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- AI reimagines South Park characters as real people
AI reimagines South Park characters as real people
+ Scientists unveil secrets of imagination with AI
Thomas Newton
January 21, 2024
Welcome back.
Today on Masterfully.ai we show you how AI has brought South Park characters to life as real people, and also what scientists can tell us about how imagination works.
So let’s take a look at what’s featured in our latest edition..
Today's Edition
📰 AI reimagines South Park characters as real people
South Park fans are experiencing mixed reactions to a deepfake video by Berlin-based AI artist "demonflyingfox," which reimagines the show's animated characters as real actors in an Eighties sitcom. The video, now trending on Reddit, features characters like Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, and Kenny McCormick, along with others like Mr. Mackey and Randy Marsh, in a live-action setting. The deepfake technology, which alters photos and videos using AI, brings these characters to life, evoking varied responses from viewers.
Some South Park enthusiasts find the deepfake representations unsettling, describing them as "creepy and weird." One user sarcastically commented on the characters' continuous blinking, adding to the eerie feel. However, others praise the accuracy of the recreations, with one user specifically noting the authenticity of characters like Randy and Mr. Slave, while criticizing the portrayal of Kenny for missing key details like his blond hair.
The online community continues to express fascination and discomfort with the video. Comments range from admiration for the technology's capabilities to unease about the lifelike yet fictional nature of the characters. This mixed reaction underscores the deepfake technology's potential to both impress and disturb.
In related news, an American tech company, Fable Simulation, has developed an AI tool named AI Showrunner. This tool allows users to generate their own South Park episodes from brief prompts. According to Edward Saatchi, CEO of Fable, the tool encompasses dialogue, animation, voice acting, and editing. However, Saatchi emphasizes that AI Showrunner is for research purposes and will not be commercially released.
Demonflyingfox, known for their AI-generated art, has a history of reimagining popular characters, such as Harry Potter figures as Balenciaga models and a French Joker. Their work includes an all-female version of Breaking Bad's main characters, showcasing the artist's creative application of AI in transforming well-known media icons.
📰 Scientists unveil secrets of imagination, memory formation with Artificial Intelligence
Researchers at University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience have utilized Artificial Intelligence to delve into the workings of human memory, particularly its role in learning, recollecting experiences, and aiding in imagination and planning. Their findings, published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal, offer new insights into the cognitive processes of the brain.
Eleanor Spens, the study's lead author and a doctoral student at UCL, explained the significance of their research. "Recent advances in the generative networks used in AI show how information can be extracted from experience so that we can both recollect a specific experience and also flexibly imagine what new experiences might be like," she said. Spens further described memory as a process of imagining the past based on concepts, blending stored details with expectations about past events.
The study focused on the interaction between the hippocampus and neocortex, two vital brain components in memory, imagination, and planning. The researchers exposed an AI model to 10,000 images of simple scenes, mimicking the rapid encoding of experiences in the brain's hippocampus. This information was then replayed to train a generative neural network in the neocortex, which learned to conceptually represent scenes. This process parallels how humans use past experiences to make predictions, a key survival skill.
This groundbreaking research not only provides a deeper understanding of how the brain reconstructs past events and generates new ones during imagination and planning, but it also showcases the potential of generative AI in unraveling the complexities of human cognitive processes. The study highlights the role of the hippocampus in encoding unique features of new scenes and its collaboration with the neocortex in acquiring conceptual knowledge, crucial for re-experiencing past events and understanding the "gist-like" distortions in memory.
🗣️ AI “Quote of the Day”
"Success is not just climbing the ladder, it's ensuring it leans against the right wall."
Created with ChatGPT / DALL-E
🚀 AI Tech Spotlight
🔍️ Chatmind - AI-Native Mind Mapping
Chatmind is an AI-native online mind mapping tool developed by Xmind, designed to enhance creative and productive workflows. It enables users to create and refine mind maps through AI Chat, transforming text into visual mind maps instantly. Chatmind offers features like chat-guided mind mapping, web access for real-time data, image generation, and the ability to present mind maps as slides. It saves files automatically and allows users to switch between GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models. Users can export mind maps in various formats and choose from multiple templates and themes. The tool has received positive reviews for its utility in planning, brainstorming, and structuring thinking, particularly in professional settings.
🗓️ On This Day In History
Generating a sonic boom as it traveled through the atmosphere at supersonic speed, the Concorde, a commercial aircraft built with funding from the British and French governments, began regular service on this day in 1976.
