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What were you doing on Wednesday night? More than 150 of you were with us for our sold-out #vtjtalks event on ChatGPT, robotics, and how AI will change everything. And boy was it the hot ticket.

Unsurprisingly, GPT was the centre of debate. (If you need a refresher, ChatGPT launched at the end of November, and is able to provide detailed and instantaneous answers in natural language to pretty much anything you ask.) Itโ€™s a given that AI with generative capabilities will force us to question what โ€œcreativityโ€ means. No human art, for instance, exists in a vacuum โ€” the Dutch masters wouldnโ€™t be painting without the influence of Renaissance artists โ€” so some argue that generative AI follows the same process. But for me, the most interesting part of the panel explored the lawโ€™s role in shaping what artificial intelligence will look like in the future.

Getty Images is, for instance, suing AI image generator Stable Diffusion because it scraped its database without permission. But the legal quandary goes further. GPT can write in the style of particular journalists โ€” because it downloads a whole load of articles unauthorized. If youโ€™ve ever uploaded photos or art, written a review, โ€œlikedโ€ content, answered a question on Reddit, contributed to open source code, or done any number of other activities online, your work is likely part of GPT too.

Much of AIโ€™s future, and its capabilities, will be determined by lawsuits. Tools like GPT produce content only by parsing through billions of items in a dataset โ€” and legal action will determine what those datasets can be made of.

Oh, and a heads up โ€” all the panelists agree that AI is coming for your job.

Todayโ€™s briefing is 960 words: a three-minute read.

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๐Ÿค Funding and deals

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  • Devvstream, which provides upfront capital for sustainability projects in exchange for carbon credit rights, went public on the NEO stock exchange. Learn more ยป

  • GeoComply, a geolocation security provider, announced today that it has secured minority investments by funds managed by Norwest Venture Partners and Arctos Sports Partners. Learn more ยป

  • Tryten โ€” a provider of lightweight, non-powered carts focused on enabling telehealth solutions โ€” was acquired by Capsa Healthcare. Learn more ยป

  • Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers announced a $500 million strategic investment from Starboard Value, which will provide additional financial flexibility to the company. Learn more ยป

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โ›ฐ๏ธ Coming up in Vancouver | #vtjtalks: How B.C. Climatetech Could Save the World | February 22

Join us next month for a window into the cityโ€™s cleantech businesses, and why theyโ€™re being awarded so much funding. Discounted pre-speaker tickets available ยป

๐Ÿ—ž๏ธ In other news

  • Business in Vancouver has begun publishing the profiles of its annual Forty under 40 award winners. Find out who ยป

  • The Vancouver Economic Commission released its list of 15 B.C. climatetech companies to follow in 2023. Learn more ยป

  • Vancouver-founded Doodles announced its Doodles 2 NFT collectibles will be launched on (also Vancouver-based) Dapper Labsโ€™ Flow blockchain. Learn more ยป

  • New West-based 3D animation and VFX school, CG Masters, is set to close. Our friends at New West Anchor ยป

  • Spring โ€” a local incubator, accelerator, and advisory firm โ€” celebrated its ninth birthday. Learn more ยป

  • NFT Technologies Inc., which partners with brands to accelerate their entry into the world of Web3, announced a strategic focus on golf and collaborating with iconic golf championships. Learn more ยป

  • For all the local news and our daily coverage, become a Vancouver Tech Journal member ยป

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