Airlines in the US are using machine learning to improve flight efficiency and turnaround times. CC-licensed photo by Jorge Díaz on Flickr.
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There’s another post coming this week at the Social Warming Substack on Friday at 0845 UK time. Free signup.
A selection of 10 links for you. Duty-free. I’m @charlesarthur on Twitter. On Threads: charles_arthur. On Mastodon: https://newsie.social/@charlesarthur. Observations and links welcome.
OpenAI’s GPT-4o model gives ChatGPT a snappy, flirty upgrade • WIRED
Will Knight:
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In demos, the new version of ChatGPT was capable of rapid-fire, natural voice conversations, picked up on emotional cues, and displayed simulated emotional reactions of its own.
During a livestream from the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Monday, Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, announced that ChatGPT will be powered by a new, more powerful AI model called GPT-4o. The model will be available to both free and paid users of ChatGPT via a new desktop app as well as the existing mobile app and web version.
Murati said the GPT-4o model allows ChatGPT to respond more rapidly to voice, image, and video input than OpenAI’s previous technology. In demos, she and other OpenAI employees had fast-flowing conversations with ChatGPT, which answered using a liveley and expressive female-sounding voice and nimbly kept up when interrupted.
ChatGPT adopted different emotional tones during the conversation and at times responded as if it were experiencing feelings of its own. When an OpenAI employee said he had been talking about how “useful and amazing” the chatbot is, it responded flirtatiously, gushing “Oh stop it, you’re making me blush.”
“This just feels so magical, and that’s wonderful,” Murati said, adding, “over the next few weeks we’ll be rolling out these capabilities to everyone.”
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A flirty chatbot? It might create some uptick in users, and putting an app on phones will push that too. What hasn’t been picked up on, though OpenAI mentioned it, is that this version was trained simultaneously on text, audio and video (YouTube? They wouldn’t say) which means it can interpolate across each. Things are changing.
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OpenAI just killed Siri • The Atlantic
Matteo Wong:
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Earlier on Monday, OpenAI announced its newest product: GPT-4o, a faster, cheaper, more powerful version of its most advanced large language model, and one that the company has deliberately positioned as the next step in “natural human-computer interaction.” Running on an iPhone in what was purportedly a live demo, the program appeared able to tell a bedtime story with dramatic intonation, understand what it was “seeing” through the device’s camera, and interpret a conversation between Italian and English speakers. The model—which was powering an updated version of the ChatGPT app—even exhibited something like emotion: Shown the sentence i ♥️ chatgpt handwritten on a page, it responded, “That’s so sweet of you!”
Although such features are not exactly new to generative AI, seeing them bundled into a single app on an iPhone was striking. Watching the presentation, I felt that I was witnessing the murder of Siri, along with that entire generation of smartphone voice assistants, at the hands of a company most people had not heard of just two years ago.
Apple markets its maligned iPhone voice assistant as a way to “do it all even when your hands are full.” But Siri functions, at its best, like a directory for the rest of your phone: It doesn’t respond to questions so much as offer to search the web for answers; it doesn’t translate so much as offer to open the Translate app. And much of the time, Siri can’t even pick up what you’re saying properly, let alone watch someone solve a math problem through the phone camera and provide real-time assistance, as ChatGPT did earlier today.
Just as chatbots have promised to condense the internet into a single program, generative AI now promises to condense all of a smartphone’s functions into a single app, and to add a whole host of new ones: Text friends, draft emails, learn what the name of that beautiful flower is, call an Uber and talk to the driver in their native language, without touching a screen. Whether that future comes to pass is far from certain. Demos happen in controlled environments and are not immediately verifiable. OpenAI’s was certainly not without its stumbles, including choppy audio and small miscues.
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Though you’d expect Apple, which has had a long run at this, would be talking to OpenAI – as Wong suggests. And, as he also suggests, it’s the end of Humane, and the Rabbit R1, though the latter was killed by the stories about its lousy implementation.
