ChatGPT vs Hollywood, Legislators Should be Innovators, The Sui Blockchain, & More

FUTURE OF THE WORLD - Edition 34

May 06, 2023

a drawing of a man tying up technology and putting in a pandoras box

I've been thinking a lot about the relationship between technology and regulation.

Technology can transform our world and solve most human problems. But this can only happen with the support of policy makers. Yet legislators rarely understand technology, and their regulatory responses are often too slow or misguided.

This era of exponential technology requires a fundamental shift!

We need legislators who are also innovators. They must deeply understand the power and value of technology and be ready to use it to improve society.

Enjoy the read and have a great weekend,

Misha

In today’s newsletter:

This week in AI
This week in web3
5 things to do

This Week in AI:

AI could be as transformative as the Industrial Revolution.

The new genre of AI could be as transformative as the Industrial Revolution, the UK government’s outgoing chief scientific adviser has said, as he urged Britain to act immediately to prevent huge numbers of people becoming jobless.
Sir Patrick Vallance, who stood down from his advisory role last month, said government should “get ahead” of the profound social and economic changes that ChatGPT-style, generative AI could usher in.

Here’s the article from The Guardian: AI ‘could be as transformative as Industrial Revolution’

Why we must regulate AI.

According to Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, “The expanding adoption of A.I. risks further locking in the market dominance of large incumbent technology firms. A handful of powerful businesses control the necessary raw materials that start-ups and other companies rely on to develop and deploy A.I. tools.”

Here’s the article from the NYT: Opinion | Lina Khan: We Must Regulate A.I. Here’s How.

The White House unveils initiative to reduce risks of AI.

The Biden-Harris Administration announced new actions to promote responsible American innovation in artificial intelligence and protect people’s rights and safety.

Including:

New investments to power responsible American AI research and development (R&D). The National Science Foundation is announcing $140 million in funding to launch seven new National AI Research Institutes.
Public assessments of existing generative AI systems. The Administration is announcing an independent commitment from leading AI developers, including Anthropic, Google, Hugging Face, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI, and Stability AI, to participate in a public evaluation of AI systems, consistent with responsible disclosure principles—on an evaluation platform developed by Scale AI—at the AI Village at DEFCON 31.
Policies to ensure the U.S. government is leading by example on mitigating AI risks and harnessing AI opportunities. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is announcing that it will be releasing draft policy guidance on the use of AI systems by the U.S. government for public comment.

Get the FACT SHEET here: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Promote Responsible AI Innovation that Protects Americans’ Rights and Safety | The White House

AI vs. Hollywood: Writers battle “plagiarism machines” in union talks.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is seeking to restrict the use of generative AI in writing film and TV scripts as part of an ongoing strike. The concerns come at a time when anxiety over the economic impact of tech like ChatGPT looms large in the minds of many.

WGA writers don't want to train AI or clean up AI-generated "sloppy first drafts."

On Twitter, screenwriter C. Robert Cargill expressed their concerns:

Get the story: AI vs. Hollywood: Writers battle “plagiarism machines” in union talks | Ars Technica

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This Week in Web3:

El Salvador is seeking to become a tech haven.

Following the announcement of the bill in March of this year, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele signed a law today eliminating taxes on technology innovations. Moreover, Bukele noted that the Innovation and Technology Manufacturing Incentive Act will eliminate income, property, capital gains, and important tariffs for technology innovations.
The announcement reinforces El Salvador’s perspective as a haven for technology development. Additionally, Bukele stated that the new act protects “technology innovations, software and app programming, AI, computer, and communications hardware manufacturing.”

The full story: El Salvador President Signs Law Eliminating Taxes on Technology Innovations

Web3 culture is not dead.

Creators, leaders, and builders from the NFT space spoke about the resilience of Web3 at CoinDesk's annual Consensus conference.

NFT project Deadfellaz co-founder Betty; chief marketing officer of Alo Yoga Angelic Vendette, director of emerging technology of Diageo North America Devin Nagy; founder of Studio LOGIK Julian Gilliam, and Web3 head of United Talent Agency Lesley Silverman shared the stage Wednesday at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2023 Festival, highlighting the amount of energy currently flowing in the crypto ecosystem.
"I've seen a lot of narratives online saying that the culture is dead," Betty said. "And people have been saying that since I started. It's not dead. The underlying ethos and the underlying desire to disrupt and to build something new and to challenge systems have been around forever."
What is unique about the Web3 space, according to Betty, is that people have a chance to empower the community “so that it doesn’t just stem from the brand itself.” Community members are “stepping up in building alongside you and authentically getting value out of it."

