Kenya Insights

Tag: Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • OpenAI Unveils Chat GPT-4.5 with Advanced AI Capabilities

    OpenAI Unveils Chat GPT-4.5 with Advanced AI Capabilities

    OpenAI has introduced GPT-4.5, its most sophisticated AI language model yet, offering improved conversational abilities and greater emotional intelligence. The model is currently available to ChatGPT Pro subscribers, who pay $200 per month, as part of a research preview. OpenAI has announced plans to extend access to other subscription tiers in the near future.

    Designed to make interactions more natural and engaging, GPT-4.5 boasts enhanced conversational depth. However, its high computational demands make it costly to train and operate. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has attributed delays in the model’s full rollout to ongoing GPU shortages.

    Beyond improved dialogue capabilities, GPT-4.5 includes web search functionality, canvas integration, and support for file and image uploads. However, AI Voice Mode is not yet available. While GPT-4.5 surpasses its predecessors in language performance, it has been observed to lag behind smaller models like o3-mini in mathematics and science benchmarks.

    OpenAI aims to expand access to GPT-4.5 in the coming weeks, allowing more users to experience its advanced capabilities.

  • Apple Gambles on New iPhone With AI Features at Lower Cost

    Apple Gambles on New iPhone With AI Features at Lower Cost

    Apple has announced a new iPhone which brings artificial intelligence (AI) features at a lower cost than its flagship handsets.

    The iPhone 16e has the same processor as the larger iPhone 16, Apple said, with similar storage options, though a lower spec elsewhere, including fewer cameras.

    Apple has been struggling to find a new product that excites consumers – sales of iPhones dropped at the end of last year.

    It will be hoping that bringing enhanced AI functionality to a less expensive phone will address that – however analysts have been cautious about the sales boost such tools bring.

    Its name is clearly a nod to its iPhone SE series, which were released from 2016 to 2022, and similarly priced significantly lower.

    Apple said the iPhone 16e will be available for pre-order from February 21 in 59 countries.

    It will launch in the UK for £599, which is £200 less than the iPhone 16 – but more than double what the original iPhone SE went for when it launched in 2016.

    “This now becomes one of the most affordable powerful iPhones now on the market,” industry analyst Paolo Pescatore told BBC News.

    “The move should help accelerate adoption and especially its foray into AI with Apple Intelligence.

    “Apple’s trust and credibility is critical – this alone will help drive sales and lure users from rival devices and platforms.”

    Apple Intelligence

    Much of the conversation around the new handset will likely centre around its power, with Apple electing to use the same A18 chip behind its more expensive devices.

    This means the 16e will be capable of playing the same games and running the same apps as other iPhones – though AI is likely at the heart of this decision.

    Apple boss Tim Cook said in the announcement the new model featured “the performance, intelligence and privacy” Apple fans “expect” from the firm.

    And he said the Apple Intelligence features on the device would “help you save time, quickly get more things done, and express yourself in new ways”.

    The firm introduced its spin on the tech – Apple Intelligence – with this series of devices, which includes new tools for writing and incorporating OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT into Siri.

    It hasn’t always gone well, with the firm at one point suspending its AI-generated news alerts after they created false headlines attributed to news organisations including the BBC.

    It now presents the summaries in italics.

    Apple said its new phone is “built for Apple Intelligence”, and pointed to certain features of the tech, like an easy way to clean up photos or search your image library.

    Other phone manufacturers have similar features on their devices – though the iPhone 16e will be by far the cheapest way to access AI on an Apple handset.

    “The iPhone 16e generates a new revenue stream for Apple, and this will be particularly noticeable in key markets like India, where iPhones are out of reach for most people,” said Forrester principal analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee.

    “There is also a second-order effect of cheaper devices like the iPhone 16e, bringing new customers into the Apple ecosystem.

    “We’ve seen a limited appetite among many of the installed base to upgrade from previous versions, but the new phone reduces the cost hurdle of joining the Apple Intelligence bandwagon.”

