Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Keep in Mind That AI Is Multimodal Now - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
No One Is in Charge at the US Copyright Office - Kate Knibbs, Wired
It’s a tumultuous time for copyright in the United States, with dozens of potentially economy-shaking AI copyright lawsuits winding through the courts. Described as “sleepy” in the past, the Copyright Office has taken on new prominence during the AI boom, issuing key rulings about AI and copyright. It also hasn’t had a leader in more than a month. In May, Copyright Register Shira Perlmutter was abruptly fired by email by the White House’s deputy director of personnel. Perlmutter is now suing the Trump administration, alleging that her firing was invalid; the government maintains that the executive branch has the authority to dismiss her. Despite the firing, Perlmutter still characterizes herself as the Copyright Register. “Despite Mr. Perkins’s claim that he is Acting Register of Copyrights, I remain Register of Copyrights and therefore am required by law to fulfill my above-described statutory obligations,” she said in a declaration in May. As the legality of the ouster is debated, the reality within the office is this: There’s effectively nobody in charge.
Tuesday, July 08, 2025
What is multimodal AI? - McKinsey
Multimodal AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can understand and process different types of information, such as text, images, audio, and video, all at the same time. Multimodal gen AI models produce outputs based on these various inputs. Multimodal models mirror the brain’s ability to combine sensory inputs for a nuanced, holistic understanding of the world, much like how humans use their variety of senses to perceive reality. These gen AI models’ ability to seamlessly perceive multiple inputs—and simultaneously generate output—allows them to interact with the world in innovative, transformative ways and represents a significant advancement in AI. By combining the strengths of different types of content (including text, images, audio, and video) from different sources, multimodal gen AI models can understand data in a more comprehensive way, which enables them to process more complex inquiries that result in fewer hallucinations (inaccurate or misleading outputs).
Scientists forge path to the first million-qubit processor for quantum computers after 'decade in the making' breakthrough - Owen Hughes, Live Science
Scientists have developed a new type of computer chip that removes a major obstacle to practical quantum computers, making it possible for the first time to place millions of qubits and their control systems on the same device.The new control chip operates at cryogenic temperatures close to absolute zero (about minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius) and, crucially, can be placed close to qubits without disrupting their quantum state. "This result has been more than a decade in the making, building up the know-how to design electronic systems that dissipate tiny amounts of power and operate near absolute zero," lead researcher David Reilly, professor at the University of Sydney Nano Institute and School of Physics, said in a statement.
Monday, July 07, 2025
GPT-5: The AI That Will End The World As We Know It - Julia McCoy, YouTube
Meta Wins Blockbuster AI Copyright Case—but There’s a Catch - Kate Knibbs, Wired
Sunday, July 06, 2025
Mo Gawdat: AI Is Manipulating You More Than You Realize - Mo Gawdat, YouTube
The Year of Quantum: From concept to reality in 2025 - McKinsey
When it comes to quantum technology (QT), investment is surging and breakthroughs are multiplying. The United Nations has designated 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, celebrating 100 years since the initial development of quantum mechanics. Our research confirms that QT is gaining widespread traction worldwide. McKinsey’s fourth annual Quantum Technology Monitor covers last year’s breakthroughs, investment trends, and emerging opportunities in this fast-evolving landscape. In 2024, the QT industry saw a shift from growing quantum bits (qubits) to stabilizing qubits—and that marks a turning point. It signals to mission-critical industries that QT could soon become a safe and reliable component of their technology infrastructure. To that end, this year’s report provides a special deep dive into the fast-growing market of quantum communication, which could unlock the security needed for widespread QT uptake.
Saturday, July 05, 2025
AI Could Actually Boost Your Workers’ Mental Health. Here’s How - Kit Eaton, Inc.
