Afternoon All,

I was having a conversation about AI with my Mother who is an unapologetic technophobe. To say that she's sceptical about AI would be an understatement. Of course she's absolutely right to be. I still firmly believe AI technology can be an immense force for good. However, I would be a blind idiot if I couldn't see or comprehend the threat it also poses to humanity.

There lies the duality of man and AI technology.

On the one hand we have the US DoD pushing to put SOTA (state of the art) AI models into autonomous weapons. Like they've never seen any of the Terminator movies. But on the other we have an Australian tech entrepreneur using the same technology to create a new personalised cancer drug to save his dying dog. An amazing story partly made possible because Demis Hassabis and the team at Google Deepmind decided to gift Alphafold to humanity.

The technology itself isn't the problem. Human intent may well be. That's what we explore today.

We're still early enough in the AI adoption curve to affect the final outcome. Hopefully the people with that power will be guided by the better angels of their nature.

Today's dots:

• We Need Global Governance for AI

What life could be like if we let our better angels win...

• The AI enabled first-ever bespoke cancer vaccine...for a dog
• Eleven Labs pledges to restore 1 million voices

We Need Global Governance for AI.

Here's the thing: Belgian philosopher Mark Coeckelbergh is one of the 40 experts named by the United Nations to form anIndependent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI). In his book Why AI Undermines Democracy and What To Do About It, he argues that AI can be used to manipulate voters and elections in a manner that was unseen before and we need global governance to ensure that the technology benefits us all.

Let's unpack that:

• Coeckelbergh says "As it’s currently used and developed, AI undermines democracy in a number of ways...[and] we can no longer be certain of what is true and what is not."
• He goes on to argue in favour of global governance of AI, to set guidelines and provide directions. Given the current state of most national lawmakers, he might be on to something. Just this week US Congressman Don Beyer, D-Va said “My guess is that at 430 people, maybe 25 are paying attention in a serious ‘what’s happening in terms of AI policy?’ It’s not that they’re not serious people. It’s just they’re not coming from technical backgrounds,”
• Given that all of the major commercial AI companies are US natives, this lack of governance and regulation will most likely affect everyone on the planet. Beyer goes on to say “I’m a pessimist just about Congress’s ability, in the short run, to get things done, which is why I think we all need to figure out: How do we take an institution full of good people who are trying to do good things across party lines, and get them to work together in a way that actually gets results,”
• That problem is the same one facing every country, state, county and organisation on the planet. Here in the UK this week the House of Lords report on AI is also calling for urgent guidance. The report frames the UK as facing a clear choice between two potential futures. Either be a gold standard international leader or "drift towards tacit acceptance of long-term dependence on opaque models trained overseas"

If you remember nothing else: Whether it's the EU, US or UK the message is clear. AI needs overarching holistic global guidelines for the benefits to truly be enjoyed by everyone. The technology is too powerful and the potential too great to do nothing and wing it.

The first-ever bespoke cancer vaccine for a dog

Here's the thing: An Australian tech entrepreneur used AI to help create the first-ever bespoke cancer vaccine for a dog to treat his beloved pet Rosie

Let's unpack that:

• In 2024, Sydney tech entrepreneur Paul Conyngham found out his dog Rosie had cancer. But after chemotherapy and surgery, the tumours were still present and Rosie got sicker. So he turned to AI.
• After reaching out to the University of New South Wales Ramaciotti Center for Genomics, he convinced researchers there to help him and paid UNSW $3000 for Rosie’s genomic sequencing. Then he started digging into the DNA.
• He used ChatGPT and AlphaFold, an AI tool from Google’s DeepMind, to find mutated proteins that could be potential targets for treatment. They later identified an immunotherapy treatment that looked like a good fit for Rosie but the drugmaker wouldn’t provide it. Then nanomedicine medicine pioneer Pall Thordarson, director of UNSW’s RNA Institute, stepped in and used Rosie's data to develop a bespoke mRNA vaccine in less than two months.

If you remember nothing else: Rosie got her first injection of the cancer treatment this past December, then received a booster in February. And while they haven’t disappeared, most of her tumours have already shrunk dramatically. AI done right has the potential to produce breakthroughs in medicine, and turn diagnoses once considered death sentences into illnesses you can live with.

ElevenLabs pledges to restore 1 million voices for free.

Here's the thing:ElevenLabs the AI audio company, partnered with Rebecca Gayheart Dane, to promote a new initiative that will provide free AI voice restoration to 1 million people with permanent voice loss.

Let's unpack that:

• Before he died ElevenLabs restored the voice of the late Grey's Anatomy actor Eric Dane and co-founder Mati Staniszewski said the company is actively looking for people around the world to participate in the 1 Million Voices Initiative.

• To find people with voice loss and restore their voices, ElevenLabs is working with accessibility nonprofits and disability foundations like the Scott-Morgan Foundation. Using a voicemail or a short video, ElevenLabs AI tools can faithfully recreate a person’s voice, allowing them to communicate in real-time using their own lost voice.

If you remember nothing else: Of course AI is a divisive technology. Deepfakes, misinformation, and copyright infringement have been regular themes in AI discussions. But just like any tool, it's the intent that matters. ElevenLabs literally giving a voice to the voiceless shows it can be used in a positive way too.