philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

New study introduces a test for artificial superintelligence

...

SuperARC defines intelligence in terms of recursive compression repeatedly condensing information to reveal deeper patterns not apparent to tools such as Large Language Model chatbots (LLMs). The test employs a type of specialised probability, drawing upon the equivalence between compressibility and predictability established in the theory of randomness. The paper proves mathematically the equivalence between compression and prediction and exploits it to show how model abstraction and planning in the context of AI are formally two sides of the same coin.

The authors argue that intelligence is best measured by the ability to produce approximations to short computable hypotheses—one that can not only reconstruct but also predict data by running code in parallel to simulate many future states and pick the one that is closer to the observation at any given time. This perspective moves away from conventional, human-centric IQ-style tests, aiming for a more fundamental and agnostic measure of natural and artificial higher cognitive ability not based on human-centric single answers. ...

The authors of this study propose that future AI progress hinges on integrating symbolic inference with machine learning, arguing that “pure memorisation” approaches fall short of genuine comprehension. A shift to neurosymbolic models may be required to bridge the gap between advanced pattern recognition and true algorithmic inference. ...

See the full story here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/new-study-introduces-a-test-for-artificial-superintelligence

Virtual Companions Are Now Inspiring Art, Fashion, Music, And Even Romance

... [Media artist Refik Anadol] His large-scale installations often use AI to process massive datasets – from architectural archives to images of nature – transforming them into dynamic, mesmerizing visual experiences. ...

This approach, treating data as pigment and algorithms as collaborators, showcases how AI can not only assist but actively inspire new forms of artistic expression, challenging traditional notions of authorship and creativity. ...

The influence of the virtual extends prominently into the worlds of fashion and music. Digital fashion houses are pioneering clothing that exists only in virtual spaces, designed for avatars and online self-expression. ...

Platforms offering AI girlfriend or boyfriend experiences, such as HeraHaven AI, allow users to design customized companions, choosing physical attributes and personality traits to foster specific types of connections, from casual chat to more intimate interactions. ...

See the full story here: https://hauteliving.com/2025/04/virtual-companions-are-now-inspiring-art-fashion-music-and-even-romance/768621/

Undergrads Outsmart Big Tech AI

Two undergraduates from Korea have built "Dia," an open-source speech AI model that competes with tools like ElevenLabs and Google’s NotebookLM. With no prior funding and minimal experience, they used Google’s TPU Research Cloud to train the model. Dia is now publicly available on Hugging Face and GitHub.

The Decode:

• Dia Offers  Rich Voice Control - The 1.6B parameter model can generate podcast-like dialogues with control over tone, speaker tags, disfluencies, and even nonverbal sounds like coughs or laughter. Users can prompt Dia to generate random voices or clone real ones. In early demos, it rivaled commercial tools in quality and flexibility. ...

• Voice Cloning and Lack of Safeguards Raise Flags - Dia enables simple voice cloning, and its open access lacks strong safeguards. While the creators discourage misuse, they also disclaim responsibility. The data used for training hasn’t been disclosed, raising potential copyright concerns. ...

See the full story here: https://decodeai.ghost.io/undergrads-outsmart-big-tech-ai/

How Musicians Are Sabotaging AI With Inaudible Tricks

... Academics have also jumped on board. A team from the University of Tennessee and Lehigh University developed HarmonyCloak, a similar tech that hides distortion beneath the surface of songs. The system introduces subtle sound signals that corrupt data used by AI training models, while preserving the original listening experience for people. ...

Despite the innovation, not everyone’s cheering. Legal experts caution that intentionally corrupting datasets might stir up drama in the courts. Could these poison pills be classed as sabotage? Or are they just digital self-defence? Until clear legal guidance emerges, the tactics remain in a bit of a grey area. ...

See the full story here: https://www.bay939.com.au/trending/entertainment/how-musicians-are-sabotaging-ai-with-inaudible-tricks/

From The DeCode: UAE to Use AI for Drafting Its Laws

The UAE has launched a bold initiative to use AI for drafting and reviewing federal and local legislation, aiming to reduce development time by 70%. A newly formed Regulatory Intelligence Office will lead this transformation, making the UAE the first country to embed AI directly into its legislative process.

The Decode:

• AI to Draft Laws - The UAE will use AI to write and review federal and local laws, led by a new Regulatory Intelligence Office. The goal is to cut lawmaking time by 70%. This shifts AI from being regulated to becoming a regulator.
• Solving a Language Gap - Only 10% of UAE’s population are locals, creating a major language barrier. AI will draft laws in multiple languages for better clarity and reach. This could boost legal understanding across 200+ nationalities.
• Balancing Speed and Safety - AI still faces issues like hallucination, bias, and unclear reasoning. Experts stress human oversight is critical to avoid legal missteps. Success depends on combining AI speed with strong safeguards.
• Big Investment, Bold Vision - Backed by a $30B AI fund, the system uses a massive legal database to suggest laws and amendments. It reflects the UAE’s push to modernize governance. The outcome could shape future global policy tech.

See the full story here: https://www.techinasia.com/news/uae-ai-writing-laws

Arizona Opera’s foray into AI was dizzying experience

...

The company became the first to fully integrate AI into a live opera with its concert production of Verdi’s “Aida.” While eight lead vocalists and a choir of 46 performed on the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall stage, an AI-generated full-length film of the opera played on a big screen.

The experience was far more interesting than watching a straight-up concert performance of Verdi’s grand opera, but there were enough head-scratching moments during the three-hour performance to beg the question: Are we really ready to go there?

