Newsletter Archives

• The right to be sued

  Posted on May 8, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.19 • 2023-05-08

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Law students are sometimes puzzled by the section of the Corporations Statute saying that corporations have the right to be sued.

  Why, they wonder, would anyone want to be sued? Wouldn’t it be better to have the right not to be sued?

  The answer is subtle.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.19.0, 2023-05-08).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief AI, Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, Corporate Law, Newsletters

• How to get the most out of Google Bard and Bing Chat

  Posted on April 3, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Whether you like it or not, generative artificial intelligence — gen AI — is making its way into Google’s search engine, Gmail, and Docs. Its Redmond competitor is building OpenAI’s GPT-4 into Microsoft 365, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.

  Other tech companies don’t want to go down the tubes like buggy whips, slide rules, and Silicon Valley Bank. So they’re all racing against the two software giants to bolt gen AI into their apps and gadgets. Who knows, you might get AI-driven responses from holographic humanoids in Facebook’s failed virtual metaverse.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.14.0, 2023-04-03).

  Public Defender Artificial intelligence, Bing AI, ChatGPT, Generative AI, Google Bard, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, OpenAI

• You’re fired if you don’t know how to use GPT-4

  Posted on March 27, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.13 • 2023-03-27

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Mainstream media outlets are ablaze with news about GPT-4, OpenAI’s enormously powerful artificial-intelligence engine that will soon be shoehorned into every nook and cranny of Microsoft 365. Suddenly, knowing how to “prompt” (program) a generative AI app has become an essential requirement for your job or your life. God help us.

  We’ve all been instantly transported into the 25th-century world of Star Trek’s Jean-Luc Picard. You may think we’re still in the year 2023. But now — by entering just a few words — you can propel your personal starship through the galaxy at Warp 9. Or you can remain stuck in place and be assimilated by the Borg. Resistance is futile.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.13.0, 2023-03-27).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Public Defender Artificial intelligence, Bing AI, ChatGPT, Generative AI, Newsletters

• Can chatbots write code? Yes, but should you use it?

  Posted on March 6, 2023 at 02:44 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  You’ve heard a lot about “chatbots” that can answer search queries and write essays that sound like some human had written them. But did you know that artificial-intelligence agents, if you ask nicely, can also write working computer code?

  Bots that can code include OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which Microsoft has tried — with great frustration — to integrate into its Bing search engine. (See my February 27, 2023, column on the freakouts Redmond’s AI has subjected users to.)

  Automated tools like ChatGPT have spawned a lot of hysterical commentary, such as “The sky is falling and human programmers are doomed.” But don’t quit your day job just yet.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.10.0, 2023-03-06).

  Public Defender Artificial intelligence, chatbots, ChatGPT, Newsletters, Programming

• How to jailbreak ChatGPT and Bing AI — to see their evil twins

  Posted on February 27, 2023 at 02:44 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The world has gone gaga for chatbots: text-based artificial intelligence apps like Open AI’s ChatGPT — which Microsoft is using for its new, gabby Bing AI.

  The power of these bots, which converse in a frighteningly human-like way, may be the greatest technology breakthrough since Gutenberg invented movable type, eliminating the tedious hand-copying of manuscripts.

  However, that’s like saying the invention of the electric chair was a great advance for criminal justice over the older guillotine technology.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.09.0, 2023-02-27).

  Public Defender Artificial intelligence, Bing AI, ChatGPT, Newsletters, OpenAI

• Is the woman in this video real or a deepfake? Now find out.

  Posted on January 23, 2023 at 02:44 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  There’s been an explosion in artificial intelligence (AI) that can create fake videos and compose passable writing samples. These computer-generated outputs are now good enough to fool the average person, who may absorb social media with an uncritical eye.

  The major media have exhaustively (but superficially) written about these AI programs. So I won’t bore you with the mind-numbing details of exactly how they work.

  Instead, I’ll tell you how to detect them and — hopefully — protect yourself against fakes of all kinds.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.04.0, 2023-01-23).

  Public Defender Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, Deepfakes, Newsletters, Video