Welcome to the latest edition of The AI Journal newsletter ??

?? On this day in history – 4th February

2004: Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin launched TheFacebook.com

1789: George Washington elected to serve as the first president of the USA

Stat of the day: At a distance 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) away, around 30 Earth-sized planets could fit between the Earth and the Moon.

Quote of the day: “In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”

– Galileo Galilei

???Conversation Starters

Google sets new standard on AI video generation with Lumiere

Google researchers have announced a new AI video generation tool which makes a significant breakthrough in the quality of text-to-video capability . Lumiere uses an innovative diffusion model to process multiple space-time scales, resulting in highly realistic prompt-generated videos with smooth motion . The landing page for Lumiere demonstrates this capability with text-to-video samples of the human race’s all-time favourite uses for video, namely ‘Jack Russell terrier snowboarding’, ‘Beer pouring into glass’ and ‘Red Lamborghini Aventador coming round a bend’.

The quality is so impressive that there have been immediate concerns over utilising Lumiere for deepfakes , a point that the researchers acknowledge in their research paper: “There is a risk of misuse for creating fake or harmful content with our technology, and we believe that it is crucial to develop and apply tools for detecting biases and malicious use cases.”

In addition, Google has been busy rolling out AI upgrades to existing software. Google Lens now boasts far more intuitive search functionality and greater depth of AI-powered search results. And Google Chrome is set to be enhanced with three new AI features to help organise tabs, aid online writing and create custom themes.

AI enters the dreamworld

Could our dreams be the next frontier in AI development? Morpheus-1, a ‘multi-modal generative ultrasonic transformer designed to induce and stabilize lucid dreams ’, will use ultrasonic holograms to enable users to initiate and maintain lucid dreaming. The technology is being developed by PropheticAI , who are currently seeking test users for its beta program. If that sounds like something you’ve always dreamed of you can apply here .

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Apple Vision era begins

Friday 2nd February marked the official launch of the Apple Vision Pro which potentially ushers in a new era of personal technology . The headset, which resembles a trendy a ski-visor , incorporates digital content within the physical space as-seen by the user and is navigated using hands, eyes and voice commands. Early reports suggest Apple has already sold 200,000 units through pre-launch which helps a long way towards analyst expectations of one million sales in the first year.

Some observers had thought the Vision Pro launch may fall flat due a lack of available apps for the device . YouTube, Spotify and Netflix had all previously ruled out offering their services via Vision Pro.

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Major players want to cash in their chips

One of AI’s big winners in 2023 was Nvidia, as demand for its H100 GPU rocketed the company to a trillion-dollar valuation . However, 2024 may be a different story as more and more major tech firms look to cut out the middle man when it comes to AI chips . A few weeks ago Sam Altman revealed he was seeking billion dollar funding for a new chip manufacturing venture to support OpenAI’s growth plans. And in the past week an internal memo at Meta outlined plans to develop a new custom chip which would reduce their reliance on Nvidia. Microsoft’s Azure Maia 100 and Cobalt custom silicon chips, announced last year , are also set to go into full production this year.

?? What Our Contributors Have Been Writing

Each edition we will be bringing you the stories from content creators on The AI Journal. You can have?your article in front of 100k+ subscribers ?by creating content, demonstrating your expertise, and getting access to our 5 million+ yearly audience by joining premium today!

Adrian Joseph - AI Adoption: The Overlooked Existential Risk

Craig Hendry - Will AI become the new strategic partner for procurement?

Hannah Algar - Concerns over intellectual property in the age of AI

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?? Links we're lovin'

Apple Vision Pro. The best apps to download .

Satya Nadella interview. The promise and problems of AI.

Fashion forecasting. AI Is Helping Pick What You’ll Wear in Two Years .

AI therapy. Young people turning to AI therapist bots.

ImageFX. Google Bard now has image generation.

Podcast of the week. The AI Breakdown: Most Used AI Applications.

?? Job board

Lead AI Programmer – Epic Games – London, UK

Research Scientist – Snap In. – Peninsula, California, USA

Data AI Lab Graduate Programme – BNP Paribas – London, UK

AI Engineer – Notion – San Francisco, California, USA

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