Truthfully, it needs a little work. ...

See the full story here; https://tucson.com/life-entertainment/local/music/article_6a47a3de-f0b7-42de-be6e-823dc7b0dfdd.html

AI is coming for music, too

... By transforming random noise into coherent patterns, diffusion models can generate new images, videos, or speech, guided by text prompts or other input data. The best ones can create outputs indistinguishable from the work of people, as well as bizarre, surreal results that feel distinctly nonhuman.  ...

For years, diffusion models have stirred debate in the visual-art world about whether what they produce reflects true creation or mere replication. Now this debate has come for music, an art form that is deeply embedded in our experiences, memories, and social lives. Music models can now create songs capable of eliciting real emotional responses, presenting a stark example of how difficult it’s becoming to define authorship and originality in the age of AI. ...

Is creativity, whether in artificial neural networks or biological ones, merely the result of vast statistical learning and drawn connections, with a sprinkling of randomness? If so, then authorship is a slippery concept. If not—if there is some distinctly human element to creativity—what is it? ...

Studies have shown that highly creative people may perceive very semantically distinct concepts as close together. Artists have been found to generate word associations across greater distances than non-artists. Other research has supported the idea that creative people have “leaky” attention—that is, they often notice information that might not be particularly relevant to their immediate task. ...

Musical images

The approach works much the same way for music. A diffusion model does not “compose” a song the way a band might, starting with piano chords and adding vocals and drums. Instead, all the elements are generated at once. The process hinges on the fact that the many complexities of a song can be depicted visually in a single waveform, representing the amplitude of a sound wave plotted against time.  ...

The results of Udio and Suno so far suggest there’s a sizable audience of people who may not care whether the music they listen to is made by humans or machines. Suno has artist pages for creators, some with large followings, who generate songs entirely with AI, often accompanied by AI-generated images of the artist. These creators are not musicians in the conventional sense but skilled prompters, creating work that can’t be attributed to a single composer or singer. In this emerging space, our normal definitions of authorship—and our lines between creation and replication—all but dissolve. ...

See the full story here: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/16/1114433/ai-artificial-intelligence-music-diffusion-creativity-songs-writer/

Phase two of military AI has arrived

...

Consider this phase two of the US military’s AI push, where phase one began back in 2017 with older types of AI, like computer vision to analyze drone imagery. Though this newest phase began under the Biden administration, there’s fresh urgency as Elon Musk’s DOGE and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth push loudly for AI-fueled efficiency. 

As I also write in my story, this push raises alarms from some AI safety experts about whether large language models are fit to analyze subtle pieces of intelligence in situations with high geopolitical stakes. It also accelerates the US toward a world where AI is not just analyzing military data but suggesting actions—for example, generating lists of targets. Proponents say this promises greater accuracy and fewer civilian deaths, but many human rights groups argue the opposite. ...

What are the limits of “human in the loop”? ...

Is AI making it easier or harder to know what should be classified?

One specific problem is called classification by compilation. ...

How high up the decision chain should AI go? ...

See the full story here: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/15/1115078/phase-two-of-military-ai-has-arrived/

AI-generated action figures were all over social media. Then, artists took over with hand-drawn versions.

...The action figure starter pack trend is the latest iteration of a growing AI meme cycle, in which internet users who discover ideas for AI-generated artwork quickly inspire others to produce content using the same prompt. Over the last few years, AI-inspired fads have spurred growing scrutiny over how they’re contributing to issues like environmental waste and the devaluation of human labor. ...

Soon, artists like Rolfe began circulating their own hand-drawn versions of the trend, shared on various social media platforms under the hashtag #StarterPackNoAI, to counter the wave of AI-produced content. ...

OpenAI told NBC News at the time that it prevents image generations “in the style of individual living artists, but we do permit broader studio styles." ...

See the full story here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ai-generated-action-figures-were-023204858.html

MIT Media Lab To Put Human Flourishing At The Heart Of AI R&D

...

It is the central question of the Lab’s newly launched Advancing Humans with AI (AHA) program.

Heralded as a bold, multi-year initiative not to just improve AI, but to elevate human flourishing in an AI-saturated world, a star-studded symposium kicked off the concept and the different research domains it will tackle. Speakers included Arianna Huffington who spoke of AI being like a ‘GPS for the soul’, and Tristan Harris who warned about systems exploiting human vulnerabilities under the guise of assistance. Both agreed that AI shouldn’t just be optimized for efficiency rather it should be designed to cultivate wisdom, resilience, and reflection. ...

Pat Pataranutaporn, co-lead of the AHA program, summed this up to the assembled audience, asking, ”What is the point of advancing artificial intelligence if we simultaneously devalue human intelligence and undermine human dignity? Instead, we should strive to design AI systems that amplify and enhance our most deeply human qualities” ...

The message is clear: it’s time to measure the wellbeing of humans not just the performance of machines. ...

As Professor Pattie Maes, co-lead of the AHA program and director of the Fluid Interfaces group, told me after the event, ‘We are creating AI and AI in turn will shape us. We don’t want to make the same mistakes we made with social media. It is critical that we think of AI as not just a technical problem for engineers and entrepreneurs to solve, but also as a human design problem, requiring the expertise from human-computer interaction designers, psychologists, and social scientists for AI to lead to beneficial impact on the human experience.’

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyfollows/2025/04/14/mit-media-lab-to-put-human-flourishing-at-the-heart-of-ai-rd/