ITP TechBlog

Jan 24, 2024 | techblog.nz | Saurabh Bagchi

Concern about generative artificial intelligence technologies seems to be growing almost as fast as the spread of the technologies themselves. These worries are driven by unease about the possible spread of disinformation at a scale never seen before, and fears of loss of employment, loss of control over creative works and, more futuristically, AI becoming so powerful that it causes extinction of the human species. The concerns have given rise to calls for regulating AI technologies.

Dec 4, 2023 | techblog.nz | Toby Walsh

OpenAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT was unleashed onto an unsuspecting public one year ago on November 30. It quickly became the fastest-growing app ever, in the hands of 100 million users by the end of the second month. Today, it’s available to more than a billion people via Microsoft’s Bing search, Skype and Snapchat – and OpenAI is predicted to collect more than US$1 billion in annual revenue. We’ve never seen a technology roll out so quickly before.

Nov 7, 2023 | techblog.nz | Hallam Stevens

In 1993, Marc Andreessen was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he also worked at the US-government funded National Center for Supercomputing Applications. With a colleague, the young software engineer authored the Mosaic web browser, which set the standard for cruising the information superhighway in the 1990s. Andreessen went on to co-found Netscape Communications, making a fortune in 1999 when the company was acquired by AOL for US$4.3 billion.

Oct 23, 2023 | techblog.nz | Christopher Ferrie

In June, an IBM computing executive claimed quantum computers were entering the “utility” phase, in which high-tech experimental devices become useful. In September, Australia’s Chief Scientist Cathy Foley went so far as to declare “the dawn of the quantum era”. This week, Australian physicist Michelle Simmons won the nation’s top science award for her work on developing silicon-based quantum computers. Obviously, quantum computers are having a moment.

Aug 15, 2023 | techblog.nz | Marian-Andrei Rizoiu |Philipp Schneider

Social media platforms have become the “digital town squares” of our time, enabling communication and the exchange of ideas on a global scale. However, the unregulated nature of these platforms has allowed the proliferation of harmful content such as misinformation, disinformation and hate speech. Regulating the online world has proven difficult, but one promising avenue is suggested by the European Union’s Digital Services Act, passed in November 2022.