Child Care, Uber Eats Robots, Apple Ring, Artists vs AI, and Skiing
Weekly Roundup of AI, Technology, and UX
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Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
🧠 Personal AI
👨👩👦 Child Care
🦾 Uber Eats Robots
💍 Apple Ring
👩⚕️ Skilled Workers
🧑🎨 Artists and AI
⛷️ Ski Patrol
Podcast
Extending Human Potential: Creating Personal AIs with Founder Suman Kanuganti
In this episode, Kyle interviews Suman Kanuganti, co-founder and CEO of Personal.ai. Suman discusses his journey from an engineer with a robotics background to launching innovative ventures like Aira, assisting visually impaired individuals, and Personal AI, aimed at extending cognitive abilities through AI. The conversation explores the technology behind Personal.ai, its unique approach to personalizing user experiences, and the importance of data privacy. Suman also shares his insights on entrepreneurship in the AI space and the ethical considerations of AI development.
News and Useful Reads
Private Equity Has Its Eyes on the Child-Care Industry
Unless you’re Dave Ramsey, it’s widely understood that child-care is incredibly expensive in the United States right now. But if you thought it couldn’t get worse, private equity wants you to hold its beer.
Private investors are intrigued by child care for the same reasons they became interested in nursing homes and other health-care services: intense demand, government money, and relatively low start-up costs. “Their goal is not long-term sustainability; their goal is to try to turn a profit,” Haspel said.
Uber Eats is launching a delivery service with Cartken’s sidewalk robots in Japan
Tired of those pesky delivery drivers? Uber Eats is too. And is launching a robot delivery service in Japan soon. We’ve seen similar services in other cities and on college campuses, so it will be interesting to see how robots continue to get utilized for food deliveries.
Uber, along with partners Mitsubishi Electric and autonomous robotics startup Cartken, are launching a service in Japan that will use self-driving sidewalk robots to deliver food to customers.
After years of research, an Apple smart ring may be imminent
Smart rings may be the next wearable craze. Samsung teased its Galaxy Ring earlier this year, for release late 2024 or early 2025. And Apple may not be far behind either.
According to an industry insider speaking to ETNews on Tuesday, Apple is getting very close to launching the rumored wearable. After filing many patent applications, and spurned on by Samsung, it could soon be Apple's turn.
The Skilled Workers Training AI to Take Their Jobs
Some people are hired specifically to train AI to take their jobs. The rest of us may do it for free or unintentionally. This is the darker side of AI that tech companies and optimists don’t always talk about.
Since ChatGPT’s debut, study after study has forecast disruption in industries usually occupied by the college-educated in the US and Europe—previously a workforce generally considered safe from technological change. Despite those concerns, the wages on offer can make it hard for some people to pass up training gigs that may lead to their obsolescence.
Artists and AI
We talked last week about Sora and the advent of generative video. While many may be optimistic about the possibilities, like we highlighted, there are many potential downsides, as explored below:
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Other Interesting Finds
Rescuing the Rescuer: Saving Myself from a Lifetime of Hurt
We are in the middle of another great ski season, so skiing is on my mind. And like the author of this article, I also wanted to be part of the ski patrol as a teenager. But like any profession helping those who are hurt, it isn’t as glamorous as it sounds.
I was at a local ski resort recently where a man fell down a cliff area. We watched in shock as the ski patrol had to load him into the life flight to a hospital. So dealing with the trauma must be exhausting.
At 33, I became a ski patroller. I had wanted this career since I was a child; I committed to the profession while other kids dreamed of being an astronaut, doctor, or scientist. My reverence for this work came from admiring the men who patrolled the nighttime slopes of Labrador Mountain. When I was a teenager, busloads of kids took over the resort every Thursday evening. The ski patrol was always ready to save us from ourselves.
