philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

OpenAI’s Sora: It’s the Beginning or the End of Video and Either Way It’s a Big Deal

• OpenAI shared a first glimpse at new tool Sora that instantly generates videos from just a line of text.
• The apparent capabilities of Sora are deemed perfect for stock footage, presentations, and commercials with developments likely to lead to longer form films.
• AI tools that can generate videos indistinguishable from video shot with a real camera raise concerns again about content creation industry jobs and misuse by spreading deepfakes

See the full story here: https://amplify.nabshow.com/articles/ic-open-ai-sora

What is Sora? Inside the New Generative AI Tool That Could Transform Video Production

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How Does Sora Work?

Sora combines features of text and image generating tools in what is called a “diffusion transformer model.” 

Transformers are a type of neural network first introduced by Google in 2017. They are best known for their use in large language models such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.

Diffusion models, on the other hand, are the foundation of many AI image generators. They work by starting with random noise and iterating towards a “clean” image that fits an input prompt. ...

Sora uses the transformer architecture to handle how frames relate to one another. While transformers were initially designed to find patterns in tokens representing text, Sora instead uses tokens representing small patches of space and time. ...

...Sora makes videos up to 60 seconds. ...

Lumiere cannot make videos composed of multiple shots, while Sora can. ...

OpenAI’s technical paper about Sora is titled “Video generation models as world simulators.” ...

See the full story here: https://amplify.nabshow.com/articles/ic-what-is-openai-sora

The Justice Department gets a chief AI officer

The Justice Department appointed Princeton professor and technology law researcher Jonathan Mayer as its first chief AI officer as it figures out how AI impacts law enforcement. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that appointing an AI officer was important for the department to “keep pace with rapidly evolving scientific and technological developments.” 

One of Mayer’s responsibilities will be to build a team of technical and policy experts around cybersecurity and AI. Mayer will also serve as the department’s chief science and technology advisor and help recruit tech talent. 

Government agencies were tasked by the Biden administration’s executive order on AI to shore up AI talent and create guidelines on using the technology in their services. The executive order also includes establishing standards to ensure fairness if AI is used for sentencing, parole, and surveillance — actions that fall into the purview of the Justice Department.  ...

See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24080167/justice-department-chief-ai-officer-law-enforcement

Hundreds of AI luminaries sign letter calling for anti-deepfake legislation

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Hundreds in the artificial intelligence community have signed an open letter calling for strict regulation of AI-generated impersonations, or deepfakes. While this is unlikely to spur real legislation (despite the House’s new task force), it does act as a bellwether for how experts lean on this controversial issue.

The letter, signed by more than 500 people in and adjacent to the AI field at time of publishing, declares that “deepfakes are a growing threat to society, and governments must impose obligations throughout the supply chain to stop the proliferation of deepfakes.” ...

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/21/hundreds-of-ai-luminaries-sign-letter-calling-for-anti-deepfake-legislation/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

The Walt Disney Company Announces the 10th Year of the Disney Accelerator Program and its 2024 Participant Companies

The companies selected to participate in the 2024 Disney Accelerator program are:

AudioShake: AudioShake is an audio technology company that uses AI to separate the layers of recorded sound in order to make audio interactive, editable, and customizable.

ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs is a voice AI research and deployment company that creates realistic, versatile, and contextually aware AI audio.

PrometheanAI: PrometheanAI is a company that provides a suite of tools for virtual world creation and digital asset management using natural language prompts.

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See the full story here: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-accelerator/

Disney’s 2024 Accelerator Program Participants Include 3 AI-Focused Companies

... Bloomberg said in a Wednesday report that three of the five companies chosen for this year’s class are working on AI. AudioShake uses AI to mix music tracks, ElevenLabs uses the technology to convert text to speech, and PrometheanAI uses it to search digital archives, according to the report. ...

Bloomberg report here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-21/disney-leans-on-ai-in-latest-class-of-startup-investments?srnd=premium

See the full story here: https://www.pymnts.com/aml/2024/raiffeisen-bank-international-discloses-investigation-by-austrian-financial-regulator-fma/

NYT plans to debut new generative AI ad tool later this year

How it works: The new technology, which is being created internally at the Times, will deliver a recommendation for where an ad campaign could perform best based on its message or objectives. 

• The tool can also be used to target niche audiences that were previously unidentifiable based on their interests, aspirations and opinions. ...

Why it matters: The Times started working on these efforts long before it filed a landmark lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, executives said. ...

