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| What's an article about AI without using an image generated by AI? Ain't he cute?! |
AI has been one of the most talked-about topics in recent years. It has revolutionized various industries and has had a significant impact on daily life. But is the horror/hype around it warranted? Let's explore.
I am old enough to remember the days of cow gum and font sheets.
When the then new technology was introducing computer assisted graphic arts to the world, graphic artists then were in fear of their jobs.
I am also old enough to remember when the use of emails began in offices, and bosses scoffed at the idea of being able to eventually email TV commercials and radio ads to media houses. I remember the fear in the eyes of the traffic person, when that discussion started. She was then hand delivering artwork sheets, Umatic tapes and radio reels to all the media houses, large sheets of artwork in multiple pages for each colour and hailing a taxi to get around no less.
The onset of digital photography had its own fearful conversations. Photographers were concerned because it seemed that anyone could take a halfway decent picture. The digital camera became a useful tool for artists to gather images to take back to the studio, or to snap a quick pose to use as a study for a larger painting.
Plein air purists, shush.....artists have been going out and sketching separate images for ages and whomping all of them down together on the canvas to create the composition in their minds. It doesn't make it any less "valuable" because they work in studio with image studies from a camera. Shush your damned selves.
None of the predictions about the exclusion of human contribution to these things came to pass. What happened instead is that skills changed. The technology shifted the skills needed to fill the role. The potential output from persons with these new skills increased.
No longer did the graphic artist have to sit with an exacto blade and remove all the letters after the place where the damned omitted "e" was supposed to be, and cow gum them all over again, a task that could take an entire afternoon!
Rather, a two second click and type reduced hours of work.
Thank the blessed Saraswati!
I suspect, after exploring myself, that the fears about AI taking over jobs are just the human condition that panics about every new technology introduced. AI is still a machine programmed with math and code; and seriously lacks the human element and emotions, or personal preferences- currently at least.
It's attempts at writing and art, still have to be fine tuned and verified (articles...because according to AI; I am a famous artist with tons of accolades and exhibitions that I have NEVER heard of!); by the human experiencing it, to make it more palatable and engaging for human consumption. I watch my AI artists friends struggle and work to sharpen and improve the images being output, working to adjust prompts to get it closer and closer to the image in their minds. The process isn't really changing; only the tool being used is new. But it is a great tool, that can decrease the time needed to produce items for consumption, and for commerce especially.
It can be a great tool too, to help artists fine tune a layout or abstract concept, assisting them in cutting down on the several drafts usually done in creating an art piece. Then the artist can use the output image and further refine it on canvas to create the final painting.
It helps bloggers create their own images. Like the obvious use of a free AI tool to create the illustration for this blog post.
Heh heh heh !
There has been debate about unfairly using AI to pass exams and write essays in schools. Good to know that with AI apps and programs, tools are being developed (Using AI,of course) to monitor and detect the use of AI. Himself monitoring himself?!
Elon Musk has been vocal about his concerns over the dangers of AI. He has founded several companies, including OpenAI and Neuralink, to address these concerns. OpenAI is a non-profit research organization dedicated to advancing AI in a safe and beneficial way.
Then, among the younger online illustrators and digital art users, there is some furor about work being uploaded to an AI program for refinement assistance, and the artists finding it being used in other images which THAT AI program output. I agree with the concern! But I also believe that you can work in the reverse...and enter your prompts to describe YOUR artwork and see what the machine spits out.
The same fears were expressed by artists in 2009-2012 about uploading paintings for sale on social media. A work-around was quickly found when artists realized the great sales tool and exposure that social media now gives them. The same shall happen eventually for AI!
Some important AI phrases and apps to know about are listed below, in case anyone wonders about its applications in other areas. Honestly, this tech really takes the grudgework out of creativity and office tasks!
Chatbots: Introduced quite a while back in online customer service! Chatted with the bot on my bank's website. It was MOST helpful! Chatbots are computer programs designed to communicate with humans. They are a cost-effective way to provide customer support, as they can handle repetitive and simple tasks. They are also helpful in language learning, therapy, and other applications.
Open AI API: An AI assistant for AI developers! I feel like I am going down a rabbit hole sometimes in this topic! Open AI API is a platform for developers to create AI applications. It provides access to cutting-edge algorithms and enables developers to build custom AI models. It also allows developers to integrate AI features into existing applications.
