Category Archives: Artificial Intelligence
IMF managing director on AI’s impact: New social safety nets may be needed – Yahoo Finance
The AI revolution may exert pressure on governments to enact new social safety nets to protect people who lose their jobs but are unable to upskill themselves, warns the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"If we don't have thoughtful distribution of benefits [of AI] and inequality grows dramatically, that can break the social fabric in a way that is going to be very unhealthy for the world," IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva tells Yahoo Finance Live. "Social safety nets in a world of artificial intelligence are paramount."
Georgieva's comments come amid the release of an extensive IMF study on the global economic impact of AI's proliferation on Sunday. The findings coincide with the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where AI will be a hot topic amongst high-profile tech attendees such as Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Salesforce (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff.
Those social safety nets may need a hefty amount of funds, if the IMF's findings are any indication.
About 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, according to the IMF. In advanced economies, roughly 60% of jobs are exposed to AI due to the prevalence of "cognitive task" oriented jobs. Overall exposure is 40% in emerging markets and 26% in low-income countries, says the IMF.
Although many emerging markets and developing economies may experience less immediate AI-related disruption, the IMF reasons they are also ready to capitalize on AI's advantages. This could "exacerbate" the "digital divide" and "cross-country income disparity," the study concludes.
Georgieva thinks the elderly could see an outsized impact from AI's widespread adoption and be in need of a social safety net.
"You have to be able to support those that fall off a cliff because their jobs are wiped out. We also look at who are most adaptable. Obviously the younger generation, in some areas, women more adaptable, but in others less. And the older generation may need more support to catch up in this new world," Georgieva adds.
Story continues
The IMF isn't a singular voice on possible economic aftershocks from AI.
In research of its own in 2023, Goldman Sachs economists found that advances in AI could expose the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs globally to automation. In other words, job loss.
Goldman's economists projected that roughly two-thirds of US occupations are exposed to some degree of automation by AI.
Look no further than the news industry as a prime example of what the IMF and Goldman are discussing.
Large language models (LLMs) are well down the path of ingesting news and information and spewing it out to the global masses, lessening the need to visit a website. Media organizations, meantime, have moved to automate some functions of newsrooms to increase content quantity and slash costs.
News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson (NWSA) told Yahoo Finance Live in late 2023 that AI will be "epochal" for news.
Thomson went onto warn that the industry could face a "tsunami potentially of job losses" due to the new tech.
"These are not just jobs lost, it's insights lost. So it's important that all media companies understand the impact, but also, it's incumbent on the big AI players to understand their impact," Thomson added.
Davos 2024
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter/X @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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IMF managing director on AI's impact: New social safety nets may be needed - Yahoo Finance
2 Cathie Wood ETFs Can Help You Invest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Like a Pro – The Motley Fool
Artificial intelligence (AI) was the dominant stock market theme of 2023. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) became the poster child for the technology, and its stock delivered a 239% return for the year, which led the S&P 500.
Nvidia already opened 2024 with an 8% gain, suggesting investors aren't done betting on AI. But investing in individual AI stocks can be risky. As with most new technologies, not every company in the space will survive -- nor will they deliver short- or long-term gains as significant as Nvidia's. For example, C3.ai is a popular AI stock that delivered a return of 156% in 2023, but it's still down 82% from its all-time high.
Here's the good news: You won't need a crystal ball to benefit from the value AI creates over the long term.
Image source: Getty Images.
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) can give investors exposure to an entire sector of the stock market, neatly packaged into a single security. An ETF can hold dozens or even hundreds of individual stocks, eliminating the need for investors to pick winners and losers in emerging industries, such as AI.
Cathie Wood is the head of Ark Investment Management, which operates 13 ETFs focusing on some of the world's most innovative technologies, including AI, electric vehicles (EVs), robotics, space exploration, and even blockchain technology. Ark's funds are actively managed, so Wood and her expert team regularly buy and sell stocks, aiming to give investors the best possible outcomes.
Below, I'll highlight two of the most suitable Ark ETFs for investors who want to dive into the world of AI.
The Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK -1.66%) is Ark's flagship fund. It owns a stake in 34 technology companies, and its portfolio is worth over $8.1 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs of its kind.