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How Texas became the hottest grid battery market in the US • Canary Media (no, not that Canary Media)
Julian Spector:
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Pioneering developers started inaugurating battery plants in 2021, making use of the state’s cheap and abundant land and rapid permitting, and the power market’s low barriers to entry.
…That brings us to today. Texas rolled into 2024 with some 5.1GW of energy storage online, second only to mighty California. But the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts Texas will complete another 6.4GW this year, outstripping California’s 5.2GW of new construction. ERCOT expects to end the year with approximately 11GW online. Analyst firm BloombergNEF, by contrast, predicts Texas will build a more modest 4.3GW, somewhat less than the company’s expectation for California’s new battery construction. But even that more modest forecast would nearly double Texas’ existing battery fleet.
“When you suddenly get 10 gigawatts of storage on a system, there’s really no market in the world other than California that’s anywhere close to that,” Zubaty said. “And Texas was a situation with no market mandates. This was pure wild west investment based on the growing need for fast-ramping and flexible generation in relatively short but predictable bursts to be the glue for the grid.”
Understanding how the most bustling storage market materialized is vital to replicating its success elsewhere, which is what needs to happen for the US to successfully decarbonize the power system and fulfill its Paris Agreement commitments. Indeed, the rapid evolution of the Texas storage market contains a blueprint for how technology can take off when regulators and gatekeeping electric monopolies get out of the way.
“What comes to Texas will come to your local market too,” said Ryan Hanley, founder and CEO of Equilibrium Energy, a software startup that runs bidding strategies for battery assets in ERCOT. “It’s not just a Texas thing — it’s a power industry dynamic. Where renewables lead, storage follows.”
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Between private battery use, and more public provision like this, you can really solve the base load problem of renewables.
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Actually using SORA • fxguide
Mike Seymour:
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“Nine different people will have nine different ideas of how to describe a shot on a film set. And the (OpenAI) researchers, before they approached artists to play with the tool, hadn’t really been thinking like filmmakers.” [Filmmaking group] Shy Kids knew that their access was very early, but “the initial version about camera angles was kind of random.” Whether or not SORA was actually going to register the prompt request or understand it was unknown as the researchers had just been focused on image generation.
Shy Kids were almost shocked by how much the OpenAI was surprised by this request. “But I guess when you’re in the silo of just being researchers, and not thinking about how storytellers are going to use it… SORA is improving, but I would still say the control is not quite there. You can put in a ‘Camera Pan’ and I think you’d get it six out of 10 times.” This is not a unique problem nearly all the major video genAI companies are facing the same issue. Runway AI is perhaps the most advanced in providing a UI for describing the camera’s motion, but Runway’s quality and length of rendered clips are inferior to SORA.
Render times: clips can be rendered in varying segments of time, such as 3 secs, 5 sec, 10 sec, 20sec, up to a minute. Render times vary depending on the time of day and the demand for cloud usage. “Generally, you’re looking at about 10 to 20 minutes per render,” Patrick recalls. “From my experience, the duration that I choose to render has a small effect on the render time. If it’s 3 to 20 seconds, the render time tends not to vary too much from between a 10 to 20-minute range. We would generally do that because if you get the full 20 seconds, you hope you have more opportunities to slice/edit stuff out and increase your chances of getting something that looks good.”
Roto: while all the imagery was generated in SORA, the balloon still required a lot of post-work. In addition to isolating the balloon so it could be re-coloured, it would sometimes have a face on Sonny, as if his face was drawn on with a marker, and this would be removed in AfterEffects. similar other artifacts were often removed.
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Watch the finished film (only 1’21”) and the behind-the-scenes footage (also short).
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No rooftop? No problem. Inside Germany’s ‘balcony solar’ boom • The Progress Playbook
Nick Hedley:
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Apartment dwellers who don’t have their own private rooftops have been largely left behind in the global solar boom. That’s starting to change — at least in Germany.
More than 400,000 households across the country have installed mini solar systems on their balconies, with over 50,000 added in the first quarter of 2024 alone, according to local media reports, citing grid agency BNetzA.
