How Artificial Intelligence is a Game Changer
I’ve been fascinated by new technologies my entire life. First entranced by computers in 1980 when I purchased a TRS-80 model I with 4K of RAM, I am always watching for the next big thing.
All those years ago, I recall playing with a program called “Eliza“. Designed to be an interactive computer therapist, this was my first encounter with artificial intelligence. I thought it was pretty cool.
Over the years a number of advances have been made in the AI arena. Things are moving quickly now as we are entering a new world of AI-created text, art, music, audio and video.
For a few months I’ve been playing with MidJourney.com, a discord-based app that can create amazing original artwork in minutes. In fact, the art used for this posts’ header was created there. I can barely draw a stick-figure, so imagine my delight in being able to generate an original piece of art like this! I simply issued the command “artificial intelligence beings creating a utopian world” and watched the bot do all the heavy lifting.
Many are mastering the commands that MidJourney and similar tools make available, pumping out mind-blowing original artwork that presents a serious threat to commercial artists and photographers. Granted, a machine may never be able to produce art that is backed by real emotion or experience, but for many that will not matter.
Last week, along with a million other people who quickly picked up on it, I discovered OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool. Currently free, you can essentially ask any question or issue any command, and stand back to watch the magic.
Want ChatGPT to write a new poem in the style of William Shakespeare? No problem.
Ask ChatGPT “what is the fastest way to travel from San Jose, California to Shanghai, China?” and watch your personal travel agent provide details.
Need a piece of code written to add utility to your WordPress blog? The dang thing even writes code!
This is the tip of the iceberg. In fact, this statement may be shocking to you…
ChatGPT and tools like it pose a threat to end of Google search as we know it. Perhaps even the educational system will be turned on its side.
It gets even more interesting.
This week I also discovered Resemble.ai, a tool that can create AI voices. Of course, I had to try it out for myself to see if I could turn my voice into something that could speak words that I never actually said.
I signed up, spoke twenty-five sentences into the recorder on the site, and waited for the AI to process my voice. Shortly thereafter I was able to compose some text and instructed the bot to read it in my voice.
It’s not perfect, but it’s amazing. And the more data you provide to the bot, the more refined the voice becomes.
What happens when I put it all together?
1) I went to ChatGPT and instructed the bot to “compose a short story about a Russian man meeting Vladimir Putin”. The bot churned out several paragraphs in seconds.
2) I went to Resemble.ai and recorded twenty-five sentences with a Russian accent.
3) I pasted the short into Resemble and instructed it to read it with the Russian voice.
Here is the result. And remember, I did not write the words and I did not actually speak the words. Everything you hear is artificial intelligence-created generated by the data I provided.
Is your mind blown? Mine is.
And this is just the beginning.
With these advances come some serious challenges. Deepfakes ARE going to cause problems for people, organizations, companies and governments. We must be vigilant about this.
But while it is all happening, we can participate in the future that is unfolding in front of us.
Since 1995, I have owned a site called WorldVillage.com. The site has gone through many iterations, but it has remained most dormant for many years.
I decided to start using it for AI-based creations. The most recent blog posts are ALL composed by AI, and the associated images as well. Check it out at WorldVillage.com and see for yourself.
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