5 things about AI you may have missed today: Paytm’s AI-led layoff, AI antibiotic, and more

25.12.2023 - 14:36 / tech.hindustantimes.com / Ai

Today is Christmas and, as expected, most businesses and governments have shut down for the day and people are enjoying a holiday. Yet artificial intelligence developments have found a way to emerge even today. In a shocking development, the parent company of Paytm, One97 Communication, has fired more than 1000 employees. The underlying reason behind the Paytm layoff is reported to be the AI advancement of the company that has caused a few positions to be surplus to requirements. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

Paytm's parent company, One97 Communication, has laid off over 1000 employees from various departments as a cost-cutting measure, reported the Economic Times. The layoffs, occurring over the past few months, amount to a 10 percent reduction in Paytm's overall workforce. The restructuring was prompted by advancements in artificial intelligence, rendering some positions obsolete. The decision comes after Paytm exited the buy-now-pay-later and small-ticket lending space due to regulatory changes by the RBI. The job losses are concentrated in the division that experienced significant growth in the past year.

Researchers from MIT, Harvard University, and the Broad Institute have made a groundbreaking discovery using AI machine learning to identify a new class of antibiotics, as per a report by Psychology Today. This marks the first such finding in over 60 years and is a significant breakthrough in addressing drug-resistant staph infections, contributing to the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Staph, or Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), is a Gram-positive bacteria responsible for various human infections, including skin infections, sepsis, and deadly pneumonia. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) resulted in over 120,000 global deaths in 2019, as reported by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in January 2022.

Sydney's Harbour Bridge has undergone a Christmas Day transformation featuring dazzling lights and draped white cloth, but the festive look is AI-generated, according to a report by 9News. It's a digital creation by AI artist If Only, known for similar transformations of landmarks like Egypt's Great Pyramids and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, showcasing the power of artificial intelligence in generating visually stunning imagery.

"What if we woke on Christmas morning to discover Santa had transformed the Sydney Harbour Bridge into a festive wonderland? With a touch of Christmas magic and a whole lotta AI wizardry, the Sydney Harbour Bridge as we've never seen it before, adorned with a pixel-perfect look to celebrate Christmas day," the official Sydney Instagram account posted.

Mustafa Suleyman, cofounder of Google DeepMind, has said