Landlords or tenants who live in apartment blocks typically mount one or two solar panels onto their balconies, using their balustrades, walls or terrace areas. The electricity generated is fed via cables and an inverter into regular household plug points. Installations are quick and easy and don’t require the oversight of an electrician.
Policymakers have put their weight behind the movement in an effort to expand access to solar, reduce household energy bills, and speed up the shift to clean electricity.
Since January 2023, balcony solar systems have been exempt from value-added tax, and some municipalities have introduced generous subsidy schemes to further incentivise their adoption. Berlin, for example, offers a €500 rebate to households that purchase plug-in solar devices.
…Germany got 56% of its electricity from solar and other renewables in the first quarter of 2024, and aims to get to the 80% mark by the end of the decade.
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Balcony solar might not make a huge difference, but any difference is a difference. Four panels (shown in the photo with the story) can generate around 1kW at peak, which is more than enough for a flat.
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Why Revolut is asking suspected scam victims to take selfies • Daily Telegraph
Charlotte Gifford:
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The banking app, which is not a licensed bank, is asking suspected fraud victims to take selfies while holding up a piece of paper that says they understand they are “unlikely” to get their money back.
The app requires customers to go through the security checks when it suspects they could be the victim of a scam.
It uses this intervention, Revolut said, to “break the spell” of a potential scammer.
But the selfies were described as “horrible” and “like hostage photos” by solicitors who represented scam victims.
The Telegraph has seen a transcript of an in-app chat between a Revolut support worker and a customer who was in the middle of being scammed.
Revolut, who had frozen the customer’s account, told them early on in the conversation: “Your account is currently limited because we believe it is highly likely that the transactions you are attempting to make are part of a scam.”
The digital bank asked them to verify their identity by, among other things, sending a selfie with the day’s date written on a piece of paper.
It then told them to copy and send the following statement: “Revolut has warned me in app chat that this is likely a scam. I confirm that I am not being assisted with my transaction and understand that Revolut is unlikely to recover my funds if I proceed.”
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Eye-opening, to say the least, but when you stop to think (which is what Revolut is trying to get the people to do) then it’s quite a smart move: embarrassment can be a powerful force.
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Short-selling news startup didn’t disclose investment in anti-hangover drink • Semafor
Max Tani:
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The publisher and co-founder of Hunterbrook Media, the startup newsroom whose affiliate places stock market bets to profit from its journalism, owns a stake in a competitor to a company that was recently the subject of a critical article.
Hunterbrook Media launched in April amid a storm of calculated controversy over its business model: It would do hard-hitting investigative journalism, building a media business by putting its money where its mouth is and shorting its targets’ stock.
The model has a certain logic. But this newest exposé raises questions about how to trust journalists who are playing the market when they are — as has not been previously reported — also invested in another company in the same space as their target.
The focus of the story is a company called Safety Shot, which makes a drink it claims lowers blood alcohol content and can quickly sober up people who have been drinking. Hunterbrook’s report, edited by founder Sam Koppelman, said the product didn’t work.
But Hunterbrook’s story did not disclose that Koppelman is an investor in another company in the same space, ZBiotics. Koppelman acknowledged, after Semafor reviewed documents showing the investment, that he has a small personal stake in the supplement startup, which on its website promises to help drinkers prevent hangovers.
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It’s basically a hedge fund with a bigger press office; hedge funds which go into short-selling quite frequently compile a big story about a target and then find a friendly publication to publish it.
News organisations getting tangled up in shares of companies they write about isn’t unheard of: ask Piers Morgan.
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How airlines are using AI to make flying easier • The New York Times
Julie Weed:
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AI [actually, machine learning – Overspill Ed] has been helping Alaska Airlines dispatchers plan more efficient routes since 2021. “It’s like Google maps, but in the air,” explained Vikram Baskaran, vice president for information technology services at the carrier.