Web3 Culture is Not Dead, Say Brand Leaders, NFT Builders (coindesk.com)

Crypto startup says it has a solution for the global supply chain.

OpenTrade, which announced a $1.5 million fundraise on Thursday, provides stablecoin rails it says will help companies move money faster and more affordably. Investors include Sino Global Capital along with Circle Ventures, Kronos Research and others.
Today, large manufacturers like automakers rely on a network of banks and non-bank entities to pay suppliers, make payroll and move funds around. Much of that activity can move to stablecoin rails, the firm said.
"When you combine composable DeFi infrastructure with payment stablecoin, the results can truly be game changing," the firm said in a blog. "For one, we can begin to move trillions of dollars of trade and supply chain finance off of spread sheets and PDFs and into programmable internet native formers. In doing so, we can make them transferable, peer-to-peer, in real time."

More here: The Block: Sino Global, Circle Ventures back USDC supply chain startup

Palm NFT Studio launches Palm Generative Art Maker.

NFT creative network Palm NFT Studio is rolling out the Palm Generative Art Maker, a tool to help creators mint generative art collections on the blockchain.
The tool provides the infrastructure for artists to carefully craft their code, store it on-chain and produce a body of generative artwork. While the process has previously been challenging for creators without knowledge of coding, the tool simplifies bulk rendering, trait and rarity systems, and the generation of assets. In addition, the tool allows users to develop motion and static 3D assets, as well as generate the text and metadata.

This is huge for creators who cannot code.

Full article from COINDESK: Palm NFT Studio Launches Palm Generative Art Maker

Sports Illustrated launches NFT ticketing platform on Polygon.

Sports Illustrated's ticketing marketplace SI Tickets has developed "Box Office" in partnership with Ethereum software company ConsenSys.
U.S. sports publication Sports Illustrated is launching an NFT ticketing platform built on the Polygon network, an Ethereum scaling tool.
It will be the world's first complete NFT ticket service, allowing event owners, organizers, and promoters to use Box Office to build further engagement opportunities into tickets, such as highlights, collectibles and offers through a feature called "Super Ticket."

More here: Sports Illustrated Launches NFT Ticketing Platform on Polygon

A digital artist uses ChatGPT to create a $50M meme coin.

Rhett Dashwood (AKA Mankind) is a Sotheby’s-selling OG crypto artist whose work often depicts ethereal and otherworldly scenes and figures covered in saturated colors.
The gimmick behind the token’s rise? Mankind created the coin with a $69 budget and the help of ChatGPT — and with no experience in coding or creating a coin to speak of.

More here: How a Digital Artist Used Chat GPT to Create a $50M Meme Coin (nftnow.com)

Sui, a new smart contract platform that takes a different approach to the blockchain data model.

Sui is an upcoming Layer-1 smart contract platform with a unique, object-centric data model that is key in its ability to scale network throughput.
On Sui, simple transactions like peer-to-peer transfers and NFT mass mints do not undergo consensus, allowing validators to process ~300,000 transfers/simple transactions per second.
Sui throughput is horizontally scalable. Its network throughput grows as more computing power is added to each validator within the existing validator set.
Sui Move, Sui’s programming language, has built-in safety properties that prevent certain types of hacks/exploits.

5 Things to Do:

PONDER:

“I would not want to give you two books because you would sit down and read them and think that you’ve done it. You should not read two books, but 2,000 books.” ~ Werner Herzog

READ: The Way of Nagomi: The Japanese Philosophy of Finding Balance and Peace in Everything You Do

Neuroscientist Ken Mogi shares wisdom from Japanese history and culture to explain how nagomi can help you:

have happy relationships with loved ones who disagree
engage with the natural world without diminishing its beauty
strive for improvement while accepting imperfection
strike a balance to achieve calm.

WATCH: Why Spinoza is Back | Big Think

Baruch Spinoza is one of the most important western philosophers. Everyone should know something about him.

Einstein is probably the most famous Spinozist. He loved the man. He wrote a terrible poem in German you know that begins, “How much do I love this holy man?” “Words cannot tell.” It’s so there is something about Spinoza that inspires in many and certainly in me a tremendous love. Bertrand Russell calls him in The History of Western Philosophy the most loveable of philosophers.

PRACTICE: An introduction to music therapy.

Music therapy can be life changing.

This video explains music therapy in an interview with Rachael Finnerty — a music therapist who is accredited in Canada. It introduces music therapy interventions, identifies diagnoses that benefit from music therapy and explains the advantages of using it as part of treatment. It also looks at a study that assessed the effectiveness of music therapy in patients with Parkinson's disease.

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