📣 In the news

👉 Amazon launches AI shopping assistant Rufus for all US customers

Amazon has rolled out its AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, to all U.S. customers within the Amazon mobile app.
Previously available in beta to select users, Rufus is designed to help customers find products, compare items, and receive purchase recommendations.

Rufus is powered by an internal LLM specialized for shopping. It draws information from Amazon's product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and other public web sources. The AI can answer questions about product details, buying considerations, and item comparisons, as well as provide suggestions for specific tasks or projects.

While Rufus serves as a helpful shopping companion, Amazon acknowledges that it may not always provide perfect answers. The company plans to continue improving the AI assistant over time. 

Currently, Rufus is limited to Amazon's product catalog, which could potentially impact the quality of its recommendations in some cases.

👉 K-pop's AI experimentation sparks fan debate and industry reflection

K-pop's recent foray into AI technology has sparked a heated debate among fans and industry professionals. Boy band Seventeen and girl group Aespa have incorporated AI in their music videos and production processes, raising questions about authenticity and creativity in the genre. While some fans welcome AI as a tool to overcome creative blocks, others worry it may diminish the personal connection between artists and listeners.

Industry professionals like Chris Nairn see AI adoption as part of K-pop's innovative spirit but doubt its ability to produce top-tier lyrics. The controversy highlights the pressure on K-pop artists to consistently produce content and the need for clearer guidelines on AI use in music. As the debate continues, fans' opinions are likely to influence how K-pop groups approach AI integration in the future...

👉 OpenAI's "Strawberry" project aims to enhance AI reasoning capabilities

OpenAI is developing a novel approach to AI models under the code name "Strawberry," focusing on advanced reasoning capabilities. The project, previously known as Q*, aims to enable AI to plan ahead and navigate the internet autonomously for "deep research."

Strawberry involves a specialized post-training process to adapt base models and improve their performance in specific ways. The project's goals include performing long-horizon tasks and conducting research by browsing the web autonomously.

OpenAI hopes this innovation will dramatically improve its AI models' reasoning capabilities, seen as key to unlocking major scientific discoveries and building new software applications. While details remain secret, the project has similarities to Stanford's "Self-Taught Reasoner" method. OpenAI's focus on reasoning aligns with industry-wide efforts to overcome current AI limitations in common sense problem-solving and logical thinking.

👀 Creative picks

SKY reimagines the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in AI-assisted campaign

Sky, in collaboration with DDB Group Aotearoa, has launched an AI-assisted campaign for its upcoming broadcast of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The campaign, "From the Streets of Paris," uses generative AI to create visuals that blend 19th-century impressionist art styles with Olympic sports and Parisian landmarks. It includes a series of films and out-of-home advertisements featuring these AI-generated images.

The campaign presents the Olympic Games Paris 2024 as a unique combination of athletic competition and cultural heritage. By reimagining Olympic events in the style of impressionist art, it highlights the connection between Paris's artistic history and its role as the host city for the upcoming Games.

_{Credits: SKY / DDB Group Aotearoa}