    Apple’s current offerings are also underwhelming in light of the company’s prolific investments in research and development. Cory Johnson, Epistrophy Capital Research chief market strategist, said Apple has spent $189bn on R&D over the last decade alone.

    “All we have to show for that is the HomePod and $3,500 ski goggles,” Johnson said. “AI should be right in Apple’s wheelhouse. But Apple fanboys, fangirls, and investors are right to be disappointed so far.”

    (BBC)

  • Elon Musk Warns US Could ‘Lose Next War Very Badly’ Without Military Overhaul

    Elon Musk Warns US Could ‘Lose Next War Very Badly’ Without Military Overhaul

    Elon Musk, tech billionaire appointed by US President Donald Trump to oversee government efficiency, warned that Washington risks losing the next war unless its weapons programs are completely overhauled, calling for “immediate and dramatic changes” in military strategy.

    “American weapons programs need to be completely redone,” Musk said Thursday on X. “The current strategy is to build a small number of weapons at a high price to fight yesterday’s war. Unless there are immediate and dramatic changes made, America will lose the next war very badly.”

    Musk’s comments followed the release of his August 2024 interview at the West Point US Military Academy on Thursday, where he discussed the future of warfare, emphasizing the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and drones.

    AI, drones reshaping modern warfare

    In the interview, Musk stressed that countries often prepare for past conflicts instead of anticipating future threats. He cited World War I tactics resembling those from the Napoleonic era as an example. “It’s hard to change,” he said, urging a shift in mindset to adapt to evolving warfare dynamics.

    He identified AI and drones as the most significant forces in modern conflict. “The current war in Ukraine is very much a drone war already,” Musk noted, stressing that future battles will likely rely on unmanned systems, making front-line deployments too dangerous for humans.

    Musk also criticized the US for its slow drone production rate, despite technological advancements. “I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge, … it can scale but it is not currently scaling,” he said, predicting that human-piloted fighter jets are nearing obsolescence.

    AI risks, ‘Terminator’ scenario

    While advocating for AI in military operations, Musk expressed concerns about its risks, referencing the “Terminator” scenario. “I do worry about the existential risk of AI,” he said, cautioning against unchecked development of autonomous weapons.

    Musk, the owner of X, Tesla, and SpaceX, also underscored the importance of secure space-based communications, such as his own satellite internet constellation Starlink, for modern warfare, and emphasized that new technologies must be rigorously tested before widespread deployment.

    Musk highlighted curiosity as the most vital trait for future military leaders, encouraging continuous learning and critical thinking to navigate the complexities of modern warfare.

  • Alibaba Releases Artificial Intelligence Technology That It Says Surpasses DeepSeek

    Alibaba Releases Artificial Intelligence Technology That It Says Surpasses DeepSeek

    Chinese tech company Alibaba on Wednesday released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model that it claimed surpassed the highly-acclaimed DeepSeek-V3.
    The unusual timing of the Qwen 2.5-Max’s release, on the first day of the Lunar New Year when most Chinese people are off work and with their families, points to the pressure Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s meteoric rise in the past three weeks has placed on not just overseas rivals, but also its domestic competition.

    “Qwen 2.5-Max outperforms … almost across the board GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3 and Llama-3.1-405B,” Alibaba’s cloud unit said in an announcement posted on its official WeChat account, referring to OpenAI and Meta’s most advanced open-source AI models.

    The Jan. 10 release of DeepSeek’s AI assistant, powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, as well as the Jan. 20 release of its R1 model, has shocked Silicon Valley and caused tech shares to plunge, with the Chinese startup’s purportedly low development and usage costs prompting investors to question huge spending plans by leading AI firms in the United States.

    But DeepSeek’s success has also led to a scramble among its domestic competitors to upgrade their own AI models.

    Two days after the release of DeepSeek-R1, TikTok owner ByteDance released an update to its flagship AI model, which it claimed outperformed Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s o1 in AIME, a benchmark test that measures how well AI models understand and respond to complex instructions.

    This echoed DeepSeek’s claim that its R1 model rivalled OpenAI’s o1 on several performance benchmarks.

