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Drones can make air freight cheaper and remote areas more connected. But tracking them will be key.

Drones can make air freight cheaper and remote areas more connected. But tracking them will be key.

Engineers working on Google's DeepMind project have announced the development of two new AI-based robot systems. One called ALOHA Unleashed was developed to advance the science of bi-arm manipulation. The other, called DemoStart, was developed to advance the capabilities of robot hands that have multiple fingers, joints, or sensors.

These seven use cases are just a sample of the ways manufacturers can improve their cobot operations with AI. Capitalizing on this potential today will help companies maximize their cobot ROIs and ensure success well into the future.

The Future of the Financial Industry: The Impact of Open Banking System

The financial industry has seen a significant transformation in recent years to match evolving customer needs and technological advancements. Among these changes, the open banking system had the most impact. This shift has redefined the way financial institutions operate and how consumers interact with their financial data.

An open banking system basically represents a linked, integrated ecosystem of data and services. At the core of an open banking system’s API integrations, connections among participating banks and third-party providers will establish a system where a wide range of financial services data is transferred and accessed safely and effectively for customers.

In this article, let’s explore what open banking is and the impact of an open banking system on the financial industry. Also, let us look at the benefits, challenges, and implications of open banking systems.

What is Open Banking

Open banking originated in Europe by adopting the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). This has set a new benchmark for transparency in finance, allowing customers to share their financial data with third-party providers. This makes banking not just easier but also more effective.

There are two key ideas behind open banking, including data sharing and empowering consumers. Open banking creates a vibrant financial environment where businesses can thrive by giving customers access to their financial information. Regulatory frameworks like PSD2 ensure that banks provide this access through APIs, which help create competitive and tailored products.

The Role of APIs in Open Banking System

APIs are much like digital messengers that assist various software programs in communicating with each other and sharing information. In open banking, APIs enable banks and other financial institutions to connect and share data in an encrypted manner.

There are different types of APIs in use within Open Banking. Probably the most important ones are payment initiation APIs and account information APIs.

• Payment initiation APIs enable direct payments from a bank account through a third-party application.
• Account information APIs allow third-party applications to access details of a user’s bank account, such as the balance or transaction history, so they are able to offer relevant services to users.

The technical standards of these APIs in open banking ensure good interoperability to keep data safe. Open banking makes for a much more connected, flexible financial system by opening access to these two APIs. They help banks to deliver better services, while assisting new companies build innovative financial products that meet their customer needs. This eases the credit management and makes it more convenient, increasing control over financial life of customers.

Key Benefits of Open Banking APIs

Open banking APIs come with several benefits, both for consumers and financial institutions. Some of the key advantages include:

1. Improved Customer Experience

Open banking APIs help financial institutions access and utilize the banking information of customers and provide more personalized services. For instance, budgeting apps can track users’ spending and give them tips on how to save money. This makes it easier and far more delightful to manage finances.

2. Enhanced Financial Products and Services

Open banking enables banks and fintech companies to innovate financial products that could not have been conceived in the past. For example, they can build mobile applications that identify the best loans or investment opportunities for them according to their financial history. It will improve sales as well as customer loyalty.

3. Increased Competition and Innovation

Open banking APIs allow new companies to compete with traditional banks with intelligent approaches. They help companies deliver better services at lower costs to the end-customer, thereby improving brand value.

4. Operational Efficiencies and Cost Reductions

Open banking APIs help to increase efficiency and reduce operational costs for banks. Banks shift their focus to the area of enhancing the quality-of-service delivery in the wave of automation in data sharing activities. That is how consumers benefit from more efficient, quicker, and reliable services in banking. 

Challenges and Risks Associated with Open Banking APIs

While open banking APIs offer a lot of benefits, there are some challenges and associated risks that need to be dealt with.

1. Security and Data Privacy Concerns

Everyone using open banking APIs is worried about one thing: the safety of their financial information. There is always a chance of a data breach, or cyberattack, each time your information travels from one bank to another third-party provider. There are quite strict measures and protocols for ensuring security, but compliance at each end is always a difficulty.

2. Regulatory Compliance and Legal Considerations

Open banking regulations are oriented towards consumer protection and ensuring fair competition. For instance, open banking is regulated by very articulated rules under PSD2. So, it can be very complex and costly for financial institutions and third-party providers to comply with these regulations. Changes in the regulation can be monitored, and compliance with them may pose a significant challenge.

3. Consumer Awareness and Trust

For the bank to succeed in open banking, it is expected that customers be aware of the pros that come with it and eventually trust the process. There are still many doubts among people about sharing personal financial information with third-party providers due to a fear of losing privacy. For that reason, educating consumers on securing their data, coupled with the advantages for them of open banking, will be very fundamental in building trust and encouraging its adoption.

