philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

How Judaism can respond to the singular challenge of artificial intelligence

... In my book, Staying Human: A Jewish Theology for the Age of Artificial Intelligence, I show how Jewish tradition espouses the idea of God as everything, the singularity, the network of networks.  ...

Indeed, the danger of the extreme version of the singularity is the levelling of all existence, and the disappearance of the creative and moral space in which individuated beings encounter one another.  ...

Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), the French theologian, saw technology as aiming at “absolute efficiency” in human affairs. Halachah is not about efficiency but meaning and relationship in the world of objects. It also brings into play the past, present, and future, which is to be worked towards steadily, not with an eye to conquering the universe but, with reverence, humility, and gratitude, and in the knowledge of our own temporality.  ...

See the full story here: https://www.thejc.com/judaism/all/when-machines-outsmart-humans-5wlWBdfeX2cjjmf0vsEm5j

10 AI Predictions For 2022

4) Powerful new AI tools will be built for video.

...Expect to see a blossoming of AI tools for video in 2022, from video search to video editing to video generation. In the latter category, Synthesia’s $50M Series B raise earlier this month is a (both exciting and unnerving) sign of things to come. ...

5) An NLP model with over 10 trillion parameters will be built.

In 2021, the trillion-parameter barrier was broken by models from Google (1.6 trillion parameters) and the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (1.75 trillion parameters).

Expect this hockey-stick growth in the size of large language models to continue next year. There is a good chance that 2022’s largest model will come from OpenAI and be named GPT-4.

6) Collaboration and investment will all but cease between American and Chinese actors in the field of AI.

7) Multiple large cloud/data platforms will announce new synthetic data initiatives.

Getting the right data is the most important and the most challenging part of building AI products today. Synthetic data offers compelling advantages over the status-quo approach of collecting and labeling real-world datasets.

Likely candidates: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Unity Technologies, Scale AI

8) Toronto will establish itself as the most important AI hub in the world outside of Silicon Valley and China.

9) “Responsible AI” will begin to shift from a vague catch-all term to an operationalized set of enterprise practices.

... A growing movement has emerged to advocate for the responsible use of AI, led by researchers like Timnit Gebru, Joy Buolamwini and Cathy O’Neill. 

2022 is the year that this will begin to change, as responsible AI practices and toolkits become productized and operationalized. These products will come both from tech giants (e.g., Microsoft, IBM) and from newer startups (e.g., Parity, Fiddler Labs). Over time, responsible AI practices will shift from “nice-to-have” efforts within forward-thinking organizations to standard practice across industries. 

Regulation will provide an important impetus: see, for instance, the E.U.’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Act and New York City’s new law mandating audits for companies that use AI in hiring decisions (the first of its kind)...

10) Reinforcement learning will become an increasingly important and influential AI paradigm.

In reinforcement learning, the AI is not trained on historical real-world data; it is not given the “answer key” and told what to pay attention to, as in supervised learning. Instead, it is allowed to open-endedly explore its environment, learning about the world as it goes, guided only by a particular objective that it seeks to optimize for.

Reinforcement learning powered DeepMind’s landmark AlphaGo triumph. Increasingly, it is being used by researchers and startups at the bleeding edge of AI to unlock unprecedented AI capabilities, from recommendation engines to robotics to autonomous vehicles and beyond.

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2021/12/22/10-ai-predictions-for-2022/?sh=3cdb5e7d482d

Embodying an opposite-sex virtual reality avatar appears to alter perceptions of touch

... Heterosexual individuals tend to find intimate touch from a same-sex virtual avatar to be more pleasant when they are “wearing” a virtual body of the opposite sex, according to new research that used immersive VR technology to induce a body swap illusion among participants. ...

In the study, participants reclined in a chair as they wore an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. They passively observed from a first person perspective as a male or female virtual avatar delivered caresses to their foot, knee, pelvis, chest, head, and hand. The participants were not physically touched. Instead, the caresses were only delivered to the participants’ virtual body. ...

Moreover, we also focused on intimate touch, which would be unethical in normal circumstances.” ...

See the full story here: https://www.psypost.org/2021/12/embodying-an-opposite-sex-virtual-reality-avatar-appears-to-alter-perceptions-of-touch-62254

Research: How AR Filters Impact People’s Self-Image

Abstract: ... New research suggests that AR apps designed to let customers virtually try on makeup or other products can have a significant, negative impact on psychological wellbeing. Moreover, that impact can vary widely depending on the customer. While people with lower baseline levels of self-esteem may feel better about themselves after using an AR filter, those with higher pre-existing self-esteem are more likely to feel worse about themselves after using AR. In light of these findings, the authors offer five strategies to help firms responsibly deploy AR technologies, including avoiding promoting unrealistic beauty standards, proactively educating customers about the potential harms of using AR, and working with regulators and industry leaders to develop a code of ethics to guide development going forward.

See the full story here: https://hbr.org/2021/12/research-how-ar-filters-impact-peoples-self-image

Commentary: The Ethical Use of AI in the Security, Defense Industry

While competitive advantages and reduced collateral damage are valid arguments for allowing a machine to decide to kill a human in combat, war is a human endeavor and there must be a human cost to undertaking it. It must always be difficult to kill another human being, lest we risk losing what makes us human to begin with. That is where we should take a firm ethical stance when considering AI in future weapons.