    DEEPSEEK VERSUS DOMESTIC COMPETITORS

    The predecessor of DeepSeek’s V3 model, DeepSeek-V2, triggered an AI model price war in China after it was released last May.
    The fact that DeepSeek-V2 was open-source and unprecedentedly cheap, only 1 yuan ($0.14) per 1 million tokens – or units of data processed by the AI model – led to Alibaba’s cloud unit announcing price cuts of up to 97% on a range of models.
    Other Chinese tech companies followed suit, including Baidu, which released China’s first equivalent to ChatGPT in March 2023, and the country’s most valuable internet company Tencent.
    Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek’s enigmatic founder, said in a rare interview with Chinese media outlet Waves in July that the startup “did not care” about price wars and that achieving AGI (artificial general intelligence) was its main goal.

    OpenAI defines AGI as autonomous systems that surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks.

    While large Chinese tech companies like Alibaba have hundreds of thousands of employees, DeepSeek operates like a research lab, staffed mainly by young graduates and doctorate students from top Chinese universities.

    Liang said in his July interview that he believed China’s largest tech companies might not be well suited to the future of the AI industry, contrasting their high costs and top-down structures with DeepSeek’s lean operation and loose management style.

    “Large foundational models require continued innovation, tech giants’ capabilities have their limits,” he said.

    (Reuters)

  • China’s DeepSeek Threatens ChatGPT’s Dominance Of AI Sector

    China’s DeepSeek Threatens ChatGPT’s Dominance Of AI Sector

    Chinese startup DeepSeek’s launch of its latest AI models, which it says are on a par or better than industry-leading models in the United States at a fraction of the cost, is threatening to upset the technology world order.

    The company has attracted attention in global AI circles after writing in a paper last month that the training of DeepSeek-V3 required less than $6 million worth of computing power from Nvidia H800 chips.

    DeepSeek’s AI Assistant, powered by DeepSeek-V3, has overtaken rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application available on Apple‘s App Store in the United States.

    This has raised doubts about the reasoning behind some U.S. tech companies’ decision to pledge billions of dollars in AI investment and shares of several big tech players, including Nvidia, have been hit.

    Below are some facts about the company shaking up the AI sector worldwide.

    Why is DeepSeek causing a stir? 

    The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 caused a scramble among Chinese tech firms, who rushed to create their own chatbots powered by artificial intelligence.

    But after the release of the first Chinese ChatGPT equivalent, made by search engine giant Baidu, there was widespread disappointment in China at the gap in AI capabilities between U.S. and Chinese firms.

    The quality and cost efficiency of DeepSeek’s models have flipped this narrative on its head. The two models that have been showered with praise by Silicon Valley executives and U.S. tech company engineers alike, DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1, are on par with OpenAI and Meta‘s most advanced models, the Chinese startup has said.

    They are also cheaper to use. The DeepSeek-R1, released last week, is 20 to 50 times cheaper to use than OpenAI o1 model, depending on the task, according to a post on DeepSeek’s official WeChat account.

    But some have publicly expressed scepticism about DeepSeek’s success story.

    Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang said during an interview with CNBC on Thursday, without providing evidence, that DeepSeek has 50,000 Nvidia H100 chips, which he claimed would not be disclosed because that would violate Washington’s export controls that ban such advanced AI chips from being sold to Chinese companies. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegation.

    Bernstein analysts on Monday highlighted in a research note that DeepSeek’s total training costs for its V3 model were unknown but were much higher than the $5.58 million the startup said was used for computing power. The analysts also said the training costs of the equally-acclaimed R1 model were not disclosed.

    Who is behind DeepSeek? 

    DeepSeek is a Hangzhou-based startup whose controlling shareholder is Liang Wenfeng, co-founder of quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, based on Chinese corporate records.

    Liang’s fund announced in March 2023 on its official WeChat account that it was “starting again”, going beyond trading to concentrate resources on creating a “new and independent research group, to explore the essence of “AGI” (Artificial General Intelligence). DeepSeek was created later that year.

