Generative AI
OpenAI reverses course and says non-profit arm will retain control of firm
OpenAI has reversed course in the process of transforming into a for-profit entity, announcing on Monday that its non-profit arm would continue to control the business that makes ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) products. Previously, the company had sought more independence for its for-profit division. "We made the decision for the nonprofit to stay in control after hearing from civic leaders and having discussions with the offices of the Attorneys General of California and Delaware," said CEO Sam Altman in a letter to employees. Altman and the chair of OpenAI's non-profit board, Bret Taylor, said the board made the choice for the non-profit to retain control of OpenAI. A press release from the company said that the for-profit portion of the company, through which Altman has been able to raise billions to fund OpenAI's work, would transition to a public benefit corporation, a mission-driven designation for a corporate structure that is still aimed at profit but also "has to consider the interests of both shareholders and the mission".
Inside the Battle Over OpenAI's Corporate Restructuring
Last October, the news that OpenAI was planning to simplify its unusual nonprofit structure caught the attention of economic-justice activist Orson Aguilar. He feared that the ChatGPT maker's plan to transition into a more conventional company, from which investors could generate unlimited returns, would financially hurt the working-class communities he has spent nearly 30 years fighting to protect. Aguilar's new organization, LatinoProsperity, focuses on intergenerational wealth building, and he believed cutting-edge AI chatbots such as ChatGPT would become an integral part of many good-paying jobs of the future. But after reading about OpenAI's desires, he worried that transitioning into a public-benefit corporation empowered to chase profits would enrich the already wealthy and neglect the startup's stated mission to benefit all of humanity with AI. Aguilar decided to make a phone call that day, kicking off a series of events that eventually led him to become one of the leading voices battling over OpenAI's future and the establishment of what may become the deepest-pocketed charitable foundation in the world. Today, OpenAI's for-profit business is controlled by a nonprofit, and the returns for investors are capped.
Scaling On-Device GPU Inference for Large Generative Models
Tang, Jiuqiang, Sarokin, Raman, Ignasheva, Ekaterina, Jensen, Grant, Chen, Lin, Lee, Juhyun, Kulik, Andrei, Grundmann, Matthias
Driven by the advancements in generative AI, large machine learning models have revolutionized domains such as image processing, audio synthesis, and speech recognition. While server-based deployments remain the locus of peak performance, the imperative for on-device inference, necessitated by privacy and efficiency considerations, persists. Recognizing GPUs as the on-device ML accelerator with the widest reach, we present ML Drift--an optimized framework that extends the capabilities of state-of-the-art GPU-accelerated inference engines. ML Drift enables on-device execution of generative AI workloads which contain 10 to 100x more parameters than existing on-device generative AI models. ML Drift addresses intricate engineering challenges associated with cross-GPU API development, and ensures broad compatibility across mobile and desktop/laptop platforms, thereby facilitating the deployment of significantly more complex models on resource-constrained devices. Our GPU-accelerated ML/AI inference engine achieves an order-of-magnitude performance improvement relative to existing open-source GPU inference engines.
Evaluating the AI-Lab Intervention: Impact on Student Perception and Use of Generative AI in Early Undergraduate Computer Science Courses
Dickey, Ethan, Bejarano, Andres, Kuperus, Rhianna, Fagundes, Bรกrbara
Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly entering computer science education, yet its effects on student learning, skill development, and perceptions remain underexplored. Concerns about overreliance coexist with a gap in research on structured scaffolding to guide tool use in formal courses. This study examines the impact of a dedicated "AI-Lab" intervention -- emphasizing guided scaffolding and mindful engagement -- on undergraduate students in Data Structures and Algorithms, Competitive Programming, and first-year engineering courses at Purdue University. Over three semesters, we integrated AI-Lab modules into four mandatory and elective courses, yielding 831 matched pre- and post-intervention survey responses, alongside focus group discussions. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed quantitative shifts in usage patterns and attitudes as well as qualitative narratives of student experiences. While the overall frequency of GenAI usage for homework or programming projects remained largely stable, we observed large effect sizes in comfort and openness across conceptual, debugging, and homework problems. Notably, usage patterns for debugging also shifted statistically significantly, reflecting students' more mindful and deliberate approach. Focus group discussions corroborated these results, suggesting that the intervention "bridged the gap" between naive GenAI usage and more nuanced, reflective integration of AI tools into coursework, ultimately heightening students' awareness of their own skill development. These findings suggest that structured, scaffolded interventions can enable students to harness GenAI's benefits without undermining essential competencies. We offer evidence-based recommendations for educators seeking to integrate GenAI responsibly into computing curricula and identify avenues for future research on GenAI-supported pedagogy.
Beyond Public Access in LLM Pre-Training Data
Rosenblat, Sruly, O'Reilly, Tim, Strauss, Ilan
Our AU-ROC scores show that GPT-4o, OpenAI's more recent and capable model, demonstrates strong recognition of paywalled O'Reilly book content (AUROC = 82%), compared to OpenAI's earlier model GPT-3.5 Turbo. In contrast, GPT-3.5 Turbo shows greater relative recognition of publicly accessible O'Reilly book samples. GPT-4o Mini, as a much smaller model, shows no knowledge of public or non-public O'Reilly Media content when tested (AUROC 50%). Testing multiple models, with the same cutoff date, helps us account for potential language shifts over time that might bias our findings. These results highlight the urgent need for increased corporate transparency regarding pre-training data sources as a means to develop formal licensing frameworks for AI content training.
