GenAI Studio: News, Tools, and Teaching & Learning FAQs
These sixty minute, weekly sessions – facilitated by Technologists and Pedagogy Experts from the CTLT – are designed for faculty and staff at UBC who are using, or thinking about using, Generative AI tools as part of their teaching, researching, or daily work. Each week we discuss the news of the week, highlight a specific tool for use within teaching and learning, and then hold a question and answer session for attendees.
They run on Zoom every Wednesday from 1pm – 2pm and you can register for upcoming events on the CTLT Events Website.
News of the Week
Each week we discuss several new items that happened in the Generative AI space over the past 7 days. There’s usually a flood of new AI-adjacent news every week – as this industry is moving so fast – so we highlight news articles which are relevant to the UBC community.
In this week’s tech news, ChatGPT-4o has now been set as the default model for free users. Nous Research has introduced Hermes3, an open-source model with improved function-calling. Anthropic has launched prompt caching, reducing costs and latency by storing frequently used prompts. NVIDIA has released free courses covering popular AI topics like generative AI, RAG agents, and neural networks. Artists’ lawsuit against AI firms like Stability AI for copyright infringement is still advancing in U.S. courts. xAI revealed that “sus-column-r” is Grok-2, a new AI model now in beta, excelling in reasoning and coding tasks; however, the image generation feature of the Grok-2 beta chatbot raises concerns about misuse. OpenAI now provides two free daily image generations using DALL-E 3, offering advanced image creation to users.
Here’s this week’s news:
GPT-4o mini is Now the Default Model for Free Use The “GPT-4o mini” model has been set as the default option for free use on the ChatGPT platform, providing users with access to more advanced AI capabilities without requiring a subscription. Learn more.
Introducing Hermes3 by Nous Research Nous Research has unveiled Hermes3, a cutting-edge AI model designed to excel in natural language processing tasks. This model is part of their ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of AI’s capabilities in understanding and generating human-like conversation text. Read more.
Anthropic Launches Prompt Caching Anthropic has introduced a new feature called prompt caching, which optimizes AI performance by storing frequently used prompts. This innovation is expected to enhance efficiency and reduce computational costs in AI operations. Read more.
NVIDIA Offers Free AI Courses NVIDIA has released several free courses aimed at introducing people to popular AI topics such as generative AI, RAG agents, and neural networks.
- Generative AI Explained – This beginner-friendly, no-code course provides an introduction to Generative AI, covering key concepts, applications, and the challenges in this rapidly evolving field. Learn more.
- Building RAG Agents with LLMs – Learn to deploy retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems with large language models, focusing on practical techniques for dialog management, document processing, and other advanced orchestration strategies. Learn more.
- Building A Brain in 10 Minutes – This introductory notebook explores the biological and mathematical foundations of neural networks, demonstrating how data is used for learning in AI models. Learn more.
Artist Lawsuit Against AI Companies Progresses A significant lawsuit filed by artists against AI companies like Stability AI and Midjourney is moving forward in the U.S. courts. The artists allege that these companies have infringed on their copyrights by using their works to train AI models without permission. Read more.
“Sus-column-r” confirmed to be Grok2 xAI has unveiled that “sus-column-r” is an early version of Grok-2, its latest AI model designed to excel in tasks like reasoning, coding, and multimodal understanding. Grok-2 and its smaller variant, Grok-2 mini, outperform competitors in key benchmarks and are now available in beta, with plans for broader enterprise API access. Read more.
xAI’s Grok AI Chatbot Beta with Image Generation xAI has launched the beta version of Grok-2, an AI chatbot that includes image generation features. This update allows users to create and publish images using a prompt-based image maker, but with seemingly very few restrictions, raising concerns for abuse of the tool. Read more.
OpenAI Offers Free DALL-E 3 Image Generation OpenAI now offers two free image generations per day using DALL-E 3, making advanced image creation accessible to a broader audience. This feature aims to encourage creativity and experimentation among users. Learn more.
Tool of the Week
Tool of the Week: Google’s ImageFX
What is ImageFX?
Google’s Image-FX is a new image creation tool available in the AI Test Kitchen that allows users to generate images using advanced AI models. It is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, making image creation accessible to everyone.
How is it used?
Users can input text prompts, and the tool will generate images based on those descriptions. Generated images can also be partially selected and edited further using prompts. The interface is straightforward, catering to both beginners and experienced users looking for quick image generation.
What is it used for?
Image-FX is ideal for creative projects, educational purposes, and anyone needing high-quality images generated quickly and efficiently. It’s a valuable resource for designers, content creators, and anyone interested in exploring AI-driven visual arts. Try Image-FX.
Without a PIA, instructors cannot require students use the tool or service without providing alternatives that do not require use of student private information
Questions and Answers
Each studio ends with a question and answer session whereby attendees can ask questions of the pedagogy experts and technologists who facilitate the sessions. We have published a full FAQ section on this site. If you have other questions about GenAI usage, please get in touch.
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