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Video game NPCs may become much more intriguing thanks to new AI technology

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Video game NPCs may become much more intriguing thanks to new AI technology

In video games, non-player characters (NPCs) often have a somewhat narrow range. They may only have a limited supply of pre-written answers for your queries, but they mostly serve as plot devices or filler.

But Convai thinks they have a lot more to offer.

The AI company made waves at the Nvidia press conference at CES earlier this month by demonstrating a technique that combined generative AI with NPCs and allowed users to have unscripted, conversational interactions with the in-game characters.

“What we are doing is giving these NPCs a mind,” Purnendu Mukherjee, founder and CEO of the San Jose-based Convai tells Fast Company. “So much so that they’re able to have a natural conversation with us. You can talk to them about anything. Not only can you do a voice-to-voice conversation, they show emotion. They have the right facial expressions. And in a 3D environment, the next level of cognition is they can perceive the environment and interact with it.”

The dialogues don’t seem particularly human. It takes a little while for the NPCs to respond to your questions, and the facial movements might use some work, but overall, it’s a significant improvement over the blank looks you get when attempting to find out information in, say, Skyrim.

Cloud computing powers the AI. In the game, characters can “see” and “hear” you, as well as your voice—you converse with these characters directly instead of selecting answers from a predetermined list of text questions. Your device receives their replies, which are then locally generated into the game.

An in-game partner that goes on quests with you or just a regular villager can be the NPC you engage with. Furthermore, Mukherjee notes that there are precautions against people trying to create artificial intelligence hallucinations or having villagers in a period-based game like Assassin’s Creed debate current events.

“They will stay in character,” he says. “They will not break character. If you’re interacting with a professor or medieval merchant and start talking about something outside of that world, they will say, ‘What are you talking about? I have no idea what that is.’ . . . Developers have the complete freedom to say how far [characters] can go from their backstory and how restrictive they want to keep them.”

But, you will have more options with these characters than you do with the existing NPCs. Asking an NPC to surrender their life in order to progress in the game is one example Mukherjee provides, and this may lead to some really intriguing morality tales in video games.

Furthermore, there are undoubtedly applications for Convai technology outside of the gaming industry. According to Mukherjee, AI-generated figures might serve as marketing representatives or virtual concierges in hotels or airports, providing directions based on location-based information.

Mukherjee predicts that the technology will soon be used in the real world, while Convai claims that it is unable to disclose the names of the companies it now works with due to contractual obligations. It will come from small to mid-sized creators at first because they usually release games more quickly. Convai claims that in order to integrate the technology into games, it is collaborating with bigger studios.

“They’re being more conservative about announcing this,” Mukherjee says. “That will probably be another two or three years. . . . We have a bunch of partners, but it’s not our information to share.”

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Google Introduces AI Model for Precise Weather Forecasting

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With the confirmation of the release of an AI-based weather forecasting model that can anticipate subtle changes in the weather, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is taking a bigger step into the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

Known as the Scalable Ensemble Envelope Diffusion Sampler (SEEDS), Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) model is remarkably similar to other diffusion models and popular large language models (LLMs).

In a paper published in Science Advances, it is stated that SEEDS is capable of producing ensembles of weather forecasts at a scale that surpasses that of conventional forecasting systems. The artificial intelligence system uses probabilistic diffusion models, which are similar to image and video generators like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.

The announcement said, “We present SEEDS, [a] new AI technology to accelerate and improve weather forecasts using diffusion models.” “Using SEEDS, the computational cost of creating ensemble forecasts and improving the characterization of uncommon or extreme weather events can be significantly reduced.”

Google’s cutting-edge denoising diffusion probabilistic models, which enable it to produce accurate weather forecasts, set SEEDS apart. According to the research paper, SEEDS can generate a large pool of predictions with just one forecast from a reliable numerical weather prediction system.

When compared to weather prediction systems based on physics, SEEDS predictions show better results based on metrics such as root-mean-square error (RMSE), rank histogram, and continuous ranked probability score (CRPS).

