The AI Pulse  

 Issue #15 — 6th January 2025

Editor: Alan Brown

  

Welcome to the latest edition of The AI Pulse for Digital Leaders. An expertly curated collection of essential articles, commentaries, and news stories from reputable sources. Do you know anyone who might be interested in AI Pulse. Have some news or looking to partner? Just get in touch at: [email protected]

Highlights in this edition include:  

  

Should AI use personal data without consent for training?

Guidelines for use of AI in parliamentary settings.

Geoffrey Hinton says there is 10% to 20% chance AI will lead to human extinction in three decades.

How will we remember AI in 2024 and what will be the key themes for AI in 2025? To start the New Year, there are lots of predictions:  

FastCompany asked 25 AI experts how they think AI will change personal, business, or digital life by this time next year.

CIO Magazine’s 12 predictions for AI in 2025.

Luiza Jarovsky’s top 10 AI governance papers from 2024.

The 9 AI stories that defined 2024, according to The Atlantic.

The Incubator for AI (iAI) summarises its work in 2024 to reimagine government through AI.

The 10 most popular stories in 2024 from IEEE Spectrum includes investigations into generative AI's strengths and failures.

What were the biggest flops in AI in 2024? MIT Technology Review saw numerous AI failures, exposing the challenges of responsible AI development and the urgent need for robust regulations.

Here is Chris Kraft’s summary of 200 key documents from 2024 on AI in government.

…add finally, if you push a lot of 2025 AI forecasts through ChatGPT, this is what you get!

   AI for Good  

The BBC asks if AI can fill the unfairness gap in British justice?  

A report from the Inter-Parliamentary union provides guidelines for AI in parliaments and a comprehensive framework for responsible and effective AI implementation within parliamentary settings.  

Despite the challenges, The Verge reports that Waymo still doing better than humans at preventing injuries and property damage. 

   Bias and Ethics  

The World Economic Forum (WEF) examines why transparency is key to unlocking AI’s full potential.  

Why ethics is AI’s biggest challenge, according to ZDNET.  

With AI agents all the rage, Wired worries that surrendering to algorithmic agents risks putting us under their influence  

   Cyber Security  

According to ArsTechnica, AI-powered bots are fuelling a surge of sophisticated, hyper-personalized phishing attacks targeting corporate executives,, increasing the risk of cybercrime.  

CapGemini examines what AI and Gen AI bring to cybersecurity.  

   Data & Decision Making  

CSO reports that the European Data Protection Board has advised national regulators to allow personal data to be used for AI training, as long as the final product doesn’t reveal personal information.  

Reuters reports that Microsoft plans to invest $80 billion on AI-enabled data centers in fiscal 2025.  

ZDNET describes how data centers are becoming “mind blowingly large” with clusters of GPU chips having to connect over distances of over a mile.  

A blog from the London School of Economics (LSE) concludes that AI is revolutionising decision-making, but it can’t replace human leaders.  

  Innovation & Collaboration  

McKinsey considers how software-defined hardware is reshaping multiple industries as advances in AI enable new capabilities and dramatically reduce development costs.  

Meta has published Apollo, a new family of models that can understand and explain videos of up to one hour.  

  Productivity & Efficiency  

DailyAI reports that Stanford and DeepMind researchers have show that 2 hours of AI conversation is enough to create a near-perfect digital twin of anyone.  

Meta has announced that Llama has become the most adopted LLM, with more than 650 million downloads of Llama and its derivatives, twice as many downloads as it had three months ago.  

Bain’s comprehensive survey of GenAI use shows that most companies are trying AI, with software and marketing leading in real-world use.  

  Regulation and Compliance  

An interesting paper from the Observer Research Foundation discussion the important role of audits as instruments of principled AI governance.  

DeepMind have released a new benchmark for assessing the ‘factuality’ of LLMs.  

   Sustainability  

The City of Tokyo released a 3D digital twin of the entire city in high resolution point cloud, free to download.  

Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens, believes that AI can unlock new possibilities for global productivity and sustainability to help us tackle our most pressing challenges.  

InformationWeek considers whether the sudden and meteoric rise of AI and the pressing need for energy transition will jeopardise global decarbonisation initiatives and threaten Western AI dominance.  

  User Experience  

UKAuthority reports that the latest DSIT tracker shows public increasingly positive about AI.  

Just in case you were feeling hopeful, according to The Guardian, the “godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton says there is 10% to 20% chance AI will lead to human extinction in three decades.  

  Workforce & Skills  

Cliff Jurkiewicz, executive board member at FastCompany, argues that focusing on skills rather than job titles is essential for organisational success, and AI can help by identifying skill gaps and optimising hiring.  

InfoWorld believes software developers are tired of hearing about AI as a panacea. The backlash may be just what organisations need to effectively implement the technology.  

Raconteur wonders whether AI-driven business efficiencies could soon make the four-day work week a reality.  

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