Chat GPT4: My son introduced this to me. He was using it to map out an outline for his essays. I quickly began using it to create outlines for Sales Training Courses for my day job! It took away 75% of the brainwork! Chat GPT4 is an AI chatbot that uses natural language processing to communicate with humans. It is designed to answer questions, provide recommendations, and have natural conversations. It can be used for customer service, language learning, and more.
AI Google: AI Google is a collection of artificial intelligence technologies developed by Google. It includes Google Assistant, Google Machine Learning Engine, and Google Cloud AI. These technologies are used in various applications, including voice recognition, image recognition, and natural language processing.
Scale AI: Scale AI is a company that provides data annotation and validation services for machine learning models. It offers a wide range of services, including image and video annotation, data categorization, and text annotation. AI to watch AI again.
C3 AI: C3 AI is a company that provides enterprise AI software solutions. It helps companies with customer engagement, fraud detection, and asset optimization. Its software uses machine learning and predictive analytics to provide insights and recommendations.
Machine Learning Engineer: A machine learning engineer is a professional who designs and develops AI models. They use statistical analysis and machine learning algorithms to create predictive models that can automate tasks and make data-driven decisions.
Imagen AI: Imagen AI is a company that provides AI-powered video analysis and management tools. Its software can automatically tag and categorize videos, making them easier to search and manage.
I suspect this would help to detect deep fake videos. I mean, some AI vids are obvious, and can be both deeply fascinating and ultra horrifying at the same time! Have you seen "The Rock eating rocks?" Take a Google...you can thank me...or strangle me later!(MY EYES!)
Conversational AI: Conversational AI is a subset of AI that enables natural language interactions between humans and machines. It is used in chatbots, virtual assistants, and voice-activated devices. It requires natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to understand human speech and respond appropriately. We have encountered these quite often, as mentioned above.
AI Engineers: AI engineers are professionals who design and develop AI systems. They have expertise in machine learning algorithms, data analysis, and programming languages. They are responsible for creating AI applications that can learn from data and improve over time. Sometimes I wish I had jumped in when this course was being offered.
Google Duplex: Google Duplex is a technology that uses AI to make phone calls on behalf of users. It can schedule appointments, make reservations, and perform other tasks, all in natural language. I don't use this yet at the office....but I just might. Sales calls?
Assembly AI: Assembly AI is a company that provides AI-powered transcription and translation services. Its software can transcribe audio and video files into text, translate text into different languages, and perform other language-related tasks.
AI Drawing Website: AI drawing websites use AI algorithms to create drawings based on user input. Users can input keywords or phrases, and the algorithm will generate an image based on those inputs. These websites are used for entertainment, education, and art.
Augmented Intelligence: Augmented Intelligence is a term used to describe the combination of human intelligence with AI. It is used to enhance human cognitive abilities and decision making. It includes technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
Google Tensor Flow: Google Tensor Flow is an open-source software library for machine learning. It provides tools for building and training AI models, as well as deploying them in production. It is used by companies like Airbnb, Intel, and Twitter. Ah....share the info....this will make the tech develop faster!
AI Ops: AI Ops is a term used to describe the use of AI technologies in IT operations. It includes technologies like predictive analytics, machine learning, and automation. It helps IT teams to monitor and manage complex systems, detect anomalies, and prevent downtime.
Google Cloud AI: Google Cloud AI is a suite of AI-powered services provided by Google. It includes tools for image recognition, natural language processing, and recommendation systems. It is designed for developers who want to build AI-powered applications in the cloud.
AI will progress.
AI writing, video making, graphic producing, image producing and even more recently, AI radio DJ-ing, will reduce the human effort needed to complete these tasks for commercial purposes.
My sneaky suspicion though; is that books will still be written, fine art will still be painted on canvas and DJ's and mic men will still be needed to properly hype a party crowd.
Any fear about the tech is unnesseacry panic, media houses writing articles to play off our fears, for views of course. (more eyeballs mean more money)
It is clear that AI will shift the way commercial creation is done. But humans will always have to tweak and curate so that the humanity in the creation shines through.
Embrace the damned thing...it will be great for us.
For more articles on this debate on whether AI is good or bad, check below. It's important to explore all sides of an argument, even if you disagree with the point of view.
Why AI will save the world.
Caltech AI research analysis
Washington Post -AI Polls Skeptics
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