Ideas: Free to A Good Home. Trippin AI, Your AI Travel Companion

I’m going to do something a little different today. I want to start sharing some of the ideas I do not have the time or resources to develop. I may start this as part of my Sunday editions but I wanted to share and get you’re feedback on whether or not this is something you all will actually enjoy reading each week. You can always provide feedback, reviews, or anything really by reaching out to me directly at [email protected] 

Back in early December of 2022, while exploring NYC at Christmas time with my wife, I had this idea—an app that'd basically be your dream travel buddy. Jotted everything down, and then kinda let it simmer. Fast-forward and some similar apps are out there, but none have nailed it, you know?

Here's the scoop on Trippin AI:

The Cool Stuff It Does

1. Real-Time Itinerary: Ever wish your travel plans could adapt like a choose-your-own-adventure book? Well, Trippin.AI can do that, adjusting your itinerary on the fly.

2. Route Magic: Say you're walking around Rome. The app will tell you the best routes for public transport, walking, or hailing a cab, and keeps updating it for you. Neat, huh? Just select the list from your itinerary and Route Magic will create the best itinerary from scratch for the most efficient routes to travel to ensure you squeeze everything you want into your day.

3. Hey, Look Over There!: Imagine strolling along and your phone buzzes to tell you there's this rad art installation just a block away—and you've got 15 minutes to spare. Trippin.AI can make that happen.

4. Tick-Tock: Never miss out because you lost track of time. The app nudges you when it's time to move to the next spot on your list.

5. One App to Rule Them All: Flights, hotels, local attractions—get it all sorted with this one app. No more app juggling!

Why This Matters

It's All About You: This app learns from you to make your trips better each time.

Efficiency is Key: Why scramble through multiple apps, blog articles, and tabs when you can have it all in one place?

Privacy First: Your data's safer than Fort Knox, thanks to some snazzy blockchain tech.

The Tech-y Stuff

Natural Language Processing: So the app gets you, like really gets you.

Generative AI: This is how the app thinks up all those awesome suggestions.

Real-Time Data: Keeps everything current. No stale info here!

So, Who Wants In?

Look, I've got tons of these ideas just gathering dust, and I'm not planning to build this thing myself. But hey, if you wanna take a stab at it, let's chat. I've got the insights and the how-to, and could totally help as a consultant.

Quick Recap

Trippin AI is loaded with features: Real-time plans, route magic, and cool on-the-go suggestions.

Why settle for less?: This idea's got more under the hood than anything out there.

Free to a Good Home: Seriously, someone should build this. I'm even up for consulting.

Open Sourced Emotion-Detecting AI: The Brave New World of Empathetic Robots and the Questions It Raises

Alright, folks, grab your popcorn because this one's a ride. Picture this: You're asking Alexa to play "Bohemian Rhapsody," but it pulls up "Baby Shark" instead. You're understandably irked. Alexa senses your annoyance and apologizes. Cool, right? Well, the folks at LAION (Large-scale Artificial Intelligence Open Network) want to take this emotional intuition and make it open-source. Yep, they're dreaming up AI that understands not just what you're saying but also how you're feeling while saying it. Welcome to the next chapter in the AI saga: Open Empathetic. 🤖+❤️

You may remember LAION from its work on the text-to-image model Stable Diffusion. These are the guys who want to "democratize AI" (lofty words, but stay with me). Their aim is to make AI models that understand your tones, expressions, and mood swings. To achieve this, they're inviting volunteers to submit and annotate audio clips of real emotions. Why? Because nothing says empathy like a machine that can tell you're annoyed when it misinterprets "Bohemian Rhapsody" for "Baby Shark," am I right?

Now, before we get carried away imagining AI therapists or robot buddies who can pick up on your vibe, let's pump the brakes. Emotion-detecting tech isn't exactly a science yet. Even companies like Amazon and Apple, who've been dipping their toes in the emotional pool, haven't perfected it. Most of this tech relies on research from the '70s by Paul Ekman, who argued there are universal markers for emotions. Spoiler: there aren't. Emotions are messy, complicated, and influenced by culture, language, and personal experiences. So if you're thinking that emotion-detecting AI is the next big thing, well, we're not there yet, my friends.

Here's the catch. Just like in any other data-driven model, biases can sneak in. We're talking about biases in race, gender, and even emotional expression. So while the goal might be to create an "emotionally intelligent" AI, there's the risk of also creating a biased one. This isn't just about someone's feelings getting hurt; we're talking about real-world applications. Imagine emotion-detecting tech in hiring platforms, classrooms, or even border control misinterpreting people's emotional states. Let that sink in.

LAION claims they've got measures to keep biases at bay, but their track record isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Previous datasets have had their fair share of issues, including explicit content and biases. So are we really ready to trust that LAION can handle the complex, messy world of human emotions? Jury's still out on that one.

Key Takeaways:

- LAION wants to make emotion-detecting AI open source with their Open Empathetic project.

