Virtual Snoop Dogg

First Thing Monday, edition #108

Remember when Big Tech called for 6-month pause on AI, to consider the risks? Well that was 6 months ago, and that pause never happened. Instead, every big tech company is, right now, going all-in-in on AI.

Here are just some of the crazy moves from Big Tech compaines in the AI space.

• Firstly, Spotify have announced that will use AI to translate podcast episodes into other languages, while staying true to the sound of presenters voice.
  
  

• Meta are introducing conversational AI chatbot assistants into their ecosystem. You'll soon be able to converse with Meta’s 28 new AIs, each with unique interests and personalities.
  
  And some of them include celebrity AI's! Even Snoop Dogg is getting involved. Imagine being able to hang out with large language model-powered Snoop Dogg in the metaverse. (And if Snoop’s not to your liking, you can choose Paris Hilton, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner, and many more)
  
  

• Heck, even Microsoft Paint is about to hop onboard the AI train, with an upgrade that allows you to create images via text input (powered by DALL-E)
  
  

• And finally, OpenAI have announced that ChatGPT will soon support both voice prompts and image uploads. Essentially being able to 'see, hear and speak' in their next update.
  

This last one is particularly wild. While this update hasn't shipped to the public, the internet is already awash with mind-blowing examples of how this will work. Very soon, you’ll be able to use Chat GPT to:

• Interpret the most complex parking instruction signs

• Translate the meaning of complex images, like this one

• Convert hand-drawn sketches into fully functional websites

• Provide you with a full recipe for a dish, from only an image upload.

All of these announcements were made in the last week alone. And so, the industry is not pausing, but ever accelerating. No doubt, by moving fast, Sillicon valley will break plenty of things along the way.

All of these new technologies could radically change the world (OK, maybe not the Microsoft Paint one) . . . The potential is limitless, but the risk of unintended consequence is enormous. There probably does need to be a 6 month pause, but that will never happen.

I wish I had a better conclusion to all this. “Buckle up” is about all I can really muster. Honestly, I’m just trying to process everything that’s happened in the past week.

But, unlimited access to a Virtual Snoop Dogg. What a time to be alive!