Positive AI Applications
What can AI do well? What are the bright spots?
Positive AI Applications
We are so obsessed with seeing if AI can do the things we do, but the real potential is things humans are in capable of. What can’t you do that is now possible? 
You could see AI making an exact replica of The Room and it having none of the value, because it wasn't made by someone. Because there was no human-led deviation between what was attempted and what was made. That deviation, in art and in life, is what makes us so damn human.
Alex Dobrenko` • Will AI Replace the Artist?
I actually think this is pro-AI, in that it ringfences it. AI can make fun sounds, but it can’t create real stories.
YouTube previewed a tool to use generative AI to replace copyrighted music from your videos without affecting anything else. A few years ago this would have been expensive and time-consuming if it was even possible - soon it will just be a button. This is the natural life cycle of all ‘AI’. LINK, VIDEO
Benedict Evans • Benedict's Newsletter: No. 548
Not sure if this is the most positive, but like images, I’m using more and the production value of all my stuff is improving thanks to AI.
Of course, the reality is more complex, and it’s better to think in terms of automation and autocomplete than vertical software and replacing designers, but whole layers of grunt work will be removed, just as they were with GUIs and SQL.
Benedict Evans • Benedict's Newsletter: No. 547
Not sure if this is positive, but the most coherent take on AI I’ve seen so far. Realistic but not panicked.
Anthropic has started building out team collaboration tools. One big question for the next couple of years might be whether the general LLMs become useful for specific, vertical tasks faster than the vertical tools get LLM features.
Benedict Evans • Benedict's Newsletter: No. 547
Multiplayer AI sounds genuinely exciting. Waveform (social startup) was doing this before shutting down recently.
Google used AI to add 110 new languages to Google translate. Age of Wonders. LINK
Benedict Evans • Benedict's Newsletter: No. 547
Translation continues to be an AI bright spot. Truly exciting, though a bit troubling for someone who loves learning languages. Will it be worth it in 5 years?
The opportunity is real: As it stands, just 2 percent of Japanese manga works have been translated into English .
Numlock News • Numlock New: June 26, 2024 • Manga, Oscars, Glauconite
One of the most interesting applications of AI that does not get enough press is translation. Wild possibilities here and wild ones that are already happening.
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