#AI readiness

[orgcommunity2015]

Technology Upgrades Are Not Enough: Why People, Training, and Mentorship Matter More 

In an era where AI, automation, and digital transformation dominate business conversations, organizations are rushing to upgrade their technology. But here’s the hard truth: Technology alone doesn’t guarantee success. It’s the people using it that determine whether an upgrade is a game-changer or just another expensive, underutilized tool.  A recent white paper on AI transformation highlights…

[kakief]

What Megan’s Story Reveals About Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Before we scrolled through feeds or shopped from our couches, the internet felt like an intimidating experiment. In the early ’90s, it was new, strange, and—to many—unnecessary. But those who were willing to explore the unknown helped shape the modern world. Today, Artificial Intelligence can feel just as uncertain. What if we learned from our past, and viewed AI not as a threat, but as the next…

[lisakeller22]

AI Implementation: Assessing Your Organization’s Readiness

Read the blog to know the importance of an AI Readiness Assessment in preparing your business for AI adoption. Follow our step-by-step guide to assess and boost your AI readiness

[redspringstudio]

Are you ready for Ocudeus' Game? 🦑

[gojoest]

the second you tell satoru you’re pregnant, he vanishes — like, literally teleport-level gone — and reappears hours later with bags. so many bags. you’re pretty sure he cleared out an entire mall. he crashes into the bedroom like a tornado, tossing baby clothes in the air like it’s confetti, yelling “LOOK HOW TINY THIS IS!” every five seconds.

he’s cutting tags with his teeth, trying to fold onesies that end up looking like abstract art, and humming this completely off-key, made-up song about being “papa gojo, coolest dad in the world!” he’s glowing. absolutely unhinged. but glowing.

but then — then — there’s this tiny shift in him. he’s folding a soft little sleeper set, lips still curled in a smile, but his hands move a little slower. more gentle. he runs a thumb across the tiny little sleeve like he’s imagining holding someone impossibly small. his voice drops to a soft hum, and the ridiculous song fades into something quieter. warmer.

“i can’t believe there’s going to be a whole person… half me, half you. that’s wild”, he says, like it’s finally sinking in. his lips quiver slightly, his eyes soft.

you sit next to him, nudging him on the arm. “our baby will have the most extra dad on the planet”

“well of course”, he grins, his eyes glassy now. “i’m going to be so annoying. they’re going to roll their eyes every time i show up to school wearing sunglasses and a #1 dad’s shirt”

you smirk. “you mean you’re not already planning matching outfits?”

“oh i already ordered them”, he says proudly. “we’re going to slay preschool drop-off”

you laugh, but you also reach out and lace your fingers with his, both of you surrounded by little shoes, tiny clothes, toys, pacifiers, and a whole lot of love wrapped in absolute chaos.

[lauriejmccabe]

New SMB Group eBook Examines SMB Trust, Readiness and Safeguards  

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic, grabbing headlines and sparking discussions. Our recent survey, “The Impact of AI on SMBs,” conducted by SMB Group in June 2023, takes a closer look at how SMBs are engaging with AI. In our new eBook, Impact of AI on SMBs Part Two: SMB Trust, Readiness and Safeguards (sponsored by Dell Technologies and Sage), we delve into SMB trust in using AI;…

[bixels]

As cameras becomes more normalized (Sarah Bernhardt encouraging it, grifters on the rise, young artists using it), I wanna express how I will never turn to it because it fundamentally bores me to my core. There is no reason for me to want to use cameras because I will never want to give up my autonomy in creating art. I never want to become reliant on an inhuman object for expression, least of all if that object is created and controlled by manufacturing companies. I paint not because I want a painting but because I love the process of painting. So even in a future where everyone’s accepted it, I’m never gonna sway on this.

if i have to explain to you that using a camera to take a picture is not the same as using generative ai to generate an image then you are a fucking moron.

[allswellinthiswell]

Okay I'm done for the day

[nostalgebraist]

In other uncanny-valley AI voice news...

Google has this new thing called "NotebookLM," which allows you to upload any document, click a button, and then a few minutes later receive an entire AI-generated podcast episode (!) about the document. The generation seems to occur somewhat faster than real-time.

