The Hillsberg Report

Quote of the week

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.”

- Steve Jobs

AI Legal Battles

If you weren't aware, there are many lawsuits in progress that could set the stage for boundaries on the web content available for use in training LLMs. The most recent update came from a judge walking back his previous ruling in the Thompson Reuters v. ROSS case.

ROSS is an AI firm that used Westlaw (a huge legal database) data to train an AI research tool. Lawyers pay a lot of money to access Westlaw, and ROSS did not have approval to utilize the vast amounts of information in their AI training. The judge ruled that ROSS's use of Westlaw's editorial content is prohibited and harmed Reuter's market.

While the judge explicity pointed out that this case does not set a precedent for generative AI, it is in the same ballpark and will almost certainly be referenced in many of the other pivotal lawsuits that are ongoing.

There are many deeply technical arguments on both sides of this coin, so I won't go into detail on them in this short newsletter, but what I can say is that there are some very interesting times ahead in the legal scene! Check out this article to learn more about this specific case.

The New iPhone

On February 19 Apple introduced the newest iPhone to their lineup, the 16e. But I don't want to talk about the iPhone at all.

What I found most interesting is that AI was not mentioned a single time in their 12+ minute presentation. Finally! I hope this is the beginning of people realizing that having AI in a product is expected now, and it no longer needs to be called out exclusively.

We'll see if this starts a trend, and if more marketing folks embrace it. Although I'm sure we have at least a couple more years before the hype truly dies down...

If you're interested, here is a good article highlighting the details of the new iPhone.

Meme of the week

AI In the Physical World

Scientists at the University of Toronto have developed an incredibly strong yet lightweight nanomaterial using AI.

The AI program that they created optimized the geometric structure of a pyrolytic (heated to extreme temperatures in the absence of oxygen) carbon nanolattice. This resulted in a material that is as strong as steel but as light as styrofoam. Put another way, this material can support over a million times its own mass yet is so light it can sit on a soap bubble.

The material could lead to breakthroughs in aerospace, defense, and medical technologies, including more fuel-efficient vehicles and improved medical prosthetics. Read more here.

Those Damn Plastics

You likely can't go more than a minute without interacting with some kind of plastic, it's everywhere! Researchers are starting to investigate the health implications of this and they are bleak.

When a problem gets big enough, humanity always seems to come at it strong. This time, AI researchers have designed a new enzyme capable of breaking down plastic using AI-driven protein engineering.

While designing new enzymes remains complex, AI significantly accelerates the process, potentially leading to solutions for plastic waste and hopefully breaking down the microplastics in our bodies. Learn more here!

Good News!

Nine Asian countries have halved child mortality since 2000: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Indonesia and China, and Cambodia, which witnessed the biggest drop, from 11% in 2000 to just 2% today. Key reasons for the decline include improved nutrition, clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, and poverty reduction efforts.

Dollar Supremacy in the Digital World

I've read a lot of Ray Dalio's stuff and watched enough of his content to understand the basics of how large economies work, and how they collapse. A multitude of factors coalesce to start the forcing function of economic collapse, and the US is staring into the face of almost all of them right now. However, with significant reductions in spending and strong, sustained economic growth, we can certainly make it through.

One key I've been following is the global dominance of the US dollar. As the world's reserve currency, the dollar provides incredible stability to the US economy and power to the nation. There is a new trend emerging, especially in other countries, which could reinforce the dollar's dominance - Stablecoins.

Stablecoins' biggest impact will be in cross-border payments and countries with weaker currencies, where these coins that are pegged to the dollar offer a more stable store of value. While folks in the U.S. may not see immediate disruption—thanks to efficient (enough) and cheap (enough) existing systems—stablecoins have the potential to reshape global finance by making the dollar more accessible and resilient worldwide. I hope this trend continues!

Share with friends

Enjoying The Hillsberg Report? Share it with friends who might find it valuable!

Haven't signed up for the weekly notification?

Subscribe Now