Figma's AI Faux Pas 🎨 Google Emissions Soar 50% 🔥 Hollywood Voices Return 🎙️
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Welcome to this week in AI.
This week, Figma announced new AI features and immediately walked it back. China’s demand for AI chips bolsters illicit smuggling, and Terminator robots are looking likely.
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Figma's New AI Design Tool Pulled Amid Controversy
Figma's AI design tool, Make Designs, was recently removed following criticism that it generated designs closely resembling Apple's iOS weather app.
Figma's CEO, Dylan Field, attributed this to a problem with the bespoke design system used by the AI model, stating that the models were not trained on Figma content or app designs.
Despite this, the incident raises concerns about AI's potential to plagiarise and the responsibility of companies to ensure the originality of AI-generated content.
Why It Matters
Figma's response, including its AI training policies and commitment to addressing the issue, sets an important precedent for how companies should handle such situations.
As AI increasingly plays a role in design, questions arise about intellectual property, the originality of AI-generated content, and the need for transparency in AI development.
The incident also raises questions about the future of design. If AI tools are trained on existing designs, there's a risk that they could perpetuate and even amplify existing design trends, leading to a homogenisation of digital products and experiences.
In such a scenario, genuine innovation and original thinking will become even more crucial differentiators for both designers and companies.
China's Illicit AI Chip Network Thrives
Despite U.S. export controls, a thriving underground network is funnelling restricted Nvidia AI chips into China.
This covert operation involves students, brokers, and online sellers, exploiting loopholes in the supply chain and lenient regulations in some jurisdictions.
Dozens of distributors openly advertise these restricted chips, offering steady supplies and even entire servers, showcasing the network's scale and reach.
Why it Matters
This illicit trade has significant implications for the global AI landscape.
While China is actively investing in its domestic chip manufacturing capabilities, with a new $47.5 billion state investment fund dedicated to the semiconductor industry, it still faces challenges in catching up to the U.S.
The access to Nvidia's advanced chips through the black market not only bridges the technological gap for China in the short term but also fuels the development of its domestic AI industry.
It could reshape the dynamics of the ongoing tech rivalry between the two countries, impacting sectors ranging from national security to economic competitiveness.
It also highlights the challenges in enforcing export controls in an interconnected global economy, underpinning the need for new solutions to safeguard technological advantages.
📰 Article by the Wall Street Journal
Google's Carbon Emissions Soar 50% Amid AI Boom
The tech industry's growing appetite for energy, driven by the AI boom, is leading to a surprising partnership: tech giants and nuclear power plants.
Companies like Amazon and Microsoft seek direct access to nuclear energy to power their data centres, lured by the promise of reliable, carbon-free electricity.
This could potentially speed up data centre development and fuel the global AI race.
Why It Matters
An emerging alliance has significant implications for the future of energy consumption and the environment.
The tech industry's energy demands are projected to grow substantially, with estimates ranging from 4.6% to 9% of total US power consumption by 2030.
As a result, Google's carbon emissions have soared by nearly 50% since 2019, largely attributed to the energy consumption of AI and data centres.
As AI continues to advance, the need for sustainable energy solutions becomes increasingly crucial for both technological progress and environmental preservation.
📝 Report from the International Energy Agency
Beyond the Grave: ElevenLabs Resurrects Hollywood Icons
ElevenLabs' Reader App has launched a new feature that allows users to listen to digital text narrated by the AI-generated voices of iconic stars like Judy Garland and James Dean.
The platform recreates their voices with remarkable accuracy and emotion, making content more accessible and engaging for a wider audience.
Why It Matters
This partnership with the stars' estates marks a milestone in ElevenLabs' mission to make content accessible in any language and voice.
By bringing iconic voices to the platform, ElevenLabs aims to expand the reach of its app and provide users with a unique and immersive listening experience.
Robots with Living Skin: Science Fiction Becomes Reality
Scientists have developed a method for attaching living skin equivalents to robotic surfaces inspired by the structure of human skin ligaments.
This technique, using perforation-type anchors, enables the skin to adhere securely to the robot and even allows for movement and expression.
The researchers successfully demonstrated this by creating a robotic face covered in living skin that can mimic a smile, blurring the line between science fiction and reality
Terminator is no longer just a movie concept.
Why It Matters
The advancement in biohybrid robotics has far-reaching implications for various fields.
In the medical field, it could transform prosthetics by creating more realistic and functional artificial limbs.
For social robotics, it could lead to more lifelike and expressive robots that can interact with humans more naturally.
The research could also contribute to a deeper understanding of human skin biology, potentially leading to advancements in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Development of robots with living skin represents a step forward in our ability to integrate biological and artificial systems, paving the way for a future where robots are not just machines, but truly biohybrid creations.
Character.AI Charms Young Users
Character.ai, an AI app that's been on the market since May 2023 and allows users to create and interact with AI characters, is gaining significant traction in the US, particularly among younger users.
As of July 2024, it has 4.2 million monthly active users in the US, narrowing the gap against ChatGPT's six million users.
Why It Matters
The contrasting success of Character.ai and ChatGPT during the summer months (June and July), where Character.ai retained its user base while ChatGPT saw a decline, highlights a key trend in the AI market.
Younger demographics, who make up 60% of Character.ai's web audience, are seeking AI for entertainment and personalised interaction.
This shift towards entertainment-focused AI aligns with the growing potential of video and audio generation models.
Imagine a future where AI can create personalised movies, tv shows, or video games tailored entirely to your preferences.
By combining your favourite actors, genres, and storylines, AI could craft unique and endlessly entertaining experiences.
Not only could the narrative adapt to your choices, but the characters themselves could be customised to your liking, with AI generating their appearance, personality, and even voice acting.
A level of personalisation would drastically change entertainment, moving beyond passive consumption to a truly interactive experience.
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