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- 🗣️ AI Gives Paralyzed Woman Her Voice Back
🗣️ AI Gives Paralyzed Woman Her Voice Back
PLUS: Midjourney releases Inpainting for AI Art
Haroon Choudery
August 24, 2023
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Happy Thursday, fellow humans. 👋
The Republican Presidential Debate was last night, but there was no talk about AI or its impact on the economy (other than Chris Christie stating Vivek Ramaswamy sounded like “ChatGPT” 😂 )
It will be interesting to see if they bring this up in later debates!
Anyway, let’s dive into it…
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🧵 In today's edition:
🗣️ How AI Gave a Paralyzed Woman Her Voice Back
🖼️ Midjourney releases Inpainting for AI Art
🧑🏭 Augmented Workforce Era
🤑 AI Fundraising News
🤖 Top AI News
🗣️ How AI Gave a Paralyzed Woman Her Voice Back
Imagine being fully aware yet unable to move or speak. That was Ann's reality after a devastating stroke left her with locked-in syndrome.
Now, she's teaming up with researchers from UCSF and UC Berkeley to pioneer a technology that could give voice to the voiceless one day.
How?
The research team implanted a paper-thin rectangle of 253 electrodes onto the surface of her brain over areas they previously discovered were critical for speech.
Using a system that decodes words from smaller components, the computer was able to decipher words in English.
The team also personalized the algorithm for synthesizing speech to sound like her voice before the injury. There’s also an animated avatar that simulates and animates muscle movements of Ann’s face.
Overall: The tech is still early, but the implications are profound. By bravely testing the limits of science, Ann inches us towards a future where disabilities need not slow anyone down.
Legendary stuff. We wish Ann and her team all the best!
Read more: UCSF
🖼️ Midjourney releases Inpainting for AI Art
MidJourney, through the Decoder
Finally, the much-awaited “inpainting” feature is available in Midjourney.
Midjourney will now let its creators paint-by-prompt with a handy new inpainting feature, allowing users to tweak parts of an upscaled image by editing the text prompt.
Dubbed "Vary Region," users can select and alter an area with new words, giving artists more control to finesse their AI artworks.
According to Midjourney, inpainting works best with large edits, i.e., 20 to 50 percent of the image, and it will struggle with replacing/changing small details in the background.
Overall: Midjourney is handing creators a new virtual brush to customize their AI art. No more being stuck with a final render - now you can prompt-paint and finesse your images.
It's early days, but the possibilities are endless, with inpainting officially bringing Midjourney closer to true creative collaboration between humans and AI.
Read more: The Decoder
🧑🏭 Augmented Workforce Era
Over the past several months, AI has transformed enterprises and upended traditional business models. So, as machines gain IQ, how should executives respond?
According to IBM, the solution is NOT rushing to reskill or hire for in-demand roles because these are short-term fixes.
AI creates an augmented workforce where human-machine partnerships unlock exponential value. The World Economic Forum predicts this new tech will disrupt 85 million jobs by 2025—but create 97 million more.
So the solution? Forward-thinking leaders should revamp operating models to reflect new human-AI collaboration. Rather than bolting on innovations, they should reinvent workflows from scratch.
Organizations that transform operating models this way deliver 44% higher performance. They outpace their peers in profit, revenue, innovation, and retention.
Overall: The study urges leaders to reimagine their enterprise and capitalize on AI's potential. The augmented workforce era demands new processes, roles, and structures.
The future of work is already here, and embracing AI today will allow businesses to gain a competitive edge for tomorrow.
Read more: IBM Blog
🤑 AI Fundraising News
Lex raises $2.75M in seed funding for its AI writing tool that helps writers get past blocks.
Wand.app raises $4.2M in seed funding to scale its AI-powered creative tool for artists.
🗞️ AI Quick-Bytes
What else is going on?
Scientists in Singapore are working on AI that can ‘read minds’
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg talks about the future of Tumblr, with algorithmic choice, AI enhancements, and more
Snap confirms EU users will soon be able to opt out of content ‘personalization’
Microsoft Might Try and Stick AI Into MS Paint
Nvidia plans to triple production of its $40,000 chips as it races to meet huge demand from AI companies, report says
Back to school with AI: How parents and educators can ensure its ethical use in the classroom
IBM taps AI to translate COBOL code to Java
Selena Gomez Reacts to AI Version of Herself Singing The Weeknd’s Song “Starboy”
🐦️ Tweet of the day
Real-life Tony Stark?! 🤖
This is super creative
The multi-talented @hturan has made a new image search interface.
Using ML he is querying his 75k image library using hand motion.
It writes SQL queries in real-time 🪩😱
— Linus (●ᴗ●) (@LinusEkenstam)
11:03 PM • Aug 22, 2023
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And that does it for today's issue.
As always, thanks for reading. Have a great day, and see you next time! ✌️
— Haroon: (definitely) Not A Robot and @haroonchoudery on Twitter
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