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- Innovation Profs - 11/21/2023
Innovation Profs - 11/21/2023
Your weekly guide to generative AI tools and news
Innovation Profs
November 21, 2023
Generative AI News
Sam Altman is out as OpenAI CEO — board says he was ‘not consistently candid’. CTO Mira Murati to be interim CEO
In a massive shake-up to the landscape of generative AI, on Friday afternoon, OpenAI’s board fired company co-founder Sam Altman, claiming that he lacked candor with the board. OpenAI CTO Mira Murati was designated interim CEO that same day.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman quits as shocked employees hold all-hands meeting
Hours after the announcement of Altman’s ouster, OpenAI cofounder and president Greg Brockman resigned, further contributing to the upheaval at OpenAI.
OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO
The next day it was reported that OpenAI’s board was attempting to bring Altman back as CEO, although one of Altman’s conditions for his return was the full resignation of OpenAI’s board.
Sam Altman joins Microsoft as OpenAI names its third CEO in 3 days
Next, early on Monday morning, it was announced that Altman and Brockman would instead be joining Microsoft to lead an advanced AI research team. Meanwhile, OpenAI announced that interim CEO Mira Mirati would be replaced by former Twitch CEO Emmitt Shear. As noted by CNN, “It’s another major shakeup to the balance of power over artificial intelligence, the most significant new technology in decades.”
OpenAI employees threaten to quit en masse after former CEO Sam Altman joins Microsoft
Later on Monday afternoon, OpenAI employees submitted a letter to the board threatening to leave the company: "Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI. We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman." Apparently 740 of the approximately 770 OpenAI employees have signed the letter.
GPT-5 Is Officially on the OpenAI Roadmap Despite Prior Hesitation
Finally, early last week before his departure from OpenAI, Sam Altman told Financial Times that GPT-5 is in the early stages of development. What a roller coaster week for OpenAI!
Microsoft rebrands Bing Chat to Copilot, to better compete with ChatGPT
A news item that would the be one of the top stories of the week if it were not for the CEO drama at OpenAI was the announcement that Microsoft is rebranding Bing Chat as Copilot. To add to the potential confusion, Bing will still be available as a search engine, but users will be able to access the conversational AI capabilities of Copilot within Bing.
Google Delays Release of Gemini AI That Aims to Compete With OpenAI
Another significant news items was the announcement that released Google’s ChatGPT-rival Gemini will be delayed until the first quarter of next year (for reasons that were not disclosed).
Quick Hits
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Tool of the week: Runway
Runway lets you create generative AI videos. It has several modes, but we will highlight four of them.
In text to video mode, you simply describe the video you want to create.
In text plus image to video mode, you upload an image to use and a text prompt of what you want to happen in the video
In image to video mode, you upload the image and it gives variations of possible videos
In stylization mode, you upload a video and an image, and it stylizes the image based on what it sees in the video.
Innovation Profs Homework
This week as you gather with family and friends, here’s your homework. Show them what generative AI can do.
Some suggestions: (1) Open ChatGPT and have it create a new game for the family to play after Thanksgiving dinner. (2) Use ideogram.ai to create Thanksgiving coloring pages for the kids. (3) Go to studio.d-id.com, upload a photo of a family member and make the image talk. (4) Sign up for Google’s AI Test Kitchen and use MusicLM to create music with a text prompt.
AI-generated image of the week
With Thanksgiving two days away, we decided to put our two favorite image creation tools to the test. The top image was made with DALL-E 3 and the bottom through Midjourney. We used ChatGPT to help write the prompt.
Which image do you prefer?
Prompt: Create an 8k, high-resolution, highly detailed photo depicting a joyful Thanksgiving dinner scene. The table is adorned with a bountiful feast, featuring a golden-brown turkey at the center, surrounded by classic sides like stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, and pumpkin pie. A group of people of various ages and diverse appearances are gathered around the table, smiling, laughing, and engaging in cheerful conversation, embodying a sense of happiness and togetherness. In the background, a television is on, displaying a live football game, adding to the festive and lively ambiance of the room. The room is warmly lit and decorated with Thanksgiving-themed ornaments, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere.Generative AI tip of the week
When using a tool such as ChatGPT, request different formats. ChatGPT can provide information in various formats, like lists, bullet points, or even in a conversational style. Specify if you have a preference.
Get starting with Generative AI
New to generative AI? Here are some places to start…
