This week in AI and ML news: ChatGPT introduces a mobile app, OpenAI’s CEO visits Capitol Hill, and more.
Author’s Note
You’ve heard of Earth Day and Arbor Day, but what about Love a Tree Day? May 16th was an opportunity to reflect on everything trees do for us and everything we can do for them. Beyond beautifying the horizon and offering shade in the summer, trees play an essential role in reclaiming carbon and slowing rising temperatures. Vision AI solutions for identifying trees, assessing the efficacy of reforestation, and detecting deforestation risk factors all support efforts to build a greener, more sustainable future. Learn more.
AI News
AI Has its Day on Capitol Hill
Though Big Tech generally falls under the purview of Washington DC legislators, attempts to rein in potentially reckless development and add regulatory guardrails have proven largely unsuccessful. In 2021, Senator Richard Blumenthal asked a safety executive from Facebook (now Meta) whether the company would, “commit to ending Finsta.” The Senator’s lack of familiarity with the lingo (fake + Instagram) employed by many young Instagram users to designate their private accounts instantly became infamous. For many, it was a painful reminder of how poorly equipped lawmakers on Capitol Hill are to regulate a rapidly evolving world they little understand.
On Tuesday, Blumenthal kicked off a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee with “opening remarks” from an AI solution designed to mimic his voice. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was among the guests in the hot seat, but reports suggest Tuesday’s hearing was more amicable than similar hearings featuring Tech figures like Mark Zuckerberg. Altman’s testimony centered on a proposal to introduce a specialized agency to manage licensing for AI development and enforce safety standards. While acknowledging that AI’s impact on jobs is impossible to predict, Altman struck a hopeful chord, saying, “I believe that there will be far greater jobs on the other side of this and the jobs of today will get better.” Blumenthal was especially impressed, describing Altman as, “night and day compared to other CEOs.”
Senator Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, wasted no time in taking post-hearing action. On Thursday, Bennet introduced updates to the Digital Platform Commission he first proposed last year. Similar to Altman, Bennet proposes introducing a regulatory body specifically for AI while calling for “systematically important” companies to undergo regular audits and risk assessments.
Is Automated Order Assembly the Future of Lunch?
When restaurants add emerging solutions to the menu, the results are often impressive. In a recent appearance on MarketScale’s The Main Course podcast, our Co-Founder and CPO, Elizabeth Spears, discussed how vision AI solutions for drive-thru management, inventory monitoring, real-time order quality assurance and more help restaurants to redefine service excellence while driving down costs.
The big names of the QSR space are making headlines with the help of evolving technology. Last week, Wendy’s unveiled a partnership with Google aimed at introducing voice recognition technology to the drive-thru ordering process. A Bloomberg article published this week explores Infinite Kitchen, Sweetgreen’s new solution for automatically assembling hundreds of salads each day. In addition to promising accurate orders, the Infinite Kitchen even ensures a well-tossed salad that’s pleasing to the eye thanks to slight rotation during the assembly process. While Bloomberg’s journalist was sworn to relative secrecy, they note that a human employee will remain responsible for certain ingredients like herbs and dressing. When Infinite Kitchen makes its debut at a Naperville, Illinois location, humans will still be responsible for prepping fresh ingredients each day. From there, however, their job will look quite different. Rather than organizing bowls of ingredients at the counter, they’ll feed hard boiled eggs, beets, and all the other favorites directly into the infinite Kitchen.
Thousands of industry leaders are showcasing innovations like these at the National Restaurant Association’s annual show, which is taking place in Chicago and runs through Tuesday. We’re in attendance alongside our partners, Connection. Conference-goers are encouraged to visit booth 7077 for a live demonstration of edge AI in restaurant settings. Learn more about what’s in store and RSVP.
ChatGPT Is in the App Store
It’s hard to believe it was just six months ago that users started talking to Chat-GPT. The generative AI solution and its growing network of competitors have made AI a subject of everyday conversation for tech professionals and novices alike.
Amid expert warnings that dubious imitators are starting to clog Google Play and Apple’s App Store, OpenAI revealed its first official mobile application this week. Though the app is currently only available for iPhone users in the United States, the company has announced its plans to introduce the ChatGPT app to Android users, add iPad compatibility, and roll the more portable version of its chatbot out to users across the globe “in the coming weeks.” ChatGPT’s mobile interface will look mostly familiar to anyone who has used the popular chatbot. One new feature is the addition of speech recognition.
About Plainsight
Plainsight dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of AI-powered computer vision across many verticals and enterprise use cases, including manufacturing, retail, food service, theft, and more. As companies automate their operations with AI and Agents, Plainsight brings vision capabilities to watch and analyze events in the real world and generate structured data for analytics and reporting. Headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, Plainsight Technologies operates as a distributed team, delivering cutting-edge solutions worldwide. To learn more, visit plainsight.ai.
