Sir David Attenborough does not approve of AI being used to replicate his voice, telling BBC News he is ‘profoundly disturbed’ by the technology. “Having spent a lifetime trying to speak what I believe to be the truth, I am profoundly disturbed to find that these days, my identity is being stolen by others and greatly object to them using it to say whatever they wish.”
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The metaphors of artificial intelligence
What is the nature of intelligence of LLMs and the artificial intelligence (AI) systems built on them? The disagreements in the AI world on how to think about LLMs are starkly revealed in this diverse array of metaphors. Given our limited understanding of the impressive feats and unpredictable errors of these systems, it has been argued that “metaphors are all we have for the moment to circle that black box.”
The Wall Street Journal is testing AI article summaries
The Wall Street Journal is experimenting with AI-generated article summaries that appear at the top of its news stories. The summaries appear as a “Key Points” box with bullets summarizing the piece. The Verge spotted the test on a story about Trump’s plans for the Department of Education, and the Journal confirmed it’s trialing the feature to see how readers respond.
Source: The Wall Street Journal is testing AI article summaries
Scholarly publishing world slow to embrace generative AI
As the technology’s reach into the information sector expands, a recent report from Ithaka S+R shows that academe is still grappling with how best to integrate it into the scholarly publishing process. “Generative AI has injected a lot of variables into the equation of scholarly publishing. And there’s not yet a shared framework for understanding what those implications are,” said Dylan Ruediger, co-author of the report and a senior program manager of the research enterprise division at Ithaka S+R.
Source: Scholarly publishing world slow to embrace generative AI
Turntable Labs launches Hangout social music service with label deals
Social-music service Hangout has gone live, launched by Turntable Labs – the startup founded by one of the early employees in Turntable·fm, which ignited a big (if ultimately brief) buzz around the category more than a decade ago. All three major labels and Merlin are on board for Hangout’s launch, with the company claiming a library of more than 100m tracks available for its users to DJ with.
Source: Turntable Labs launches Hangout social music service with label deals
Amazon Music Now Has Audible’s Audiobook Catalog; NMPA Is ‘Optimistic’ About It
Amazon Music Unlimited is adding Audible audiobooks under its individual subscription plan — though unlike Spotify, it’s working with publishers. Spotify angered songwriters and publishers by arguing it didn’t need to pay the full mechanical royalty rate since it offered multiple royalty-earning services in one, it appears that Amazon Music will work with publishers to determine new rates privately.
Source: Amazon Music Now Has Audible’s Audiobook Catalog — And the NMPA Is ‘Optimistic’ About It
OpenAI sued by GEMA in Germany over unlicensed use of song lyrics
GEMA alleges that OpenAI, via its ChatGPT chatbot, “reproduce[es] protected song lyrics by German authors without having acquired licenses or paid the authors in question.” According to the organization, the lawsuit aims “to prove that OpenAI systematically uses GEMA’s repertoire to train its systems.” GEMA represents the copyrights of around 95,000 members in Germany (composers, lyricists, music publishers) as well as over two million rightsholders worldwide.
Source: ChatGPT maker OpenAI, valued at $157bn, sued by GEMA in Germany over unlicensed use of song lyrics
French newspapers seek legal action against social media platform X
Major French newspapers, including Le Monde, Le Figaro and Le Parisien, said on Tuesday that they were taking legal action against social media platform X for allegedly using their content without paying. Representatives for X did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The newspapers said they were due payment under their ancillary rights, which allow payment to news outlets by digital platforms for the distribution of their content.Source: French newspapers seek legal action against social media platform X
News Corp adds Google-powered AI summaries to Factiva search results
Dow Jones-owned business intelligence search engine Factiva is adding generative AI summaries to its search results. The news database has deployed Google’s Gemini technology as part of News Corp’s ongoing business partnership with the tech giant. Factiva approached every one of its almost 4,000 sources for new generative AI permissions and received the go-ahead from a “significant subset” of them according to general manager Traci Mabrey.
Source: News Corp adds Google-powered AI summaries to Factiva search results
Perplexity brings ads to its platform
AI-powered search engine Perplexity says it’ll begin experimenting with ads on its platform starting this week. The site will start showing ads in the U.S. to start, and they’ll be formatted as “sponsored follow-up questions.” (E.g., “How can I use LinkedIn to enhance my job search?”) “Ad programs like this help us generate revenue to share with our publisher partners,” Perplexity wrote in a post on its blog.