Cybernews podcast #40: big tech’s reckless AI race

Tech companies have bombarded us with different artificial intelligence (AI) related news this week, making us wonder what’s behind all the shiny marketing.

OpenAI, until recently seen as the company spearheading the AI revolution, might need to make way for Google. News about OpenAI’s GPT-4o, a multimodal version of GPT-4, was soon overshadowed by numerous Google announcements the following day. From the generative video tool Veo to complex search capabilities, it takes time for every AI-related update from Google to sink in.

As it has been doing for over 25 years now, Google wants to simplify your life further. Gemini is being integrated into nearly every Google product and service. It has eyes, it can speak, and it's there to help you find your glasses or figure out how to fix a broken recorder.

Yes, it might be convenient, but aren’t we smarter than to simply buy into flashy marketing terms?

Private companies aren’t just building tools for the betterment of society, obviously. Profit-driven organizations are looking for new revenue streams and creating demand for certain services. We’re not convinced that turning your camera on and letting Google scan everything so that it can find glasses sitting on your table is worth it.

But what is Apple doing? While the Vision Pro and the new iPad might have gotten some traction, it’s not nearly enough to be seen as a leader in this race. If anything, with the iPhone being its cash cow, it seems to be lost, trying to follow the trends.

A $3 trillion company is now pivoting to generative AI. Details are scarce – Apple researchers say that they’re working on large language models, with one “substantially outperforming” GPT-4. There’s also a project for its own AI chip. But none of the AI-related news from Apple seems to be as big and exciting as those from OpenAI and Google.

Last but not least in this Cybernews podcast debate is Mark Zuckerberg, who’s celebrating his birthday this week. We discuss whether his Facebook has really made our world a better place and how one guy, Ethan Zuckerman, loves Facebook so much that he’s taking Meta to court.