5 things about AI you may have missed today: GenAI course demand jumps, European businesses lag in AI skills, more

Gen AI course demand skyrockets as professionals future proof careers; European businesses lag in AI skills training for employees: LinkedIn report; UK researchers warn against unregulated AI chatbots in social care plans; AI generated faces deceive viewers, study finds-this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

1. Gen AI course demand skyrockets as professionals future proof careers

Demand for Gen AI courses has tripled in the past year as professionals strive to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving job market. Executives from ed-tech companies like Upgrad, Great Learning, Simplilearn, and Coursera note a surge in enrollment, with a 33 percent increase in AI-ML programs and 2.6 times growth in dedicated Gen AI courses. In India, Q1 2024 saw a 195 percent YoY increase in demand, reflecting a proactive effort by professionals to future-proof their careers, according to an Economics Times report. 

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2. European businesses lag in AI skills training for employees: LinkedIn report 

Less than half of European businesses are actively facilitating AI skill development for employees, reveals a LinkedIn report. Despite a projected 68 percent change in job skills globally by 2030, compared to 2016, just 44 percent of UK companies, 36 percent in the Netherlands, and 38 percent in France are aiding their workforce in becoming AI-literate. This highlights a crucial need for businesses to prioritize skills development in the face of a rapidly evolving technological landscape, Euronews reported. 

3. UK researchers warn against unregulated AI chatbots in social care plans

UK researchers warn against the use of unregulated AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard in creating social care plans. A University of Oxford pilot study reveals care providers utilizing generative AI, posing potential risks to patient confidentiality. Dr. Caroline Green, from the Institute for Ethics in AI, notes concerns about biased information leading to inadvertent harm. While AI offers administrative benefits, ethical safeguards are crucial amid the evolving landscape of AI in social care, according to The Guardian report. 

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4. AI generated faces deceive viewers, study finds

A University of Waterloo study reveals the difficulty in distinguishing AI-generated faces from real ones, with participants correctly identifying them only 61 percent of the time, well below the anticipated 85 percent. The research involved 260 participants viewing images from Google searches and AI programs like Stable Diffusion and DALL-E. Despite scrutinizing details like fingers, teeth, and eyes, participants struggled to accurately discern AI-generated individuals, highlighting the challenges in visual deception by AI, according to a mid-day report. 

5. Sky high costs in Silicon Valley excluding academics from AI research

Silicon Valley's exorbitant costs for AI research are excluding academics, hindering independent study of the technology. Fei-Fei Li, a prominent figure in AI, urged President Biden to fund a national AI repository to aid researchers in keeping pace with tech giants. The disparity in resources, with companies like Meta acquiring vast computing power, poses a challenge for even affluent universities. High-tech salaries are further depleting academia of essential talent, The Washington Post reported.