philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

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

Why artificial general intelligence lies beyond deep learning

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Robust decisioning

One potential solution involves adopting a robust decision approach. The AV sensors would gather real-time data to assess the appropriateness of various decisions — such as accelerating, changing lanes, braking — within a specific traffic scenario. 

If critical factors raise doubts about the algorithmic rote response, the system then assesses the vulnerability of alternative decisions in the given context. ...

... As AI evolves, we may need to depart from the deep learning paradigm and emphasize the importance of decision context to advance towards AGI. Deep learning has been successful in many applications but has drawbacks for realizing AGI. 

DMDU methods may provide the initial framework to pivot the contemporary AI paradigm towards robust, decision-driven AI methods that can handle uncertainties in the real world.

Swaptik Chowdhury is a Ph.D. student at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy researcher at nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. 

Steven Popper is an adjunct senior economist at the RAND Corporation and professor of decision sciences at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

See the full story here: https://venturebeat.com/ai/why-artificial-general-intelligence-lies-beyond-deep-learning/

“We could very quickly find ourselves in a world where reality is controlled by tech corporations”

... According to Lanier, the important question is what will happen when humans take off their headsets: "And so another urgent question is whether people can enjoy the storied reality of finitude after coming down from the high of fake infinity. Can being merely human suffice? Can the everyday miracle of the real world be appreciated enough? Or will the future of culture only be viral? Will all markets become Ponzi-like fantasies? Will people reject physics forever, the moment we have technology that’s good enough to allow us to pretend it’s gone?” ...

"Today we can still take solace in the fact that we are able to disconnect from the phone and the computer. You can decide to leave Twitter, because there is a reality beyond the phone screen that is full of bots, fake news and manipulations. But in the future reality may be controlled by corporations and political parties. Imagine a country that has a minority of people it doesn't like, a persecuted minority. It can promise some corporation that it will give them a tax break in exchange for designing a reality that suits it." ...

"So this is something I constantly think about: why do I build what I build realistically? Is it just because I have a technical attraction to it? Because it's not good, and we have to overcome it. I also think that artists, designers, technical people, should strive not to imitate reality in a distorted way, but to do fantastic things. This field was created so that we can see things that are a little beyond.

"Already today, people intuitively understand these problems, even people who do not understand anything in the field, both because of the aesthetics of augmented reality and because of the way it is placed in front of our faces. And this aesthetic is symbolic, it signals to us that we are losing a little grip on reality, because it is being hidden from us, because we are being locked in a bubble."

See the full story here: https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bt94yd5a0