The Gist

• AI’s big payoff. Netflix has a $900K position open in AI.
• Supersize your AI. Companies are using AI chatbots to find potential employees.
• ChatGPT robot. ChatGPT fundedNEO is currently in development. 

Around 65,000 Hollywood actors have joined writers on the picket line, fighting for higher pay and concerned with another pesky issue – the use of AI in by film and television production companies. Among their fears is the idea that an actor’s likeness, voice, mannerisms — basically their entire essence — could be created into an AI for use in TV and movies.

In the premier episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror, Season 6, we were treated to an episode called “Joan is Awful” that featured such a world in which the actor didn’t have to present in order to appear in a show because their AI likeness was on the job. I don’t want to give anything away — but things didn’t exactly work out as expected.

Collider reported that fiction may not be far from reality as Netflix is clearly investing heavily in AI. The company recently posted a job opening for an AI product manager with an annual salary capped at $900,000. Probably not the best look when it comes to appeasing actor’s fears.

Super-Size Your Hiring Speed: McDonald’s and Others Tap AI for Recruitment

Forbes recently reported that companies are increasingly deploying AI chatbots to evaluate and filter job applicants, particularly for industrial or manual labor positions. However, similar to previous automated hiring instruments, both professionals in the field and potential employees have expressed concerns over potential biases in these tools.

There are also AI recruiting companies like RecruitBot that say they can help you hire five times faster than LinkedIn with their database of more than 600 million candidates with its advanced search filters and AI algorithms.

McDonald’s, Wendy’s, CVS Health and Lowes employ an interactive generative AI chatbot, called Olivia, created by Paradox, an Arizona-based AI startup valued at $1.5 billion.

McDonalds introduced McHire — code name Olivia — to its company-owned stores and as an option for franchisees. According to the article, one hopeful candidate was approved for an-in person interview but the chatbot never scheduled, and in another instance at Wendy’s, the chatbot approved the candidate for job she wasn’t qualified for.

But according to a report, following the introduction of McHire to 1,450 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland, the time involved in hiring was reduced by about 65%, there was a 20% increase in the number of candidates and significantly higher satisfaction rates with the process.

Related Article: Silent but Sentient: Apple Quietly Takes on AI Titans OpenAI and Google

OpenAI Pulls Plug on Bot-Detecting Tool: A Win for AI-Assisted Homework Dodgers

Well, that didn’t last long.

OpenAI first announced its AI classifier tool, aimed at detecting human-written text from that written by AI, on Jan. 31, noting at the time, “Our classifier is not fully reliable.” Then in a blog posted on July 20, the company announced it was shutting down the tech tool due to “its low rate of accuracy.”

“As of July 20, 2023, the AI classifier is no longer available due to its low rate of accuracy,” the company posted. “We are working to incorporate feedback and are currently researching more effective provenance techniques for text and have made a commitment to develop and deploy mechanisms that enable users to understand if audio or visual content is AI-generated.”

Earlier this month, OpenAI also discontinued its web browser plugin that connects user queries to the Microsoft Bing search engine, saying that it “displayed content “in ways we don’t want.” 

So, for the moment, it appears students using Chatgpt to write school papers might go undiscovered a bit longer.

Speaking of OpenAI…

OpenAI Trust and Safety Exec Resigns

Earlier this week, as reported by TechCrunch, Dave Willner, OpenAI’s head of trust and safety, shared a post to LinkedIn announcing he was leaving.

“While my job there was one of the coolest and most interesting jobs it’s possible to have today, it had also grown dramatically in its scope and scale since I first joined,” he wrote. “OpenAI is going through a high-intensity phase in its development — and so are our kids. Anyone with young children and a super intense job can relate to that tension, I think, and these past few months have really crystallized for me that I was going to have to prioritize one or the other.”

Related Article: Elon Musk’s AI Ambition: A New ‘X’ Marks the Spot in the AI Race

ChatGPT Gets a Body

The prospect of integrating the artificial intelligence capabilities of OpenAI’s ChatGPT into a physical robot could introduce an entirely new level of interactivity, bridging the gap between digital and physical worlds.

ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art language model, has already demonstrated its proficiency in understanding and generating human-like text. Yet, as of now, it’s confined to a virtual environment — it communicates through text on a screen, unable to interact physically with the world. By giving it a robot body, this sophisticated AI could go beyond digital dialogues, extending its potential applications in industries like healthcare, education, customer service and more.

Envision a robot capable of understanding complex instructions, adapting to nuanced contexts and communicating in a remarkably human-like manner. Imagine robotic caregivers capable of not just performing routine tasks but offering companionship, robots in schools providing tailored education, or service robots in businesses capable of handling complex customer interactions.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet NEO.

Currently in development, NEO is the creation of IX Technologies, a Norway-based engineering and robotics company. In March, OpenAI led a $23.5 million funding round to help IX establish a production line for commercial use.

AI Video of the Week: From Horrifying Heidi Trailer to Handsome Selfie Helpers

So recently we’ve seen a few AI creations like the movie trailer for Heidi, that were basically extremely terrifying examples of how AI seems to interpret the human form. However, when it comes to enhancing your own appearance, AI is pretty darn good at making us all appear spectacular. Take a look.

AI Tweet of the Week: ChatGPT Should Remember You Prefer Java Over Python

OpenAI recently unveiled a new “Custom Instructions” feature so you can set specific preferences and ChatGPT will remember them for future interactions.

“For example, a teacher crafting a lesson plan no longer has to repeat that they’re teaching 3rd grade science,” company officials said in a blog post announcing the new feature. “A developer preferring efficient code in a language that’s not Python … can say it once, and it’s understood.”

Custom Instructions is now available in beta (if you have the paid “Plus” plan) and will expand to all users in the coming weeks.

Introducing Custom instructions! This feature lets you give ChatGPT any custom requests or context which you’d like applied to every conversation. Custom instructions are currently available to Plus users, and we plan to roll out to all users soon!https://t.co/fVIM9GeYk2

Here…

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) July 20, 2023