In addition to producing better results, the report characterizes the computational cost of the model as “negligible,” meaning it cannot be compared to traditional models. According to Google Research, SEEDS offers the benefits of scalability while covering extreme events like heat waves better than its competitors.

The report stated, “Specifically, by providing samples of weather states exceeding a given threshold for any user-defined diagnostic, our highly scalable generative approach enables the creation of very large ensembles that can characterize very rare events.”

Using Technology to Protect the Environment

Many environmentalists have turned to artificial intelligence (AI) since it became widely available to further their efforts to save the environment. AI models are being used by researchers at Johns Hopkins and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to forecast weather patterns in an effort to mitigate the effects of pollution.

With its meteorological department eager to use cutting-edge technologies to forecast weather events like flash floods and droughts, India is likewise traveling down the same route. Equipped with cutting-edge advancements, Australia-based nonprofit ClimateForce, in collaboration with NTT Group, says it will employ artificial intelligence (AI) to protect the Daintree rainforest’s ecological equilibrium.

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Apple may be Introducing AI Hardware for the First time with the New IPad Pro

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With the release of the new iPad Pro, Apple is poised to accelerate its transition towards artificial intelligence (AI) hardware. With the intention of releasing the M4 chip later this year, the company is expediting its upgrades to computer processors. With its new neural engine, this chip should enable more sophisticated AI capabilities.

According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, the M4 chip will not only be found in Mac computers but will also be included in the upcoming iPad Pro. It appears that Apple is responding to the recent AI boom in the tech industry by positioning the iPad Pro as its first truly AI-powered device.

The new iPad Pro will be unveiled by Apple ahead of its June Worldwide Developers Conference, which will free it up to reveal its AI chip strategy. The AI apps and services that will be a part of iPadOS 18, which is anticipated later this year, are also anticipated to be utilized by the M4 chip and the new iPad Pros.

May 7 at 7:30 PM IST is when the next Let Loose event is scheduled to take place. Live streaming of the event will be available on Apple.com and the Apple TV app.

AI is also expected to play a major role in Apple’s A18 chip design for the iPhone 16. It is important to acknowledge that these recent products are not solely designed and developed with artificial intelligence in mind, and this may be a tactic employed for marketing purposes. According to reports, more sophisticated gear is on the way. Apple reportedly developed a home robot and a tablet iPad that could be controlled by a robotic arm.

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AI Features of the Google Pixel 8a Leaked before the Device’s Planned Release

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A new smartphone from Google is anticipated to be unveiled during its May 14–15 I/O conference. The forthcoming device, dubbed Pixel 8a, will be a more subdued version of the Pixel 8. Despite being frequently spotted online, the smartphone has not yet received any official announcements from the company. A promotional video that was leaked is showcasing the AI features of the Pixel 8a, just weeks before its much-anticipated release. Furthermore, internet leaks have disclosed software support and special features.

Tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer obtained a promotional video for the Pixel 8a through MySmartPrice. The forthcoming smartphone is anticipated to include certain Pixel-only features, some of which are demonstrated in the video. As per the video, the Pixel 8a will support Google’s Best Take feature, which substitutes faces from multiple group photos or burst photos to “replace” faces that have their eyes closed or display undesirable expressions.

There will be support for Circle to Search on the Pixel 8a, a feature that is presently present on some Pixel and Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Additionally, the leaked video implies that the smartphone will come equipped with Google’s Audio Magic Eraser, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool for eliminating unwanted background noise from recorded videos. In addition, as shown in the video, the Pixel 8a will support live translation during voice calls.

The phone will have “seven years of security updates” and the Tensor G3 chip, according to the leaked teasers. It’s unclear, though, if the phone will get the same amount of Android OS updates as the more expensive Pixel 8 series phones that have the same processor. In the days preceding its planned May 14 launch, the company is anticipated to disclose additional information about the device.

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