Slack is adding AI capabilities to combat information overload, and Akamai is betting on edge computing to compete with big public cloud players. Google uses AI to launch devastating attack on fake reviews, Mozilla article updates, and collect testimonials from victims lobbying lawmakers .
Above, we have explained in detail the “Using AI, the good guys can sometimes win'' edition of the hashtag trend. I'm your host, Jim Love. He is his CIO for IT World in Canada and TechNewsDay in the US.
Slack has introduced a suite of AI-powered tools aimed at streamlining user communication and information management. Announced Wednesday, these features are designed to help both new hires and busy employees by summarizing threads and providing summaries of channel activity.
Slack's new AI features include the ability to summarize long discussion threads and provide a summary of what happened in a channel over a specified time period. This is especially useful for keeping track of unread messages, making it easier for employees to stay informed when they return from vacation or parental leave.
The platform leverages AI to respond to search queries with answers pulled from accessible messages and channels, enhancing the search experience with more intuitive and relevant results.
Slack takes a different approach to pricing. Microsoft's Copilot charges users who opt in to the service, while Slack requires an additional monthly fee all Making these AI capabilities accessible to users within the enterprise can pose challenges to this move for organizations looking to evaluate the benefits before full-scale implementation.
Slack is committed to competitive pricing, but specific fees vary depending on customer size.
Early reports from users indicate significant time savings, with an average of 95 minutes saved per week using these AI features.
An added benefit is that such applications can unlock years of organizational knowledge and potentially transform the way companies communicate and manage information internally.
However, leveraging AI tools raises privacy and security concerns, especially when it comes to handling sensitive business data and channel permissions. Although Slack ensures that AI does not access information beyond the channels allowed to employees, the broader implications for data privacy remain an important consideration.
Sources include: Axios
Akamai Technologies is leveraging Akamai's extensive content delivery network (CDN) to integrate cloud computing capabilities directly to the edge, helping to counter the dominance of cloud giants such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. We are strengthening our infrastructure with a focus on
Akamai announced ambitious plans to establish 25 new edge locations by the end of this month, expand to 100 by the end of the year, and thousands over the next few years. Akamai aims to improve performance and reduce latency by bringing compute closer to customers.
Akamai's strategy, called general-purpose edge computing or Gecko, is a blend of cloud and edge computing. They expect this to bring significant benefits in terms of price performance, security, and reduced latency.
To strengthen its edge computing capabilities, Akamai acquired Linode, an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform, for approximately $900 million in 2022. Additionally, Akamai has strategic partnerships with carriers, IT solutions, and local cloud service providers. World wide.
Akamai's pivot to edge computing represents a significant shift away from traditional cloud computing models, which are primarily centralized. Akamai aims to meet the growing demand for low-latency, high-security applications by decentralizing computing resources and placing them closer to end users. However, this migration has posed challenges, especially in migrating workloads from existing cloud services, which is why Akamai has decided to present it as a multi-cloud solution.
As Akamai continues to expand its edge computing infrastructure, it plans to embark on the next phase of its Gecko platform, including the incorporation of containers and automated workload orchestration. This evolution reflects a broader industry trend toward leveraging edge computing to meet the demands of next-generation Internet applications, including those powered by generative AI.
No one knows if this strategy will work against the cloud giants, but it creates what everyone calls a “unique value proposition.”
Source: Analytics India Magazine
We often talk about AI creating fake content, but AI can also be used to combat fake content.
Google has implemented a new machine learning algorithm that significantly improves the efficiency of detecting fake reviews in Maps and Search. With this advancement, in 2023 he will have removed more than 170 million fake reviews, a major victory for the integrity of user-submitted content.
Google's new algorithm is designed to more quickly identify suspicious review patterns, such as repeated content across multiple companies or unusual spikes in ratings. This system vets reviews before publishing and continuously monitors for suspicious activity.
The introduction of this machine learning technology led to a 45% year-over-year increase in fake review removals, with 170 million reviews removed due to policy violations. In addition, Google has identified and removed his 12 million fake business profiles and doubled his removal of policy-violating videos to his 14 million in 2023.
Google has taken legal action against individuals attempting to manipulate its review system. One notable case was filed against a scammer who created over 350 fraudulent business profiles and attempted to enhance them with over 14,000 fake reviews.
The ongoing battle against fake reviews comes with ongoing challenges, but just like in the old Wild West, sometimes the good guys win.
Source: TechSpot
In a notable legal development, district judges in California overwhelmingly sided with OpenAI, dismissing most copyright infringement claims brought by authors against AI. The authors accuse OpenAI's ChatGPT of being trained using pirated copies of books without permission, calling the chatbot's output a form of high-tech “cheat” that violates copyright and other relevant laws. Labeled.
Although the court dismissed several claims, the only claim that was not dismissed was for direct copyright infringement. OpenAI had previously expressed confidence that it would drop this claim at a later stage in the litigation.
The authors have been ordered to consolidate their claims and may amend their claims to continue the rejected claims.
Source: Ars Technica
And in an update to our article about Mozilla, many people wrote to me expressing their sadness at what happened to Firefox.
As if hearing this collective sigh, the company announced a strategic shift to focus more on integrating its core product, Firefox, with trusted AI technology. This change in direction comes with the decision to scale back investments in several products, including VPN, Relay, Online Footprint Scrubber, and shut down Hubs, his 3D virtual world he launched in 2018. Additionally, Mozilla will reduce its investment in mozilla. .social Mastodon instance. These changes will result in the layoffs of approximately 60 employees.
Mozilla aims to power Firefox by integrating trusted AI, leveraging the teams working on Pocket, Content, and AI/ML.
They plan to reduce investment in several products such as VPN, Relay, Online Footprint Scrubber, and shut down the hub.
And unfortunately, approximately 60 employees will be affected by the layoffs as Mozilla seeks to optimize its organizational structure.
By refocusing Firefox and AI, Mozilla is betting on its strength and the growing importance of AI in improving the user experience.
The move is likely to please longtime Firefox enthusiasts and could position Mozilla as a major player in the development of AI-enhanced browsing experiences. But job cuts and product discontinuations highlight the tough choices the company must make to stay competitive.
Source: TechCrunch
In a heartbreaking campaign launched to mark the sixth anniversary of the Parkland shooting, families of gun violence victims are using artificial intelligence to bring back the voices of their lost loved ones. These AI-generated voices are being used to call on federal lawmakers who oppose stricter gun laws and urge them to reconsider their positions.
The campaign uses artificial intelligence to recreate victims' voices. These voices are robocalling senators and congressmen who support the National Rifle Association (NRA) and oppose stricter gun laws.
It's unclear at the time of broadcast how they're getting around recent regulations that make the use of AI in robocalls illegal.
But this is a powerful way to get their message across.
The choice of Valentine's Day to launch the campaign is symbolic, as it commemorates the anniversary of the Parkland shooting that claimed the lives of 17 people, including students and staff.
The campaign reflects a broader trend of leveraging technology for activism and social change. As AI technology becomes more accessible and sophisticated, we will begin to see more creative and impactful uses in a variety of advocacy efforts.
Source: AP News
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