See the full story here: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/12/21/the-ethical-use-of-ai-in-the-security-defense-industry

Use of blockchain technology could increase human trust in AI

PhilNote: this article is a collection of definitions and issues.

...However, the success of any AI-based system also depends on the trust displayed by the beneficiaries on AI technology, besides other factors. Data, models, and analytics are the three key components of AI technology. One can decentralize these three key components using blockchain technology, and it will undoubtedly enhance the end users’ trust and confidence levels in AI-based systems. ...

See the full story here: https://venturebeat.com/2021/12/20/use-of-blockchain-technology-could-increase-human-trust-in-ai/

Neuroscientists are using virtual reality to unlock a whole new world of brain research

... Put simply, to understand how the brain works on a day-to-day basis, it’s critical to observe brain activity in situations that feel as real as possible, not like manufactured case studies.

...Using data from the VR participants, the team was able to confirm patterns of rhythmic brain waves linked to emotional excitement, which are referred to as alpha oscillations (the lower the strength of the oscillations, the higher the degree of excitement). They were also able to predict the strength of those emotions by identifying which cranial lobes and regions were most involved. These findings could have myriad applications in the future, the team says, noting that VR glasses are already being employed in psychological therapy. ...

See the full story here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90707369/neuroscientists-are-using-virtual-reality-to-unlock-a-whole-new-world-of-brain-research

Augmented Reality Dev Jadu Raises $7 Million For Its ‘Mirrorverse’

There are a lot of things that you can add to the metaverse and have it make perfect sense. For the LA-based Augmented Reality developer Jadu, that includes Hoverboards, and its own ambitious take on a metaverse. ...

Of course, Jadu’s investors also included some other major players. For example, LionTree, Coinbase Ventures, PKO Investments & Progression Fund, Guy Oseary (now manager of Bored Ape Yacht Club), Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures and Snoop Dogg’s manager Nick Adler, among others.

Even before these names entered the fray, Jadu wasn’t short of ambition or confidence. Its previous success in community building around its jet pack NFTs were reason enough to push out to hoverboards, as CEO, Assad Malik makes clear, “We’ve known we can create incredible AR experiences but it’s only now with Web3 incentive systems that the missing piece is finally obvious. The community that we formed around Jetpacks, which we have now expanded with Hoverboards, is an incredible way to develop AR as a true creative medium beyond social media filters and enterprise use cases.”

With this new funding coming after its hoverboards went public, the latter NFT series managed to bring in over $4.4 million in primary sales, according to the team. The figure, coupled with a $20 million secondary market is unsurprising too, given the star power involved with them. Each hoverboard was developed and minted in partnership with major names like Snoop Dogg; Grimes; F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton; visual artist Mimi Onuoha, and NFT curator Trippy.

See the full story here: https://www.thevirtualreport.biz/deal/65220/augmented-reality-dev-jadu-raises-7-million-for-its-mirrorverse/

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Mobile App & Factors That Influence It

Many factors influence the final cost of the developed app. Given the factors mentioned above, any vendor can make a rough project estimate. Thus, giving an approximate answer to how much it costs to create an app at 40$ per hour, the average pricing will be:

●     Simple App Development - $40,000 to $60,000 (3-6 months).

●     Average App Development - $60,000 to $150,000 (6-10 months).

●     Complex App Development - $200,000-$300,000+ (10+ months).

Given the info above, the question "how much does it cost to make an app?" can be answered vaguely. Connecting a development team and communicating about the app specifications will provide you with a deeper understanding.

See the full story here: http://www.itechpost.com/articles/108332/20211216/how-much-does-it-cost-to-develop-a-mobile-app-factors-that-influence-it.htm

Forever 21 Joins The Metaverse With ‘Roblox’ Shopping World

The metaverse company Virtual Brand Group is partnering with popular fashion company Forever 21 to create a unique experience that will let you operate your own Forever 21 store inside of Roblox. In Forever 21 Shop City,you’ll be encouraged to bring the vogue by designing your own fashion business through an unprecedented amount of customization options available through Roblox’s “Tycoon” mode.

Your first task is finding a “physical” location for your new venture! Ideally, you’ll want to find a spot in Forever 21 Shop City with a great view or a heavy amount of foot traffic. If at any point you feel like mixing things up, you can swap locations at any time. 

...

Now that your Forever 21 store is built, it’s time to get creative. You’ll need to curate an inventory of eye-catching Forever 21 accessories and clothing to stock your shelves and cloth your display mannequins. You’ll also have to hire a team of non-player characters (NPCs) to work your store. 

Like all business owners in the real world, sometimes your job will require you to do a little of everything. Be prepared to hit the store floor and help customers with questions or jump behind the cash register when things get busy. You may also find yourself decorating storefront windows and even pulling inventory from the back to fill shelves. 

As if that weren’t cool enough, Forever 21 will be releasing new collections simultaneously in both real-world physical and the metaverse. Those same items will be available as virtual merchandise in Forever 21 Shop City that gamers can buy for their Roblox avatar.

See the full story here: https://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/edition/daily-amazon-apple-2021-12-16?open-article-id=20761482&article-title=forever-21-joins-the-metaverse-with--roblox--shopping-world&blog-domain=vrscout.com&blog-title=vrscout