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Tech rivals chase ChatGPT as AI race ramps up

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2 years ago

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WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — Chasing Microsoft, global tech giants have rolled out announcements on how they will implement ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence into their world leading platforms and applications, with YouTube the latest to present plans.

Here is a roundup of how the world’s biggest tech companies plan to surf the AI wave:

Microsoft

Microsoft has gone the furthest in pushing out generative AI to consumers and has pledged to pump billions of dollars into OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

The Windows-maker is aggressively testing the latest version of OpenAI’s GPT-3 technology in a beefed up Bing search engine, with plans to add the tool to the easily accessible Windows 11 taskbar.

Microsoft is also planning to add GPT-3 to its Office suite, including Word, as well as the Edge browser. The rollouts guarantee maximum exposure to the technology despite controversies about the AI’s readiness for the general public.

Media reports of the chat technology going haywire surfaced soon after the Bing integration was introduced.

The Redmond, Washington-based company subsequently made some tweaks to the program, but has largely stayed on course.

Google

Feeling the pressure from Microsoft, Google in February unveiled Bard, a ChatGPT like conversation robot that is powered by its own large language model called LaMDA.

The California-based giant said it was working with a smaller scale version of LaMDA to facilitate testing and “make sure Bard’s responses meet a high bar for quality” in a veiled dig at Microsoft’s more aggressive push.

Google said AI-powered features would soon be rolled out in its world dominating search engine, though it has remained vague on exactly how and when.

“It’s critical that we bring experiences rooted in these models to the world in a bold and responsible way,” said CEO Sundar Pichai.

At Google-owned YouTube, new CEO Neal Mohan said generative AI would soon be offered to creators to “expand storytelling and raise their production value.”

But YouTube was “taking the time to develop these features with thoughtful guardrails,” he added.

Meta

Meta has so far taken a more cautious approach, at least publicly, to ChatGPT-style AI for its key social media platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg on February 27 said his company was creating a product group to come up with ways to “turbocharge” the company’s work.

He cautioned however that there was a lot of “foundational” work to do.

Meta also announced a large language model called LLaMA, that would be made available to researchers as an open source tool, unlike ChatGPT whose technology is secret.

The company described LLaMA as smaller than rival AI models so that researchers with more modest computing power could advance their work.

Snapchat

The platform popular with teens said it will introduce a chatbot powered by the most up to date version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Available initially to subscribers, the “MyAI” tab will allow users to interact with a chatbot, much like it were a friend.

Given the young audience, Snapchat’s chatbot will be far more restricted than ChatGPT. Requests to write school essays or churn out inappropriate content will be more tightly controlled.

Shopify, the retailer platform, is also turning to ChatGPT for a consumer app.

Baidu

Baidu, China’s internet search giant, said on February 7 its own ChatGPT rival Ernie Bot could be released as early as March, with the aim of using it in an array of services from search and cloud computing to autonomous driving.

A day after Baidu’s announcement, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said that it was also testing a ChatGPT-like service through its research institute.

Musk

Tesla and SpaceX tycoon Elon Musk, who also owns Twitter, is reported to be mulling a conversational bot that would do away with filters on ChatGPT that he says are too politically correct.

According to news website The Information, Musk has approached researchers in recent weeks about forming a new research lab that would rival OpenAI, a company where he was an early investor before selling out.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

Published

1 year ago

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

Published

1 year ago

on

25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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