Exploring The Potential Of AI Avatars: Reid Hoffman’s Experiment With Digital Twins

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman recently delved into the realm of AI avatars by engaging in a video interview with a remarkably human-like digital clone of himself. Developed by Hour One and featuring voice cloning by 11ElevenLabs, this AI replica not only mimicked Hoffman’s knowledge and voice but also exhibited nuanced body language, actively nodding, smiling, and shrugging in sync with the real-world counterpart.

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The Shifting Dynamics Of Large Language Models

We are clearly in the early days of a transition and we are watching it unfold before us. Hype aside, it is fascinating to watch artificial intelligence rapidly evolve. A recent article provides a small example. As we view this evolution through the lens of accelerants and obstacles, much has been said about regulations and the limitations of data and compute power (potential obstacles). The article identifies two possible accelerants: intensifying competition and new sources of data. Here is a brief summary.

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Generative AI And The Emerging Question-And-Answer Paradigm

Happy New Year everyone! I thought my first post of the year would focus on the popular topic of our times – generative AI. My experience during this holiday season was the inspiration for the post. To do the story justice, I need to go back to my youth. One of my strong passions through the years has been music. As a young boy in the 1970s, I loved classic rock, however, sports became my dominant passion and all my focus remained there. As a result, I was limited to singing along to my favorite songs. When I entered the world of work, it replaced sports as my dominant focus – and once again I was resigned to singing along – but this time, in my car during commutes.

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The AI Revolution In Medicine

I finished reading a very timely book on the exploding topic of artificial intelligence. Two very important reasons to read this book: 1) the author’s early work with GPT-4 and 2) the focus on medicine. A dominant conversation occurring in board rooms across the world involves the critical question of generative AI and its impact on a business and/or an industry. One of the authors is Peter Lee, Corporate VP for Research and Incubations at Microsoft. He leads the company’s worldwide research labs. For the past six years, his primary focus has been on AI’s uses in healthcare and the life sciences.

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How Do You Feel About Our Emerging Future?

As the media obsesses over artificial intelligence with no shortage of opinions, it made me think about a post from 2016 on techno-optimism versus techno-pessimism. In that post, I defined the terms as follows:

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The Age Of AI

The other day I reflected on a future of transportation post via Bill Gates. Today, I am writing about his recent post on the age of AI. Driven by the fascination of ChatGPT, I’ve heard the phrase “The Age of AI” multiple times recently. The launch of ChatGPT made what was lurking beneath the surface visible – the same effect that the pandemic had in making the word “resilience” a critical part of our vocabulary. Artificial intelligence was already on this path, but this recent exposure is making it real for many. I asked this question initially in February 2020: Will Artificial Intelligence be more impactful than fire, electricity, or the Internet? I followed it up with a second poll late in 2022. The community answered in the following way.

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Tipping Points Start With Mindset Shifts

After ChatGPT was launched, I was asked if I believed it represented a tipping point for artificial intelligence (AI). We are surrounded by hype these days and it is easy to dismiss this as another hype cycle. As I considered my response, I focused first on mindset. The early stage of a tipping point starts with a change in how we perceive the world. Major historical tipping points had this in common – the world as we personally perceived it looked the same day-to-day. Then something happens that causes us to question that world. These mindset shifts are one indicator of a tipping point. A shift in mindsets was therefore the first criteria I assessed in answering the question. Has ChatGPT made AI more real to the casual observer?

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Will Virtual Reality Revolutionize Education?

ChatGPT is getting a lot of attention, and one area driving dialog is education. While the attention is warranted, another innovation is quietly making advances. Historically, education has been a bridge between eras – something that I explored in depth here. If you accept that signals point to a transition between eras, then education will be looked at to provide a bridge. But the question that must be answered is this: can education in its current form be that bridge? I maintain that the answer is no. Can that other innovation help? Virtual reality has quietly advanced. This article explores those advances.

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Will ChatGPT Change The World?

Updated 12-14-2022: Given all the buzz associated with ChatGPT and the overwhelming traffic to their website, I have updated this post with several more articles on the topic.

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