The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Tech & AI

This week we discuss the Good, Bad, and Ugly of Tech and AI…

…And you DON’T have to pay $8 to get access to this content!

Ready for our serving of some hot, steaming updates from this week in tech? Let’s dive right into it because it's been kind of crazy, to say the least!

In Summary…

… this issue will focus on the following updates:

• Hey Github! A Solution for those who hate Typing Out Long Codes

• Sparrows to Replace Humans at Amazon Inc.

• Bugs as… Pets?

• Hi Gen-Z, meet Pineapple

• Airly Sensors and Environmental Pollution

• Nvidia Enters the Speech AI race

• Combating Climate Change with AI

• “Just Instagram it” Just Pixelfed It!

• Your AI Therapist is Ready to See You Now

• KFC in trouble with automated messaging

Hey Github! A Solution for those who Just Can’t Remember Codes

Have you ever had an idea but no clue how to turn it into code? Copilot may have found a solution!

GitHub has recently launched a new version of their Copilot tool that would allow developers to speak instructions into the system which will then be translated into codes.

In summary, Copilot’s new version will be able to:

• Understand natural language requests to translate them into codes.

• Navigate through codebases with ease instead of having people search for them manually.

• Provide more accessibility without needing too much interaction with the keyboard and mouse.

For now, it's only limited to suggesting code completions, but if successful, this will change the efficiency of coding on a huge level.

On that note, let’s see what Twitter users are saying about Copilot and its level of “accuracy”.

Sparrows to Replace Humans at Amazon Inc.

Remember how we used to say robots will replace us in workplaces? It’s going to happen sooner rather than later and Amazon is a ‘prime’ example of it (no pun intended).

The ecom giant has always been proud of its use of robots in its warehouses, and now they’ve announced Sparrow, a robot that will efficiently align Amazon to work “smart not hard”.

Here’s all you need to know about it:

• Sparrow will be able to detect, select, and handle individual products in the inventory.

• Able to take on repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus their time and energy on other things.

• The machine also advances safety measures around the warehouse for workers by handling more heavy items.

While I won’t be a fan of robots unless I have one that keeps my cupboard automatically organized, this seems like an impressive invention by Amazon, a logistics brand that’s above every other when it comes to using tech to sort out their inventories and operations.

Other News

> Hi Gen-Z, Meet Pineapple; a networking AI tool that will allow the youth to find people of the same interest and make professional connections. Get ready, this version is better than the one served on Pizza.

> Airly is aiming to build a dashboard that will allow people to analyze air quality, assess its impact on health, and improve it through the help of its sensors. If successful, this could do wonders for my allergy-prone family!

> Nvidia has recently announced its latest Speech AI that will be responsible for being more inclusive regarding a diverse set of languages, unlike Alexa or Home, to help people around the globe.

> Alphabet X’s Tidal is aiming to use cameras and machine learning to track carbon stored in the ocean’s populace, making efforts to fix the underwater impact of climate change. Unimaginably unique, right?

> Recently announced Pixelfed might just be the solution to everything Instagram can’t do! It’s decentralized, has no ads, provides security, and is a much more personalized photo-sharing community than anything promised by its Facebook-owned nemesis.

> While the psychology major inside of me is a skeptic about emotions in robots, new research shows that an AI therapist might be exactly what we need to combat major mental health issues.

> KFC Germany got in trouble on 9th November, a date that marks the start of the holocaust, with its automated holiday tool telling people to “enjoy” the day with a crispy chicken. Are brands and their robotic messages relevant during EVERY national event?

> It’s been a week of huge tech companies laying off employees, starting off with Twitter and Meta. We don’t know what this means for platforms yet but here’s our favorite tweet on the topic below. This is the optimism level we all strive to have.

Latest-Funded Companies in AI & Robotics

• SpringTime Ventures (Colorado) to get new $25 Million funding.

• Amagi, the media tech software, gets its value up to $1 Billion after General Atlantic’s new round of funding.

• Ordergroove raises $100 Million in funding to grow its e-commerce subscription platform.

• Anything World raised $7.5 Million in funding to help content creators that use AI-based animations.

• OpenAI reveals leading a $23.5 Million funding for note-taking app, Mem.

Meme of the Day!

Concluding this issue with our meme of the day, we’ve chosen to honor the AI errors that lead to making us believe ghosts might actually be real.