Check out past editions of the newsletter by clicking here

Hey AI team! We’re back with a new edition of Five Minute AI this Wednesday, September 25 ⏰

On today’s menu:

• Microsoft invests in reopening a nuclear power plant to fuel its AI ambitions

• Copilot’s new features promise to transform the way we work

• A study reveals that AI memory works in a surprisingly similar way to human memory

• Waymo’s self-driving vehicles prove safer than human drivers

Ready? Let’s go...

TERM OF THE DAY

Hallucinations (in AI)

Hallucinations in AI are wrong or made-up answers that language models sometimes generate and present as true facts. The phenomenon highlights how crucial it is to fact-check the information AI gives you, a reminder that these systems, however advanced, are not infallible.

THE BIG STORY

🚀 Copilot: the new wave of AI in Microsoft 365

Microsoft just unveiled a new batch of features for Copilot, its AI assistant built into the Microsoft 365 suite. The update promises to transform the way we work by making AI more accessible and more powerful than ever.

Details:

• Copilot Pages: A new AI-powered dynamic collaboration space that lets teams work together in real time on persistent, editable content.

• Copilot Agents: AI assistants that can automate complex processes, running in the background to carry out tasks on their own.

• Agent Builder: A no-code tool for creating custom Copilot agents, putting AI development within reach of non-technical users.

• Deeper integration in Excel (with Python support), PowerPoint (with Narrative Builder), Teams (transcript and chat analysis), Outlook (smart email prioritization) and Word (pulling in multiple sources).

• Boosted performance: Responses twice as fast and user satisfaction tripled, thanks to GPT-4 integration.

Why I’m telling you about this
This Copilot upgrade is a giant leap toward AI-boosted productivity. Whether you’re a tech pro or a beginner, these tools will help you work more efficiently, collaborate more easily and automate complex tasks. This update could well be the first step toward everyday, widespread use of AI, making our Excel files and Word docs smarter and more responsive than ever.

🚗 Waymo’s self-driving cars: safer than human drivers?

Waymo’s driverless vehicles are posting impressive road safety numbers. An in-depth analysis of crash data shows these autonomous cars outperform human drivers in several key areas.

Details:

• Over more than 22 million kilometers driven, Waymo vehicles were involved in only 20 crashes with injuries. That rate is three times lower than what you’d expect from human drivers in similar conditions.

• Striking fact: of 23 serious crashes involving Waymo cars, 16 were caused by human drivers rear-ending the autonomous vehicle.

• Estimates suggest Waymo vehicles are six times less likely to be in a crash that deploys the airbags compared with human-driven cars.

Why I’m telling you about this

These numbers matter all the more as Waymo is rapidly expanding its robotaxi service, now reaching 100,000 rides a week. The data suggests self-driving technology has reached a promising level of maturity, paving the way for a potentially significant drop in crashes and injuries on our roads.

I apologize for that omission. You’re right, I did forget to include an important link. Here is the corrected version with the missing link added:

🔋 Microsoft goes back to nuclear to power its AI

The energy future of AI is taking shape, and Microsoft is making a master move. The Redmond giant just signed a landmark 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

Details:

– An unexpected comeback: the plant, shut down since 2019, will be back in service under the name “Crane Clean Energy Center” by 2028.

– A massive investment: Constellation plans to spend $1.6 billion to upgrade the facilities.

– Impressive output: the reactor is expected to generate 835 megawatts of carbon-free electricity, enough to power more than 800,000 homes.

– A real economic impact: the project could create up to 3,400 jobs, direct and indirect.

Why I’m telling you about this ⤵️

This move reflects the growing energy needs that come with AI development. By going with a dedicated nuclear power source, Microsoft is giving itself the means to back its artificial intelligence ambitions while keeping its carbon footprint in check. It’s a strategy that could well catch on across the tech sector, much like Bill Gates’s project in Wyoming.

Join the AI revolution with Five Minute AI! 🚀

Share our passion and earn exclusive rewards.

Click the Share button below, invite your friends to join our community, and unlock unique gifts with every new signup!

1️⃣ The Ultimate ChatGPT Handbook, packed with tips only insiders know. This guide will help you boost your productivity and simplify your daily tasks → 🎁 Unlock with 3 friends signed up

2️⃣ Five Minute AI collector mug: Featuring our adorable mascot Pixl enjoying its daily read → 🎁 Unlock with 15 friends signed up

Ready to spread the AI knowledge? Let’s go! 🌟

LEARN TO MASTER AI

🖼️ Generate realistic images featuring your face in a

Dreaming of creating custom avatars or understanding how generative image AI works under the hood? Learn how to generate realistic images featuring your face with the LoRA technique (Low-Rank Adaptation). This method lets you quickly train an AI on your own photos for striking results.

Here’s how to do it using the Fal AI platform:

1. Sign up on Fal AI (a GitHub account is required).

2. Select the “fal-ai/flux-lora-fast-training” model.

3. Upload 15 to 20 varied selfies of yourself.

4. Start the training (time: about 5 minutes, cost: $2).

5. Once it’s done, click “Run Inference” to generate your images.

I put together a very thorough tutorial if you’re interested in the topic; you can read the whole thing by clicking here.

