😺 The future of AI

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Here’s what you need to know about AI today:

AI has already changed the world, and no one has noticed.
AlphaFold’s AI is helping predict genetic diseases.
Meta is releasing chatbots to engage the younger crowd.
An AI image clinched the top Google search result for "Tank Man."

AI Has Already Changed The World And Promises Even More.

AlphaFold

We recently chatted with Reed Albergotti, Tech Editor at Semafor, (think: NYT + WSJ produced a prodigy offspring). We. Nerded. Out.

With 20+ years covering tech, Reed doesn’t just get AI, he gets how we got here and what comes next.

First things first, AI isn’t new. As Reed noted last month:

“Before ChatGPT, I had a thesis about covering artificial intelligence. I thought AI was going to change the way we live and work, but nobody would notice, or really care.”

Bingo.

AI has already changed the world, and no one has noticed.

Take DeepMind’s AlphaFold, for instance. This AI system can predict the 3D structure of proteins with insane accuracy. Imagine AlphaFold as having a map of a city when searching for a specific address.

AlphaFold is already a game-changer for predicting genetic diseases and expediting drug discovery.

And let’s not forget about AIs that optimize energy grids, monitor agricultural health, and, oh, did we mention power self-driving cars!

So why the hype over ChatGPT?!?!

Well, ChatGPT represents a new breed of AI called generative AI (here’s an explainer) … which means it can create stuff from scratch … which means it can create stuff for us (emails, blogs, presentations) … which means it can save us time.

And that, folks, is worthy of hype.

But hang on, the future of AI is even hype-r (read on)...

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AI's Future Holds Enormous Potential.

Figure’s humanoid robots

Long-term, Reed pictures AI doing far more than reorganizing our calendars. He envisions it reorganizing the entire world, and we agree.

Here's a teaser of what's coming:

AI-enabled custom medicine. Currently, medicine is mostly one-size-fits-all. Picture AI analyzing tons of medical and genetic data to create super-personalized treatments.
General purpose robots: Robots powered by AI can already adapt, learn, and iterate. These bad boys could step in for roles struggling with labor shortages, like elderly care.
AI-enabled material sciences: AI can simulate millions of scenarios, expediting the evolution of new battery tech and nuclear fission, aka lowering greenhouse gases. Wahoooooo!

And yeah, Reed thinks AGI is coming, but he doesn’t see it arriving within the next 1-2 years.

Why it matters: To make all of this a reality, we’ll need way stronger models, way more GPUs, and way more energy. Quantum computing could be a game changer.

Winter The future is coming, and the world will look radically different in 2033. To stay ahead of the curve, go subscribe to Semafor’s Technology newsletter. (We devour it).

Around the Horn.

AI levels the playing field for writing, ideating, and analysis — and why this matters).
Meta will roll out chatbots with distinct personalities on its social platforms to keep the young guns engaged.
Microsoft’s keyboard “SwiftKey” is adding a fresh AI-editor that helps you type, an AI camera lens, and AI stickers.
7 ways to use ChatGPT to optimize your content for SEO.