AfroTech 2023, ChatGPT, and Threads with Morgan DeBaun | Black Tech Green Money | EP. 125 (Vol 1125)
By Black Tech Green Money
This discussion is from a YouTube episode titled "AfroTech 2023, ChatGPT, and Threads with Morgan DeBaun | Black Tech Green Money | EP. 125."
Morgan DeBaun is a serial entrepreneur, executive and corporate advisor. She’s Founder & CEO of Blavity Inc., the leading digital media company for Black culture and millennials. Blavity Inc. is home to AfroTech and also Blavity News, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Shadow & Act, and Blavity TV. On this episode, Morgan chats with AfroTech's Will Lucas about the entrance of Threads into the social networking conversation, how generative AI like ChatGPT changes the game for tech-enabled workers, and AfroTech 2023. Follow Black Tech Green Money: @blacktechgreenmoney (IG), @btgmpodcast (Twitter)
The conversation emphasizes that building something solely for money is not enough, and success should be driven by a greater purpose.
Skills like coding and engineering are discussed as potentially essential for long-term career stability.
There is a shift in the job market, with technical roles often finding new jobs within 30 days, while non-technical roles may face challenges.
Tech companies offer opportunities for professionals to grow wealth through stock options, but they also come with risks.
The discussion touches on the balance between big business and small business, highlighting the importance of niche markets.
Technology evolution is mentioned, and tools like ChatGPT are cited as examples of how technology changes the way people work.
AfroTech is discussed as a platform that offers numerous options for people to be a part of the tech ecosystem.
The conversation reflects hope for the future of the black community, acknowledging its growth and increasing influence.
"If you only build things for money, it won't work. You have to be motivated by more than just money. You know, there are cheaper and faster ways to make money in this world than to build an app or to try to build a huge social network, black community, or a media company for black Millennials. Right? So, no, I think you've got to have some sort of purpose-driven reason to be successful."
— Morgan DeBaun
Midjourney's New Website is Here with Improved Design and Performance!
Prompt Share: Black woman riding a dinosaur in city, in the style of futuristic robots, photo-realistic techniques, lightningwave, dark gray and black, 32k uhd, mechanical designs, robotics kids --v 5.2
Prompt Share: Resonating matte rainbow glitch scanner Contour pattern invisible face’s manner Gold backdrop soulful eyes’ Open shallow trance Meeting camera’s gaze In a fleeting glance --v 5.2
Midjourney has launched its new website in a beta version, with access initially limited to users who have generated over 1000 images. The revamped website boasts several enhancements aimed at providing a better user experience.
Visit Midjourney
Also visit: Andrei Kovalev's Midlibrary: Midjourney AI Styles Library and Guide
Notable features
Improved Design and Performance: The new website has been lauded for its sleek, fast, and elegant design, with improved performance on both desktop and mobile platforms.
Lightbox Mode: A new 'lightbox' mode has been introduced, where clicking on images brings up a quick-view mode that users can easily navigate through using scrolling or arrow keys.
Image Generation in the Browser: A significant new feature is the ability to generate images directly in the browser, a shift from the previous method of using Discord for this function.
Enhanced Interface Design: The interface has been updated to be more mobile-friendly, faster, and more responsive, enhancing the overall user experience.
Focused on Image Interaction: The first release of the new website is primarily focused on searching, browsing, and viewing images.
The new website seems to be a part of Midjourney's efforts to enhance user interaction and broaden the scope of functionalities available directly on the platform.
Video Tour 1. The New Midjourney Website: Super Impressive (Full Walkthrough)
Video Tour 2. Below
Runway’s Second Annual AI Film 2024 Festival
The official website of the Runway AI Film Festival (AIFF).
Established in 2022, AIFF is an annual event that celebrates the art and artists who are embracing new and emerging AI techniques for filmmaking. The festival showcases works that offer a glimpse into a new creative era, one made possible when today's brightest creative minds are empowered with the tools of tomorrow.
The festival features a panel discussion about the future of film and creativity. It also includes a competition where countless submissions are received, but only 10 finalists are selected and showcased at gala screenings in New York City and Los Angeles. The winners are chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, with over $60,000 in total prizes to help fund the continued creation of AI filmmaking.
The awards at the festival include:
- Grand Prix: $15,000 Cash prize + 1,000,000 Runway credits
- Gold: $10,000 Cash prize + 500,000 Runway credits
- Silver: $5,000 Cash prize + 500,000 Runway credits
- Honoree (x2): $1,000 Cash prize + 100,000 Runway credits
- Merit (x5): $500 Cash prize + 100,000 Runway credits
The festival is looking for films (narrative or experimental) that embrace various emerging AI tools as a core component of the filmmaking process. The film submission criteria include being 1-10 minutes in length and including AI-powered tooling in the creation process, such as generative AI
A Glimpse of 2023’s AI Film Festival
Submit Your Entry https://aiff.runwayml.com
Google updates Maps with a flurry of AI features including 'Immersive View for routes'
Google Maps has integrated several AI-powered features to enhance user experience and provide more detailed and immersive navigation.
These features include: Immersive View for Routes- Lens in Maps - Visual Search- Photorealistic 3D Tiles - Enhanced Navigation Interface
These AI-powered features are designed to make Google Maps more immersive and user-friendly, helping users plan their trips more effectively and discover new places
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 moves AI out of the cloud and onto your phone
The newest flagship mobile chipset is on-device AI all the way down.
Generative AI also plays a major role in the 8 Gen 3’s new image processing capabilities. It will support generative fill for image expansion so you can zoom out and re-crop photos — again, right on the device. The video features are even wilder: there’s an object eraser for video — just tap and an unwanted subject disappears! — and on-device night mode recording at up to 4K / 30p.
There’s also a feature called Vlogger’s View that will layer video from the selfie and rear cameras together into one view. It’s not a picture-in-picture thing — this feature uses improved image segmentation to remove the background from the selfie video to make it look like you’re standing in front of whatever your rear camera sees.
WatchHere Qualcomm is bringing generative AI to your next smartphone | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 - YouTube
Read here Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 comes with faster AI features - The Verge