Rami's Readings #70 - AI, Canada & Japanese 💾
Welcome to Rami’s Readings #70 - a weekly digest of interesting articles, papers, videos, and X threads from my various sources across the Internet. Expect a list of reads covering AI, technology, business, culture, fashion, travel, and more. Learn about what I do at ramisayar.com/about.
🤖 AI Reads
WIPO Patent Landscape Report on Generative AI
Notes: See The Global AI Talent Tracker.
Samsung Stock Hits Three-Year High on Profit Leaping 15-Fold
Notes: Secondary impact of the AI stock craze.
Microsoft / GraphRag: A Modular Graph-Based Retrieval-Augmented Generation System
Notes: From Microsoft Research. Not my organization (see disclosure).
APIGen: Automated Pipeline for Generating Verifiable and Diverse Function-Calling Datasets
Notes: Synthetic data is a perfect use case for function-calling training.
Searching for Best Practices in Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Notes: Interesting paper.
We demonstrate that multimodal retrieval techniques can significantly enhance question-answering capabilities about visual inputs and accelerate the generation of multimodal content using a “retrieval as generation” strategy.
💼 Business Reads
Canada Is a Force in AI Research. So Why Can’t the Country Commercialize It?
Notes: I asked this question multiple times in this newsletter, but received no clarifying answer. When I left Canada, this statement from Bergen was also true:
The government already had a top-down strategy that it wanted to implement and didn’t really care what CEOs and leaders of domestic firms were actually needing in order to be successful.
🎨 Culture Reads
Japan Wins 2-Year ‘War on Floppy Disks,’ Kills Regulations Requiring Old Tech
Notes: I was touring an MIT Chemistry Lab and saw a machine running Windows XP to control lab equipment. Ancient tech exists even in the most modern of places.
Some believe Japan’s reliance on older technology stems from the comfort and efficiencies associated with analog tech as well as governmental bureaucracy.
I also get comfort from analog things.
The World’s Most Liveable Cities in 2024
Notes: Seattle ranks highly! 😊
The Economics of the Tennis v Pickleball Contest
Notes: I love Tennis, and I’m not so bothered by the pickleball players. Who is up for a game in Seattle?
Signing off from Redmond.