AI Top-of-mind for Nov 28
During a podcast interview which I mentioned on Nov 21, Sam Altman referred to the different levels of AI maturity. This from a recent Google DeepMind paper that looks at five levels that map back to the more widely covered ANI/AGI/ASI sequence. From the paper:
Dueling chatbots. The new ‘X’ (aka Twitter) chatbot ‘Grok’ is said to be released this week, and already Musk and Altman are going at it like high school boys. Read the TechCrunch article for more and don’t be a Stranger in a Strange Land!
Over to graphics, a good comparison in ‘Bootcamp’ of the accuracy of both Midjourney and DALL-E3 in interpreting prompts. The conclusions parallel others where DALL-E3 is more accurate (right), while Midjourney is more artistic (left).
From the posting:
Midjourney’s Mechanism: This tool harnesses the power of the Diffusion model. You know the process: you start with a hazy, indistinct image, and as time goes on, it evolves, becoming clearer with each step. This process involves gradually sculpting random noise into coherent shapes and scenes. As the image sharpens, the model factors in textual descriptions, refining details to achieve a realistic and artistic outcome. It’s like watching a painter gradually bring a canvas to life. The catch? This method demands more time and computational grunt.
DALL-E 3’s Magic: Enter the world of the Transformers model. This model’s strength? Deciphering natural human language with finesse. It crafts images in a snap, producing visuals that align closely with textual prompts. Unlike Midjourney’s step-by-step approach, DALL-E 3’s creations are instantaneous. While this means faster results, there’s a trade-off: the images might sometimes lack realism, especially if the provided prompt is vague. However, its agility enables the fusion of diverse concepts, styles, and attributes in unique ways.
And on the local front, a project by UC Santa Cruz to identify rip currents with a goal of avoiding loss of life. From the article:
In partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and funded by UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, Alex Pang and his team are working on algorithms — sets of programmed instructions — that can monitor shoreline change, identify rip currents and alert lifeguards of potential hazards. They hope to improve beach safety and ultimately save lives.
Also on the society front, progress in identifying regions subject to climate change and the planting of more resilient crops.
Finally, on the completely random front, a few weeks back I referenced ‘What the Dormouse Said,’ a book that details the early days of the personal computer. One chapter covers what is now considered ‘The Mother of all Demos’ by Douglas Engelbart the first time that all the components of the PC came together in one place. Key to the demo was the ‘Ediophor’ projection system which if you are of a certain age, you definitely saw one in use.