ARKK doesn't necessarily focus on AI specifically, but many of its largest holdings are either developing or using the technology extensively. These are some of the most notable:
Stock
ARKK Portfolio Weighting
Tesla
7.7%
Roku
7.5%
UiPath
6.9%
Shopify
3.2%
Palantir Technologies
1.6%
Data source: Ark Investment Management. Portfolio weightings are accurate as of Jan. 9, 2024, and are subject to change.
Wood regularly refers to Tesla as the greatest AI play in the world. It's more than just an EV company; Elon Musk and his team are working hard to deliver fully autonomous self-driving cars to the masses, the software for which is powered by machine learning and AI.
Streaming giant Roku also uses AI to recommend content to users and to deliver targeted advertising. UiPath, on the other hand, develops robotics and automation software designed to streamline business processes.
The ARKK ETF is quite concentrated, with its top 10 positions accounting for 61.4% of the fund's total value. That can lead to volatility -- in fact, while ARKK delivered a whopping 67% return in 2023 (more than double the return of the S&P 500), it's still trading 68% below its all-time high.
ETFs can be safer than individual stocks because the failure of one company won't sink your entire investment. That's a valuable feature when investing in new technologies, like AI, but ARKK is proof that ETFs are not risk-free. Investing for a five- to 10-year period can smooth out the noise and yield the best results.
The Ark Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF (ARKQ -0.49%) is a smaller fund than ARKK, with just $977 million under management. It focuses on a more niche segment of the technology sector, specifically companies developing autonomous technologies (which tend to be powered by AI).
ARKQ holds 36 stocks, and the majority are utilizing AI in some way. Its most notable AI names include:
Stock
ARKQ Portfolio Weighting
Tesla
12.4%
UiPath
9.8%
Nvidia
2.6%
Alphabet (Google)
2.3%
Advanced Micro Devices
1.6%
Data source: Ark Investment Management. Portfolio weightings are accurate as of Jan. 9, 2024, and are subject to change.
As you can see, Tesla makes up a much larger portion of ARKQ than it does ARKK. ARKQ also has a position in Nvidia, which, as I mentioned, has become synonymous with AI. The company simply can't produce enough of its AI data center chips to meet demand, which continues to surge.
Alphabet is another ARKQ stock. It has developed generative AI chatbots, like Bard and Gemini, which can rapidly produce text, images, videos, and even computer code. It's integrating them into Google Search, Google Docs, and Google Cloud, among other products, to ramp up AI monetization.
Advanced Micro Devices is an important stock. It's gearing up to ship large volumes of its new MI300 series of data center chips, which are designed to compete with Nvidia's leading hardware.
ARKQ has delivered a compound annual return of 12.1% per year since its inception in 2014. That's better than the long-term average annual return of the S&P 500, which is around 10.2% going back to 1957. However, ARKQ is trading at 44% below its all-time high right now. So, like ARKK, it isn't immune to volatility. A long-term investment horizon is likely needed to generate the best results.
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Roku, Shopify, Tesla, and UiPath. The Motley Fool recommends C3.ai. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
History Suggests the Nasdaq Could Surge in 2024: A Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock to Buy Hand Over Fist … – The Motley Fool
The Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector index was in fine form last year with impressive gains of 67%. This was driven by a terrific surge in tech stocks that found favor with investors once again on the back of cooling inflation, the pause in the Federal Reserve's rate hikes, and new catalysts such as artificial intelligence (AI).
A closer look at past trends indicates that the Nasdaq-100 could have another stellar year in 2024. Since its inception in 1985, the Nasdaq-100 has seen only seven down years. What's more, the index has tended to bounce back impressively in the two years following a down year. For example, it jumped 53% in 2009 and 19% in 2010 following a sharp decline of 42% in 2008.
We have already seen that the index soared impressively last year, and that followed a steep drop of 33% in 2022. While past events can't always tell us how the future may pan out, there are indications that the Nasdaq could keep surging in 2024. For instance, the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates this year on account of cooling inflation.
At the same time, tech stocks can get a boost thanks to the potential growth in the smartphone and personal computer (PC) markets, as well as the surging demand for AI chips. That's why now would be a good time for investors to put their money into shares of Micron Technology (MU -1.20%), a Nasdaq stock that's trading at attractive levels now and that could go on a terrific bull run in 2024 thanks to AI.