Two hours before a flight, the system reviews weather conditions, any airspace that will be closed, and all commercial and private flight plans registered with the Federal Aviation Administration, to suggest the most efficient route. The AI takes in “an amount of information no human brain could process,” said Pasha Saleh, the corporate development director and a pilot for Alaska.
In 2023, about 25% of Alaska flights used this system to shave a few minutes off flight times. Those efficiencies added up to about 41,000 minutes of flying time and half a million gallons of fuel saved, Mr. Baskaran said.
On the ground, American Airlines and others are working on an AI-powered system American calls Smart Gating — sending arriving aircraft to the nearest available gate with the shortest taxiing time, and if the scheduled arrival gate is in use, quickly determining the best alternate gate. All this could mean fewer frustrating minutes spent waiting on the tarmac.
American introduced Smart Gating at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in 2021 and now employs it at six airports, including Chicago O’Hare and Miami International. The airline estimates it saves 17 hours a day in taxi time and 1.4 million gallons of jet fuel a year.
Mr. Mohan said that using AI as a virtual parking attendant could save up to 20% of taxiing time, with the highest benefits seen at the largest airports.
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These are impressive savings, but we do need to get reporters to understand when people are talking about machine learning – which is what is happening here, isn’t it: the systems are inferring the most efficient paths based on past data – and when they mean “artificial intelligence” (never).
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‘Deadspin’ to launch for third time under mysterious owners • Front Office Sports
A.J. Perez:
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Deadspin’s latest revival is slated to take place next week, although its new Malta-based owners have given no indication about the editorial direction for the sports site.
Lineup Publishing—a start-up with no history of producing sports content or anything else— purchased Deadspin for an undisclosed sum from G/O Media in March, a move that coincided with Deadspin’s entire staff getting let go. A spokesperson told Front Office Sports via email that Deadspin will relaunch next week but offered no other details about the direction of the site.
FOS has sent numerous requests for comment to Lineup Publishing since the sale was announced March 11. Thursday’s response about the site restarting was the first concrete piece of information that Lineup Publishing has supplied.
When the acquisition was announced, Lineup Publishing’s landing page was bare bones, and there’s still not a lot to go on. But it appears that the new Deadspin will focus on sports betting rather than the edgy editorial content the site was known for years ago.
“We aim to be able to support delivery of this via partnerships within the sports betting industry,” the Lineup site reads. “We believe that by doing this, we can deliver the top quality content people want to read, without impeding the quality and usability of the site.”
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It’s going to be AI-generated slop, isn’t it, using the Googlejuice of the Deadspin brand to get high up in the search results, make some money, shut down (or just leave as a zombie) when Google deranks it.
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‘The Office’ spinoff coming to Peacock, plot details revealed • Variety
Joe Otterson:
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The new iteration of “The Office” has been picked up to series at Peacock, Variety has learned.
As has been previously reported, the show is not a reboot or spinoff of “The Office,” but rather a new mockumentary show with a new cast set in the same universe. For the first time since the show was first revealed to be in the works in late 2023, plot details are now available. The official logline states:
“The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.”
…“It’s been more than ten years since the final episode of ‘The Office’ aired on NBC, and the acclaimed comedy series continues to gain popularity and build new generations of fans on Peacock,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted content for NBCU Entertainment. “In partnership with Universal Television and led by the creative team of Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, this new series set in the universe of Dunder Mifflin introduces a new cast of characters in a fresh setting ripe for comedic storytelling: a daily newspaper.”
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Daily newspapers as a setting ripe for comedic storytelling? Sorry, but no: daily deadlines are murder, no matter how small the organisation. Make it a weekly and you might have a chance.
Also, how bleak.
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• Why do social networks drive us a little mad? • Why does angry content seem to dominate what we see? • How much of a role do algorithms play in affecting what we see and do online? • What can we do about it? • Did Facebook have any inkling of what was coming in Myanmar in 2016? Read Social Warming, my latest book, and find answers – and more. |
Errata, corrigenda and ai no corrida: none notified