Truth-GPT, Barcode Retirement, and AI Pop Stars 🎤
Welcome back, Tech News enthusiasts! Brace yourselves for another dose of sarcasm and fun as we plunge into this week's tech news. Don't let the porcelain throne keep you from staying informed – sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!
Elon Musk and TruthGPT: AI Philosopher Extraordinaire (The Verge) Elon Musk reveals he's working on "TruthGPT," an AI that's deeply invested in "understanding the nature of the universe." In a refreshing twist, this AI wouldn't annihilate us because we're "interesting." Cheers to our cosmic significance!
Barcode Bids Farewell After Half a Century (Axios) The global retail sector is finally retiring the 50-year-old traditional 12-digit barcode, replacing it with a QR Code cousin. The transition is expected to be complete by 2027, so wave goodbye to that black-and-white-striped relic!
Academic Organizations Question Government's Emergency Ordinance (Digital Convergence) Over 50 academic organizations and digital rights entities voice their concerns about the government's emergency ordinance to remove content related to recent attacks on schools. They argue that involving the judiciary in decisions would prevent dangerous precedents from being set. You know things are serious when academics and digital rights groups join forces!
Clone Voices of Drake and The Weeknd Go Viral (BBC) In the latest TikTok and Spotify sensation, @ghostwriter's track "Heart On My Sleeve" features clone voices of famous artists Drake and The Weeknd. This entirely original composition doesn't violate any copyrights, but it sure raises eyebrows. AI pop stars, anyone?
OpenAI CEO Says Farewell to Giant AI Models (Wired) Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, predicts the end of the "era of giant AI models," citing diminishing benefits with more data and physical limitations on computing power. Experts believe further progress will come from new architectures and extra doses of human feedback. All hail the fall of AI behemoths!
Google's Video-Generating AI Says "No Humans Allowed" (Android Authority) Google unveils its new video-generating AI, "Phenaki," which actively blocks the generation of humans to prevent deep fakes. Google CEO Sundar Pichai expects government regulation before this technology goes mainstream. That's one way to keep the robots in check!
Free Software Foundation Frowns at Chrome's JPEG XL Dismissal (FSF Blog) The Free Software Foundation isn't too thrilled about Chrome's removal of support for the JPEG XL format. They argue that promoting the AVIF format – patented by Google – is a blatant attempt to control yet another facet of the web. Browser hegemony, be gone!