Innovation Profs - 1/21/2025

Your weekly guide to generative AI tools and news

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Innovation Profs
January 21, 2025

New Workshop: ChatGPT Deep Dive

Join the Innovation Profs for a Deep Dive on ChatGPT Workshop Feb. 7 at Drake University (or join us virtually). This workshop will explore all of the features of ChatGPT - from text to images to projects and custom GPTs. Sign up today to get the early bird rate.

Latest Gen AI News

Meet 'Operator,' OpenAI's Game-Changing Autonomous AI Super Agent For Tackling Complex Tasks

OpenAI is said to be working on advanced AI agents that are said to offer super intelligence by handling tasks autonomously for users

wccftech.com/meet-operator-openais-game-changing-autonomous-ai-super-agent-for-tackling-complex-tasks

Runway’s new AI image generator Frames is here, and it looks fittingly cinematic

The model excels in rendering advanced textures, natural lighting and complex compositions, providing more flexibility.

venturebeat.com/ai/runways-new-ai-image-generator-frames-is-here-and-it-looks-fittingly-cinematic

OpenAI's AI reasoning model 'thinks' in Chinese sometimes and no one really knows why | TechCrunch

OpenAI's o1 'reasoning' model sometimes switches to Chinese and other languages as it reasons through problems, and AI experts don't know exactly why.

techcrunch.com/2025/01/14/openais-ai-reasoning-model-thinks-in-chinese-sometimes-and-no-one-really-knows-why

Open-source DeepSeek-R1 uses pure reinforcement learning to match OpenAI o1 — at 95% less cost

The company developed DeepSeek-R1 by using pure reinforcement learning on top of DeepSeek-V3-Base, and matched or beat o1 on some benchmarks.

venturebeat.com/ai/open-source-deepseek-r1-uses-pure-reinforcement-learning-to-match-openai-o1-at-95-less-cost

Perplexity AI bids to merge with TikTok US, source says

U.S. search engine startup Perplexity AI submitted a bid on Saturday to TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance for Perplexity to merge with TikTok U.S., a source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters.

www.reuters.com/markets/deals/perplexity-ai-bids-merge-with-tiktok-us-cnbc-reports-2025-01-18

AI isn’t very good at history, new paper finds | TechCrunch

Top LLMs performed poorly on a high-level history test, a new paper has found.

techcrunch.com/2025/01/19/ai-isnt-very-good-at-history-new-paper-finds

Google’s Gemini AI just shattered the rules of visual processing — here’s what that means for you

Google's Gemini AI achieves a milestone with simultaneous video and image processing, unlocking possibilities through AnyChat.

venturebeat.com/ai/google-gemini-ai-just-shattered-the-rules-of-visual-processing-heres-what-that-means-for-you

Salesforce is "seriously debating" software engineer hires in 2025 due to the "incredible productivity gains" from agentic AIs

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says the company might not hire software engineers in 2025, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella foresees a "swarm of AI agents" complementing workers soon.

www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/work-productivity/salesforce-is-seriously-debating-software-engineer-hires-in-2025

Tool of the week: ChatGPT with scheduled tasks

ChatGPT can now set reminders and perform recurring actions using its new scheduled tasks feature.

This new feature is available in beta to paid users. To use it, click on ‘model name’ at the top and select ‘ChatGPT-4o with scheduled tasks’ from the dropdown.

Enter your prompt to schedule your task and press enter. Some examples:

  • “Can you give me a briefing on AI news each afternoon?”

  • “Practice French with me daily”

  • “Remind me about my mom’s birthday”

To open your scheduled tasks, click on your profile icon and click on Tasks in the pop-up menu. Learn more about Tasks here.

AI-generated image of the week

This weather has us dreaming of warmer times. And reminds why there are no palm trees in Iowa. 

Prompt: snow-covered palm trees

Get starting with Generative AI

New to generative AI? Here are some places to start…

What we found

AI could extend your life. OpenAI says it trained a new AI model called GPT-4b micro with the company Retro Biosciences, a longevity science startup trying to extend the human lifespan by 10 years.

Retro, which is backed by Sam Altman, has been working with OpenAI for roughly a year on this research.