Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
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Suno, the AI song generator, just released version 5. And now I think we are 100% past the uncanny audio valley. Version 4/4.5 was at the level of "Convincing, occasionally incredible, but still flawed enough to notice." Version 5 is 'tricking' my ear 9 times out of 10. Studio quality. We have a fully functional infinite music machine available for the monthly cost of a cheeseburger.
A few examples:
https://suno.com/s/N86w28eQjBWbI6fA
https://suno.com/s/BsKe5OnQpUhPj2Zx
https://suno.com/s/voPPxtsXxRjFRF93
https://suno.com/s/Yqe3pzUQHIPAQ4g4
I think people get too focused on the apparent 'slowing' of progress in the LLM space and think its proof that Machine Learning itself is not living up to the hype.
Meanwhile stuff like Video generation, Music, and Protein Folding/Drug Discovery are still improving rapidly.
Arguably LLMs are just the interface by which we can access these other powerful Djinns to provide us with the particular services we want, as we await the "one true superintelligence" that can do anything to arise.
There's probably a small window right now to write a Sci-Fi novel that features humanity invoking individual AI patrons that specialize in particular aspects of the world, in the same vein as 'old gods' (Stockfish God of Chess, Suno God of Music, Midjourney God of Aesthetics).
Anyway, if there was ONE arena you would want AI to reach superhuman capability, one particular application that would improve your life even if AI progress stalled out otherwise, what would that be?
For our purposes, lets just grant "customized pornography" as the killer app.
Me, I think I want the ability to produce bespoke episodes of older TV shows that I enjoyed but were cancelled or went off the rails and/or had horrible conclusions. GoT and Firefly are obvious examples there. But I have several others in mind.
It'd be cool to live in a world where the "Canon" of a given series was not defined by any particular "official" source, but instead you had a whole library of 'forks' in the plot and character development that fans can choose from, or generate their own as they like, with maybe some curation done by the rights holder to identify the entries they deem 'high quality' and consistent with the original vision.
I'd want absolutely perfect health tracking, the kind of thing where the AI can tell me exactly what to eat, what supplements to take, how much and what type of exercise to do etc. Might require a bunch of implants, but I'd love to always feel well-rested and optimised.
This would also be good. The petty part of me desperately wants to re-make all the BBC costume dramas without all the ahistorical diversity casting, but I'll settle for Six Seasons and a Movie of Firefly.
This could genuinely be a Paramore B-side. Crazy.
I agree... except I'd be pretty nervous on the nefarious uses that particular setup could create.
My piecemeal solution is that I can feed it the information about myself I want it to have rather than have it tracking me full time.
I do like the thought of being able to ask how to optimize for particular goals. "I'm training for a Marathon in 4 months, create a training and diet regimen tailored to my current work schedule."
I know, right? I've gotten it to near-perfectly emulate Rammstein, Motley Crue, and Drowning Pool, and decent-quality ripoffs of Rage Against the Machine and Linkin Park.
System of a Down has proven trickier.
The Holy Grail of AI privacy and security is one that's both powerful and efficient enough to run on your own hardware so you have full control over it and your information. In some imaginary world where your implants can run their own computations internally and don't require internet access (except occasionally if you want to download verified updates) then they're safe and secure from external threats.
I personally will never feel comfortable unless the entire system is airgapped, and maybe not even then. Think, for example, of how you have to keep a pacemaker away from electromagnets.
But life demands acceptance of certain risks, and there's a strong argument that health benefits from AI monitoring your body and suggesting adjustments would outweigh most risks from having that data exposed.
Of course, follow the logic and its just straight up transhumanism. Discard the weakness of the flesh entirely.
There's also some level of difference in invasiveness and permanence.
Removing your arm to replace with a bionic one, is categorically different from implanting an electrical muscle-growth stimulator underneath your skin, is categorically different from putting on strength-boosting mech armor.
Following the logic only goes as far as your axioms allow, and different axioms will lead to different endpoints.
I would absolutely argue we're talking a matter of degree, but yeah, if your goal is "live as long as a carbon-based multi-cellular organism possibly can in ideal health" that's different than if the goal is "avoid literally every risk of actual brain death possible, with zero regard for preserving organic parts."
But we're already blurring lines by strapping sensors and stimulators and other mechanical parts in.
Now, to put a final spin on the question, what would you DO with your now-optimized health thanks to your AI patron keeping you in tip-top shape?
My preference for the AI generating personalized entertainment options somewhat answers that question. I could watch Firefly Season 50 and then go to the theaters and enjoy "Mission: Impossible 16: Mercury Poisoning" where AI Tom Cruise sprints across the surface of Mercury while holding his breath or something.
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