Future Trends and Predictions

The open banking API landscape is experiencing rapid growth, driven by technological innovation and changing consumer expectations. Here are some of the key trends and predictions that reflect the future of open banking systems.

Artificial intelligence (AI): AI technology helps companies analyze customers’ financial data and gives personalized insights into their money management, and product recommendations, etc. For instance, AI-driven chatbots can suggest finances in view of your transaction history and spending habits.

Blockchain: Blockchain technology can offer a secure and transparent way to manage financial transactions and data sharing. This would enhance the security and reliability of open banking APIs.

Internet of Things (IoT): IoT, from smart home systems and wearables to smart clothing, is able to be connected with open banking APIs.

Conclusion

Open banking APIs can drive innovation, a better customer experience, and market competition in the financial industry. Obviously, challenges relating to the security and regulatory compliance of the technology should not be taken lightly, but the benefits outweigh the risks. With knowledge and flexibility in front of these changes, financial institutions, FinTech companies, and consumers are all going to succeed in this new epoch of finance.

Get in touch if you would like to learn how the USM Business System helps ensure an AI-powered connected financial ecosystem.

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When NVIDIA started showing up in automobiles, I was impressed. I was given an Audi A7 to drive for a week. I was so impressed with the graphics on the dash I eventually bought an Audi e-tron GT with that […]

The post How NVIDIA AI Is Changing Driving appeared first on TechSpective.

New Service Auto-Selects Best AI Engine for Your Next Writing Project

A San Francisco startup has just released what could be one of the smartest AI services of the year: An app that promises to auto-select the best AI engine for your next writing or other project.

Essentially, instead of wondering if you should turn to ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude — or any number of other AI chatbots — to write your next article, for example, the new service, dubbed Martian, will do all that analysis and choosing for you.

Says Shriyash Upadhyay, co-founder, Martian: “We can automatically choose the right model, not even on a task-by-task basis, but a query-by-query basis. This allows for lower costs and higher performance — because it means that you don’t always have to use a single model.”

Besides promising to be the perfect selection coach, Martian — and similar services — help keep AI writing costs low by offering access to a wide array of AI chatbots with just one click or tap.

In other news and analysis on AI writing:

*Google’s Latest Sleight-of-Hand: Transforming Your Article Into a Co-Hosted Podcast: Google AI has come-up with a remarkable new feature that auto-transforms your article, blog post or other text into an extremely engaging, co-hosted podcast.

Essentially, the new tech studies your text, then uses two, extremely lifelike and animated robot voices — one male, one female — to discuss the key points and themes in your piece.

Far from a gimmick, the new feature of Google’s Notebook LM platform can enhance any text-based digital property looking to add co-hosted, audio podcasts to its mix.

Click here to listen to an article transformed into a co-hosted podcast, courtesy Google.

*900+ Universities Bet On Grammarly: Let’s Just Auto-Correct Everything: More than 900 universities and colleges have waved the white flag on AI and are now all-in on introducing the tech into their curriculums.

Essentially, the association has agreed to work with Grammarly AI to infuse its technology into college classes.

Observes a Business Wire press release: “This effort will drive research and dialogue on how higher education institutions can incorporate AI technologies in ways that are ethical, effective — and aligned with educational goals.”

Sounds good in theory.

*PR Newswire Ditches Human Writers for AI Writing:
Public relations juggernaut PR Newswire has released a new suite of AI tools designed to help customers write and distribute press releases.

The AI undergirding the company’s new tools is Google Gemini.

A historical note: In the olden days, before the advent of AI, human writers were the ones who wrote press releases for PR Newswire.

*Microsoft Copilot’s New Unified Database: From Chaos to Clarity in a Click: Microsoft is out with a key, new feature for its Copilot that consolidates everything it knows about your company — as well as everything else you’d like included from the Web — into a single database.

The pitch: With the unified database, you’ll have much greater flexibility in creating articles and other text on-the-fly with Copilot.

Observes writer Graham Barlow: “So you could prompt Copilot with something like ‘make a report similar to that one we did last month for Eric –but with the new data’ — and it will compile it for you.”

*New Auto-Essays: Without the Annoying Learning Part: Yet another AI startup has released a new auto-writing app promising to auto-write tough-to-beat, instant essays.

Dubbed PerfectEssayWriter.ai, the tool is also designed to engage in Q&As with you and also revise your own writing.

Still no definitive word if this AI essay app is currently the best essay writer the planet has ever seen.

*Customer Chat Gets A Mood Ring: For Humans Who Can’t Read a Room: Customer chat reps who are tone-deaf when it comes to assessing customer mood now have new help from AI.

The Talkdesk customer-to-chat-rep system is out with a new feature that auto-assesses customer mood in the chat — and then auto-creates an appropriate reply based on that mood.

The tech is also designed to work with email or smartphone texts.

