September 18, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

🦾 DeepMind founder claims 'interactive AI' is coming next

🚗 EV built by students obliterates world range record

📱 6 things to remember when offloading your old iPhone

🗣️ Microsoft prepares for a 'special event' this week

UP FIRST

DeepMind founder claims 'interactive AI' is coming next

Mustafa Suleyman believes we're at a 'very profound moment in the history of technology'

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots have been all the rage since OpenAI launched ChatGPT late last year.

But generative AI is just a phase, according to Mustafa Suleyman, founder of AI specialist DeepMind, which Google acquired in 2014.

In a recent interview with MIT, Suleyman said that coming next is interactive AI, described as “bots that can carry out tasks you set for them by calling on other software and other people to get stuff done.”

Suleyman said we’re facing “a huge shift” in what AI technology can do, adding that it’s currently “static” but could soon have the freedom to take action.

“It’s truly a step change in the history of our species that we’re creating tools that have this kind of agency,” he said.

As part of his own efforts to take the technology to the next level, Suleyman has built a billion-dollar company called Inflection that’s backed by investments from Microsoft, Nvidia, and Bill Gates.

AUTO TECH

Electric car built by students obliterates world range record

The EV achieved the feat despite having a remarkably small battery

An electric vehicle recently broke the world record for the distance traveled on a single charge. And no, it’s not fitted with a ginormous battery or covered in solar panels.

The muc22 vehicle, designed by a team of student engineers from the Technical University of Munich, traveled an impressive 1,599 miles (2,574 kilometers) using only a 15.5kWh battery, which, as Top Gear points out, is seven times smaller than the one used by the Mercedes EQS.

To achieve a range four times longer than, say, Tesla’s Model S, the muc22 had to be built sleek, small (there’s only enough room for the driver), and light, tipping the scales at a mere 375 pounds (170kg).

The students' car beat the existing range record of 999.5 miles (1,608.5 km) after four days of driving at an average speed of about 16 mph (26 kph). Perfect for LA freeways in rush hour, then.

SMARTPHONES

6 things to remember when trading in or selling your old iPhone

Save yourself some hassle by making sure you do it right

Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 to much fanfare last week. It means that many current iPhone owners are now weighing up whether to upgrade and if so, which model to go for.

If you do decide to fork out on a new iPhone 15 – or even one of its older, better-priced models – then you can help reduce the financial hit by trading in your current device or by selling it privately.

But before you do so, there are a few important things to consider to make the process of moving over to your new iPhone as smooth as possible. Get it wrong and the joy of unboxing a new phone and setting it up could be tarnished.

This handy guide takes you through six vital things you need to do when trading in or selling your old iPhone.

COMING SOON

Microsoft to hold a 'special event' this week

Expect to see new hardware as well as news on recent AI developments

Microsoft is holding what it describes as a “special event” in New York City on Thursday, September 21.

Though it has revealed little about the event, it’s expected that Microsoft will unveil new products, possibly new Surface hardware, including a refresh for its flagship Surface Laptop Studio. The new Laptop Go 3 could be incoming, too.

Also likely is an update on the company’s work on AI following the integration earlier this year of OpenAI’s chatbot technology into a number of its products, including Bing and Edge.

Microsoft may also introduce an update to its Windows 11 operating system, though this could be bound up in the news of its work to incorporate more AI.

The event begins on Thursday at 1 p.m. PT and Microsoft will show it live online.

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