- The idea sounds great in theory, but the science behind emotion detection is still pretty shaky.

- Biases can seriously skew the system, which can have real-world consequences.

Look, I get it; the idea of an AI understanding our emotions sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. But as we barrel down this path, let's not forget: that emotions are complex. While it's exciting to think about AI that can understand us, and maybe even comfort us, there's a lot of work to be done. And, given the potential for bias and misuse, perhaps there's a reason why some things should remain uniquely human.

Shutterstock Revolutionizes Stock Photography with AI-Powered Customization Tools

Check this out—Shutterstock is leveling up its game with a splash of AI magic. Remember when stock images were the most vanilla thing since, well, vanilla? Yeah, not anymore. Thanks to advancements in AI, now we're not just looking at pictures, we're morphing them like digital clay. It's like the Build-A-Bear of photography, and I am here for it!

Adobe and Getty Images have been playing it safe, sticking to their lanes with commercial AI image generators. But Shutterstock? They're breaking the mold by adding some creative AI-powered editing features. The company is essentially saying, "Here’s our library of 700 million images. Go nuts, Picasso!"

Their new features aren't just the simple cut-and-paste editing tools you'd expect. They're pushing the envelope with tools like Magic Brush and Variations. Imagine looking at a stock photo and thinking, "Hmm, could use a rainbow right there," and voila—Magic Brush makes it happen. Just scribble over the part you want to change, throw in some descriptive text, and let the AI do the rest. Meanwhile, Variations lets you create alternate realities for existing images. Maybe you want to see what a beach looks like at sunset instead of midday? Done.

Oh, and let’s not forget sizing. Ever had the perfect image, but it's just not the right fit for your project? Enter two other Shutterstock tools: Expand Image and Smart Resize. The former broadens your horizons—literally, by expanding the view of the image. The latter? It’s your personal tailor, resizing any image to your desired dimensions. I mean, at this point, the only thing missing is a tool that makes your morning coffee while you work.

But before you worry about AI stealing the creative juice from hardworking artists, Shutterstock assures us that artists will still get their cut if their images are licensed after being edited. Which is a class act, if you ask me.

Alright, let's get real for a sec. This move by Shutterstock is pretty much a must. With new-gen image generators like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and the ever-captivating DALL-E, the traditional image business is getting a run for its money. Adapt or die, right? And, hey, you can get a front-row seat to all this action; Shutterstock has a live demo coming up on Nov. 9, for their Creative AI showcase. So mark your calendars!

Amazon's AI Image Generator: A Game-Changer for Advertisers, A Wake-Up Call for Product Photographers

So, Amazon's getting its AI groove on and taking a swing at product photography. Just in time for the high-stakes game of Black Friday shopping, Amazon's rolling out an AI tool that allows advertisers to whip up snazzy lifestyle images directly within their advertising console. The narrative that's buzzing around? "This tech won't kill product photography." Yeah, I beg to differ.

You see, Amazon isn't just tossing a fancy tool into the advertiser's toolkit for fun; they've got data. Lifestyle images—think a toaster chillin' next to a buttery croissant—have a click-through rate on mobile that's 40% higher than the lonely product-on-white-backdrop shot. That's a significant difference, people! And Amazon's making it dead-simple. Click 'Generate', and bam! Your product is living its best life in a series of AI-generated brand-centric images.

It's a tempting proposition for advertisers. Why? Because creating those "oh-so-inviting" lifestyle photos usually sucks up time and money. But now, you don't need to be a seasoned photographer or even know one to make it happen. And let's be real, not every product on Amazon needs a cover shoot for Vogue. It needs to look "good enough," and "good enough" is where AI can totally hold its own.

While some may argue that this isn't the death knell for product photography, it's definitely not roses and sunshine either. Imagine you're a stock photographer. Your mainstay is creating those ubiquitous product images. Suddenly, a machine can do 80% of your job overnight—and for pennies on the dollar. That's not just disruptive; that's an earthquake for your career! But don't get me wrong; this isn't going to eliminate the need for human photographers entirely. High-end brands will still pay top dollar for that bespoke, artisan touch.

And here's where it gets even juicier. The AI image-generation scene isn't exclusive to Amazon. Big hitters like Shutterstock and Getty are also jumping on the bandwagon, providing an option to generate images if their vast libraries just aren't cutting it. Oh, and Google's joining the party, too. The wave isn't coming; it's already here. It's just going to keep getting bigger, washing over other platforms as it grows.

But hey, there's a glimmer of hope for the photography purists. Nightshade, a tool developed by the University of Chicago, promises to "poison" these AI image generators, making them associate the wrong imagery with the wrong text. Interesting, but let's face it, that's more of a hiccup for AI than a cure for what ails the photography world.

So, what's the real deal? AI-generated images won't eliminate human photographers, but let's not kid ourselves—they're going to take a big bite out of the market, especially for those in the stock photo game. If you're a photographer, you might not be doomed, but you might want to consider diversifying your skills. Just saying.