This week we focus on ChatGPT, Generative AI, AI ethics, VR labs, Agile AR design process, sound & music for games & more, Web3 & beyond, & more!
Welcome to the 43rd rendition of Spatial News™, where natural intelligence is unnatural (wait…). "The power of artificial intelligence is much greater than the power of natural stupidity" - Unknown (hold on… anyway, three guesses where I got this quote from)
Unless you’ve been in bunkers or caves trying to hide from the end times, ChatGPT has slowly taken over the world (or, at least, the social media-sphere or, at least, my social media-sphere, whatever).
“ChatGPT is a (super?) smart AI that remembers everything you say and can even help you out with follow up corrections. But don't expect too much - it can't look up anything after 2021, and it'll probably just throw out some incorrect info or inappropriate instructions. Hey, it's the best we can do!”
(From the mouth of ChatGPT itself based on Tobias Zwingmann’s description. Follow the link below to read the original. My prompt: “rewrite this text in a sarcastic way” and voilà! what Kelly Vero would call ‘salt’.)
There’s probably like a 100 more by now. Some dude wrote a book with ChatGPT already. (I’m too lazy to find the link now, but it’s true. I saw it earlier on LinkedIn today. Edit: that dude was Dr. Mark Van Rijmenam. Found the post looking for the article he wrote below on AI Ethics. Noice!)
1. Use ChatGPT instead of Google search (Or use it with Google search and add it as a Chrome extension as shared by Jon Radoff) 2. Use ChatGPT to explain complex algorithms in any teaching style you want 3. Use ChatGPT to create prompts for DALL-E/StableDiffusion. (You know this was one of the first ones done.) 4. Let ChatGPT help you build apps from scratch 5. Let ChatGPT explain scientific concepts 6. Stitch cloud services together 7. Write recipes (Teemu can vouch for this) 8. Solve homework assignments 9. Write humorous stories (or bedtime stories, which Teemu can also vouch for) 10. Skip StackOverflow and go directly to the answer
Joh’s +1 Revisit old ideas and hunches and find that you might actually have been on to something a few times and maybe, just maybe, the bot can help with the research and write-ups.
Jon Radoff’s 1+1 Teach ChatGPT to create an MMO (a massively multiplayer online game) like he and his team did as a proof-of-concept. I’m curious to see how good (or not) the implementations are for the code the bot conjures up.
Here are Top 10 Alternatives to GPT-3 if you haven’t had enough of chatting with bots yet.
Comprehensive(ish) List of Generative AI Tools
Here’s one from Kareem Bayoun on LinkedIn and an
Image credit: @aaronsiim (Twitter) that captures the current but ever-evolving lay of the land.
Check the comments on Kareem’s post for even more tools that he (and Aaron) missed like audio-to-video or script writing. (I can’t do everything.)
“Fully automated transcripts, AI summary, motion graphics and text-to-image”
(Thanks for sharing, Timor Kardum.)
This looks impressive.
You want even more, you say? Fine. Here’s 105 (!) AI Tools You’ve Never Heard Of.
I think after all of the AI-generated pictures and posts, you can see where this is going. A deluge is coming.
“AI ethics [also known as machine ethics, computational ethics, or computational morality] is the area where you look at the ethical, moral, and social implications of artificial intelligence (AI), including the consequences of implementing an algorithm.”
Check.
Despite advances, there are some serious issues that have arisen
“The issue of trust. How can we ensure that these systems are safe and reliable?
The issue of fairness. How can we ensure that they treat everyone equally?
The issue of transparency. How can we understand what these systems do?”
“[We are presented] the opportunity to discuss AI governance now while introducing ethical principles[…]. If we stand idly by and do not take action now, we risk losing control over our creations."
I quoted as much as I could in as many ways as I could to give you the gist, but the entire article by the aforementioned Dr. Mark Van Rijmenam is worth a read.
Here’s one way to be ethical with AI, DON’T CONNECT ONE TO THE INTERNET or else we’ll probably lose control pretty quickly, something like the creepy Facebook bots that talked to each other in a secret language but a bit more Skynet-y. <Cue Pac Man getting overtaken by a ghost sound.>
While AI might be sweeping everything before it, perhaps we can
Here’s advice from Craig Frehlich, an Instructional Design expert for 3D virtual worlds, for VR labs in educational settings:
“1. Work closely with instructors and educators on how to integrate Virtual Worlds that connect to bigger concepts within their curriculum. 2. Refrain from ‘type-casting’ the VR lab and headsets to just one department or section within your school. 3. Scale up professional development that teaches educators how to use and build no-code virtual worlds and experiences and how to connect these to learning outcomes. 4. Develop a ‘learning in 3D’ academic policy that outlines the mission and vision around how , when and why VR can enhance learning.”
Basically, the technology isn’t the center of the lab, the people using it to augment their learning are.
So you’ve gone from a 2D designer to an XR designer (like we shared in SN #42) and your local VR lab is there to support you. Now what?
Spatial8 ecosystem partner and face filter whizzes, Flamingo Filter’s new blog shares the
Agile AR design process
to go from idea to finished experience.
Part 1: Planning
Part 2: Ideation
Stay tuned for more.
“We want to live the game, immerse in the experience, and dive deep into the emotions that only creative media can provoke[…] [S]ound and music can be key features for the acquisition and retention of your audience and can help to influence and define the long-term success of your game [or any metaverse-y experience -Joh].”
(Thanks to Patty Toledo for sharing.)
What’s more immersive than an iceberg? (Or is that ‘immersed’?)
“You thought Web3 was just shilling tokens and selling JPEGs…”?
Anthony Day dives in.
“Post-Blockchain”? I’m calling Jim Cameron to get the sub ready ‘cause we’re going the way of water down to the abyss. I’ll bring back some alien specimens.
Image credit: unipuff_ (Twitter)
Don’t forget to check out the world premier of the Spatial News™ Podcast! In the first episode we introduce the podcast and kick off the first season - exploring the exciting world of AR smartglasses!
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Enjoy the winter holidays, Spatialists! 2023 here we come!
Joh of Spatial8, continually singing 12 Days of Christmas like Bing Crosby until his family threatens his life
P.S. Don’t forget to take our Future Technologies Usage Survey 2022 for a chance to get some random NFTs! (This is it!)