Month: July 2023

AI Changes Everything

“Whereas previous technological developments altered human behavior and appearances, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence will reshape individuals’ core social and political beliefs, including about the nature and role of the state. The use of autonomous weaponry in war is a case in point.”

“PRINCETON – The rapid march of artificial intelligence is not only disrupting conventional notions of work. It is also changing the essence of human identity. Whereas previous technological developments altered human behavior and appearances, AI will fundamentally reshape individuals’ core social and political beliefs, including about the nature and role of the state”

Read more at Project Syndicate: AI Changes Everything

Goodbye little blue bird

Oh, it’s rather sad. The end of an era. I went to Twitter today and at the top left of the page, the little blue bird is gone and there is an ugly X in it’s place.

“Elon Musk has unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he follows through with a major rebranding of the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year.”

“The X started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday, but the bird was still dominant across the smartphone app. In response to questions about what tweets would be called when the rebranding is done, Musk said they would be called Xs.”
Via The Associated Press

Paris 1923: Midjourney & Runway


Experiment with images generated in Midjourney v5.2 and image-to-video parts created via Runway Gen 2.

In 1923, Paris was a hub for art and culture. The city attracted renowned artists and writers like Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, along with many others who found inspiration in its lively atmosphere. The charm of Paris had created a mythos of romance that had captivated people from all corners of the world.

Zeroscope, Free Text-to-Video

“Zeroscope stems from Modelscope, a multilevel text-to-video diffusion model with 1.7 billion parameters. It generates video content based on textual descriptions. It refines this concept, offering higher resolution, without the Shutterstock watermark, and closer to a 16:9 aspect ratio. Zeroscope features two components: Zeroscope_v2 567w, designed for rapid content creation in a resolution of 576×320 pixels to explore video concepts. Quality videos can then be upscaled to a “high definition” resolution of 1024×576 using zeroscope_v2 XL.”

Read more at the decoder.com: Zeroscope is a free text-to-video model that runs on modern graphics cards

Unleashing Creativity with Code

“In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing industries, the art world is no exception. The intersection of AI and art is a burgeoning field, teeming with potential. As AI models become more sophisticated, prompt engineering, a technique used to guide AI’s creative process, becomes a crucial skill.”

“It’s not just about asking questions; it’s about asking the right questions. This guide to prompt engineering for AI art provides a comprehensive overview of the topic, demystifying the process and offering practical tips and insights.”

Read more at: Complete Guide to AI Art Prompt Engineering

A “New Twitter” Moratorium, Please!

“Meta will have to beat a throng of other would-be Twitter killers, including Bluesky, Mastodon, Post News, Spoutible, Cohost, Hive Social, T2 Social, and Spill, in addition to conversation platforms aimed at right-wing users, like Truth Social, Gettr, and Gab, as well as established social networks now courting disenchanted Twitter users, like Tumblr and Substack.”

“Then again, early reviews from extremely online types are overwhelmingly negative. (​​“It is funny that Zuck rolled out a Twitter Killer and it took less than 24h for everyone to decide it is irrevocably Ass,” writer Noah Kulwin tweeted, summarizing the mood.) So there’s no guarantee the early adopters on Threads will stick around. Like Meta’s ersatz TikTok copycat, Reels, the platform could become a dupe for dorks, destined to fester in the shadow of its original.”

Read more at Wired.com: After Threads, There Has to Be a ‘New Twitter’ Moratorium