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Military AI and photo manipulation
Insight: Generative AI aims to transform video games
Jack Shields
October 23, 2023
Welcome back!
Hope you’ve had a productive Monday. We’re covering a lot of ground today so let’s get right to it.
In today’s Daily Update:
🗞️ Scale AI wants to be America’s AI arms dealer
🤖 How generative AI could reshape gaming
📸 Google Pixel’s new AI photo editing tool sparks controversy
🚨 AI Roundup: Four quick hits
Read time: 2 minutes
LATEST NEWS
🗞️ Scale AI wants to be America’s AI arms dealer
Source: Adobe Firefly
AI startup Scale AI hopes to play a key role in the AI race between the U.S. and China. The company is aggressively pitching itself to the U.S. military.
The details:
Scale is offering to help the Pentagon pull better insights from its data, build better autonomous vehicles and create chatbots that can advise military commanders during combat.
Last year the company landed a $249 million contract to provide a range of AI tech to the Department of Defense.
Scale’s “Donovan” chatbot has already been deployed on a classified network by the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps. The bot aims to summarize intelligence and help commanders make decisions.
CEO Alexandr Wang says the U.S. won’t be able to maintain its technological edge over China without AI developed by private tech companies.
Why it matters: The U.S. military has ambitious plans for AI — eyeing everything from autonomous ships and planes to image-recognition tech that can scan drone footage. Scale’s vision is to provide the Pentagon with the AI tech it needs to maintain a lead over China in the rapidly evolving field. This partnership may ultimately be a significant landmark in the advancement of AI military technology.
AI INSIGHT
🤖 How generative AI could reshape gaming
Source: Adobe Firefly
AI has been used in video games since the 1950s, but the rapid advancement of generative AI opens up a plethora of new opportunities for game developers.
Next-gen game development:
Lifelike NPCs: Non-playable characters (NPCs) tend to hinder video games with their unnatural speech and behavior. Developers hope that leveraging generative AI will help them create lifelike NPCs with more natural and unpredictable behavior.
Endless Open Worlds: Open-world games feature non-linear quests and stories. Generative AI could reshape these experiences by gathering data about a player to generate infinite open worlds that contain unique storylines and tailor-made quests.
Faster Development: Much like other professions, game developers are utilizing AI tools that eliminate repetitive tasks and free up time to focus on more interesting problems. Experts say that these tools won’t replace human game developers, but will accelerate tedious parts of the creative process.
The bottom line: The video game industry will be a big winner of the AI boom. Generative AI tools are poised to usher in the next-generation of gaming experiences.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
📸 Google Pixel’s new AI photo editing tool sparks controversy
Source: AI in Plain English
Google Pixel’s new face-altering photo tool is already sparking debates about AI manipulation.
What you need to know:
Pixel 8’s new AI-powered photo features allow users to alter people’s facial expressions in photographs.
For example, if your eyes are closed in a photo, Google can now go through other photos on your phone and alter the image so that you’re looking at the camera.
The feature also lets users remove unwanted objects or people from a photo.
Many online reviews aren’t impressed with these new features — arguing that they pose threats to people’s trust of online content.
My thoughts: We’ve talked a lot about deepfakes and the risks of synthetic media in recent weeks, and although Google Pixel’s face-altering photo tool debuted with good intentions, it’s a reminder that seemingly real synthetic media is becoming commonplace. Regulations should require all AI-generated or altered images to be labeled as synthetic media.
Maybe this means every manipulated photo should be accompanied by a watermark, or perhaps there’s another solution out there. Feel free to reply to this email to continue the conversation.
MORE TRENDING NEWS
🚨 AI Roundup: Four quick hits
Source: Adobe Firefly
Chinese Competition: Zhipu AI announces that it has raised $340 million in total financing this year.
Hardware Upgrade: The next Snapdragon chip headed to Android phones will be full of AI features.
Crossing the Line: Reddit threatens to block Google if it can’t reach deals with generative AI companies to pay for its data.
Doubling Down: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reiterates that the company is all-in on AI in annual report.
THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY