AI and the quality of human ideas, Marek Kowalkiewicz on the economy of algorithms, AI therapists, and more

📖In this issue

• How AI ideas affect the quality of human ideas

• Scientific progress requires humans but AI can help: Stephen Wolfram

• The rise of AI therapists addresses demand but raises concerns

• Anthropic releases Claude 3, which exceeds GPT-4 across a range of benchmarks

• LLMs generate better prompts than humans, suggesting prompt engineering jobs are dead

• Marek Kowalkiewicz on the economy of algorithms, armies of chatbots, LLMs for scenarios, and becoming minion masters

• Expert and public insights into the impact of AI by 2040

🤸🏽In practice

How AI ideas affect the quality of human ideas

Among the increasing body of research on Humans + AI thinking and creativity, an study of over 800 people in 40 countries uncovered useful insights into how using AI ideas can lead to greater diversity, the role of self-assessed creativity in how ideas are used, and collective idea generation quality.

👩🤖Humans + AI update

Scientific progress requires humans but AI can help: Stephen Wolfram

“There are still all sorts of scientific questions that remain. So can AI now come in and just solve all of them? To this ultimate question we’re going to see that the answer is inevitably and firmly no. But that certainly doesn’t mean AI can’t importantly help the progress of science.”

Can AI Solve Science?

AI tutoring improves maths performance in Africa

An AI WhatsApp chatbot was used by 1000 Ghanaian school students twice a week on low-bandwidth networks, resulting in a “subtantial” improvement in their maths skills and growth.

Effective and Scalable Math Support: Evidence on the Impact of an AI- Tutor on Math Achievement in Ghana

RoboChem automates chemical experiments

A robotic software and hardware platfrom, RoboChem, uses AI to design and perform synthetic organic chemistry experiments, applying Bayesian optimization algorithms to improve the transformations.

Automated self-optimization, intensification, and scale-up of photocatalysis in flow

The rise of AI therapists addresses demand but raises concerns

The Guardian digs into this thorny issue: “It’s cheap, quick and available 24/7, but is a chatbot therapist really the right tool to tackle complex emotional needs?”
‘He checks in on me more than my friends and family’: can AI therapists do better than the real thing?

🔥Hot news in AI

• Anthropic releases Claude 3, which exceeds GPT-4 across a range of benchmarks - CNBC

• In a fun to-and-fro of Elon Musk suing OpenAI and revelations of early OpenAI emails, Musk says he will drop the lawsuit if it changes its name to ClosedAI - Business Today

• A (limited scope) study shows that LLMs generate better prompts than humans, suggesting prompt engineering jobs are dead - IEEE Spectrum

• TripoSR from Stability AI generates 3D models from single images - StabilityAI 

🎙️Latest podcast episode

What you will learn

• Exploring the economy of algorithms

• The role of software and people in shaping digital futures

• Navigating the balance between automation and human oversight

• The metaphor of digital minions in the algorithmic world

• Engaging with generative AI and chatbots for practical tasks

• Implementing AI responsibly in academic and commercial research

• The importance of human agency in the age of automated decision-making

💡Resources and insights

Expert and public insights into the impact of AI by 2040

A deep report on the impact of AI on individuals and society by 2040 draws on interviews with hundreds of experts as well as a broad public opinion survey. “ The experts were far more concerned than the public about a growing wealth inequality in society but somewhat less concerned than the public about the impact on employment opportunities.”