more broadly in the coming months.

Related: Microsoft is investing 2.9$ billion in AI and cloud infra in Japan.

Why it matters

Besides motivations of local business opportunities and better ability to influence regulations, securing supply of high-performance AI chips that their business depend on is a strategic priority for OpenAI. With this move, the company can get closer to Japan’s semiconductor industry by establishing a local presence.

Last month, Cognition Labs introduced Devin, touted as “The world’s first AI software engineer”. Going instantly viral on social media and leaving some developers in a state of panic about their future job security, the company is now facing strong criticism for spreading misleading information about what Devin can actually do. However, many have taken to Devin’s defence, claiming the criticism is exaggerated and a bit beside the point.

Why it matters

Let’s face it – Devin, along with pretty much any other AI tool that has gotten released ever, is overhyped. Cognition Labs could’ve certainly toned down its marketing pitch. That doesn’t mean the product is bad.

It’s a pity when poorly chosen communication overshadows the actual technological progress being made. Devin still seems like a significant step above existing AIs for coding.

Developers – Google’s model with a 1m token context window is now available through the Gemini API.

API support for video, the ability to reason across images (frames) and audio (speech), is also coming soon. There’s also a number of other requested features being added including system instructions, JSON mode and improved function calling.

Why it matters

Huge memory and reasoning for video probably unlocks some interesting new opportunities. How about surveillance cameras that you can ask about what happened last week? Ok, that’s creepy, don’t make that.

In any case – new features in APIs of leading models heavily influences what the next generation of AI apps look like.

TikTok has planned to add an AI creator feature, according to The Information. The platform’s AI influencers will be able to read scripts from advertisers or sellers on its TikTok shop. Keep in mind, this is a rumour and hasn’t been confirmed by the company.

Why it matters

TikTok is very much reliant on human creators, so adding AI influencers (which would “steal” brand deals from real people) poses challenges. If the feature is actually launched, it’ll likely be an interesting case study for other social platform on how to approach this.

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