DINT #69 - AI Isn't That Different Than the Music Industry - Here's Why

Plus: Intel finally returns to profitability, and you can now download ChatGPT onto your Android device.

News Briefs

ChatGPT is now available on Android devices (The Verge / Richard Lawler)

‘We Don’t Need Your Money!’ President Biden to reduce China’s US tech investments (Bloomberg / Jenny Leonard)

Kenya suffers cyberattack affecting government and private company systems (Semafor / Muchira Gachenge)

Lack of power availability drives data center operators to explore smaller markets (Network World / Andy Patrizio)

CEO Pat Gelsinger’s efforts are beginning to pay off as Intel returns to profitability after two quarters in the red (CNBC / Kif Leswing)

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Friday Feature

Can a parallel be drawn between intellectual property piracy of AI companies such as OpenAI and the digital music piracy of Napster in the early aughts (200 to 2010)? Let’s see.

Large language models (LLM) rely on data such as social media posts, books, articles, videos, research papers, and in some cases comedy routines. These models then use human-like processing systems to provide responses to user queries, also known as prompts.

ChatGPT is the poster child for LLM technology and its trajectory forward mimics that of digital music piracy, download sites. How did that end? We now have a compromise. Music can be downloaded, yes, but for a price. And that’s only if you pay a monthly fee to music access gatekeepers such as Spotify, Tidal, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and Apple Music.

Where Will ChatGPT Be in 20 Years?

If we want to see where ChatGPT will end up in 10 to 15 years, looking at the music industry wouldn’t be such a bad idea. While artists aren’t making loads of money from music streaming, there is some order to what was once a disordered process. Under current circumstances, artists do have power. But usually, the largest artists who broker exclusive distribution deals can wield such power. Think of Taylor Swift’s exclusive distribution deal with Spotify and Adele followed suit because the royalties distribution was more equitable. As musical artists lobby for more equity in music business earnings, there could be more progress in getting cash into their pockets, since they’re the creators of the music in the first place.