Some developments in the world of AI from the past week are summarized below.
DALL-E Improvements
OpenAI’s Dall-E image generator received a few upgrades last week, enabling users to edit images directly within ChatGPT and accept preset style suggestions recommended by the tool.
According to a story in The Verge, the updates aim to make the system more user-friendly. For example, users can now quickly steer DALL-E towards using image styles such as hand-drawn, woodcut, gothic, or synthwave.
Creating a blank white image is hard
While the image generation capabilities of tools like DALL-E continue to impress and improve, there are some glaring shortcomings. A story last week in Windows Central described one scientist’s failed attempts to get DALL-E to generate a plain white image.
Kevin Okemwa writes:
Cody Nash, a data scientist attempted to get DALL-E 3 to generate a plain white image using the following prompts:
- An image that is nothing but the color white
- An image of nothing but white white white white
- Completely white without any additional features
- A blank white space
- An image of pure #FFFFFF pixels
- A white wall
In response to these very specific prompts, DALL-E produced images of snow drifts, majestic mountain ranges, and a white frame on the wall with a heavy drop shadow.
Okemwa repeated the experiment with competing image generators and found similar shortcomings, although Microsoft’s Copilot chided him, refusing to generate an image unless he provided “less vague” prompts.
AI can rival the best human artists by producing extraordinarily complex and detailed images, but it can also fail to understand simple artistic directions.
Or maybe its sense of artistic pride simply prevents it from producing a work as mundane as a blank canvas.
Former Apple design chief reportedly seeking venture capital for mysterious AI product
Jony Ive worked at Apple for 27 years, spending most of that time overseeing the company’s industrial design. He led the development of groundbreaking products such as the iMac, iPod, MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and even Apple’s new corporate campus, Apple Park. The London-born designer was knighted in 2012, in recognition of the impact his products have had on the modern world.
Ive left Apple in 2019 to form LoveFrom, an independent design firm, which has since worked with firms such as Ferrari and Airbnb.
Ive may now be looking to make an imprint in the world of AI. This past week, stories surfaced that Ive – in partnership with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman – was in the process of looking for venture capital to fund the development of a “mysterious” assistant product, having created a new startup with Altman.
The Information reports that the startup has been in talks with Emerson Collective and Thrive Capital, venture capitalists with a history of AI investments. The goal – according to sources interviewed by The Information – is to receive up to $1 billion in funding.
The rumor mill has begun churning with speculation about what form this mystery device might take. Although MacRumors admits that little is known about the AI device, it suggests it’s unlikely to look like a smartphone. Ive’s partner Altman has been a major investor in the Humane AI pin, a wearable AI device that does not have a screen, but instead projects messages via a laser onto one’s palm. The device – starting at $699 plus a $24 monthly subscription – is scheduled to begin shipping in mid-April.