philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

AI employees warn of technology’s dangers, call for sweeping company 

... The letter, signed by 13 people including current and former employees at Anthropic and Google’s DeepMind, said AI can exacerbate inequality, increase misinformation, and allow AI systems to become autonomous and cause significant death. Though these risks could be mitigated, corporations in control of the software have “strong financial incentives” to limit oversight, they said.

Because AI is only loosely regulated, accountability rests on company insiders, the employees wrote, calling on corporations to lift nondisclosure agreements and give workers protections that allow them to anonymously raise concerns.

The move comes as OpenAI faces a staff exodus. Many critics have seen prominent departures — including of OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and senior researcher Jan Leike — as a rebuke of company leaders, who some employees argue chase profit at the expense of making OpenAI’s technologies safer. ...

“They and others have bought into the ‘move fast and break things’ approach, and that is the opposite of what is needed for technology this powerful and this poorly understood,” Kokotajlo said. ...

See the full story here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/06/04/openai-employees-ai-whistleblowers/

NOTCOIN vs. UXLINK: A Comparative Study on Mass Adoption Strategies in Web3

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Primarily, there are three key layers within the Web3 framework where the application of ML can offer insightful value:

Intelligent Decentralized Applications (dApps): Decentralized applications, also known as dApps, are expected to be among the most popular Web3 solutions for rapidly integrating features driven by Machine Learning. This trend is already visible in the area of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and is only set to grow further. The next generation of NFTs is expected to progress from static images to artifacts with intelligent behavior. These NFTs might be capable of adapting their behavior according to the mood or preferences of their owners. This is a clear indication of how AI can enhance the user experience in the realm of Web3.

Intelligent Blockchains: The current generation of blockchain platforms primarily focuses on key distributed computing components. These components are designed specifically to facilitate the decentralized processing of financial transactions. However, the future is set to witness the emergence of a new generation of blockchains. These advanced platforms will not merely rely on traditional components but will incorporate the capabilities driven by Machine Learning. For example, in this innovative setup, a blockchain runtime might utilize ML to predict transactions. These predictions, in turn, can be used to create consensus protocols with a scalable design. The application of AI can significantly enhance the security aspects of the blockchain. It can mine data swiftly and predict behavior effectively, thereby detecting fraudulent activities and stopping potential attacks at the earliest.

Intelligent Protocols: Apart from intelligent blockchains, the Web3 stack can incorporate Machine Learning capabilities through the use of smart contracts and protocols. The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector exemplifies this trend with great potential. As we progress into the future, we can expect to see computerized market makers or lending protocols that boast of more intelligent logic based on ML models. For instance, consider a lending protocol that uses an intelligent score for balancing loans originating from different types of wallets. This is just one of the many ways ML can revolutionize the operations of the Web3 stack. ...

See the full article here: https://news.bitcoin.com/notcoin-vs-uxlink-a-comparative-study-on-mass-adoption-strategies-in-web3/

AI steals the limelight at international cartoon and animation festival

... Fifty industrial giants and professional organizations, including Pixar Animation Studio, Asia Content & Entertainment Fair in Gwangju, and The Russian Animated Film Association, attended the extravaganza.

Artificial intelligence was a highlight of the festival. As a leader in digital technology, Hangzhou showcased its innovative integration of animation and AI. Visitors got to see the new results of AI-generated animation produced by domestic giants like Alibaba, NetEase and Bilibili.

To cash in on the AI trend, a digital entertainment game and art space made its debut at this year's CICAF. Visitors experienced immersive virtual reality through interactive installations and devices, such as robotic dog training, AI-generated paintings and augmented reality adventures. ...

With the rise of guofeng – a movement that celebrates Chinese designers' focus on their culture and responsiveness to the changing market, cosplayers showcased performances from popular domestic IPs, including "The Magic Blade," "Ultimate 3," "Dream of Three Ancient Kingdoms 2," and the "Qian Nu You Hun" mobile game. They competed for the opportunity to secure financial support. ...