AI is going to play a major role in helping Micron Technology return to growth in the current fiscal year, following a disappointing performance in the last one. The memory specialist's revenue fell by half in fiscal 2023 (which ended in August last year) to $15.5 billion, while it swung to a non-GAAP loss of $4.45 per share, compared to a profit of $8.35 per share in the prior year.
However, the memory market's oversupply has ended, driven mainly by the growing demand for memory chips being deployed in AI applications. For instance, Micron's peer SK Hynix estimates that the demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are deployed in AI servers, could increase at an impressive annual rate of 82% through 2027. Samsung has also seen its orders for HBM double in 2023.
The good news is that Micron is all set to capitalize on the fast-growing HBM opportunity with the help of Nvidia. Micron management recently pointed out that its latest generation of HBM chips is in the final stages of qualification for Nvidia's GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip and the upcoming H200 AI graphics processing unit (GPU), which are set for launch this year.
Nvidia's H200 GPU is set to be equipped with HBM3e. The chipmaker points out that this memory chip will increase the memory bandwidth of its upcoming AI GPU by 43% to 4.8 terabytes per second, compared to the current-generation H100 processor. What's more, Nvidia is upgrading the memory capacity of the H200 to 141GB (gigabytes) from 80GB on the existing H100 processor.
Given that Nvidia is expected to boost the supply of its AI GPUs significantly this year, it's not surprising that reports suggest that it has made a large prepayment to Micron for HBM chips. Citing industry sources, Taiwan-based daily newspaper DigiTimes says that Nvidia has reportedly made an advance worth $770 million to Micron to secure HBM supply.
So, it's likely we'll see Nvidia moving the needle in a significant way for Micron this year. However, that's just one way in which AI could positively affect the company's growth. AI deployment in edge devices such as PCs and smartphones is expected to drive higher memory consumption as well.
According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, sales of generative AI-powered smartphones could hit 100 million units in 2024. The firm estimates that this market could clock annual growth of 83% through 2027, with a cumulative 1 billion generative AI-enabled smartphones expected to be sold over the next five years. Not surprisingly, Micron management expects "smartphone OEMs to start ramping AI-enabled smartphones in 2024, with an additional capacity of 4 to 8GB of DRAM per unit."
Micron expects a similar trend to unfold in the PC market. The chipmaker is anticipating manufacturers will start ramping up the production of AI-enabled PCs in the second half of 2024. Micron says that these AI-powered PCs are likely to be equipped with an "additional capacity of 4 to 8GB of DRAM per unit," while their storage capacities should increase as well.
This is another key growth opportunity for Micron, given how rapidly the market for AI-powered PCs is expected to grow.
All this tells us why Micron's revenue is expected to grow an impressive 48% in the current fiscal year to $23 billion.
MU Revenue Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts
The company's loss is expected to shrink to just $0.39 per share in the current fiscal year, followed by a significant jump in profit in fiscal 2025 to $6.49 per share. Assuming Micron does hit Wall Street's earnings target over the next year, its stock price could jump to $181 based on the Nasdaq-100's forward earnings multiple of 28 (using the index as a proxy for tech stocks). That would be a 115% increase from current levels.
It's worth noting that Micron stock is trading at less than 13 times forward earnings. This makes it cheaper than Nvidia, which has nearly double the forward earnings multiple.
MU PE Ratio (Forward 1y) data by YCharts
Micron's price-to-sales ratio of 5.6 is also much lower than Nvidia's multiple of 26. As such, investors looking for an AI stock are getting a good deal on shares of Micron Technology right now, and they should consider grabbing this opportunity with both hands before the stock soars higher.
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History Suggests the Nasdaq Could Surge in 2024: A Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock to Buy Hand Over Fist ... - The Motley Fool
This Week in AI: The Future of Work and Home – PYMNTS.com
Generative artificial intelligence (AI), like most programming languages, uses Epoch Time to standardize its operations.
Epoch Time is the number of seconds that have elapsed since Jan. 1, 1970; but as the technology continues its onward march, putting more silicon into more business solutions, a new unit of measurement capable of addressing the rapid advances we are witnessing may just be needed.
While many eyes were on the drumbeat of AI announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, MicrosoftsAI investments helped it (briefly) surpass long-time rivalAppleas the worlds most valuable company.