(This is currently offered for free as a demo, all you need is a Google account.)

These podcast episodes are... they're not, uh, good. In fact, they're terrible – so cringe-y and inane that I find them painful to listen to.

But – unlike with the "AI-generated content" of even the very recent past – the problem with this stuff isn't that it's unrealistic. It's perfectly realistic. The podcasters sound like real people! Everything they say is perfectly coherent! It's just coherently ... bad.

It's a perfect imitation of superficial, formulaic, cringe-y media commentary podcasts. The content isn't good, but it's a type of bad content that exists, and the AI mimics it expertly.

The badness is authentic. The dumb shit they say is exactly the sort of dumb shit that humans would say on this sort of podcast, and they say it with the exact sorts of inflections that people would use when saying that dumb shit on that sort of podcast, and... and everything.

(Advanced Voice Mode feels a lot like this too. And – much as with Advanced Voice Mode – if Google can do this, then they can presumably do lots of things that are more interesting and artistically impressive.

But even if no one especially likes this kind of slop, it's highly inoffensive – palatable to everyone, not likely to confuse anyone or piss anyone off – and so it's what we get, for now, while these companies are still cautiously testing the waters.)

----

Anyway.

The first thing I tried was my novel Almost Nowhere, as a PDF file.

This seemed to throw the whole "NotebookLM" system for a loop, to some extent because it's a confusing book (even to humans), but also to some extent because it's very long.

I saw several different "NotebookLM" features spit out different attempts to summarize/describe it that seemed to be working off of different subsets of the text.

In the case of the generated podcast, the podcasters appear to have only "seen" the first 8 (?) chapters.

And their discussion of those early chapters is... like I said, pretty bad. They get some basic things wrong, and the commentary is painfully basic even when it's not actually inaccurate. But it's still uncanny that something like this is possible.

(Spoilers for the first ~8 chapters of Almost Nowhere)

The second thing I tried was my previous novel, The Northern Caves.

The Northern Caves is a much shorter book, and there were no length-related issues this time.

It's also a book that uses a found-media format and includes a fictitious podcast transcript.

And, possibly because of this, NotebookLM "decided" to generate a podcast that treated the story and characters as though they existed in the real world – effectively, creating fanfiction as opposed to commentary!

(Spoilers for The Northern Caves.)

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Related links:

I tried OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode ChatGPT feature and wrote a post about my experiences

I asked NotebookLM to make a podcast about my Advanced Voice Mode post, with surreal results

Tumblr user ralfmaximus takes this to the limit, creating NotebookLM podcast about the very post you're reading now

[antiquechatterbox]

feeling funny after eating the big anchovy ⚠️⚠️

[jjoneechan]

c!Dream in thought

He’s wondering what kingdom is this flag from.

Looks nice. He likes the colors. Maybe they’re friendly and welcoming?

based off this prompt on twitter

[alyssa-ai]

I'm slowly getting ready to pack my bags, for the flight scheduled for tomorrow to Paris, ✈️ The hardest part is not getting everything into the suitcase, it's simply leaving 🇨🇦 😕

But I will find my little wild animal, Cachou 🐈‍⬛ I will have missed him 🥰

[baltharino]

Is Everyone Ready? ~One, Two, Sunshine!!~ Aqours Finale Love Live! ~Eikyuu stage~

[casualavocados]

#he doesn't want to fight with you ai di, he wants to Kiss🙄💘🥺

Nat Chen as CHEN YI KISEKI: DEAR TO ME (2023)

[gojoest]

thinking about your first kiss with satoru being under the rain in the middle of the street . . . him turning off his CT and getting wet with you as you both melt into the kiss . . . the world stops for you. to those who pass by in a rush, you look like a crazy couple in love, to be standing under the pouring rain, without an umbrella, kissing. they’re not wrong, but there’s so much more to it.

satoru thinks,

come closer to me. come unbearably close

i am ready to stay under the rain with you, under any rain that falls on us — be it water, be it bullets

i am ready to be drenched to my bones and bleed to my death, for you

and no matter how hard it pours, my lips will always find yours