See the full story here: https://www.shine.cn/feature/art-culture/2406037406/

Marvel’s first immersive story for the Apple Vision Pro is the most fun I’ve had on the device

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But I was very intrigued when Marvel announced What If…? – An Immersive Story– partly because it’s a show that instantly evokes mystery, but also because it promises to tap into the full potential of the Vision Pro. Spatial Audio, check. Eye tracking, check. Hand tracking, check. 

For the last few days, I’ve jumped into the What If...? Universe, complete with the Marvel Studios opening credits flying around me. That was quite the start. From there, I hit start, and I’m greeted by The Watcher, a being who appears larger than life in my living room and quickly gives me the lowdown. ...

As you progress through the chapters and the full experience, which lasts about an hour, you’ll quickly learn that What If…? An Immersive Story feels like a crossover between a movie and a game. You’re presented with a scenario, maybe a villain plotting to steal something, and then the screen will flip, and you’ll be pulled into that universe. ...

For instance, I was in my living room with The Watcher and Sorcerer Supreme Wong before a portal opened, and it switched from augmented reality to virtual reality. I quickly had to work on learning the mystic arts in this location. Here, I got my first taste of the gestures. I was curious how this experience would onboard for gestures, and the trick is a template that appears, and you place your hands, mimicking them. ...

For now, Marvel Studios x Disney Plus x ILM Immersive, What If…? – An Immersive Story, feels like the tip of the iceberg. It’s a free experience that everyone with a Vision Pro should at least give a go; it’s not super long – which also may be by design for comfort and battery life – but it does feel like a compelling experience. ...

See the full story here: https://www.techradar.com/computing/virtual-reality-augmented-reality/marvels-first-immersive-story-for-the-apple-vision-pro-is-the-most-fun-ive-had-on-the-device

AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd, by looking at them just once

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A University of Washington team has developed an artificial intelligence system that lets a user wearing headphones look at a person speaking for three to five seconds to “enroll” them. The system, called “Target Speech Hearing,” then cancels all other sounds in the environment and plays just the enrolled speaker’s voice in real time even as the listener moves around in noisy places and no longer faces the speaker.

The team presented its findings May 14 in Honolulu at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The code for the proof-of-concept device is available for others to build on. The system is not commercially available. ...

To use the system, a person wearing off-the-shelf headphones fitted with microphones taps a button while directing their head at someone talking. The sound waves from that speaker’s voice then should reach the microphones on both sides of the headset simultaneously; there’s a 16-degree margin of error. The headphones send that signal to an on-board embedded computer, where the team’s machine learning software learns the desired speaker’s vocal patterns. The system latches onto that speaker’s voice and continues to play it back to the listener, even as the pair moves around. The system’s ability to focus on the enrolled voice improves as the speaker keeps talking, giving the system more training data. ...

This work builds on the team’s previous “semantic hearing” research, which allowed users to select specific sound classes — such as birds or voices — that they wanted to hear and canceled other sounds in the environment. ...

See the full story here: https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/05/23/ai-headphones-noise-cancelling-target-speech-hearing

Dr. Ben Goertzel Leverages Photorealistic Generative AI Avatar Technology from Twin Protocol at AI for Good Conference in Switzerland

Dr. Ben Goertzel, Founder of SingularityNET and Chief Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisor to Twin Protocol, will launch a video of his avatar addressing visitors to the AI for Good conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Use of the generative AI avatar technology by top AI scientist, Dr. Ben Goertzel, demonstrates the power of secure, ethically engineered AI to foster a culture of continuous knowledge sharing, innovation, and growth.

His avatar is the first of an ongoing series of digital twin modalities Dr. Goertzel and Twin Protocol will unveil over the coming months. Dr. Goertzel’s digital AI avatar is the ideal candidate to deliver insights on the future of artificial general intelligence (AGI) at AI for Good, exploring the ethical implications of AI and the transformative potential of decentralized networks. Dr. Goertzel’s digital AI avatar will also delve into his pioneering research on combining AI with blockchain technology to create a more secure and transparent digital ecosystem. ...

See the full story here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240529028325/en

Magic Leap is Google’s new mystery partner for XR headsets

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What does Google need that Magic Leap can provide?