This years 2024 CES show was more than an occasion to introduce new gadgets, robots and AI-driven product development; it also served to highlight how marketers are increasingly leaning into AI-driven customer insights.
Of course, product and solution development did literally take center stage.
Walmart used CES to promote how the retail giant has been investing in eCommerce anddigital capabilitiesto compete with Amazon in the online space, announcing Tuesday (Jan. 9) that it has integrated generative AIacross its digital shopping platform, allowing customers to search for specific themes or occasions and receive curated results across multiple categories.
Among the new tools are My Assistant, a generative AI-powered tool for Walmart associates that is being expanded to enable staff in 11 countries to interact with the tool in their native language. Launched in the United States in August, the tool helps associates with tasks like summarizing large documents.
Not to be outdone, Amazon has been leveraging AI models available in Microsofts Azure OpenAI Service to provide a more personalized shopping experience. Amazonslatest tool, announced Tuesday, lets viewers cast content to its devices fromApple andGoogle-powered streaming apps.
Victorias Secretannounced Thursday (Jan. 11) that it hopes to soon let its customers turn to AI for product recommendations.
As consumer packaged goods brands look to manage cost inflation,IBMis separately seizing on the opportunity to drive sales with smarter supply chain solutions, announcing on Thursday apartnershipwith software companySAP.
This week was a big one on the enterprise AI front.
IBM teamed withCasper Labsto help companies gain more insight into their AI systems. As PYMNTS has written, AI is one of thefirst technologiesthat can violate nearly all of a companys internal policies in one fell swoop.
At the same time, OpenAIsChatGPT Enterprisehas reportedly gained traction in the corporate world, with 260 businesses signing up for the service within four months of its launch.
Meanwhile, Mastercardis developing Mastercard Small Business AI, a tool for small business owners, announced Thursday.
Also on Thursday, PYMNTS examined the potential of OpenAIs new ChatGPT store as amonetization strategy.
As PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster has written, for anapp store to take off, it needs the same thing Apple and Google needed with their app stores 16 years ago: a critical mass of developers and users.
Notably, OpenAI partner Microsofts own AI Copilot app trails ChatGPT downloads substantially, despite offering the same tech for free.
On Tuesday (Jan. 9) researchers fromMicrosoftand scientists at thePacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Washington stateannouncedthat they successfully used AI to design an industrial material that can be used to build a working battery requiring up to 70% less lithium than many competing designs.
After all, AI isincreasinglybeing integrated intoevery elementof theconnected carexperience, so why not battery development, too?
Most recently, Volkswagenon Tuesday announced that it had integratedOpenAIs AI chatbot,ChatGPT, into its IDA voice assistant, providing customers with access to an ever-expanding AI database and allowing them to have researched content read out to them while driving.
A bipartisan congressional working group is being created to explore the impact of AI on the financial services and housing industries.The formation of the Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) was announced byHouse Financial Services Committee(HFSC) ChairmanPatrick McHenryand Ranking MemberMaxine Waterson Thursday (Jan. 11).
Of course they will have to move fast as PYMNTS reported, quantum powered AI could already be around the corner.
Meanwhile, the battle lines between open-source and closed-source AI are increasingly being drawn as proponents of each look to lobby and influence AI regulation.
And one key element of regulation will be reigning in the growing risks and attack vectors that AI brings.
The AI-granted ability to generate human-like text in an instant,virtually clonepeoples voices based on just snippets of audio, andscale behavioral-driven attackswith the click of a button has increasedaccess to cybercrimes that were previously only the realm of the most sophisticated bad actors.
Underscoring the urgency of synthetic informations threat, theWorld Economic Forum(WEF) labeled misinformation and disinformation as the top risk facing the world in the next two years in its newly publishedGlobal Risks Report 2024.
Fortunately, the marketplace is responding. On Tuesday, ID R&D introduced a voice clone detection tool to combat AI-driven fraud.
As AI gets integrated across more and more avenues of daily life, its impact on work is increasingly coming into focus.
As PYMNTS unpacked on Tuesday, the future of AI is steadily becoming indistinguishable from the future of work. The Japanese government has called on its domestic tech companies to behuman-centricwhen developing or using generative AI.
Duolingohas cut about 10% of its contractors due to its use of generative AI to create content.
