Powered by Data - June 17, 2024

Last Week in Conversational AI

• Meta has halted its AI assistant launch in Europe due to Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) objections. The DPC requested a delay in training its AI models on public content from Facebook and Instagram. Meta is disappointed, stating it had complied with regulatory feedback and offered users an opt-out option. Meta claims that European AI products would be inferior without local data, while competitors like Google and OpenAI have already used European data. European regulators, including the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, welcomed Meta's pause, emphasizing privacy concerns.
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• Brave Software, known for its privacy-focused search engine and web browser, is integrating its search results with its Leo AI assistant. This new feature, powered by the Brave Search API, allows users to access up-to-date information directly within the browser through Leo. This integration can provide real-time information like the latest sports scores, additional context while reading articles, and recent topics for social media posts. Brave emphasizes its commitment to privacy with this integration, ensuring users don’t need to log in and store any AI chatbot conversations on its servers. Furthermore, Brave doesn’t use the responses to train its AI models. Requests are sent through an anonymization server to protect user identities.
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• NatWest is piloting a new version of its chatbot, Cora+, which is designed to handle a growing number of customer queries with greater efficiency and personalization. In 2023, the virtual assistant managed 10.8 million queries, up from around five million in 2019. The top queries involve canceling transactions, changing addresses, requesting bank statements or new cards, and opening ISAs. Cora+ allows the chatbot to provide more human-like, personalized responses and proactive financial management suggestions. This advanced AI, developed with IBM, can also direct customers to relevant resources and escalate issues to human agents if necessary.
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• According to a recent survey commissioned by the Walton Family Foundation, the popularity of AI chatbots in education has grown significantly among students and teachers in the United States over the past year. The survey underscores the rising prominence and positive perceptions of AI chatbots in education while highlighting areas where educational institutions may need to enhance their policies and support structures to integrate AI technologies into learning environments better.
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