Welcome to The Upgrade

Welcome to my weekly newsletter, which focuses on the intersection of AI, media, and storytelling. A special welcome to my new readers from Apple, UC Berkeley, tech startups, and many other organizations — you’re in good company!

In today’s issue:

• The Week’s Top AI Stories 📰

• Case Study: Microsoft News Fails Again 🤦 

• The Big Story: The White House’s AI Executive Order📜 

• Special Course Offer: 15% Off the AI Boost⚡️

The Week’s Top AI Stories

Gen AI Tools

• ChatGPT Plus members can upload and analyze files in the latest beta — The Verge

• YouTube has AI creator tools, but creators are too busy battling AI to care — Polygon

• Microsoft starts selling AI tool for Office, which could generate $10 billion a year by 2026 — CNBC

Regulation & Policy

• White House tackles artificial intelligence with new executive order — CNN

• Five takeaways from UK’s AI safety summit at Bletchley Park — The Guardian

• UN AI report to close gaps in government responses -tech envoy — Reuters

Ethics & Safety

• Can AI influence elections? — Popular Science

• News Group Says A.I. Chatbots Heavily Rely on News Content — The New York Times

Legal & Copyright

• Scarlett Johansson hits AI app with legal action for cloning her voice in an ad — The Verge

• Artists may make AI firms pay a high price for their software’s ‘creativity’ — The Guardian (opinion)

In the Workplace

• LinkedIn exec reveals exactly how AI is changing hiring and recruiting — Fast Company

• LinkedIn Wants Its AI Bot to Help Find You a Job After You Lose Your Job to AI — GizModo

Case Study: Microsoft News Fails Again

On Tuesday, Microsoft ran a distasteful AI-generated poll next to an article by The Guardian on its curated news platform, Microsoft Start. The poll, based on the contents of reporting about a suspicious death, asked readers, “What do you think is the reason behind the woman’s death?”

The Rundown:

• Readers and commenters slammed The Guardian and the article’s author, falsely assuming they had created the poll. Microsoft removed the poll but the damage was done.

• The Guardian Media Group’s CEO, Anna Bateson, demanded Microsoft accept responsibility for the debacle. A Microsoft spokesperson responded: “We have deactivated Microsoft-generated polls for all news articles, and we are investigating the cause of the inappropriate content.”

• This isn’t the first time Microsoft has struggled with its news aggregator platform. Earlier this year, it published a botched AI-generated obituary by a third party.

The Big Story: Executive Order on AI

The world of AI is evolving rapidly and, until now, in legal ambiguity. Governments are working to regulate it, but it's a delicate balance to strike when the technology is both lauded as the cure to cancer and cited as a cause for human extinction. Ahead of the global AI Summit in the UK this week, the White House issued a 100+ page executive order. Let’s dig in.

The White House's Approach to AI Regulation

• The Biden Administration introduced an extensive executive order to regulate AI based on its voluntary AI guidelines.

• AI companies have been actively engaging with Congress, discussing the potential and risks of AI.

• There's a stark divide in Silicon Valley: some advocate for slowing down AI development, while others push for rapid advancement.

What the Executive Order Does

• General Approach: The order aims to allow AI development to continue with some regulations, ensuring the government monitors the AI industry.

• Safety Measures for Powerful AI Systems:

  • Companies building next-gen AI systems must inform the government and share safety test results before public release.

  • Reporting requirements apply to models with a specific computing power threshold.

  • The Defense Production Act of 1950 will be used to enforce these requirements.

• Cloud Providers and AI:

  • Cloud providers like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon must inform the government about their foreign AI developer customers.

  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology is tasked with creating standardized AI tests.

• Addressing AI Ethics Concerns:

  • The order directs federal agencies to prevent AI from exacerbating discrimination in various sectors.

  • The Commerce Department will provide guidance on watermarking AI-generated content to combat misinformation.

What the Executive Order Does NOT Do

• It doesn't require companies to register for a license to train large AI models.

• Companies aren't forced to withdraw current products or disclose specific proprietary information.

• The order doesn't address the use of copyrighted data in AI training or limit the development of open-source AI models.

Sources + Further Reading: 

• With Executive Order, White House Tries to Balance A.I.’s Potential and Peril — The New York Times

• Biden Taps Emergency Powers to Assert Oversight of AI Systems — The Wall Street Journal

• Will the White House AI Executive Order deliver on its promises? — The Brookings Institute 

• Biden wants to move fast on AI safeguards and signs an executive order to address his concerns — The AP

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Don’t be shy—hit reply if you have thoughts or feedback. I’d love to connect with you!

Until next week,

Peter

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