*Snapshot: Key Players in AI Email Writing: Mastering The Art of ‘Per My Last Email:’ HTF Market Intelligence is predicting healthy growth in the AI-powered email writing market with a new report.

Key players in that market, according to HTF, are:

~Grammarly

~Boomerang

~Crystal

~Phrasee

~Textio

~WriteSonic

~Persado

~Friday

~Toolsaday

~Mailmeteor

~WriteMail.ai

~YAMM

~AImReply

~Nanonets

~HubSpot

~Rytr

~Mailmodo

~Botowski

~Flowrite

~Hyperwrite

~CopyAI

~Remail

~Smartwriter AI

~Ellie

~Jasper AI

~GMPlus

~WriteMail

~Mailr

~SmartWriter

~Ghostwrite

*Snapshot: Key Players in AI Editing and Proofreading: Fixing Typos So You Can Plot World Domination: HTF Market Intelligence is predicting major growth in the AI-powered editing and proofreading market with a new report.

Key players in that market, according to HTF, are:

~Grammarly

~ProWritingAid

~Hemingway Editor

~Ginger Software

~WhiteSmoke

~Slick Write

~PaperRater

~Autocrit

~Zoho Writer

~LanguageTool

~SmartEdit

~Microsoft Editor

~Turnitin

~QuillBot

*AI Big Picture: No End in Sight on Corporate AI Spending Spree: Apparently, SpendFest 2024 — wherein major investors from across the world throw gobs and gobs of money at the concept of AI — is still in full swing.

Observes writer Nate Rattner: “Generative artificial intelligence has sparked one of the biggest spending booms in modern American history, as companies and investors bet hundreds of billions of dollars that the technology will revolutionize the global economy and one day lead to massive profits.

“The question is when, and even whether, all those investments will pay off.”

Share a Link:  Please consider sharing a link to https://RobotWritersAI.com from your blog, social media post, publication or emails. More links leading to RobotWritersAI.com helps everyone interested in AI-generated writing.

–Joe Dysart is editor of RobotWritersAI.com and a tech journalist with 20+ years experience. His work has appeared in 150+ publications, including The New York Times and the Financial Times of London.

The post Wheel of AI Fortune appeared first on Robot Writers AI.

Large language models (LLMs) have developed rapidly in recent years and are becoming an integral part of our everyday lives through applications like ChatGPT. An article explains the opportunities and risks that arise from the use of LLMs for our ability to collectively deliberate, make decisions, and solve problems.

This robot represents a significant advancement in the company's mission to develop cutting-edge solutions that address persistent operational challenges faced by businesses worldwide.

Sample language model responses to different varieties of English and native speaker reactions.

ChatGPT does amazingly well at communicating with people in English. But whose English?

Only 15% of ChatGPT users are from the US, where Standard American English is the default. But the model is also commonly used in countries and communities where people speak other varieties of English. Over 1 billion people around the world speak varieties such as Indian English, Nigerian English, Irish English, and African-American English.

Speakers of these non-“standard” varieties often face discrimination in the real world. They’ve been told that the way they speak is unprofessional or incorrect, discredited as witnesses, and denied housing–despite extensive research indicating that all language varieties are equally complex and legitimate. Discriminating against the way someone speaks is often a proxy for discriminating against their race, ethnicity, or nationality. What if ChatGPT exacerbates this discrimination?

To answer this question, our recent paper examines how ChatGPT’s behavior changes in response to text in different varieties of English. We found that ChatGPT responses exhibit consistent and pervasive biases against non-“standard” varieties, including increased stereotyping and demeaning content, poorer comprehension, and condescending responses.

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Our autonomous systems have completed over 50,000 operational hours across 150,000 acres in the US. By operating tractors precisely and remotely, we also are seeing improvements in worker safety, and exposure to hazardous materials and chemicals.

While roboticists have introduced increasingly sophisticated robotic systems over the past decades, most of the solutions introduced so far are pre-programmed and trained to tackle specific tasks. The ability to continuously teach robots new skills while interacting with them could be highly beneficial and could facilitate their widespread use.

A set of knee exoskeletons, built with commercially available knee braces and drone motors at the University of Michigan, has been shown to help counteract fatigue in lifting and carrying tasks. They helped users maintain a better lifting posture even when tired, a key factor in defending against on-the-job injuries, say the researchers of a new paper published in the journal Science Robotics.

Scientists at MPI-IS have developed electrically driven robotic components, called HEXEL modules, which can snap together into high-speed reconfigurable robots. Magnets embedded along the outside of the modules allow them to electrically and mechanically connect to other modules, forming robots with diverse shapes and capabilities. HEXEL modules are a promising technology for use in resource-limited environments, such as on space or rescue missions, and can be used to construct versatile robots from redundant parts, altogether promoting a sustainable robot design.

Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed hexagon-shaped robotic components, called modules, that can be snapped together LEGO-style into high-speed robots that can be rearranged for different capabilities.