See the full story here: https://www.axios.com/2024/02/20/new-york-times-ai-ad-tool

AI Is Driving Streaming Entertainment’s Evolution and Profitability in 2024

#1: AI’S FORTUNE TELLING ABILITY AND IMPACT ON DEVELOPMENT

#2: PERSONALIZATION: KEEPING VIEWERS HAPPY AND SUBSCRIBED

#3: ARTIFICIALLY CURATED ADS AND AVOIDING AD FATIGUE

#4: THE TOWER OF BABEL: AI OVERCOMES LANGUAGE BARRIERS

See the full article here: https://www.thefastmode.com/expert-opinion/35088-ai-is-driving-streaming-entertainment-s-evolution-and-profitability-in-2024

SMPTE AI and Media rpt.

SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjunction with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), have released a comprehensive document on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its effect on the media. The document was the result of a task force on AI standards in media that began in 2020. ...

This report was created to provide media professionals with a background in both AI and Machine Learning (ML). It begins with a technical understanding of the two technologies followed by the effect they will likely have on the media landscape. The report then moves on to examine AI ethics and ends by discussing the role that standards can play in AI/ML’s future.

“I believe that AI will continue to see exponential growth and adoption throughout 2024,” said SMPTE President Renard T. Jenkins. “Therefore, it is imperative that we examine the overall impact that this technology can have in our industry. That is why the progressive thought leadership presented in this document is so important for us all.” ...

Drafting this report was a joint effort by SMPTE and the ETC with support from the EBU. Members and non-members of SMPTE can access the document for free - https://5253154.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5253154/SMPTE-ER-1010-2023.pdf

See the full story here: https://www.cxnetwork.com.au/smpte-releases-engineering-report-on-artificial-intelligence-and-the-media/

OpenAI’s Generative Video Tech Is Described as ‘Eye-Popping’

... In an interview with The New York Times, Open AI researchers Tim Brooks and Bill Peebles said Sora is not being publicly released, but will be shared “with a small group of academics and other outside researchers who will ‘red team’ it, a term for looking for ways it can be misused.”

OpenAI says on the Sora page it is “also granting access to a number of visual artists, designers, and filmmakers to gain feedback on how to advance the model to be most helpful for creative professionals.” ...

NYT also registers concerns, such as it becoming “a quick and inexpensive way of creating online disinformation, making it even harder to tell what’s real on the Internet.” ...

OpenAI chose the name Sora, Japanese for “sky,” because it evokes limitless potential. Ensuring that potential will be used for good is the challenge. University of Washington Professor Oren Etzioni, who is also the founder of the non-profit True Media, tells NYT he is “absolutely terrified that this kind of thing will sway a narrowly contested election.” ...

See the full story here: https://www.etcentric.org/openais-generative-video-tech-is-described-as-eye-popping/

10 Future-proof careers for Gen Z: Professions unlikely to be disrupted by AI

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For Gen Z, who are charting their career paths in an era of unprecedented technological change, here are ten professions that are unlikely to be significantly affected by AI:

1. Psychiatrists: The complexities of the human mind and emotions necessitate the nuanced understanding and empathetic approach that psychiatrists provide, making this profession less susceptible to automation.

2. Therapists: Similarly, therapists offer personalized support and guidance tailored to individual needs, which AI cannot replicate in its entirety.

3. Medical Caregivers: Roles such as nurses and caregivers require not only technical skills but also empathy and human connection, qualities that are difficult for AI to emulate convincingly.

4. AI Researchers and Engineers: Ironically, professionals directly involved in the development of AI technologies are likely to remain in demand as the field continues to evolve and expand.

5. Fiction Writers: Creativity and imagination are fundamental to the art of storytelling, making fiction writers relatively immune to AI encroachment in the realm of literature and entertainment.

6. Teachers: Despite the integration of technology in education, the role of teachers in facilitating learning, fostering critical thinking, and providing mentorship remains indispensable.

7. Criminal Defense Attorneys: Legal proceedings involve complex human interactions, interpretation of laws, and advocacy skills, areas where human expertise continues to be essential.

8. Computer Scientists and Engineers: While AI may automate certain aspects of coding and software development, the creativity and problem-solving abilities of computer scientists and engineers ensure their relevance in shaping future technologies.

9. Scientists: Scientific inquiry and discovery rely on human curiosity, intuition, and ingenuity, aspects that are challenging for AI to replicate entirely.

10. Managers (Actually Leaders): Effective leadership involves not only making decisions but also inspiring and guiding teams, navigating complex interpersonal dynamics, and fostering organizational culture, aspects that are deeply rooted in human experience.

See the full article here: https://nairobinews.nation.africa/10-future-proof-careers-for-gen-z-professions-unlikely-to-be-disrupted-by-ai/#google_vignette