New Sora AI is Shocking

upsider admin on February 26, 2024

OpenAI’s new text-to-video ai tool, Sora, is absolutely shocking. Text-to-video ai is not brand new, but Sora brings it to a whole new level. (examples down below)

To use Sora, you input a text prompt and Sora generates a video to match your instructions. These videos can be realistic, animated, or any number of combinations you can come up with.

Unlike previous text-to-video ai tools, Sora is capable of creating video clips up to 60 seconds long. In the past, most were very short clips and were generally very fake and unnatural looking.

Sora is not available for public use yet. However, it is expected to become available in the not too distant future.

While it is always a little bit frightening when technology moves at such a fast pace. Many of the main stream ai tools have guardrails in place to stop illegal and exploitative content. This does not always stop bad actors, but thankfully it does help.

What we can all do is promote good and ethical uses of all new technologies.

What Are Some of the Upsides?
There are some very exciting potential uses for this new ai. One of the biggest is for small film, music, and content creators.

Sora can give all of these people the opportunity to create clips or scenes that they would not have the financial means to create otherwise. This could be particularly impactful for people that make content involving Sci-Fi or Fantasy elements. (It is quite difficult to find stock footage of a dragon after all).

It will also give greater ability for people in less fortunate financial situations to be able to realize their artistic visions. This will hopefully make it easier for these people to enter into the film, artistic, and content creation sectors.

It is important to remember that the demo content released was selected by OpenAI for demonstration purposes. We do not know how heavily curated this content was. Once the tool is released to the public we will begin to understand the actual impact it will have.

Below are some of the demos OpenAI released.

If you want to see Sora OpenAI’s full gallery, you can find it on their website here.

Not Everything is as Bad as it Seems Part 1

Daily Upsider on February 8, 2024

There are a lot of things that are less than ideal in the world. Luckily, not everything is as bad as it is made out to be by doom and gloom clickbait articles. Mainstream news and culture have perpetuated a lot of myths, and we would like to dispel one of those today.

We recently ran an article about the surprisingly sharp drop in deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. This is great news in our opinion, but not because of the misconception that many people push, that the Amazon produces 20% of the oxygen in the world and that if it is cut down we will lose all of that air.

The truth is that while the Amazon does produce a lot of oxygen, it is so densely packed and teeming with life that it uses up all that it creates. While it is impossible to know exactly, it is calculated that its net oxygen output is around 0%.

The Amazon does do some helpful things. The rainforest helps recycle the water in the region, extending the wet season ensuring that plants in the area can grow without drying out and dying during the dry season.

The Amazon (and all forests) also helps improve air quality. Trees and plants feed on carbon dioxide to grow. If you have trees near to where carbon dioxide is being produced, the trees can absorb the gas and use it as fuel. The Amazon is able to pull in and absorb around 1.7 billion tons of CO2 per year, which is nearly 5% of the world’s annual emissions.

Hopefully you can come out of this article with a few positives. We will not all suffocate to death because of Amazon deforestation. We also have seen a large drop in deforestation. Armed with this knowledge, we all have some fun facts to repeat at our next social event.

Sam Altman: You Will Be “Dissappointed”

Daily Upsider on January 29, 2024

There is no doubt that AI has made huge waves in both culture and in the business world. But what will AI change in near future?

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has offered his perspective on concerns surrounding the potential disruptive power of artificial intelligence (AI). He believes that these concerns are exaggerated and that AI’s transformative impact on the world and employment opportunities will be less dramatic than anticipated.

Speaking at an event organized by Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Altman specifically focused on the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI refers to a form of AI capable of performing tasks at the same level as, or even surpassing, human abilities. Altman expressed the belief that AGI could be developed in the “reasonably close-ish future.”

OpenAI, known for its ChatGPT chatbot, which gained widespread attention upon its public launch in late 2022, has actively sought to temper concerns from AI skeptics regarding the extent to which AI technology will reshape society.

Prior to the introduction of OpenAI’s GPT-4 model in March, Altman cautioned technologists against becoming overly excited about its potential, predicting that people would likely end up “disappointed” with it. He emphasized that while expectations for artificial general intelligence are high, it has not yet been realized.

Founded in 2015, OpenAI’s primary mission is to achieve AGI. The company, with substantial backing from Microsoft and a private market valuation nearing $100 billion, is committed to developing AI technology responsibly and safely.

Altman also addressed concerns about AI’s potential to exacerbate economic inequalities and displace the working class, especially in the context of presidential elections. He acknowledged these concerns but believes that AI should be seen more as a tool than a disruptive force.

According to Altman, AI has not yet replaced jobs on the scale feared by many economists. Moreover, he noted that AI technology is increasingly becoming a valuable tool for enhancing productivity in various sectors.

Altman’s brief removal from OpenAI in November, driven by concerns about AI safety and his leadership, was followed by a swift reinstatement as CEO, sparked by strong opposition from OpenAI employees and investors. Microsoft also gained a nonvoting board observer seat at OpenAI upon his return, whereas before they had none.

A Sharp Drop in Amazon’s Deforestation

Daily Upsider on January 18, 2024

Amazon’s deforestation has dropped by 55% since last year, reaching its lowest levels since 2019. This decline is considered a significant achievement, particularly for the newly-elected officials in Brazil and Colombia.

The information comes from the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project, utilizing the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite to track forest cover and loss across all Amazon nations, as reported to Reuters. Brazil, with a 59% reduction in primary forest loss.

The Amazon Rainforest’s role as a crucial carbon dioxide absorber is highlighted by some scientists as Earth’s primary tool against climate change. The Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project anticipates that the deforestation data will enhance the negotiating position of Amazonian countries for international conservation funding at the Paris Agreement summit, COP28.

— On a related note, we just ran an article about an amazing discovery in the Amazon that proved a very popular theory wrong. You can read it here.

Also, if you would like to know the truth, here is what the Amazon actually does in the environment and why things are better than most people realize.

The Future of Streaming

Daily Upsider on January 3, 2024

As we step into 2024, the world of streaming is set to undergo a significant transformation with the introduction of various planned service bundles. This comes in the wake of many streaming services adding advertisements to their bottom tiers in an attempt to stay, or even become, profitable. These include Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, and Prime Video.

Very few streaming services made a profit this year. Netflix, Apple TV+, and HBO’s rebranded Max being among the few to make profits.

The increase in bundles seems like a decent strategy to get more subscribers onto their respective platforms. Let’s take a closer look at some of the streaming service bundles of 2024.

Disney+ and Hulu
This bundle, which launched at the beginning of 2024 will be an alternative bundle to the current Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu trio. This partnership will bring together two popular streaming services, offering a vast collection of movies, TV shows, and original content.

Verizon, Max and Netflix
Verizon is offering a $10/month bundle with Max and Netflix. This is available to Verizon customers and is for the ads versions of Max and Netflix.

Apple TV+ and Paramount+
There are also talks about a partnership between Paramount Global and Apple. These two companies are reportedly considering a bundle that combines the best of Apple TV+ and Paramount+, giving subscribers access to a vast library of sports and news content.

If you already have have some of these streaming services. Changing to a bundle could save you some decent money.