Emerging Technologies Highlights: Week of July 18, 2023
July 18, 2023
Emerging Technologies Highlights: Week of July 18, 2023
This week, we highlight major news in the worlds of crypto and artificial intelligence (AI).
First, this week was exceptional for crypto. The price of bitcoin has doubled this year, revitalizing ethereum, XRP, and the rest of the crypto market that suffered a catastrophic crash through 2022. BlackRock's legendary chief executive Larry Fink, who shocked the world when he announced a surprise crypto flip last week, has said he expects crypto to "transcend" traditional currencies, including the US dollar. Further, This week, the SEC suffered what many interpreted to be a setback in its attempt to rein in the crypto market when a federal judge ruled the sale of Ripple's XRP on exchanges and through algorithms did not constitute investment contracts. The ruling boosted the combined crypto market, sending the bitcoin price, ethereum and XRP soaring. If the good news continues, crypto might come back from the dead.
Second, this week was significant for AI regulation. With key provisions going into effect on Aug. 25, an ambitious package of EU rules, the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, is the most extensive effort toward checking the power of Big Tech. For the first time, tech platforms will have to be responsive to the public in myriad ways. They will be required to audit their algorithms to determine how they affect democracy, human rights, and the physical and mental health of minors and other users. In the background of this decision, lawsuits against AI companies’ use of private data continue, and the United Nations Security Council will hold its first formal discussion on artificial intelligence this week in New York. Combined, these announcements mean that the next few months, if not weeks, will determine the future of AI regulation.
The bottom line: Yesterday’s tech flavor of the month—the metaverse—has been chased from the headlines by ChatGPT and other generative AI models. Yet every use of the term “metaverse” should be read as “AI-enabled metaverse.” The metaverse is a creature of AI in that much of what happens in the metaverse is determined by AI algorithms. Just because the metaverse has disappeared from public consciousness does not mean it should disappear from public concern.
The bottom line: The bitcoin price has doubled so far this year, revitalizing the ethereum, XRP, and wider crypto market that suffered a catastrophic crash through 2022. BlackRock's legendary chief executive Larry Fink, who shocked the world when he announced a surprise crypto flip last week, has said he expects crypto to "transcend" traditional currencies, including the US dollar.
The bottom line: The traditional gatekeepers of knowledge — librarians, journalists, and government officials — have largely been replaced by technological gatekeepers — search engines, artificial intelligence chatbots, and social media feeds. Whatever their flaws, the old gatekeepers were, at least on paper, beholden to the public. The new gatekeepers are fundamentally beholden only to profit and to their shareholders. That is about to change, thanks to a bold experiment by the European Union.
The bottom line: In recent months, social media companies such as Reddit and Twitter, news organizations including The New York Times and NBC News, authors such as Paul Tremblay, and the actress Sarah Silverman have all taken a position against A.I. sucking up their data without permission. Their protests have taken different forms. Writers and artists are locking their files to protect their work or are boycotting certain websites that publish A.I.-generated content, while companies like Reddit want to charge for access to their data. At least ten lawsuits have been filed this year against A.I. companies, accusing them of training their systems on artists’ creative work without consent.
The bottom line: The United Nations Security Council will hold its first formal discussion onAI this week in New York, with Britain to call for an international dialogue about its impact on global peace and security. Governments worldwide are considering how to mitigate the dangers of emerging AI technology, which could reshape the global economy and change the international security landscape.
The bottom line: Christopher Nolan expressed caution about artificial intelligence after a special screening of “Oppenheimer,” drawing a comparison between the rapidly developing technology and his new dramatic feature about the creation of the atomic bomb. “It has to be about accountability,” Nolan said. “We have to hold people accountable for what they do with the tools that they have.”
The bottom line: An increasing body of research shows many workers fear artificial intelligence displacing their jobs, especially in creative industries, where tools like Open AI’s ChatGPT have already made sophisticated strides in generative learning. Some recent surveys show the worry is pervasive: workers across different generations and demographic groups report feeling threatened. Yet there’s reason to take a breath: as this technology finds its way into the mainstream and continues to evolve, experts say these worries don’t have to take over.
The bottom line: On July 17, National Australia Bank (NAB) announced new measures to protect customers from fraud as part of its “bank-wide scam strategy.” Alongside halting millions in payments between March and July 2023, NAB will also introduce blocks on “some cryptocurrency platforms” to help protect customers from scams. NAB executive for group investigations and fraud Chris Sheehan mentioned that the new blocks will affect “high-risk” platforms where “scams are more prevalent.”
The bottom line: One of the major roadblocks to folks building in the Metaverse is the time and skill it takes to create the perfect location. As a result, virtual worlds like Decentraland find themselves littered with empty plots owned by good-natured folks without the resources to unlock their full potential. To combat this metaversal dilemma, Decentraland has now introduced out-of-the-box templates designed purposely to speed up the creation process. As a result, folks far and wide can access and deploy a fully functional scene into their virtual plot of land.
The bottom line: As the 2024 US elections draw near, NFTs have emerged as a popular tool for presidential candidates, with former president Donald Trump being a trendsetter. Trump unveiled the Trump Digital Trading Cards project in December 2022, just a month after his announcement to run for office again. The Trump family’s association with NFTs has led to a cumulative total of over $30 million in total sales volume so far.