Artificial Intelligence has taken a leap forward with the ability to convincingly imitate a person’s handwriting. This milestone has been accomplished by the research team at Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence or MBZUAI.
What Happened: The MBZUAI team has engineered a technology capable of replicating someone’s handwriting style accurately, reported Bloomberg.
This feat has been achieved using a transformer model, a type of AI designed to understand context and meaning in sequential data. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has officially granted a patent for this AI system to MBZUAI.
Despite not being released yet, this technology signifies substantial progress in an area that has been the subject of academic interest for years. While it could be a boon for those unable to physically write, there are potential risks associated with mass forgeries and misuse.
See Also: Here’s Why Meta’s Chief AI Scientist Is Not Worried About Open Source AI Being Misused
“We’ll have to create public awareness and develop tools to combat forgery,” stated Hisham Cholakkal, an assistant professor for computer vision at MBZUAI.
Despite potential risks, the creators hope to apply their research to real-world applications soon, seeking commercial collaborators. The technology has potential uses across a range of applications, from decoding doctors’ handwriting to crafting personalized advertising.
Work is still underway as the team tackles the challenge of imitating handwritten text in Arabic, having already succeeded with English and French.
Why It Matters: This development comes at a time when AI has been playing a crucial role in identifying and combating cyber threats. Previously, it was reported that U.S. intelligence agencies were seen increasingly employing AI to trace cyber intrusions into the nation's critical infrastructure.
However, anxiety regarding the technology has also heightened. Earlier, the Federal Bureau of Investigation expressed their concerns over China’s potential misuse of AI for espionage.
Some companies have also started putting safeguards in place to ensure their platforms are not misused. For instance, in November last year, it was reported that Alphabet Inc.'s Google added safety measures in place for teens using its Bard platform.
The introduction of an AI capable of mimicking handwriting could lead to a new set of challenges in maintaining safety and privacy online. The implications of this advancement could be far-reaching, and it calls for comprehensive measures to safeguard against potential misuse.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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