Googleis also reportedly laying off hundreds of workers in its ongoing cost-cutting campaign. The tech giant plans to cutpositionsin its voice assistant business, as well as hundreds more jobs among the hardware team behind itsPixel,NestandFitbitproducts,as it looks to focus on AI.
In 2024, were going to shift from a world where it was a risk to try using generative AI to become more efficient, into a world where there is actually a bigger risk of being left behind if you dont try it,James Clough, chief technology officer and co-founder ofRobin AI, told PYMNTS during a conversation for the AI Effect series. Thats why its called a co-pilot, right? Because a co-pilot implies the existence of a pilot, and its still the pilot whos in control. Its the pilot whos setting the direction. Its best thought of as a person and machine partnership rather than a replacement.
Elsewhere in legal news, OpenAIsaid on Monday (Jan. 8) thatThe New York Timeslawsuit against it is without merit.
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This Week in AI: The Future of Work and Home - PYMNTS.com
1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Stock With More Upside Than Palantir to Buy Now, According to Wall Street – The Motley Fool
Palantir Technologies (PLTR 0.48%) is a recognized leader among artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning platform providers, and the company is leaning into that functionality. Palantir recently reworked its go-to-market strategy to drive adoption of its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), a new product that brings support for generative AI to its existing data analytics platforms.
Management sees tremendous upside in AIP, as does Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. In fact, Ives has called Palantir "the gold standard in AI," explaining that its ability to monetize AI on both the government and enterprise sides makes it the "best pure play" option in the space. And the market is no less bullish. Palantir stock rocketed about 150% higher over the past year.
However, Wall Street remains largely skeptical where Palantir is concerned. The stock has a consensus "sell" rating among analysts, and its median 12-month price target of $14.50 per share implies 10% downside from its current price. For comparison, Wall Street is quite bullish on a lesser known AI stock: HubSpot (HUBS -1.57%).
Wall Street currently has a median 12-month price target of $600 per share on HubSpot stock, implying 12% upside from its current price. The stock also carries a consensus "buy" rating. In fact, not one analyst recommends selling shares of HubSpot at the present time.
Here's what investors should know.
HubSpot specializes in customer relationship management (CRM) software. Its platform includes applications that improve productivity across sales, customer service, marketing, and operations teams. HubSpot has cultivated a particularly strong presence among small and medium-sized businesses due to its freemium pricing strategy, tiered product portfolio, and focus on simplicity.
Indeed, that strategy has been so effective that research company G2 ranked HubSpot as the best global software seller across any category in 2023. That commendation not only reflects a strong market presence, but also high user satisfaction scores. HubSpot is also a recognized leader in marketing automation software and artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant software among small businesses, and the company is leaning into that expertise.
Specifically, HubSpot recently announced HubSpot AI, a suite of AI-enabled tools that automate tasks and surface predictive insights across the CRM platform. For instance, it can draft emails and predict future sales, write social media copy and create marketing content, and prioritize and respond to customer service requests. HubSpot AI can even automate the construction of websites. The company also launched ChatSpot, a generative AI assistant that lets users engage the CRM platform with natural language.
HubSpot reported strong financial results in the third quarter. Revenue climbed 26% to $558 million on a 22% increase in customers and a 3% increase in subscription revenue per customer. Even more impressive, non-GAAP net income soared 138% to $83 million as its operating margin expanded seven percentage points due to cost control efforts.
HubSpot has innovated quickly over the past year, something stakeholders have come to expect from the company. Of particular note, HubSpot added new features to Sales Hub in the third quarter, including new prospecting and deal management solutions. Those upgrades should help the company win more large customers.
To add detail to that, Sales Hub is a suite of productivity tools that are designed to improve outcomes across the sales lifecycle, from generating leads to closing deals. HubSpot aims to draw larger businesses to its platform to expand its addressable opportunity, which management currently values at $51 billion.
The company is pursuing that goal by adding more sophisticated features to its CRM applications. While still early, that strategy has merit. CEO Yamini Rangan noted "pretty significant traction" with new Sales Hub features in the third quarter.
Additionally, the introduction of HubSpot AI positions the company to benefit from growing demand for automation in the CRM market. Management says 40% of enterprise customers have already used HubSpot AI features.
