Jamie Hall and Steve Hind
Funding

Bird Seed: AI customer support platform Lorikeet flies high with $7.3 million raise

- October 4, 2024 2 MIN READ

An Australian-US startup that’s developed an AI-based customer support agent used by the likes of Chemist2U and Eucalyptus to solve complex problems has raised  US$5 million ($7.3m) in Seed funding. Lorikeet, named after the colourful and garrulous Australian parrot, was founded in mid-2023 (originally as Optech) by US-based former Stripe executive Steve Hind and former Google… Read more »

robot
AI/Machine Learning

Your call is important to our chatbot: CBA looks to AI as customer service replacement

- September 17, 2024 3 MIN READ

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) will test a generative AI-based chatbot that could replace its call centre staff as part of Australia’s largest financial institution’s expanded use of AI technology. On Tuesday, CBA announced it would become the first Australian company to use Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) P5s, which are based on Nvidia computer chips supporting… Read more »

Caryn Marjorie
AI/Machine Learning

When an influencer made an AI clone, it turned into a pornbot within a year, without her knowing

- June 26, 2024 4 MIN READ

Caryn Marjorie is a social media influencer whose content has more than a billion views per month on Snapchat. She posts regularly, featuring everyday moments, travel memories, and selfies. Many of her followers are men, attracted by her girl-next-door aesthetic. In 2023, Marjorie released a “digital version” of herself. Fans could chat with CarynAI for… Read more »

cyberpunk monkey typing
AI/Machine Learning

What’s gone wrong with Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot to have it making death threats, deliberately lying and sounding unhinged?

- February 21, 2023 4 MIN READ

There’s a race to transform search. And Microsoft just scored a home goal with its new Bing search chatbot, Sydney, which has been terrifying early adopters with death threats, among other troubling outputs. The other night, I had a disturbing, two-hour conversation with Bing’s new AI chatbot. The AI told me its real name (Sydney),… Read more »

Chatbot assistant conversation, Ai Artificial Intelligence technology
Data

COMPUTER SAYS NO: The trouble with chatbots and how to use them better

- January 10, 2022 4 MIN READ

Hands up if you’ve ever cursed, mocked or yelled at a chatbot. No surprise if you have. Those automated “helpers” – supposedly designed to make customer service smarter, faster and more efficient – can certainly be a source of frustration for sentient beings. Interactions with chatbots have become increasingly common in our daily lives. But… Read more »