WednesdAI // Week 40

From advanced voice modes to historic discoveries, innovation is shaping our world.

Let’s dive right in!
 
Welcome to WednesdAI – Pixel Dreams’ weekly update with top stories from the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence.

This Week’s News

OpenAI Launches Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT

 
OpenAI is rolling out an enhanced Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) for all ChatGPT Plus and Teams users. The update introduces new voices and improved functionality, designed to make AI interactions more natural and human-like. This advancement aims to create a more personalized and seamless experience for daily AI use.

Check out the official announcement thread on X.com.

OpenAI Goes For-Profit, CEO Gains Equity; CTO Resigns

 
OpenAI is reportedly transitioning to a for-profit model, with CEO Sam Altman set to receive equity in the company. Despite this shift, OpenAI stated that its non-profit arm will remain central to its mission. CTO Mira Murati announced her resignation after six and a half years, amid speculation surrounding the company’s structural changes.

Read more at Cointelgraph.
 
 

LinkedIn Quietly Uses User Data for AI Training, Requires Opt-Out

LinkedIn’s decision to quietly use user data for AI training without direct consent has sparked controversy.
 

 
The platform requires users to go through a complex opt-out process, raising concerns about privacy and transparency. Critics argue that LinkedIn is exploiting user trust by making the default consent and hiding the full opt-out behind multiple steps. This move has drawn backlash from privacy advocates, who believe the company is prioritizing AI advancements over the protection of personal data, leaving many feeling misled.

Find more details from The Verge.
 
 

UN Proposes Global AI Governance Plan

 
The UN’s AI advisory body just released a report recommending seven key actions to govern artificial intelligence.
 

The proposals focus on managing AI risks, addressing governance gaps, and boosting global cooperation. Among the highlights: creating a global AI data framework to ensure transparency, establishing a panel to provide unbiased scientific AI information, and developing a global AI capacity-building network. There’s also a push for an international fund to close collaboration gaps and a small office to oversee these efforts. These recommendations will be discussed at the UN’s summit later this year.

 
Learn more from Reuters.

First AI-Focused TED Event

 
TEDAI Vienna 2024 is Europe’s first TED event focused exclusively on artificial intelligence. Held from October 17-19, it features 20+ expert-led TED Talks, immersive workshops, and networking events, all set against the backdrop of Vienna’s historic venues. Attendees can explore AI’s future with global leaders from tech giants like NVIDIA, GitHub, and Google DeepMind. It’s more than a conference—think gala dinners, hackathons, and intimate city adventures.
 

 
For more details, visit TEDAI Vienna.

AI Uncovers 303 New Nazca Geoglyphs in Record Time

 
Archaeologists from Yamagata University and IBM used AI to discover 303 new geoglyphs near Peru’s Nazca Lines, nearly doubling the number of known figures. The geoglyphs, dating back to 200 BC, depict animals and humans, including parrots, monkeys, and decapitated heads. AI, along with drones, sped up the discovery process, completing a century’s work in just six months.

 
Get the full scoop from The Guardian.
 
 

Runway Launches $1 Million Film Fund to Support AI-Driven Filmmaking

 
AI filmmaking is stepping into the spotlight with Lionsgate’s new partnership with Runway, an AI video toolmaker. This collaboration aims to integrate AI into big-budget film production. At the same time, Runway is fueling indie filmmakers by launching the “Hundred Film Fund,” offering $5 million in grants to create 100 AI-driven films. With backing for experimental projects and big-studio interest, AI might soon be as common in filmmaking as green screens​.

 
Get details about the Hundred Film Fund and the deal with Lionsgate.
 
 

Videos of the Week

The images accompanying the news items in this article were generated in Midjourney using the following prompts:

Retro-Futuristic Pop Art. A vibrant, comic-book-style AI character speaking through a stylized speech bubble filled with neon sound waves, each wave representing a different personality trait. A colorful, retro-futuristic diner with vibrant, exaggerated shapes and forms, where the AI interacts with users through dynamic, ever-changing voice tones. The AI is sitting at a booth, surrounded by floating speech bubbles in vivid colors and patterns, each bubble transforming to match the tone and style of its voice. Bright, high-contrast lighting with neon accents illuminating the speech bubbles, casting bold shadows that emphasize the pop art style. The exaggerated comic-book visuals highlight the fun, playful side of OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode, showing its ability to adapt to different communication styles in a bold and creative way

Robot counting money: humanoid robot excitedly counting money sitting at a diner table. Stacks of cash cover the whole table. Enormous amount of money. Lots of money

Surreal Pop Art with Collage Elements. A giant hand resembling LinkedIn’s logo quietly lifting stacks of user profiles like puzzle pieces, each profile featuring a faceless figure with abstract, colorful data flowing out. A dreamlike world where puzzle pieces of human faces and digital code float against a bright, bold pop-art background, with glitchy, pixelated clouds drifting in the sky. The giant hand is central, delicately removing a piece of the puzzle while user profiles cascade downward, some profiles fully intact while others disintegrate into swirling data streams. Bright, almost neon light illuminating the hand, casting bold shadows onto the floating puzzle pieces, emphasizing the surreal contrast between user trust and data manipulation. Hidden within the floating clouds are faint outlines of opt-out forms, just barely visible in the background, symbolizing the obscured process users must navigate

Cubist Abstraction with a Global Perspective. Seven fragmented cubes, each representing a different aspect of the UN’s AI governance plan, interconnected by glowing lines of communication that form an abstract map of the world Setting: A fragmented, abstracted global landscape where continents and nations are represented by angular shapes and bright, futuristic colors. The cubes float in different parts of the frame, each one containing unique symbols, from transparent governance structures to AI data frameworks, and their interconnecting lines converge at a central point representing global cooperation. Bright, multi-colored light sources emanating from each cube, creating sharp, contrasting shadows and illuminating the interconnecting data lines. The entire composition has a sense of motion, as if the cubes are slowly rotating, constantly reconfiguring to symbolize the dynamic nature of AI governance

Robot TED Talk: TED talk conference, retro sci fi humanoid robot giving presentation, large crowd listening to the robot’s presentation

Futuristic Archaeology Meets Tribal Art. AI systems analyzing Nazca geoglyphs, with digital holograms of animals rising from the desert floor—parrots and decapitated heads rendered in vibrant tribal patterns. A windswept desert dotted with ancient glyphs, where advanced AI technology hovers, projecting glowing animal spirits above the lines. In the center, an archaeologist stands in awe, surrounded by neon-lit AI holograms of geoglyph animals, blending the ancient past with modern tech in a vivid display of light and form. Sharp, contrasting light from the AI projections and deep orange glow from the setting sun, casting dynamic shadows across the sand. The figures projected above the lines are stylized, with bright colors and geometric patterns, as though blending indigenous art with futuristic design in a stunning visual fusion

Whimsical Pop-Art illustration. Video cameras and film equipment floating around a set, directing an indie film crew with exaggerated, colorful storyboards on giant screens. A vibrant indie film studio filled with oversized pop-art props—brightly colored megaphones, clapperboards, and technicolor chairs, surrounded by abstract patterns and AI icons in mid-air. The devices are guiding a group of young filmmakers dressed in eclectic, whimsical outfits as they eagerly watch the floating, vibrant screens displaying evolving storylines. Bright, playful lighting casting bold shadows and making the neon-colored storyboards pop against the colorful film set. Behind the crew, an abstract digital mural shifts in real-time to reflect the progress of the film, merging the creativity of human and machine in a vibrant display