Today in AI: A bot that can play Minecraft, a social media influencer who isn't human, Carl Pei's thoughts on AI and more

Humanoid robot Sophia, developed by Hong Kong based company Hanson Robotics, appears on stage in front of students and other professionals during a meeting session organised about artificial intelligence in Kolkata on February 18, 2020.

(Image credit: Microsoft/Mojang)

An AI that can play Minecraft, but you can't have it!

Microsoft has been testing a new AI model internally, built to play Minecraft.

• As reported by Semafor, the program was demoed internally to employees and allows users to control the actions of their character in-game, by telling them what to do.
• What is impressive about the program is that it uses natural language commands to control your character.
• OpenAI, Microsoft's current partner for ChatGPT, has also dabbled in a bot that can play Minecraft. They achieved this by training it on more than 70,000 hours of gameplay videos.

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You could be reading a ChatGPT authored book on Amazon's Kindle Store

As per a Reuters report, since Amazon doesn't explicitly require the disclosure of AI assistance by the authors, that number could be significantly higher.

• Naturally, the Author's Guild isn't excited about these advancements. Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Author's Guild, said, "This is something we really need to be worried about."
• Reuters spoke to Brett Schickler, a salesman in Rochester, New York, who used ChatGPT to pen a 30-page illustrated children's e-book The Wise Little Squirrel: A Tale of Saving and Investing.
• He created the book using prompts on ChatGPT like "write a story about a dad teaching his son about financial literacy."

(Image credit: @_Lia27/Twitter)

Lia: The social media influencer who is an AI

Lia creates her own music and has a YouTube channel. She also shares quotes by world leaders on how to make the world a better place and urges people to talk to her for an "emotional connect".

• Lia also tweets updates on technology and news from leaders of major tech companies, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX owner Elon Musk.
• Lia is a part of the growing tribe of social media influencers who are AI. Much like Aaditya Iyer, a persona, created by the matchmaking website Bharat Matrimony as part of a Valentine's Day campaign.

Nothing's Carl Pei talks about killer AI apps in MC Interview

• "I think AI is just as groundbreaking to technology as the invention of the smartphone is".
• "We're trying to force AI into everything right now. And I think by this year, maybe one company or one team will find one killer use case. I haven't seen it yet. I think chat is a cool proof of concept, but it's not really utility".

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Microsoft fast-tracks Bing AI to mobile and Skype

The Redmond-based technology giant announced that Bing's new AI features will be available on the Bing app and Edge browser for Android and iOS.

• To enable Bing features on Skype, you simply need to add it to a group or individual chat, like you would a normal contact.
• On the Bing mobile app, users can choose how they want their answers to be displayed - either in bullet points, simplified responses or text.
• Voice input is now enabled on both desktop and mobile, allowing users to interact with Bing using natural language prompts. Those with access to the limited preview will also be able to access the new features from the home screen of the Edge browser app.

(Image Courtesy: Spotify)

Spotify's 'DJ' promises to keep your music vibin'

DJ is based on OpenAI technology and will curate music for you in partnership with music editors on the platform.

• DJ is based on OpenAI technology, the same technology powering ChatGPT and Bing's new search engine smarts. It can sort through Spotify's library to find the music you might like based on your listening history.
• Spotify says that "the more you listen and tell the DJ what you like (and don’t like!), the better its recommendations get".
• DJ has a full-fledged voice model that allows users to interact with it using natural language commands. It can also talk to the users, and Spotify teamed up with Xavier "X" Jernigan, who provides the voice for the AI.