New research into AI’s impact on workers’ wellbeing offers a startling conclusion that refutes critics of the AI’s impact on the workplace, and counters recent reports suggesting the new technology is bad for people’s critical thinking abilities. Data from a large study suggest that though AI is relatively new, and the evidence is quite early, its use in the workplace hasn’t harmed people’s mental health or negatively affected their job satisfaction. Quite the opposite, in fact. The study found that letting your workers use AI may actually slightly benefit their health—particularly among less well-educated staff. The research, published this week, compared workers in occupations with high exposure to AI to those in less AI-exposed jobs, science news site Phys.org reports. There are a few wrinkles in the conclusions, and the authors explicitly warned that it’s very early to draw long-term conclusions about the impact of AI, but the results are definitely interesting food for thought for any company leader who’s been wary, thus far, of rolling out AI tools in the office or factory floor.
How People Use Claude for Support, Advice, and Companionship - Anthropic
Affective conversations are relatively rare, and AI-human companionship is rarer still. Only 2.9% of Claude.ai interactions are affective conversations (which aligns with findings from previous research by OpenAI). Companionship and roleplay combined comprise less than 0.5% of conversations. People seek Claude's help for practical, emotional, and existential concerns. Topics and concerns discussed with Claude range from career development and navigating relationships to managing persistent loneliness and exploring existence, consciousness, and meaning. Claude rarely pushes back in counseling or coaching chats—except to protect well-being. Less than 10% of coaching or counseling conversations involve Claude resisting user requests, and when it does, it's typically for safety reasons (for example, refusing to provide dangerous weight loss advice or support self-harm). People express increasing positivity over the course of conversations. In coaching, counseling, companionship, and interpersonal advice interactions, human sentiment typically becomes more positive over the course of conversations—suggesting Claude doesn't reinforce or amplify negative patterns.
Friday, July 04, 2025
‘The Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook’: Three questions for Jocelyn Widmer and Thomas Cavanagh - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed
One Provost’s Approach to Building an AI College - University of South Florida, University Business
Given latitude by Mohapatra to find the best model for the new college, the task force began work last spring and ultimately recommended a hub-and-spoke academic structure. The belief was this would eliminate silos and underscore the interdisciplinary nature of AI and cybersecurity, resulting in university-wide collaboration. It would also allow most of the 200-plus faculty currently working in areas that comprise the new college to remain in their home units. The question of governance was more challenging for the task force, which eventually landed on a flat structure that is similar to models currently used in other USF colleges. Flat governance would make it possible to add new programs in areas such as quantum computing and digital twins while promoting collaboration and quicker decision-making. In its recommendations, task force members wrote, “The relationship between AI, cybersecurity and computing reflects a rapidly evolving landscape where traditional departmental boundaries are increasingly blurred. These fields are deeply interconnected, with advancements in one area often propelling developments in others.”
Thursday, July 03, 2025
The next innovation revolution—powered by AI - McKinsey
Innovation has been the driver of the extraordinary progress from which humankind has benefited for a couple of centuries, but it faces a largely hidden threat: Innovation is becoming harder and more expensive. It’s instructive here to take the long view. For most of recorded human history, improvements in human welfare from generation to generation have been limited. Take, for example, GDP per capita as a measure of economic prosperity. For most of human history, roughly until the early 1800s, the measure barely moved to $1,200. But since that time, it has grown by more than 14 times (Exhibit 1).1 Human health has followed a similar trajectory—low for centuries and only significantly improving in recent generations. In 1900, for example, the average life expectancy of a newborn was 32 years. By 2021, this had more than doubled to 71 years.2
Court filings reveal OpenAI and io’s early work on an AI device - Maxwell Zeff, Tech Crunch
The form factor of OpenAI and io’s first hardware device has largely remained a mystery. Altman merely stated in io’s launch video that the startup was working to create a “family” of AI devices with various capabilities, and Ive said io’s first prototype “completely captured” his imagination. Altman had previously told OpenAI’s employees at a meeting that the company’s prototype, when finished, would be able to fit in a pocket or sit on a desk, according to the Wall Street Journal. The OpenAI CEO reportedly said the device would be fully aware of a user’s surroundings and that it would be a “third device” for consumers to use alongside their smartphone and laptop.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/23/court-filings-reveal-openai-and-ios-early-work-on-an-ai-device/