That early momentum is particularly encouraging because generative AI spending within the CRM space is forecast to increase at 21% annually through 2032. For context, the broader CRM software market is projected to expand at 14% annually through 2030.
Ultimately, HubSpot should achieve above-average revenue growth as it continues to push upmarket and lean into generative AI, helped along by its leadership position in marketing automation and AI sales assistant software.
Indeed, analysts at Morningstar expect revenue to increase at 21% annually over the next five years. Investors can reasonably expect a similar growth trajectory through the end of the decade. In that context, its current valuation of 13.3 times sales appears reasonable, especially when the three-year average is 16.6 times sales.
Patient investors should feel comfortable buying a small position in this growth stock today. But the key word is "patient". There is no guarantee HubSpot shareholders will turn a profit over the next 12 months, regardless of Wall Street's price target.
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1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Stock With More Upside Than Palantir to Buy Now, According to Wall Street - The Motley Fool
AI 50 2024: Submissions For Forbes’ List Of The Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Startups Are Open – Forbes
L
ast year marked artificial intelligences breakthrough into the mainstream. With a new wave of startups on the rise at Silicon Valleys frontier, Forbes is opening nominations for our AI 50 list to determine who is leading the way.
Since 2019, Forbes has published an annual edition of the AI 50 to honor the most promising startups whose businesses are centered around artificial intelligence. Now in its sixth year, the list is open to companies based anywhere that are held privately and more than 50% independent. As AI has long been deployed as a buzzword for marketing purposes now more so than ever we publish the AI 50 to cut through the noise and determine the top startups truly applying AI to solve business problems across various industries.
Nominations for the 2024 list are now open through Monday, February 5, 2024 at the following link:
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Forbes produces the AI 50 in partnership with Sequoia Capital and Meritech Capital. The selection process evaluates applicants using both quantitative and qualitative information including revenue, business growth and valuation. Two panels of independent judges one with academic or professional expertise in AI, and the other with long-standing investing experience in the field scrutinize the strongest applicants on criteria including business promise and innovative use of AI. There is no fee for entry.
As specified in the application form, companies have the option to mark certain financial data as confidential, meaning they will be used for list-making purposes only and will not be published publicly. Non-disclosure of data will not negatively impact a companys application, though disclosing the information may boost its candidacy and help it stand out among peers.
The final list is unranked and historically includes a mix of early-stage and growth-stage startups. For a detailed explanation of the methodology, click here.
In addition to inclusion on the list, companies who make the AI 50 are highlighted with in-depth coverage, including list trends, video content and profiles. Past standouts include Databricks, Hugging Face, Scale AI and Writer.
Nominate your startup through the application form Monday, February 5, 2024 to be considered for our sixth annual AI 50 list.
AI likely to impact 40% of jobs globally, IMF chief says ‘tough year ahead’ – India Today
Artificial intelligence poses risks to job security around the world but also offers a "tremendous opportunity" to boost flagging productivity levels and fuel global growth, the IMF chief told AFP.
AI will affect 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies, the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said in an interview in Washington, shortly before departing for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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With AI expected to have less effect in developing countries, around "40 percent of jobs globally are likely to be impacted," she said, citing a new IMF report.
"And the more you have higher skilled jobs, the higher the impact," she added.
However, the IMF report published on Sunday evening notes that only half of the jobs impacted by AI will be negatively affected; the rest may actually benefit from enhanced productivity gains due to AI.
"Your job may disappear altogether - not good - or artificial intelligence may enhance your job, so you actually will be more productive and your income level may go up," Georgieva said.
UNEVEN EFFECTS
The IMF report predicted that, while labor markets in emerging markets and developing economies will see a smaller initial impact from AI, they are also less likely to benefit from the enhanced productivity that will arise through its integration in the workplace.
"We must focus on helping low income countries in particular to move faster to be able to catch the opportunities that artificial intelligence will present," Georgieva told AFP.
"So artificial intelligence, yes, a little scary. But it is also a tremendous opportunity for everyone," she said.
The IMF is due to publish updated economic forecasts later this month which will show the global economy is broadly on track to meet its previous forecasts, she said.
It is "poised for a soft landing," she said, adding that "monetary policy is doing a good job, inflation is going down, but the job is not quite done."
"So we are in this trickiest place of not easing too fast or too slow," she said.