    ChatGPT makers OpenAI define AGI as autonomous systems that surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks.

    It is unclear how much High-Flyer has invested in DeepSeek. High-Flyer has an office located in the same building as DeepSeek, and it also owns patents related to chip clusters used to train AI models, according to Chinese corporate records.

    High-Flyer’s AI unit said on its official WeChat account in July 2022 that it owns and operates a cluster of 10,000 A100 chips.

    How does Beijing view DeepSeek?

    DeepSeek’s success has already been noticed in China’s top political circles. On January 20, the day DeepSeek-R1 was released to the public, founder Liang attended a closed-door symposium for businessman and experts hosted by Chinese premier Li Qiang, according to state news agency Xinhua.

    Liang’s presence at the gathering is potentially a sign that DeepSeek’s success could be important to Beijing’s policy goal of overcoming Washington’s export controls and achieving self-sufficiency in strategic industries like AI.

    A similar symposium last year was attended by Baidu CEO Robin Li.

    (Reuters) 

  • Understanding Artificial Intelligence And How It Is Transforming Lives

    Understanding Artificial Intelligence And How It Is Transforming Lives

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly evolving field that has captured the imagination of people for decades and continues to transform various industries, from healthcare to finance, and even media.

    This technology can revolutionize how we live, work, and interact with the world around us. What exactly is AI, and how does it shape the world we live in?

    According to NVIDIA, AI is the ability of machines to mimic human cognitive functions like learning and problem-solving.

    This is achieved by training algorithms on vast amounts of data, enabling them to identify patterns, make predictions, and perform tasks with increasing accuracy.

    The term “Artificial Intelligence” was first used in the Dartmouth Conference in 1956: In 1950, Alan Turing wrote a paper on Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which laid foundation of research on AI. Since then, there have been great milestones achieved, continuing and improving each passing day.

    Understanding AI

    There are four main types of AI:

    • Perception AI: This involves the ability of machines to interpret and understand sensory information from the environment. It includes visual and auditory perception, enabling machines to recognize objects, scenes, and sounds. It relies on cameras and microphones and can be used for tasks like facial recognition, image classification, and natural language processing. Virtual Assistant tools like Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa (Conversational AI) provide personalized solutions to billions of users round the world, as they are integrated in almost every smart device.
    • Generative AI: This focuses on creating new content, such as text, images, and music, by learning from existing data. Generative AI can produce realistic images, write articles, and even compose music. It’s used for tasks like generating realistic product images for e-commerce websites or creating personalized marketing content. In media, AI can create automated summaries of news articles, allowing readers to quickly grasp the gist of important stories.
    • Agentic AI: This refers to AI systems that can perform tasks autonomously, making decisions and taking actions without human intervention. Agentic AI is used in robotics, autonomous vehicles, and smart home devices.
    • Physical AI: This involves the integration of AI into physical systems, such as robots and drones, enabling them to interact with the physical world. It can be used for tasks like optimizing traffic flow in cities or managing energy consumption in buildings.

    AI in Media and Broadcast

    AI is making significant strides in the media and broadcast industry. It is revolutionizing content creation, distribution, and audience engagement.

    AI-powered tools can generate draft scripts, suggest narrative twists, and even automate video editing. This not only speeds up the production process but also enhances the quality of content.

    AI-driven recommendation systems are another game-changer. Platforms like Netflix and YouTube use AI algorithms to analyze user preferences and suggest personalized content.

    This improves viewer engagement and satisfaction, making the viewing experience more enjoyable. AI can analyze user data to deliver targeted advertising, making advertising more relevant and effective.

    Beyond broadcast media, AI is transforming numerous industries. In healthcare, AI is used for medical diagnosis, drug discovery, and personalized medicine. In finance, AI is used for fraud detection, risk management, and algorithmic trading.

    Investing in AI

    As AI continues to evolve, investing in this technology is crucial for future growth. Companies and institutions should focus on developing AI skills and infrastructure. Investing in AI research and development, as well as collaborating with tech companies, can help stay ahead in the competitive landscape.

