Ep #26: Google search AI, Sanctuary AI, 3D Titanic, and Sting

Rick Huckstep and Shaun Weston talk about disruption, innovation and the future of AI search. Also in this episode: an AI-powered humanoid robot, Final Cut Pro on the iPad, & a Titanic 3D digital scan

Jun 04, 2023

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00:00 Preamble

Rick describes the annual spring festivals called a “Romería” in Spain, where each town visits neighbouring towns to “present themselves”. It’s a trade fair as well as an opportunity for young people to mix and create connections. People dress in traditional Spanish clothes, and it all looks like great fun!

04:36 Tempting Tech

Rick's tech of the week is Phoenix – apparently the world's first humanoid general-purpose robot powered by Carbon, Sanctuary's AI control system. Shaun's not convinced that another humanoid robot, with human limitations, is the best way forward. Rick creates a compelling argument for the human body being the perfect design, and Phoenix can probably carry more than Shaun ... so there.

Shaun’s tech of the week features the Titanic, a ship that is still being poked and prodded a hundred years on, despite Rick wondering why people bother. (He forgets about Mars missions and moon landings for the time being.) A deep sea mapping company called Magellan took more than 700,000 images from every angle to create an exact 3D reconstruction of the giant ship.

Also, Final Cut Pro is coming to the iPad, and Shaun’s tickled about it. Perhaps another episode might focus on app power, and how closely aligned the iPad and Mac range is these days.

10:38 Tech News

Disney+ lost four million subscribers in the first three months of 2023. It’s apparently down to its Hotstar service in Asia, which lost streaming rights to Indian cricket matches last year. Many customers have left because Disney raised subscription prices, too.
Elon Musk has named a new chief executive of Twitter, just over six months after his takeover. Linda Yaccarino used to be the former head of advertising at NBCUniversal.
EU regulators have approved Microsoft's $69bn attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard. For the deal to go through, Microsoft and Activision need approval from regulatory bodies in the UK, EU and the US.
Google has overhauled its search results page with AI. Called the Search Generative Experience (SGE), the demo I saw still looked like it was full of adverts.

Also … Facebook parent company Meta rolls out paid verification service in the UK, OpenAI has launched an iOS app for ChatGPT (US-only for now), YouTube will soon add 30-second unskippable ads to top-performing content, China will ban products made by US memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology, because they are “a national security risk”.

11:54 The future of search (or perhaps Google vs Bing)

Google has dominated internet search for years. Globally, more than nine out of 10 internet users who search for information online do so through Google. In contrast, its closest rival, Microsoft Bing, has a market share of 2.8%. Google has recently overhauled its search results page with AI, but can the company move away from its lucrative advertising model? And has Microsoft already usurped Google in the minds of internet users?

Five key talking points

Google's new AI-powered search will summarise search results at the top of the page rather than requiring users to click through multiple links.
This new search method will disrupt the SEO industry, as Google will prioritise the most credible sources rather than those who have optimised their pages for higher rankings.
Google may look to monetise this new search method with partnerships that offer personalised services to users.
Microsoft Bing is taking a different approach by using a large language model for more accurate search results, but Google believes speed is more important.
Meta (formerly Facebook) may also be a key player in the future of search, with its wealth of user data offering a unique advantage.

OUTRO - Quick quote quiz for AI buffs

Shaun ends the show with a quiz. He shares three recent quotes about AI with Rick, who has to guess who said them. Not easy, but his answers are pretty good! How many did you get?

"I get immediately bored when I see a computer-generated image. I imagine I will feel the same way about AI making music.” (Sting on the BBC)
"We need to know what's real as opposed to what's false. The press is the essential element in a community of being able to attain that." (Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward were the reporters at the heart of the Watergate scandal and the fall of President Nixon in 1972 — BBC)
Finally, who said “regulation of AI is essential”? (Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, to US congress members — The Guardian)

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