Think Twice Before Creating That ChatGPT Action Figure
At the start of April, an influx of action figure started appearing on social media sites including LinkedIn and X. Each figure depicted the person who had created it with uncanny accuracy, complete with personalized accessories such as reusable coffee cups, yoga mats, and headphones. All this is possible because of OpenAI's new GPT-4o-powered image generator, which supercharges ChatGPT's ability to edit pictures, render text, and more. OpenAI's ChatGPT image generator can also create pictures in the style of Japanese animated film company Studio Ghibli--a trend that quickly went viral, too. The images are fun and easy to make--all you need is a free ChatGPT account and a photo.
Public Opinion and The Rise of Digital Minds: Perceived Risk, Trust, and Regulation Support
Bullock, Justin B., Pauketat, Janet V. T., Huang, Hsini, Wang, Yi-Fan, Anthis, Jacy Reese
Governance institutions must respond to societal risks, including those posed by generative AI. This study empirically examines how public trust in institutions and AI technologies, along with perceived risks, shape preferences for AI regulation. Using the nationally representative 2023 Artificial Intelligence, Morality, and Sentience (AIMS) survey, we assess trust in government, AI companies, and AI technologies, as well as public support for regulatory measures such as slowing AI development or outright bans on advanced AI. Our findings reveal broad public support for AI regulation, with risk perception playing a significant role in shaping policy preferences. Individuals with higher trust in government favor regulation, while those with greater trust in AI companies and AI technologies are less inclined to support restrictions. Trust in government and perceived risks significantly predict preferences for both soft (e.g., slowing development) and strong (e.g., banning AI systems) regulatory interventions. These results highlight the importance of public opinion in AI governance. As AI capabilities advance, effective regulation will require balancing public concerns about risks with trust in institutions. This study provides a foundational empirical baseline for policymakers navigating AI governance and underscores the need for further research into public trust, risk perception, and regulatory strategies in the evolving AI landscape.
Who Gets the Callback? Generative AI and Gender Bias
Chaturvedi, Sugat, Chaturvedi, Rochana
Generative artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs), is being rapidly deployed in recruitment and for candidate shortlisting. We audit several mid-sized open-source LLMs for gender bias using a dataset of 332,044 real-world online job postings. For each posting, we prompt the model to recommend whether an equally qualified male or female candidate should receive an interview callback. We find that most models tend to favor men, especially for higher-wage roles. Mapping job descriptions to the Standard Occupational Classification system, we find lower callback rates for women in male-dominated occupations and higher rates in female-associated ones, indicating occupational segregation. A comprehensive analysis of linguistic features in job ads reveals strong alignment of model recommendations with traditional gender stereotypes. To examine the role of recruiter identity, we steer model behavior by infusing Big Five personality traits and simulating the perspectives of historical figures. We find that less agreeable personas reduce stereotyping, consistent with an agreeableness bias in LLMs. Our findings highlight how AI-driven hiring may perpetuate biases in the labor market and have implications for fairness and diversity within firms.
Transcending Dimensions using Generative AI: Real-Time 3D Model Generation in Augmented Reality
Behravan, Majid, Haghani, Maryam, Gracanin, Denis
Traditional 3D modeling requires technical expertise, specialized software, and time-intensive processes, making it inaccessible for many users. Our research aims to lower these barriers by combining generative AI and augmented reality (AR) into a cohesive system that allows users to easily generate, manipulate, and interact with 3D models in real time, directly within AR environments. Utilizing cutting-edge AI models like Shap-E, we address the complex challenges of transforming 2D images into 3D representations in AR environments. Key challenges such as object isolation, handling intricate backgrounds, and achieving seamless user interaction are tackled through advanced object detection methods, such as Mask R-CNN. Evaluation results from 35 participants reveal an overall System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 69.64, with participants who engaged with AR/VR technologies more frequently rating the system significantly higher, at 80.71. This research is particularly relevant for applications in gaming, education, and AR-based e-commerce, offering intuitive, model creation for users without specialized skills.
Selecting the Right LLM for eGov Explanations
Limonad, Lior, Fournier, Fabiana, Mulian, Hadar, Manias, George, Borotis, Spiros, Kyrkou, Danai
The perceived quality of the explanations accompanying e-government services is key to gaining trust in these institutions, consequently amplifying further usage of these services. Recent advances in generative AI, and concretely in Large Language Models (LLMs) allow the automation of such content articulations, eliciting explanations' interpretability and fidelity, and more generally, adapting content to various audiences. However, selecting the right LLM type for this has become a non-trivial task for e-government service providers. In this work, we adapted a previously developed scale to assist with this selection, providing a systematic approach for the comparative analysis of the perceived quality of explanations generated by various LLMs. We further demonstrated its applicability through the tax-return process, using it as an exemplar use case that could benefit from employing an LLM to generate explanations about tax refund decisions. This was attained through a user study with 128 survey respondents who were asked to rate different versions of LLM-generated explanations about tax refund decisions, providing a methodological basis for selecting the most appropriate LLM. Recognizing the practical challenges of conducting such a survey, we also began exploring the automation of this process by attempting to replicate human feedback using a selection of cutting-edge predictive techniques.