the AI that almost was

Imagine a world where the promise of AI, the tool that was supposed to revolutionize our lives, remains a closely guarded secret. A world where the vast potential of generative AI doesn't become the norm, but rather the exception.

I recently stumbled upon an intriguing article by Gary Marcus that posed a thought-provoking question: What if Generative AI turned out to be a Dud? 

It got me thinking about the implications of such a scenario.

In this alternate reality, the streets aren't bustling with AI-driven cars, and our homes aren't filled with AI assistants catering to our every whim. Instead, AI remains a tool for the elite, a superpower wielded by a select few who saw its potential and continued to harness its power, even as the rest of society remained oblivious.

The masses, curious about AI but never fully adopting it, continue with their lives, unaware of the transformative power they're missing out on. The world continues to turn, but the pace of innovation slows. The dreams of a fully automated utopia remain just that - dreams.

But you… you’re using AI. You’re among the selected few who learned how to harness the power of AI and find yourself leagues ahead.

Your productivity skyrockets. Business opportunities seem to find you as you identify market gaps and optimize with precision. Creatively, you're on another level, fusing human intuition with machine precision. Your ventures don't just succeed; they redefine success.

What would you be doing in a world where AI almost was?

🦸‍♂️🍳 When superheroes swap capes for aprons: schmingschmong has turned our favorite superheroes into retro kitchen ads. Now the question is, what are they selling?

🌊🏛️ Atlantis: The Lost Empire" goes live-action thanks to Reddit user TheNovaProspect. Dive deep into a reimagined world where myths come to life and mysteries unfold.

🌌👽"We meet alients every day". Creative Sway Molina keeps pushing the boundries of AI-gen video with this latest interstellar journey, Abandoned Spaceship.

🎨 Art makes us feel alive, what if classical fine art could come alive? That’s exactly what AI filmmaker Dmitry Alexseev did in this video made with Pika Lab. What a beauty!

🌐 Are we getting a glimpse into the new “googling”? — Aiming to make your searches more intuitive and enlightening, Google's latest AI-powered Search Generative Experience (SGE) aims to help you grasp complex topics, respond in a human-esque tone, and even guide you through new learning adventures. The new search experience is coming to mobile first.

🛍️ Amazon's leveling up product reviews with AI-generated summaries. — Now, instead of scrolling through endless comments, you get a quick, concise blurb capturing the essence of user feedback. Rolling out to select US mobile app users, these summaries are based solely on verified purchases. So, on your next Amazon spree, let the AI do the heavy reading!

🖥️ A private and secure alternative to ChatGPT? — Microsoft is offering an enterprise ChatGPT on its Azure cloud, ensuring data privacy and full isolation from OpenAI's operations. And, it's free. The AI-powered tool integrates seamlessly with internal services, and protects intellectual property, making it perfect for business use. Microsoft's released Azure ChatGPT under an MIT license on GitHub.

🎨 Adobe Express is leveling up its free plan with Firefly AI. — Want to transform basic text into dazzling designs? Firefly's got you covered. From turning simple lettering into a "purple gloss balloon" font to creating decorative poster backgrounds, this AI tool is all about enhancing creativity. And for those wary of AI-generated content? Adobe assures that Firefly's creations are "safe for commercial use".

Midjourney 101: A Groovy Guide to AI Art Magic 

There’s so many ways to play with and explore AI and one of the most fun approaches is to generate images. There are many tools out there to create AI art, but our favorite (& the first one we used) is Midjourney and we wanted to share how to get started, in case you wanted to dip your toes in the AI art space. So, buckle up and get ready to ride the wave of creativity with this step-by-step guide. 🎨🌊

Getting into the Midjourney Groove

1. First, you’ll need a Discord account to create images. So, just roll on over to the Discord website and sign up. ✌️

2. Then, cruise to midjourney.com, hit "Join the Beta," and snag that invite to the Midjourney Discord channel. 🎉

3. Accept that invite, and bam! You should be in the Midjourney server inside Discord. 🚀

Creating your first image on Midjourney

4. Inside the Midjourney Discord chat bar, type /imagine 

5. Choose the “prompt” option that pops up

6. Type in your prompt

7. Press enter and you should get a grid of 4 images

   We include a prompt in every issue of our newsletter, so you can refer back to those if you need some inspo. You can also look in the Midjourney Discord or head over to X (formerly Twitter).

Bringing your creations to life

8. Once you have your grid of 4 images, you’ll see a set of buttons at the bottom of your grid

   • Upscale Images: U1 to U4 lets you go big with your images.

   • Variants Galore: V1 to V4 helps you see more variations of your creations.

9. Once you’ve chosen an image to upscale, you can keep playing with your image by:

   • Zooming out

   • Creating variations of the same image

   • And pan up, down, and to the sides

Some other groovy things you can do…

Use /describe to get text prompts from existing images.

Combine images with /blend for some extra smoothness.

Need More Groovy Details? Check out the official docs at docs.midjourney.com or head over to X (formerly Twitter) for more inspo and tips. These resources will help you ride the Midjourney wave with style and grace. 🏄‍♂️

Can you imagine what our favorite movies would look like if they were made in the simple beauty of paper art? The AI art community did!

Prompt courtesy of @patricialeveq

Prompt: cinematic paper figures

This is a newsletter and community in the making. If there’s anything you’d like us to explore, reply to this email and let us know what you'd like to see more of.

Until next time!

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