    Conclusion

    Artificial Intelligence is a powerful tool that is reshaping industries. By understanding and investing in AI, companies can unlock new opportunities and drive innovation.

  • Google Launches New Artificial Intelligence Model Gemini 1.5 Flash

    Google Launches New Artificial Intelligence Model Gemini 1.5 Flash

    Google on Tuesday introduced its new artificial intelligence (AI) model that it said is faster and more efficient for AI assistants.

    The new Gemini 1.5 Flash model is lighter-weight than its predecessor Gemini 1.5 Pro which was introduced in February, following the first natively multimodal Gemini 1.0 that was launched in December 2023.

    Google dubbed Gemini 1.5 Flash as a lightweight model that is optimized for speed and efficiency, which is suitable for the vast majority of developer and enterprise use cases.

    It has a long-context understanding that can process hours of video and audio, and hundreds of thousands of words or lines of code, according to the company.

    “Flash has a one-million-token context window by default, which means you can process one hour of video, 11 hours of audio, codebases with more than 30,000 lines of code, or over 700,000 words,” according to its website.

    Developers can integrate Gemini models into their applications with Google AI Studio and Google Cloud Vertex AI.

    Gemini 1.5 Flash by Google came a day after Microsoft-backed OpenAI unveiled its new model GPT-4o which is said to be much faster compared to its previous ones, as the competition in the AI industry heats up.

    Google in late February had temporarily suspended Gemini’s ability to generate images after receiving criticism on social media platforms.

  • AI Outperforms Doctors In Clinical Analysis, Report Says

    AI Outperforms Doctors In Clinical Analysis, Report Says

    The battle of wits and fears that artificial intelligence would outrun the human intelligence continue to spark debate.

    In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have revealed that artificial intelligence (AI) may have better clinical reasoning capabilities compared to human physicians.

    The study compared the performance of a large language model (LLM), specifically ChatGPT-4, against internal medicine residents and physicians at two academic medical centres.

    Lead author Dr Adam Rodman, an internal medicine physician and investigator at BIDMC, highlighted the significance of the findings, stating, “It’s a surprising finding that these things are capable of showing the equivalent or better reasoning than people throughout the evolution of clinical case.”

    Physicians compete against AI

    The study used a validated tool called the revised-IDEA (r-IDEA) score to assess clinical reasoning. Physicians and the AI model were tasked with working through 20 clinical cases, each comprising four sequential stages of diagnostic reasoning: triage data collection, system review, physical examination, and diagnostic testing/imaging.

    Results revealed that the LLM achieved the highest median r-IDEA score, outperforming physicians and residents. While diagnostic accuracy and correct clinical reasoning were similar between humans and the AI model, the researchers noted that the LLM exhibited more incorrect reasoning.

    AI in medical decision making

    This highlights the potential of AI as a complementary tool rather than a replacement for human expertise in healthcare.

    Dr Stephanie Cabral, a third-year internal medicine resident at BIDMC and co-author of the study, emphasised the potential role of AI in improving patient-physician interactions and reducing inefficiencies in healthcare delivery. “Even now, they could be useful as a checkpoint, helping us make sure we don’t miss something” she stated. “My ultimate hope is that AI will improve the patient-physician interaction by reducing some of the inefficiencies we currently have and allow us to focus more on the conversation we’re having with our patients.”

    The findings suggest that AI could significantly impact clinical practice by increasing healthcare providers’ diagnostic and reasoning capabilities.

    Further research is still needed to determine the optimal integration of AI into medical decision-making processes.

    Could AI improve the healthcare system?

    While the study marks a significant advancement in AI-driven healthcare, the researchers acknowledge potential conflicts of interest, including grant funding and employment affiliations with various organisations.

    As AI continues to evolve, its role in healthcare decision-making will likely expand, offering new opportunities to improve patient outcomes and streamline clinical workflows. With careful integration and validation, AI may become a valuable partner in pursuing better healthcare delivery.