😺 Hollywood hates AI

PLUS: Midjourney is scary real

Welcome, humans.

Warren Buffett thinks AI “will change everything in the world.” Can it start by making six Cokes per day healthy for us?

Here’s what’s going on in the world of AI today:

Hollywood writers have concerns about AI.
Midjourney v5.1 is incredible!
AI might be making software engineers more in demand.
Apple is staying quiet on its AI plans.

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TV Writers Want Protections Against AI 🎥

Hollywood writers aren’t just demanding better pay. They want protections against AI.

Why?

It’s not because they think AI can perform their job better (watch ChatGPT blunder against Stephen Colbert).

The real concern for screenwriters is that language models will be trained on their source material without their permission. The idea is, for instance, that once a chatbot has absorbed patterns from every SNL skit, it could write jokes equally well (plus it’s a low bar).

Writers are taking a stand, demanding that AI not be used to write or rewrite any literary material trained on their contributions. In other words, don’t use our sh*t.

But the producers rejected the demand, sparking another heated debate among creators anxious about AI repurposing their work to generate fresh material.

We’ve seen this among artists (Midjourney), musicians (Drake), and online platforms (Reddit). Now it’s writers.

Here’s our take: AI might replace copywriters, but it’s not producing Breaking Bad anytime soon. However, with cost-cutting measures and stock dips, companies resorting to chatbots (regarded as assets, not staff) is quite plausible.

“Live from New York, it’s ChatGPT!” 🎺

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Midjourney Just Keeps Getting Better 📸

Midjourney reactivated free trials this weekend.

If you thought its pictures of The Pope looked real, just wait until you try its latest version, v5.1. The updated model was delivered in less than two months, and its outputs are indistinguishable from reality.

Some notable differences include enhanced coherence, sharpness, and beauty, as well as increased accuracy in response to text prompts.
Most importantly, the model is much better at handling shorter prompts.

This is huge news because you no longer need to craft artistically intricate prompts. Just write, “Orange cat reading world’s best AI newsletter,” and voila!

This update also challenges the concept of prompt engineers, individuals who know how to communicate with AI models to receive certain outputs. Engineers with great pick-up lines, if you will.

As AI systems continue to learn from feedback and become more familiar with us, they are essentially performing prompt engineering on our behalf.

Why it matters: Knowledge of how to use AI is crucial, but systems are becoming so advanced that the need for specialized expertise might be diminishing.

Around the Horn 🦄

Chinese technology companies are working to develop cutting-edge semiconductors suitable for AI amid US sanctions.
Inside the work that contractors are doing to train ChatGPT for $15/hour.
AI might be contributing to a rise, not a decline, in hiring for software engineers (Bloomberg).
Apple didn’t discuss specific plans for integrating AI into its products in its latest earnings call.
An interesting Hacker News thread on how people are using ChatGPT internally at work.

Treats To Try 🍿

PeopleGPT scrapes the internet to find the right people for your professional needs.
PitchPal helps you create applications for startup accelerators.
Check out this list of 100 directories to show your AI app.
Get the data you want in seconds with Kadoa’s AI-powered web scraper.
EvalPlus is a benchmark framework that improves the evaluation of code generated by LLMs.

DM us links on Twitter: @nonmayorpete & @noahedelman02.