ars technica

The $50 Million Movie ‘Here’ De-Aged Tom Hanks With Generative AI
06 Nov

The $50 Million Movie ‘Here’ De-Aged Tom Hanks With Generative AI

stp2y0 CommentsGenAI, , ,
On Friday, TriStar Pictures released Here, a $50 million Robert Zemeckis-directed film that used real-time generative AI face transformation techniques to portray actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright across a 60-year span, marking one of Hollywood's first full-length features built around AI-powered visual effects.The film adapts a 2014 graphic novel set primarily in a New Jersey living room across multiple time periods. Rather than cast different actors for various ages, the production used AI to modify Hanks' and Wright's appearances throughout.The de-aging technology comes from Metaphysic, a visual effects company that creates real time face swapping and aging effects. During…
Read More
OpenAI’s Transcription Tool Hallucinates. Hospitals Are Using It Anyway
30 Oct

OpenAI’s Transcription Tool Hallucinates. Hospitals Are Using It Anyway

stp2y0 CommentsAI, , , ,
On Saturday, an Associated Press investigation revealed that OpenAI's Whisper transcription tool creates fabricated text in medical and business settings despite warnings against such use. The AP interviewed more than 12 software engineers, developers, and researchers who found the model regularly invents text that speakers never said, a phenomenon often called a “confabulation” or “hallucination” in the AI field.Upon its release in 2022, OpenAI claimed that Whisper approached “human level robustness” in audio transcription accuracy. However, a University of Michigan researcher told the AP that Whisper created false text in 80 percent of public meeting transcripts examined. Another developer, unnamed…
Read More
AT&T and T-Mobile Claim Locked Phones Are Good, Actually
23 Oct

AT&T and T-Mobile Claim Locked Phones Are Good, Actually

stp2y0 CommentsRAG models, , , , ,
T-Mobile and AT&T say US regulators should drop a plan to require unlocking of phones within 60 days of activation, claiming that locking phones to a carrier's network makes it possible to provide cheaper handsets to consumers. "If the Commission mandates a uniform unlocking policy, it is consumers—not providers—who stand to lose the most," T-Mobile wrote in an October 17 filing with the Federal Communications Commission.The proposed rule has support from consumer advocacy groups who say it will give users more choice and lower their costs. T-Mobile has been criticized for locking phones for up to a year, which makes…
Read More
SpaceX Has a Plan for Starlink to Hit Gigabit Speeds
17 Oct

SpaceX Has a Plan for Starlink to Hit Gigabit Speeds

stp2y0 CommentsRAG models, , , , ,
SpaceX is seeking approval for changes to Starlink that the company says will enable gigabit-per-second broadband service. In an application submitted to the US Federal Communications Commission on October 11, SpaceX claims the requested "modification and its companion amendment will enable the Gen2 system to deliver gigabit-speed, truly low-latency broadband and ubiquitous mobile connectivity to all Americans and the billions of people globally who still lack access to adequate broadband."SpaceX said it is seeking "several small-but-meaningful updates to the orbital configuration and operational parameters for its Gen2 space station authorization to improve space sustainability, better respond to evolving demand, and…
Read More
Apple Engineers Show How Flimsy AI ‘Reasoning’ Can Be
15 Oct

Apple Engineers Show How Flimsy AI ‘Reasoning’ Can Be

stp2y0 CommentsAI, , , ,
For a while now, companies like OpenAI and Google have been touting advanced "reasoning" capabilities as the next big step in their latest artificial intelligence models. Now, though, a new study from six Apple engineers shows that the mathematical "reasoning" displayed by advanced large language models can be extremely brittle and unreliable in the face of seemingly trivial changes to common benchmark problems.The fragility highlighted in these new results helps support previous research suggesting that LLMs' use of probabilistic pattern matching is missing the formal understanding of underlying concepts needed for truly reliable mathematical reasoning capabilities. "Current LLMs are not…
Read More
OpenAI Threatens Bans as Users Probe Its ‘Strawberry’ AI Models
17 Sep

OpenAI Threatens Bans as Users Probe Its ‘Strawberry’ AI Models

stp2y0 CommentsAI, , ,
OpenAI truly does not want you to know what its latest AI model is “thinking.” Since the company launched its “Strawberry” AI model family last week, touting so-called reasoning abilities with o1-preview and o1-mini, OpenAI has been sending out warning emails and threats of bans to any user who tries to probe how the model works.Unlike previous AI models from OpenAI, such as GPT-4o, the company trained o1 specifically to work through a step-by-step problem-solving process before generating an answer. When users ask an "o1" model a question in ChatGPT, users have the option of seeing this chain-of-thought process written…
Read More
A Popular iOS Illustration App Is Saying No to Generative AI
22 Aug

A Popular iOS Illustration App Is Saying No to Generative AI

stp2y0 CommentsGenAI, , ,
The backlash against image and video synthesis is not solely focused on creative app developers. Hardware manufacturer Wacom and game publisher Wizards of the Coast have faced criticism and issued apologies after using AI-generated content in their marketing materials. Toys "R" Us also faced a negative reaction after debuting an AI-generated commercial. Companies are still grappling with balancing the potential benefits of generative AI with the ethical concerns it raises.Artists and Critics ReactSo far, Procreate’s anti-AI announcement has been met with a largely positive reaction in replies to its social media post. In a widely liked comment, artist Freya Holmér…
Read More
Kamala Harris’ Rally Crowds Aren’t AI-Generated. Here’s How You Can Tell
13 Aug

Kamala Harris’ Rally Crowds Aren’t AI-Generated. Here’s How You Can Tell

stp2y0 CommentsRAG models, , , , ,
Suffice it to say that this mountain of evidence from direct sources weighs more heavily than marked-up images from conservative commentators like Chuck Callesto and Dinesh D'Souza, both of whom have been caught spreading election disinformation in the past.When it comes to accusations of AI fakery, the more disparate sources of information you have, the better. While a single source can easily generate a plausible-looking image of an event, multiple independent sources showing the same event from multiple angles are much less likely to be in on the same hoax. Photos that line up with video evidence are even better,…
Read More
Amazon Has to Recall More Than 400,000 Dangerous Products
31 Jul

Amazon Has to Recall More Than 400,000 Dangerous Products

stp2y0 CommentsRAG models, , , ,
Amazon failed to adequately alert more than 300,000 customers to serious risks—including death and electrocution—that US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) testing found with more than 400,000 products that third parties sold on its platform.The CPSC unanimously voted to hold Amazon legally responsible for third-party sellers' defective products. Now, Amazon must make a CPSC-approved plan to properly recall the dangerous products—including highly flammable children's pajamas, faulty carbon monoxide detectors, and unsafe hair dryers that could cause electrocution—which the CPSC fears may still be widely used in homes across America.While Amazon scrambles to devise a plan, the CPSC summarized the ongoing…
Read More
The Affordable Connectivity Program Died—and Thousands of Households Have Already Lost Their Internet
30 Jul

The Affordable Connectivity Program Died—and Thousands of Households Have Already Lost Their Internet

stp2y0 CommentsRAG models, , , , ,
The death of the US government's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is starting to result in disconnection of internet service for Americans with low incomes. On Friday, Charter Communications reported a net loss of 154,000 internet subscribers that it said was mostly driven by customers canceling after losing the federal discount. About 100,000 of those subscribers were reportedly getting the discount, which in some cases made internet service free to the consumer.The $30 monthly broadband discounts provided by the ACP ended in May after Congress failed to allocate more funding. The Biden administration requested $6 billion to fund the ACP through December…
Read More
No widgets found. Go to Widget page and add the widget in Offcanvas Sidebar Widget Area.