TikTok creators use AI to rewrite history – Rest of World
Since the launch of image generators like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney, a new wave of generative AI-focused creators have taken to TikTok. These accounts, some of which already have followings in the hundreds of thousands, post slideshow carousels of novel AI art. But one subset of creators is playing into a decolonial curiosity with its content — one that seems to ask, what if Western imperial nations never came to power?
AI will soon become impossible for humans to comprehend – the story of neural networks tells us why – The Conversation
There is a long-held pursuit of the unexplainable. The more opaque, the more authentic and advanced the system is thought to be. It is not just about the systems becoming more complex or the control of intellectual property limiting access (although these are part of it). It is instead to say that the ethos driving them has a particular and embedded interest in “unknowability”. The mystery is even coded into the very form and discourse of the neural network. They come with deeply piled layers – hence the phrase deep learning – and within those depths are the even more mysterious sounding “hidden layers”. The mysteries of these systems are deep below the surface.
The Last Supper selfie: AI imagines how historical figures such as Jesus, Cleopatra and Napoleon would look if they’d taken smartphone portraits – Daily Mail
Thomsen said he spent months working out a formula of prompts, language and photographic elements to give photos this ‘selfie’ effect. He said: ‘It can be a lengthy programming process because AI requires users to tell it exactly what it needs to do and requires “absolute description”.’ Thomsen added that he believes his technique could be used to teach history in schools. ‘This technology could be used in schools as a new way of teaching and engaging kids with world history – it’s like time traveling without a time machine,’ he said.
Jerry McNally 