Google Glass and Magic Leap were both among the biggest technology flops of the past decade — but could their underlying ideas power something worthy and new? We may find out because Google and Magic Leap now have a “multi-faceted strategic technology partnership” designed to “foster the future of the XR ecosystem with unique and innovative product offerings.”

It is not at all clear what the deal involves, but the press release does repeatedly boast about Magic Leap’s optics and manufacturing expertise — expertise that, it claims, produces “highly-precise eyepieces with incredibly high yield rates and quality at scale.”  ...

See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/30/24167283/google-magic-leap-deal-optics-manufacturing

OpenAI Says Russia and China Used Its A.I. in Covert Campaigns

OpenAI said on Thursday that it had identified and disrupted five online campaigns that used its generative artificial intelligence technologies to deceptively manipulate public opinion around the world and influence geopolitics.

The efforts were run by state actors and private companies in Russia, China, Iran and Israel, OpenAI said in a report about covert influence campaigns. The operations used OpenAI’s technology to generate social media posts, translate and edit articles, write headlines and debug computer programs, typically to win support for political campaigns or to swing public opinion in geopolitical conflicts. ...

Like Google, Meta and Microsoft, OpenAI offers online chatbots and other A.I. tools that can write social media posts, generate photorealistic images and write computer programs. In its report, the company said its tools had been used in influence campaigns that researchers had tracked for years, including a Russian campaign called Doppelganger and a Chinese campaign called Spamouflage.

The Doppelganger campaign used OpenAI’s technology to generate anti-Ukraine comments that were posted on X in English, French, German, Italian and Polish, OpenAI said. The company’s tools were also used to translate and edit articles that supported Russia in the war in Ukraine into English and French, and to convert anti-Ukraine news articles into Facebook posts. ...

See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/technology/openai-influence-campaigns-report.html?mc_cid=e892866c6a&mc_eid=cf24d7da5b

Washington pushes for new AI rules protecting artists as Hollywood backlash mounts

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"We're going to have to do a national AI bill or the world will not be the same as we know it," Klobuchar said.

"Songwriters, actors, and our incredibly talented creative community deserve the right to own their voice, image, and likeness," added Blackburn, the leading Republican on the bill. ...

"We're going to have to try to figure out some way to create parameters and guardrails. We've seen artists already whose voices have been used after they've passed on. We're also seeing artists being used when they have nothing to do with something that's been put out, and that's terrifying." ...

A draft version of the bill would extend authorization for digital replication to the heirs, executors, or assignees of a deceased person for a period of 70 years, which is modeled after the equivalent term for copyright protection. ...

"It will take very careful drafting to accomplish the goal of addressing these harms without inadvertently chilling legitimate, constitutionally protected uses of technologies to enhance storytelling in our industry," Ben Sheffner, senior vice president of the Motion Picture Association, said on April 30 while testifying before the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. ...

See the full story here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/washington-pushes-for-new-ai-rules-protecting-artists-as-hollywood-backlash-mounts-080019112.html

Tech leaders question if society is ready for artificial general intelligence at Vatican conference

Keyun Ruan, chief information security officer at Alphabet, Google’s parent company, posed the question, “Why do we need AGI?” in reference to artificial general intelligence — AI systems that can match or exceed human intelligence across a wide range of situations.

Speaking at a conference on human flourishing and technology in the headquarters of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences May 23, Ruan said that determining AGI’s purpose and service to humanity is “a broader conversation that we have never really had at a global level.” ...

The development of AGI requires huge monetary investments, “and there is not an equal size of investments and funding in alignment, in ethics, in human flourishing,” she noted. “We want to get the equation balanced before we race into AGI.” ...

Dennis Snower, an economist and president of the Global Solutions Initiative, told Catholic News Service that today “artificial intelligence is driven largely by business interests with a focus on profits and shareholder value, and these don’t align properly with our needs to flourish both individually and socially.” ...

See the full story here: https://thedialog.org/vatican-news/tech-leaders-question-if-society-is-ready-for-artificial-general-intelligence-at-vatican-conference/