The global economy could use an AI-related productivity boost, as the IMF predicts it will continue growing at historically muted levels over the medium term.
"God, how much we need it," Georgieva said. "Unless we figure out a way to unlock productivity, we as the world are not for a great story."
'TOUGH YEAR' AHEAD
Georgieva said 2024 is likely to be "a very tough year" for fiscal policy worldwide, as countries look to tackle debt burdens accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic, and rebuild depleted buffers.
Billions of people are also due to go to the polls this year, putting additional pressure on governments to either raise spending or cut taxes to win popular support.
"About 80 countries are going to have elections, and we know what happens with pressure on spending during election cycles," she added.
The concern at the IMF, Georgieva said, is that governments around the world spend big this year and undermine the hard-won progress they have made in the fight against high inflation.
"If monetary policy tightens and fiscal policy expands, going against the objective of bringing inflation down, we might be for a longer ride," she added.
CONCENTRATING ON THE JOB
Georgieva, whose five-year term at the IMF's helm is set to end this year, refused to be drawn on whether she intends to run for a second stint leading the international financial institution.
"I have a job to do right now and my concentration is on doing that job," she said.
"It has been a tremendous privilege to be the head of the IMF during a very turbulent time, and I can tell you I'm quite proud of how the institution coped," she continued.
"But let me do what is in front of me right now."
Published By:
Shweta Kumari
Published On:
Jan 15, 2024
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AI likely to impact 40% of jobs globally, IMF chief says 'tough year ahead' - India Today
Unleashing the Power of Synergy: AI, Blockchain, and Cloud Computing – Medium
In the fast-paced realm of technological innovation, the convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, and Cloud Computing has emerged as a transformative force. This trinity of cutting-edge technologies is reshaping industries, enhancing security, and unlocking unprecedented possibilities. In this blog post, we delve into the symbiotic relationship between AI, Blockchain, and Cloud Computing, exploring their individual strengths and the collective impact they bring to the digital landscape.
Artificial Intelligence, often referred to as the cornerstone of the fourth industrial revolution, has the capability to simulate human intelligence in machines. From natural language processing to image recognition and predictive analytics, AI empowers systems to learn, adapt, and make decisions autonomously.
Blockchain, initially known for its role in cryptocurrencies, is a decentralized and distributed ledger technology. Its key attributes transparency, immutability, and security have found applications far beyond finance. Blockchain ensures trust and accountability in transactions, reducing fraud and providing a tamper-proof record of data.
Cloud computing, epitomized by platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, offers scalable and on-demand access to a shared pool of computing resources. Cloud services provide the infrastructure for deploying and managing applications, storing data, and facilitating seamless collaboration.
Integrating AI with Blockchain on cloud platforms results in a potent combination of enhanced security and transparency. AI algorithms can analyze blockchain data, detecting patterns and anomalies that might go unnoticed by traditional systems. This ensures a robust defense against cybersecurity threats while maintaining the transparent nature of blockchain transactions.
By deploying AI applications on blockchain networks hosted in the cloud, decentralization becomes a reality. This approach distributes the computational load across the network, promoting efficiency, and reducing the risk of a single point of failure. It also aligns with the decentralized ethos of blockchain technology.
Smart contracts, self-executing contracts with coded terms, receive a boost from AI integration. AI algorithms can analyze complex conditions, enabling smart contracts to adapt to changing circumstances. This dynamic functionality enhances the automation and intelligence of contract execution.
Cloud computing provides the scalability needed to accommodate the resource-intensive nature of AI and blockchain applications. Whether its training AI models, validating blockchain transactions, or storing vast amounts of data, the cloud ensures that resources can be scaled up or down as needed, optimizing efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
While the fusion of AI, Blockchain, and Cloud Computing holds immense promise, challenges such as interoperability, data privacy, and regulatory compliance must be navigated. The evolving landscape requires a collaborative effort from technology providers, businesses, and policymakers to establish standards and frameworks that foster innovation while ensuring ethical practices.
As we navigate the intricate landscape of technological convergence, the future holds exciting prospects. The combined power of AI, Blockchain, and Cloud Computing will drive innovation across industries, from healthcare and finance to supply chain management and beyond. This transformative synergy is laying the foundation for a new era of intelligent, decentralized, and secure digital ecosystems.
