This made us smile …

Last week, Elon Musk made another one of his bold predictions. AI will eclipse human intelligence by the end of next year.

Now, two high-profile tech CEOs have stepped up with a combined $10M bet against Musk’s timeline, challenging the rapid advancement he forecasts.

The wager highlights a deeper dialogue — it’s not just about who wins or loses, it’s the importance of tempering excitement for AI with realistic expectations and timelines, rather than sensational forecasts. That’s exactly what we’re all about!

In this week’s edition, we’re exploring AI medical innovations, a bite-sized way to learn AI, AI’s dog breed directory, and Google’s all-in-one premium chatbot.

What AI tools are you using? Drop us a line and let us know. 

Now, let’s dive in!

AI Healthcare

We're keeping a close eye on AI advances in healthcare, especially in radiology, where this pioneering technology has the potential to significantly improve detection and diagnosis capabilities. AI deployment is increasingly vital as radiologists, who use medical images like CT scans, MRIs, and X-rays to diagnose and treat conditions, confront a growing labor shortage in the US. AI offers a promising solution to enhancing productivity and accuracy, along with managing their increasing workloads. 

Google Cloud is teaming up with the German healthcare giant Bayer to create an AI-powered platform designed to assist radiologists.

• Diagnostic Efficiency: The platform aims to accelerate the diagnostic process, enabling radiologists to navigate patient records more quickly and potentially save 15-20 minutes per case.

• Radiologist Control: Despite its advanced capabilities, the technology is being developed as an assistive tool rather than a replacement for a radiologist’s expertise.

• Product Testing: The platform will undergo further testing and receive feedback from other healthcare organizations throughout the year.

Big tech isn’t the only player breaking into the radiology field. Healthcare startup Ezra is expanding its whole-body MRI services to 150 locations across the country in partnership with Rayus Radiology. The service uses FDA-approved AI software to detect health issues across multiple organs.

Despite the potential benefits, skepticism remains about the cost-effectiveness of extensive testing ($950-$2,500), which may lead to unnecessary treatments and expense.

A recent article by The New York Times focused on AI applications in breast cancer detection via mammograms. While some initial results are promising, there’s a concern about the premature deployment of these AI tools before they are fully vetted. Notably, a major study later found that AI did not improve the accuracy of mammogram results.

As AI continues to integrate into various aspects of healthcare, a big question remains: Who bears the cost of this advanced technology? The answer will shape the accessibility and fairness of healthcare services in the AI era.

How-to AI

Many of our readers want to boost their AI knowledge, and ask for easy ways to get started. There's a ton of great AI learning material on YouTube, Udemy, Coursera, and similar platforms – often free or very affordable. But, like many good intentions, the sheer volume of information can be overwhelming.

That's where Superintelligent steps in. This brand-new platform promises bite-sized chunks of practical AI learning, with short tutorials and how-to guides. Even though it just launched, the site's packed with tutorials on a wide range of topics. You can even filter by categories like "work," "home," and "fun."

The Catch: There's one downside – no free trial or sample content. At $20/month, it's a bit of a gamble for newcomers. We sent our team member Justin to investigate, and he reported back with mixed feelings.

The "AI for Beginners" section has some gems like "Build a Custom GPT with Custom Instructions," but also includes tutorials like "Set Up and Run Stable Diffusion off Your Laptop," which seems somewhat advanced for true beginners.

What's on Offer: The "Work" section had intriguing titles like "Level Up Your Prompting Skills with Few-Shot Prompting" and guides for crafting great social media hooks. The "Home" section included things like "Learn a New Language with an Interactive Chatbot," while "Fun" offers ways to create cool visual and audio media with AI.

We checked out a number of videos and found them well-made. The instructors are real people (thankfully!), and they clearly demonstrated how to perform tasks within the relevant software.

Our Verdict: Much of the content seems to us to be geared toward workplace AI applications or intermediate users. If that’s your jam, perhaps try it for a month. If you're a true beginner, it might be worth waiting until Superintelligent expands its beginner-focused offerings.

AI Entrepreneurs

The debate over whether AI will destroy jobs or create new ones won’t be settled anytime soon, but we found an example of how AI can unleash creativity and propel a new generation of digital entrepreneurs forward.

Buddy Breeds is a comprehensive platform dedicated to helping prospective dog owners find the friendliest dog breeds suited to their lifestyles. The website aims to simplify the process of selecting a dog by providing detailed information about various breeds known for their sociable, affectionate, and gentle characteristics.

With its user-friendly interface, Buddy Breeds offers breed profiles, trait comparisons, and extensive breed histories to assist users in finding their ideal canine companion.

• Explore Breed Profiles: Access detailed descriptions and historical backgrounds of different breeds to understand their characteristics.

• Compare Traits: Evaluate and contrast various traits across breeds to find a dog that matches your lifestyle and preferences.

• Find Your Match: Utilize temperament tags and FAQs to identify the breed that best fits your home environment and personality.

• Guided Selection: Receive guidance and support from a passionate team throughout the process of choosing and welcoming a new dog.

The brainchild behind this innovative site, Jay, shared on Hacker News that the genesis of Buddy Breeds came while searching for the ideal breed for his family’s first pet. His AI toolkit included MidJourney to generate the website images, and ChatGPT for populating the data.

Here's the kicker — Buddy Breeds was essentially a passion project completed in a week of after-hours work. Just two years prior, such a venture would have been unthinkable without a significant investment of time and money.

If today, we can conjure up a business idea over a cup of coffee, imagine what tomorrow's teatime might bring!

Google’s Gemini Advanced

In a recent article, we discussed various AI chatbots, including Google's Gemini. Today, we focus on Gemini Advanced, a powerful tool designed for those who love Google services like Maps, Gmail, and Google Drive.

This new addition allows you to perform many tasks in one place that otherwise would require separate apps. Plus, you can easily search and engage with all your own material.

Here's the scoop: First, you'll need the Google One AI Premium Plan. Starting at $20/month, it's your ticket to Gemini Advanced, using the highly capable Ultra model, but you also get a huge 2TB of cloud storage and a slick AI photo editor thrown in.  Some of the new Gemini Advanced features include:

o Integrated Google Maps: Search for locations like cocktail bars, view ratings and opening times, and get directions—all within the chat interface.

o Integrated Google Flights: Talk about your travel plans and book flights using natural language processing. Whether it's a quick domestic flight or a complex European journey, Gemini simplifies the process.

o Integrated YouTube: Search and summarize videos, and explore related content seamlessly.

o Your Own Google Workspace: Gemini acts like a digital assistant, helping you find, summarise or query documents in Drive, locate important emails in your Gmail, or ask questions like “what are the common themes in today’s email?”

If the idea of integrating all your digital tasks into a single AI-driven interface appeals to you, Gemini Advanced is worth considering. Plus, Google offers a two-month free trial, making it easy to test its capabilities before committing financially.

AI in the News (in case you missed it)

• How many students are using AI to write papers? Read here.

• AI pinpoints where psychosis originates in the brain. Read here.

• Designing a new home with AI’s help. Watch here.

• Adobe will pay photographers and artists for video and images that train AI models. Read here.

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Here.Now.AI Editorial team: Lori, Justin, and Lisa