FTI Consulting News Bytes – 30 June 2023

FTI Consulting News Bytes

This week’s News Bytes once again reminds us of the ever-changing world of tech. We kick off by looking at news that the Bank of England is fast approaching the launch of its own digital currency which is set to speed up individual transactions amongst other developments. Moving on to social media sites, this week has shown that TikTok is a truly age-agnostic platform, driven by the collective prowess of Gen Z who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to resurrect decade-old music. Next, we dive into the ongoing concerns around the Online Safety Bill, with Apple this week joining the roster of Big Tech firms challenging calls for modifications to its encrypted messaging model. We go on to explore how the EU intends to bring law and order to AI with its impending AI Act. Lastly, on the same topic of artificial intelligence, we look at data and AI company Databricks this week announcing its plans to acquire generative AI startup, MosaicML for $1.3bn.

This week’s news

Bank of England considering introducing digital pound  

The Bank of England (BoE) is closing in on launching its own digital currency, which could speed up individual transactions and enable firms to create new financial products. Project Rosalind, undertaken by the BoE and Bank of International Settlements with technology providers including global digital transformation firm UST, launched last year to explore how a central bank digital currency would work in practice and the benefits it might bring. For example, phase one of the project found that a CBDC could make payments between individuals quicker and easier and reduce fraud. UST organised the API development work, running innovation sessions as well as building a secure and functional API layer, according to IBS Intelligence.

TikTok is age-agnostic

Long regarded as a teen dance fad, TikTok is emerging as one of the key players in the music industry by allowing legacy superstars to connect with fans born decades after their top hits first landed in the charts. The Guardian reports that, unlike other social media platforms, TikTok appears to be truly age-agnostic. It is a space which welcomes new sounds and content creators, even if those sounds and creators are actually decade old tunes created by members of Generation X. Last week, Kylie Minogue became the first woman over 50 to break onto the Radio one playlist with a solo song in years. The source of the track’s popularity? TikTok – where it had been enjoyed and shared by Gen Z in their masses, even though radio stations had been shunning the song for weeks. The same pattern can be spotted with the resurgence of Mariah Carey’s 2009 song ‘It’s a Wrap’, Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 ‘Dreams’ and Kate Bush’s 1985 ‘Running up that hill’. TikTok has irrevocably changed the music industry, it has a democratisation wherein nothing is uncool – all it takes is one moment of creator magic, to turn into a trend which is consumed and replicated by millions of other creators, ultimately leading to success.

Tech companies pushback on calls to change encrypted messaging  

Earlier this week, Apple, WhatsApp and Signal joined a host of organisations to voice concerns around new provisions in the UK’s Online Safety Bill that could compel encrypted messaging services to scan messages for child abuse material. The Online Safety Bill, currently under parliamentary review, has called for messaging services to take greater responsibility for preventing child abuse by allowing regulators to mandate the use of scanning technology scanning messages. The BBC article added a letter had been sent to the UK’s technology minister, Chloe Smith, noting end-to-end encryption is vital for protecting the privacy of individuals such as journalists and human rights activists, and it has urged the government to amend the bill to safeguard encryption.

Can the EU bring law and order to AI?

As countries scramble to deal with the risks and rewards of artificial intelligence, the European Union is way ahead of the curve in developing legislation to regulate generative technology, with the AI Act. Two years in the making, let’s take a look at The Guardian’s summary of what it will really address. Under the Act, AI systems will be classified under one of five risk levels – those deemed to pose an “unacceptable risk”, will simply be banned. The EU have used biometric face recognition systems (think Rongcheng, China) and voice activated toys which have the capacity to encourage dangerous behaviours in children, as an example of this. Next, the EU’s AI Act addresses where generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, pull the data used in its foundation models. To combat the murky waters of Copyright infringement in the context of AI, under the legislation, developers of AI chatbots will be obliged to publish all the source literature they have used to train their models. One small step for man, one giant leap for AI regulation – the EU is hoping to have a final draft by the end of 2023. But perhaps we can expect to see a fast track on the legislation with announcements of the French government set to use real-time facial recognition at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

OpenAI competitor snapped up

Lastly, Reuters reports data and AI company Databricks this week announced plans to acquire generative AI startup, MosaicML for $1.3bn. The platform which is seen as a close competitor to OpenAI will provide generative AI tooling alongside Databricks’ existing multicloud offerings, which include integration, storage, processing, governance, sharing, analytics and AI-related services. Prior to the acquisition Mosaic boasted over three million downloads of the platform and was designed to allow organisations to build their own large learning models based on their own data. The deal is a further indication of investors’ current interest in building ecosystems centered around AI.

Top Tweets of the Week

• FTI Consulting Strategic Communications: “We are excited to share that Sarah Harte will be joining our Strategic Communications TMT team in Dublin!” – Sarah joins FTI following her 5-year tenure at Twitter, which included a role as Global Policy Communications Lead.
• Reuters: “Aspartame, one of the world’s most common artificial sweeteners, is set to be declared a possible carcinogen next month by a leading global health body, pitting it against the food industry and regulators.”
• Dominic Madori, Senior Reporter at TechCrunch: “Represented TechCrunch last week at Cannes Lions, planning and moderating a panel to bring Black voices to the front of the A conversation. We spoke about how it can be used to advance equity and inclusion 💕💕💕”
• Julie Fenwick, Reporter at VICE says SHEIN are at it again: “How do you convince people your sweatshop is cool? Pay an influencer to tour it.”

Number of the Week

£31 billion  – The amount of GDP output the widespread adoption of generative AI is set to add to the UK economy, per year, according to KPMG.

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