In conclusion, the fusion of AI, Blockchain, and Cloud Computing represents a paradigm shift in how we harness and leverage technology. The synergy created by integrating these powerful technologies is not just a technological evolution but a revolution. As we journey into this era of unprecedented possibilities, businesses and innovators have the opportunity to shape a future where intelligence, trust, and scalability converge to redefine the boundaries of what is achievable in the digital landscape.
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Unleashing the Power of Synergy: AI, Blockchain, and Cloud Computing - Medium
What is artificial intelligence? An explanation of the tech buzzword – ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV
What exactly is considered artificial intelligence?
AI is really an umbrella term because theres lots of different types of technology that count as AI, said Lee Tiedrich, a faculty fellow in law and responsible technology in the Duke Initiative for Science & Society at Duke University.
The AI industry has exploded in growth especially over the past year, and artificial intelligence is used as a buzzword in a lot of emerging technologies.
People are calling things AI that are not necessarily artificial intelligence, Tiedrich said.
At the end of last year, the Biden Administrationsigned an executive orderon developing AI safely and responsibly. AI was defined as having the meaning set forth in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3): a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.Artificial intelligence systems use machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner; and use model inference to formulate options for information or action.
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The ChatGPTs that have entered our lives so suddenly a little over a year ago are examples of AI that everybody can relate to, Tiedrich said.
Another example is facial recognition technology that uses the inputs of peoples images to determine who they are.
What is not AI? Tiedrich said any tech that simply relies on calculation based on set rules with no inferences or speculation should not be called AI.
Are there implicit or explicit objectives, objectives that you're trying to achieve with it? Are they making inferences from inputs, whether from training data, from prompts?, Tiedrich said.
As AI evolves, Tiedrich said, the definitions and regulations can too.
The standards of AI will evolve very quickly, she said.
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What is artificial intelligence? An explanation of the tech buzzword - ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV
Chief Justice Roberts casts a wary eye on artificial intelligence in the courts – NPR
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts is shown joining other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts is shown joining other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.
WASHINGTON Chief Justice John Roberts on Sunday turned his focus to the promise, and shortcomings, of artificial intelligence in the federal courts, in an annual report that made no mention of Supreme Court ethics or legal controversies involving Donald Trump.
Describing artificial intelligence as the "latest technological frontier," Roberts discussed the pros and cons of computer-generated content in the legal profession. His remarks come just a few days after the latest instance of AI-generated fake legal citations making their way into official court records, in a case involving ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
"Always a bad idea," Roberts wrote in his year-end report, noting that "any use of AI requires caution and humility."
At the same time, though, the chief justice acknowledged that AI can make it much easier for people without much money to access the courts. "These tools have the welcome potential to smooth out any mismatch between available resources and urgent needs in our court system," Roberts wrote.
The report came at the end of a year in which a series of stories questioned the ethical practices of the justices and the court responded to critics by adopting its first code of conduct. Many of those stories focused on Justice Clarence Thomas and his failure to disclose travel, other hospitality and additional financial ties with wealthy conservative donors including Harlan Crow and the Koch brothers. But Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor also have been under scrutiny.
The country also is entering an the beginning of an election year that seems likely to enmesh the court in some way in the ongoing criminal cases against Trump and efforts to keep the Republican former president off the 2024 ballot.
Along with his eight colleagues, Roberts almost never discusses cases that are before the Supreme Court or seem likely to get there. In past reports, he has advocated for enhanced security and salary increases for federal judges, praised judges and their aides for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and highlighted other aspects of technological changes in the courts.
Roberts once famously compared judges to umpires who call balls and strikes, but don't make the rules. In his latest report, he turned to a different sport, tennis, to make the point that technology won't soon replace judges.
At many tennis tournaments, optical technology, rather than human line judges, now determines "whether 130 mile per hour serves are in or out. These decisions involve precision to the millimeter. And there is no discretion; the ball either did or did not hit the line. By contrast, legal determinations often involve gray areas that still require application of human judgment," Roberts wrote.
Looking ahead warily to the growing use of artificial intelligence in the courts, Roberts wrote: "I predict that human judges will be around for a while. But with equal confidence I predict that judicial work particularly at the trial level will be significantly affected by AI."
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Chief Justice Roberts casts a wary eye on artificial intelligence in the courts - NPR