{"id":276,"date":"2023-07-01T00:22:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T00:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mijohn.com\/aiinsider\/?p=276"},"modified":"2023-07-01T01:36:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T01:36:55","slug":"ai-insider-no-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mijohn.com\/aiinsider\/2023\/07\/01\/ai-insider-no-9\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Insider No. 9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stop doom scrolling Supreme Court decisions and read this. Surprise! This entire edition of the newsletter is written by me just for you. No Bing, no Bard, no ChatGPT bylines. Don\u2019t get too used to this, tho. I just happened to be in the mood to yammer this week. But, as most of you know, I\u2019m retired. Newsletter writing is a full-time job. I\u2019m not trying to go there. So, enjoy this occasional solo bylined missive! The artwork is AI generated as usual because I am no artiste.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI is All About Me<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By Michelle Johnson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we\u2019re being told practically every day, there\u2019s a lot going on in AI. Much of it falls in the category of funding. But, honestly, my eyes glaze over when folks start talking venture capital and mergers and acquisitions. Blah, blah, blah. What I\u2019m thinking is: What\u2019s in it for me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, a text-to-video company called Runway<\/a> raised $141 million this week.
I\u2019m not going to yammer about that. Instead I\u2019ll tell you about how easy it was to create this morphing video below using Runway. It was just a matter of figuring out which one of Runway\u2019s tools I needed to use (Frame Interpolation), uploading my images (created in Midjourney<\/a>, dragging and dropping to order them and hitting \u201cgenerate.\u201d I pushed a slider around to adjust the timing, then boom. Done. In just a few minutes I was downloading the final result. I hope the cash infusion allows Runway to really take off. (Pun intended.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prompt:<\/strong> \/imagine A world without fear, no war, no hunger, no homelessness, no poverty, no curbs on education and creativity. Wide angle, –ar 16:9, vivid colors.
Images: Midjourney<\/a> Animation: Runway<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oh, Bard. You\u2019re Such a Baby<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This week the Supremes put a nail in the coffin of several things near and dear to my heart. So I tried to keep up. When I asked Bard to give me the scoop on the affirmative action decision he messed up bigtime, not unlike the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, he incorrectly told me that the court hadn\u2019t ruled yet. When I pushed back and said, \u201cOh, yes, they have. Check again.\u201d Bard apologized and then proceeded to tell me that Harvard and UNC had won and Clarence Thomas had written the majority opinion about said win. Wrong and wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try again, Bard. The third time was the charm and a good reminder that these tools are in beta. They are toddlers learning to walk. You need to keep an eye on them lest they go tumbling down a set of stairs or something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And speaking of Bard, if you follow me on Facebook you may have seen me report on getting up close and personal with Bard this week. I posted a few excerpts. If you\u2019re interested, here\u2019s the full text<\/a> of our delightful chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ChatGPT Mobile Now Connected to the Interwebs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a paying ChatGPT Plus user (like me), you likely know that you can search the web via ChatGPT 4 on your desktop or laptop via a plugin. This week OpenAI announced that the iOS ChatGPT app has hooked up with Bing<\/a>, meaning it\u2019s now internet connected. Why is that a big whoop? How many times have you asked ChatGPT for something and it responds: I only know stuff that happened up to 2021. Well, now it can search the web for more recent and hopefully relevant info on your phone, too, presuming that you\u2019ve downloaded the ChatGPT app from the App Store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Deep Thought<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve learned that there\u2019s a name for people like me who have too much time on our hands so we\u2019re messing around with AI like crazy: AI Enthusiast. Yes, that sounds about right. I have zero background in AI. And I don\u2019t have to do any of this for work. I\u2019m just enthusiastic about this technology despite all of the doomsday predictions. If I\u2019m going down, I\u2019m going down having some fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just the other day I was listening to a live chat with David Holz, a founder of my favorite AI image generator, Midjourney. Someone asked a question that\u2019s stuck with me these past few days because I think it partially explains my addiction to this format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question: Was the plan to develop Midjourney to appeal to designers and other \u201ccreatives\u201d \u2026 or not? Holz was emphatic that they did not set out specifically to reach that market. If anything, what\u2019s happened is even more interesting. They have created a magical tool for people who couldn\u2019t design their way out of a paper bag..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, professionals have incorporated generative image AI into their workflow with spectacular results. But us mere mortals who are far from visual creatives are also blowing up stuff. Just for the hell of it because the tool doesn’t get in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a reason that Midjourney\u2019s prompt begins: \/imagine. And DreamStudio\u2019s prompt begins: \/dream. Kudos to all of these visionaries for opening the portal to this magical place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reality check: Yes, I know these tools were trained on other people\u2019s work. Mostly they are smart enough to create something that\u2019s derivative. Still, I wish there was a way to get everyone paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Stuff to Try<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been really impressed that Adobe came up with text to image maker Firefly, then added generative fill, which lets you erase a section of an image and replace it with something else. (OK, my journalism friends. Breathe. Just breathe. This is not meant for journalistic use. Yes, I know it will be abused, but Adobe is working on stopping this.) Anyway, it\u2019s not surprising that lots of startups are jumping into this space. Here\u2019s a new one called Playground. It\u2019s easier to show you what it does rather than explain it.
Watch the video and sign up here: playgroundai.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s face it. Therapy is expensive. Save a buck and try a chatbot instead: LotusTherapist<\/a>
(Note: This is not medical advice! It\u2019s a fun thing to try out and learn about how chatbots work. That\u2019s it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aht Gallery (Yes, I spelled this right. This is Boston, dammit!)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Prompt: Painting of an African woman golden hour. (Dall-E 2)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Prompt: portrait of Harriet Tubman, vivid colors –s 250 (Midjourney)
(Doesn’t really look like her.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Prompt: A swirling vortex of vibrant colors converging towards a tiny black hole, pulling in fragments of shattered mirrors and floating feathers. (Midjourney)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Prompt: dog cat hybrid. (Midjourney)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That’s it for the latest edition of AI insider. I hope you enjoyed reading it and learned something new. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future topics, please let me know by replying to this email (if you\u2019re a subscriber). Thank you and see you next time!<\/em> 😊<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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