Plus, new microtransistors reduce AI energy use by 99%
CD Projekt Uses AI to Recreate Deceased Actor’s Voice in Latest Game Expansion
CD Projekt SA, a Polish video game developer, has utilized AI technology to recreate the voice of the late Miłogost Reczek, a popular Polish voice actor who passed away in 2021. The AI algorithm was employed for the Polish-language release of Phantom Liberty, the new expansion to CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077. With permission from Reczek’s family, CD Projekt decided against replacing him or re-recording his lines in the original game.
AI Uncovers First Word from Ancient Scroll Burned by Vesuvius
Researchers have utilized AI to extract the first readable word from an ancient scroll destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. The AI-assisted discovery was made possible through the Vesuvius challenge, a project backed by Silicon Valley investors that aims to decipher the charred remains of the scrolls. The word “πορφύραc” (meaning “purple” in ancient Greek) was independently identified by two computer science students, who were awarded cash prizes. The researchers are now working to unveil the surrounding text on the scrolls, which are part of a collection held in Paris.
Outlook Writes Email For You
Microsoft is rolling out AI tools, including the Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Editor, to enhance corporate email writing in Outlook. The tools will assist users in writing concise and error-free emails, summarizing long email threads, and providing suggested edits for clarity and inclusivity. These features aim to help workers create polished and professional emails. Microsoft plans to make the tools available to more corporate clients starting on November 1, and it has already undergone months-long testing with companies such as Visa, General Motors, KPMG, and Lumen Technologies. The expansion comes in the wake of OpenAI’s release of the viral AI chat tool, ChatGPT, which sparked an arms race among tech companies to develop similar AI tools for their products.
Elon Musk’s X.ai AI Project and Its Potential Impact on Investors
Elon Musk’s latest venture, X.ai, aims to develop a super-intelligent AI system that can understand the true nature of the universe. The project has garnered significant attention, and investors are eagerly exploring the implications and potential opportunities it brings. While the infrastructure costs for AI applications like ChatGPT are substantial, companies involved in providing foundational equipment, such as Arista Networks, stand to benefit from the AI arms race. Arista’s ultrafast network switches are crucial for optimizing communication between AI servers and improving user experiences. With the increasing demand for AI technologies, the future looks promising for Arista and other key players in the industry.
Senators Introduce NO FAKES Act to Protect Artists from Unauthorized AI-generated Replicas
Four U.S. senators have introduced a discussion draft bill called the NO FAKES Act (Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act) to safeguard the rights of actors, singers, and other creative professionals by preventing the use of their voice and likeness in unauthorized AI-generated replicas. The bill aims to hold individuals, companies, and platforms liable for producing or hosting digital replicas without consent. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) welcomed the proposed legislation, emphasizing the importance of consent and protecting artists’ unique essence. The bill includes exclusions for works protected by the First Amendment, such as sports broadcasts, documentaries, and parodies. It also extends the need for a license to deceased individuals, granting exclusive rights to executors or heirs for 70 years after death.
Google’s AI-Powered Search Feature, SGE, Adds Image Generation and Enhanced Draft Writing Capabilities
Google’s SGE (Search Generative Experience), is introducing new skills. It will now generate images using prompts directly in SGE, similar to Bing’s support of OpenAI’s DALLE-E 3. SGE also allows users to write drafts in a conversational mode and customize the output to be longer or shorter or to change the tone. These updates follow a series of rapid-fire updates to SGE, including AI-powered summaries, coding improvements, and travel and product search features.
Breakthrough Microtransistor Reduces AI Energy Consumption by 99%
Northwestern University researchers have developed a novel tuneable microtransistor that can perform AI machine learning tasks at just 1% of the energy consumption of current equipment. This groundbreaking technology has the potential to bring unprecedented levels of intelligence to mobile and wearable devices. The transistor, made from two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide and one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, allows for quick tuning and reconfiguration, enabling multiple steps in the data processing chain. The energy efficiency of this microtransistor makes it suitable for real-time detection and data processing in wearable electronics, thereby facilitating rapid intervention in health emergencies. In testing, these microtransistors achieved high accuracy in classifying abnormal heartbeats with significantly lower energy consumption compared to traditional transistors. The practical implementation of this technology could enable battery-powered mobile devices to run machine learning algorithms on their own sensor data, eliminating the need to send data to the cloud for analysis and enhancing data privacy and security.