GitHub, Google Ads & ChatGPT: Digital Roundup January 2023

Microsoft to add ChatGPT to Bing search engine

On a mission to compete with Google, Microsoft is reportedly looking to launch a version of its own search engine, Bing, using the AI behind ChatGPT.

ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, and is designed to mimic human conversations, based on user prompts and can respond to a huge range of questions. Bing’s plans to incorporate this technology aim to improve the user experience on their search engine and encourage more people to use it.

The Guardian reports that the feature could potentially be launched before the end of March.

GitHub data breach

GitHub announced that hackers managed to gain unauthorised access to some of its code repositories and steal clone code-signing certificates in a data breach. The breach affected both Desktop and Atom applications.

Code-signing certificates place a cryptographic stamp on code to verify it was developed by GitHub, and if decrypted it could allow an attacker to sign unofficial versions of the app and pass them off as a legitimate update. As a result, GitHub had to revoke the exposed certificates.

The organisation wrote:

“A set of encrypted code signing certificates were exfiltrated; however, the certificates were password-protected and we have no evidence of malicious use. As a preventative measure, we will revoke the exposed certificates used for the GitHub Desktop and Atom applications.”

LinkedIn announces 7 new updates

Business-focused social media platform Linkedin announced a preview of seven new updates set to roll out in 2023. These include:

1. Improved video accessibility – video captions will automatically be generated
2. Standardised accessibility job titles – those who work in the accessibility field will be able to choose from standardised job titles such as “accessibility engineer” for improved opportunity targeting
3. Addition of alt text in Campaign Manager – advertisers will be able to add alt-text descriptions to images in their ad campaigns to help visually impaired users to understand the images
4. Updates for casual job seekers – Job Search will present personalised job collections to those simply looking to browse new opportunities without actively searching for them
5. B2B product search updates – the platform will continue to improve its Product Pages to create a more personalised, relevant experience for B2B users
6. Introduction of post scheduling – users will be able to schedule posts from within the LinkedIn app, with a ‘Schedule’ symbol displayed next to the ‘Post’ icon when creating a post
7. Content Analytics updates – users will be able to access analytics on audience data and top-performing content within the Creator Analytics dashboard

Apple launches a catalogue of AI audiobooks

Apple’s latest move could signal the end for human narrators, as the tech giant unveiled a range of audiobooks narrated by artificial intelligence.

The project was held back by a few months, originally planned for launch in November, but users of Apple’s Books app can now access the suite of audiobooks by searching “AI narration”.

Whilst it could be a major move for audiobooks in the future, the update has been met with backlash.

David Caron, a co-producer at Canada’s largest audiobook publisher said of the move: “The narrator brings a whole new range of art in creating audiobook, and we believe that’s a powerful thing. They’re creating something that is different from the print book, but that adds value as an art form. When you have really great writing and really talented narration, you’re coming up with something special. That’s worth investing in.”