Control your iPhone using AI-eyes

PLUS: OpenAI and Reddit team up

Author

Rowan Cheung
May 17, 2024

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

With Apple’s new eye-tracking AI feature coming to iOS 18, users will be able to control iPads and iPhones with just their eyes.

Between ChatGPT’s new voice upgrades, Project Astra, and now Apple’s eye tracking, it’s been a HUGE week for AI accessibility. Let’s get into it…

In today’s AI rundown:

  • Apple’s iOS 18 eye-tracking AI

  • ChatGPT gets real-time Reddit access

  • How to bring logo sketches to life

  • Sony Music warns AI developers

  • 5 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs

  • More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple just announced a slew of new accessibility features coming to iOS 18, including AI-powered Eye Tracking, Music Haptics, Vocal Shortcuts, and more.

The details:

  • Eye Tracking allows users to control an iPad or iPhone using just their eyes, without the need for additional hardware or accessories.

  • Music Haptics will enable users to experience music through the iPhone's Taptic Engine.

  • Vocal Shortcuts will let users assign custom phrases that Siri can understand to launch shortcuts and execute tasks.

  • The new features are set to go live later this year with software updates like iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.

Why it matters: While it does seem like a party trick, AI-powered eye-tracking could be a major unlock in extending accessibility for users with physical disabilities. With a slew of AI features now on the way (and a rumored OpenAI partnership), Apple’s WWDC conference on June 10th will be on high alert for the AI community.

TOGETHER WITH CHATLING

The Rundown: Chatling enables you to build and deploy advanced AI chatbots on any website in less than 15 minutes, using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

With Chatling’s no-code AI platform, you can:

  • Automate tasks like customer support, onboarding, lead generation, and sales

  • Train your chatbot on a website, knowledge base, and documents

  • Engage with your global audience in over 85 languages

OPENAI & REDDIT

Image source: CNET

The Rundown: OpenAI just signed a deal to access real-time content from Reddit’s data API, which will now allow OpenAI to link discussions from the site within ChatGPT.

The details:

  • OpenAI will have access to Reddit's Data API, providing real-time, structured, and unique content from the platform.

  • In return, Reddit will leverage OpenAI's technology to build new AI-powered features for its users and mods.

  • OpenAI will also become a Reddit advertising partner as part of the agreement.

  • Financial terms were not disclosed, but Reddit signed a similar deal with Google earlier this year reportedly worth $60 million.

Why it matters: With the new partnership, ChatGPT will be able to compete with the way xAI’s Grok has automatic news updates through X by using Reddit news. Also, OpenAI’s upcoming AI Search chatbot will likely benefit in a big way from Reddit’s real-time information.

AI TRAINING

The Rundown: Adobe Firefly can turn your logo sketches into rendered images for free using a new feature called “Structure Reference”.

Step-by-step:

  1. Head over to Adobe Firefly’s website and create a free account.

  2. Select a logo sketch that will serve as a reference.

  3. Upload it on the left bar where it says ‘Structure’.

  4. Edit the prompt to closely match your desired picture and experiment with other settings, such as aspect ratio, style, effects, or angle.

  5. Click ‘Generate’ and it will provide you with multiple images to choose from 🎉

PRESENTED BY GUIDDE

The Rundown: Guidde is a generative AI platform that helps you create stunning video documentation in seconds — enabling users to communicate complex workflows 11x faster.

With Guidde, you can:

  • Design professional-looking guides without any prior skills

  • Enjoy AI-generated step-by-step descriptions and voiceovers

  • Share and embed guides anywhere with smart sharing options

Try Guidde’s free extension and start creating today.

SONY MUSIC

Image source: David Paul Morris

The Rundown: Sony Music, the world's second-largest music group, is sending warning letters to over 700 AI developers, restricting unauthorized use of its artists' content for training, developing, or commercializing AI systems.

The details:

  • Sony Music's letter expressly prohibits AI developers from using its music, which includes artists such as Harry Styles, Adele, and Beyoncé.

  • The letter is being sent to major AI companies, including OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Suno, and Udio.

  • Separate letters are being sent to Spotify and Apple, asking them to protect artists and songwriters from unauthorized AI use.

  • Sony Music believes its music may have already been used without permission.

Why it matters: Sony is taking a strong stance to make sure it’s views around AI training on unothorized content are heard. But with developers craving for fresh training data, and no clear regulations in sight — the lawsuits will likely only continue to get worse.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

QUICK HITS

OpenAI cofounder John Schulman predicted that AGI could arrive in two to three years, with AI models autonomously carrying out entire coding projects in one to two years.

Hugging Face commits $10 million in free shared GPUs through its new ZeroGPU program to help developers, academics, and startups create AI apps without the burden of GPU costs.

Researchers in the Netherlands have built an AI-driven sarcasm detector, aiming to improve human-machine communication and potentially detect abuse and hate speech.

Stability AI is reportedly facing a cash crunch and has been discussing a potential sale as it struggles to generate revenue and manage expenses.

Ampere Computing and Qualcomm announced a partnership to offer a combined AI chip solution aimed at lowering power consumption in data centers.

Researchers from MIT and University of Basel developed a physics-informed AI to automatically map out phase diagrams for novel physical systems, potentially aiding in the discovery of unknown phases of matter.

THAT’S A WRAP

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