- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
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- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
New AI-video tool by maker of ChatGPT worries media creators
A new artificial intelligence tool that promises to create short videos from simple text commands has raised concerns along with questions from artists and media professionals.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and image generator DALL-E, said Thursday it was testing a text-to-video model called "Sora" that can allow users to create realistic videos with simple prompts.
The San Francisco-based startup says Sora can "generate complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion, and accurate details of the subject and background," but admits it still has limitations, such as possibly "mixing up left and right."
Here are early reactions from industries that could be affected by the new generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool:
- Studios -
Examples of Sora-created clips on OpenAI's website range widely in style and subject, from seemingly real drone footage above a crowded market to an animated bunny-like creature bouncing through a forest.
Thomas Bellenger, founder and art director of Cutback Productions, has been carefully watching the evolution of generative AI image generation.
"There were those who felt that it was an unstoppable groundswell that was progressing at an astonishing rate, and those who just didn't want to see it," said Bellenger, whose France-based company has created large scale visual effects for such touring musicians as Stromae and Justice.
He said the development of generative AI has "created a lot of debate internally" at the company and "a lot of sometimes visceral reactions".
Bellenger noted that Sora has yet to be released, so its capabilities have yet to be tested by the public.
"What is certain is that no one expected such a technological leap forward in just a few weeks," Bellenger said. "It's unheard of."
He said whatever the future holds, they'll "find ways to create differently".
- Video games -
Video game creators are equally likely to be impacted by the new invention, with reaction among the sector divided between those open to embracing a new tool and those fearing it might replace them.
French video game giant Ubisoft hailed the OpenAI announcement as a "quantum leap forward" with the potential to let players and development teams express their imaginations.
"We've been exploring this potential for a long time," a Ubisoft spokesperson told AFP.
Alain Puget, chief of Nantes-based studio Alkemi, said he won't replace any artists with AI tools, which "only reproduce things done by humans".
Nevertheless, Puget noted, this "visually impressive" tool could be used by small studios to produce more professionally rendered images.
While video "cut scenes" that play out occasionally to advance game storylines are different from player-controlled action, Puget expects tools like Sora to eventually be able to replace "the way we do things."
- Truth vs Fiction -
Basile Simon, a former journalist and current Stanford University researcher, thinks there has been "a terrifying leap forward in the last year" when it comes to generative AI allowing realistic-looking fabrications to be rapidly produced.
He dreads the idea of how such tools will be abused during elections and fears the public will "no longer know what to believe".
Julien Pain of French TV channel FranceInfo's fact-checking program "Vrai ou Faux" (True or False) says he's also worried about abuse of AI tools.
"Until now, it was easy enough to spot fake images, for example by noticing the repetitive faces in the background," Pain said.
"What this new software does seems to be on another level."
While OpenAI and US tech titans may promote safety tools, such as industry-wide watermarks that reveal AI-created imagery, "what about tomorrow's competitors in China and Russia?", he posited.
- Advertising -
The Fred & Farid agency, which has collaborated with the Longchamp and Budweiser brands and where a studio dedicated to AI was opened in early January, anticipates that "80 percent of brand content will be generated by artificial intelligence".
"Creative genius" will no longer be limited by production skills thanks to generative AI tools, one enthusiast contended.
Stephanie Laporte, chief executive and founder of the OTTA advertising and influencer agency, believes the technology will "force the industry to evolve".
She also anticipates ad companies with lean budgets will resort to AI tools to save money on workers.
A possible exception, she believes, is the luxury segment, where brands are "very sensitive to authenticity" and "will probably use AI sparingly".
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P.Stevenson--AMWN