In just a few minutes, I got photos of myself on vacation in the mountains… even though I’ve never set foot there! The image quality is mind-blowing: they look like real photos, ready to post on Instagram.

Mathieu, long hair, is facing the camera on a snow-covered mountain peak at sunrise, wearing a bright red winter jacket with a fur-lined hood. The sun is just rising, casting a golden glow across the snow and highlighting the distant peaks in the background. Their breath is visible in the cold air, and they hold a pair of ski poles while gazing at the expansive view. The scene is peaceful and majestic, capturing the beauty of a quiet morning in the mountains

I also had fun creating a photo of myself giving a conference talk. The result is just as realistic and could easily pass for a real shot taken at a professional event.

Mathieu, long hair, is a confident presenter stands on a brightly lit stage in a modern auditorium, gesturing enthusiastically as they speak. They are holding a sleek, wireless microphone in their right hand, while the left hand points to a large digital screen displaying dynamic graphs. The presenter is dressed in a tailored, dark blue suit with a white shirt and no tie.

I had to add long hair to the prompt, otherwise I kept ending up with short hair! 😆

Tip: You can also train the AI on objects, clothing or specific image styles by turning on the “In Style” option.

For a simpler but slightly pricier approach, PhotoAI is a very solid alternative with a huge library of preset scenes.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS

🧠 AI memory: a surprising resemblance to humans

A recent study by researchers in Hong Kong shows that large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 have a dynamic memory strikingly similar to that of humans. The finding challenges our understanding of what AI can do and could narrow the perceived gap between artificial and human intelligence.

Details:

• Memory is defined as the ability to generate outputs based on specific inputs, rather than as simple storage of static information.

• LLMs showed near-perfect memorization of thousands of poems after limited exposure, far outperforming humans.

• The study suggests the human brain and LLMs run on similar principles of “dynamic fitting,” adapting their responses to inputs rather than retrieving fixed information.

• For humans and LLMs alike, “memory” can only be observed in response to a specific stimulus.

Why I’m telling you about this

If confirmed, these results could transform our understanding of artificial intelligence. With no fundamental cognitive differences between AI and humans, improving AI’s capabilities might simply come down to optimizing hardware and expanding data resources, opening up exciting new possibilities for the future of AI development.

THE LATEST TRENDING TOOLS

Remove the background from any object in your images with outstanding HD precision, using just a text prompt or bounding boxes!

Object Cutter

Create high-quality HD background removal for ANY object in your image with a text prompt or bounding boxes!

3:00 PM • Sep 10, 2024

1.18K Likes   219 Retweets  

💡 THE TOOLS

• 🌈 Rainbow Weather delivers accurate AI-powered weather forecasts so you can plan your activities with confidence.

• 🤖 Chatfuel offers AI agents that automate e-commerce sales, improving the customer experience and sales performance.

• 📚 SciSpace makes academic writing easier by integrating citations and using AI to make the writing process more efficient.

• 📝 Minutes automates meeting note-taking and transcription, freeing up time to focus on the discussions that matter.

• 🧘 Earkick offers a free, anonymous AI chatbot for personal well-being, providing accessible support anytime.

• 🎨 Meshy turns text or 2D images into 3D models, opening up new creative possibilities for artists and developers.

IN THE NEWS

• Luma Labs launches the Dream Machine API, letting developers easily integrate its AI video generation model into all kinds of apps.

• Google significantly improves Gemini 1.5 Flash performance, cutting latency and speeding up content generation.

• A Canadian study finds that an AI-based early warning system reduced unexpected patient deaths in hospitals by 26%.

• OpenAI is negotiating a $6.5 billion funding round that could value the company at $150 billion.

• LinkedIn quietly starts using user data to train AI models, with a two-step opt-out process.

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF CONTENT

1/ 🤖 Get the key points of OpenAI’s o1 model in just 5 minutes
This video gives a concise overview of the main features of OpenAI’s new o1 model (in English).

OpenAI’s new “deep-thinking” o1 model crushes coding benchmarks

2/ 🧠 Explore the fascinating evolution of reinforcement learning in robotics
A trip through time to understand how robots learned to act on their own (in English, 25 min).

Reinforcement Learning | A history from Tic-Tac-Toe to Humanoids

3/ 🚁 Check out a breathtaking aerial show with 8,100 drones in Shenzhen
A new world record was set, putting on an impressive visual performance in the night sky.

A new world record was set last week in Shenzhen when an 8,100 drone formation lifted off  to show a stunning performance

1:31 AM • Sep 11, 2024

1.41K Likes   320 Retweets  

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY

Thanks for reading the work of our purr-sistent team 😼

💡 To help me improve, or to pitch new ideas or partnerships → [email protected] or @mattioo81

👍️ Like what you’re reading? Subscribe!

📺 If you prefer video content, I invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

– Mathieu