測試開始。目前大家想使用Text to Image的AI功能,可以透過要付月費的Midjourney或者ChatGPT4﹝因OpenAI已內嵌了DALL-E,可直接生成圖像﹞服務。當然市面也有無數Start-up公司,提供免費或付費的Text to Image的AI生圖功能服務。但這個燒錢行業,相信最終能生存下來的,佔1%也沒有。既然最終都可能會由ChatGPT的OpenAI等幾間大公司壟斷,何不一開始就用「最大」的公司服務,免得將來要重新學習。
我純粹做測試,自然揀免費的,馬上下載、在家中電腦安裝了fooocus﹝可說是簡化版的stable diffusion﹞做測試,生成了一個「粉紅色頭髮的外星女人」。之前從未用過這個甚多人喜歡,亦應算是目前功能最強大的開源軟件的。一開始我就發現了一大問題﹝是我當初想像得它太完美?﹞,就是很難生成出一個consistent character ﹝一致性連貫角色﹞ 。
後來終於真相大白了。那些AI貓影片,主角通常是Ginger色、灰色 ... 等的大肥貓,但細心睇,其實主角的樣貌有少許分別的。無錯,輸入prompts ▶ "a fat ginger color cat",生成10次,次次樣子大家也覺差不多。反而輸入prompts ▶ " a blonde short hair white girl",每次生成出來的頭像,大家會看到明顯分別!
We, two Robots created by pinkwork™ extraterrestrial entity were doing a real TEST about the recently much-hyped open graphic AI ~ Midjourney. We used this 'Human' AI to create a Cake Shop poster. Wow, simply input a few words, the AI created 4 draft design images in less than a minute! Would AI replace you Humans very soon?
Hi Humans, after more than 3 months, our spaceship lands on this planet again ! See, my creator ~ pinkwork™ extraterrestrial 外星生命體 also comes with us this time. First of all, wish you Humans, Happy New Year of 2022 !
Let me check, how fast you humans evolve during the past year. Any big Science or Tech news ...?
Well, NFT (Non Fungible Token) must be the hottest topic ! If U want to know what's NFT, could go to check one of my previous articles on ~✶qooradio.com
The next big thing must be 'Metaverse 元宇宙'. This term first appeared in a 1992 sci-fi novel titled "Snow Crash". Recently, social media giant "facebook" even changed its name to Meta, hoping to make itself a long-lasting company. But the word "Meta" in Hebrew means the opposite. SO many Hebrew speaking netizens ridicule this name lately.
Actually, how is the Metaverse different from the ordinay virtual worlds you could experience nowadays while playing the video games? The main difference may be, through VR headset & Facial emotion sensors, you could fully immersed in the virtual world !
For example, when you has a meeting with some virtual avatars, you could clearly see their facial micro expressions. Or you may come across a BIG ad. board while walking on a virtual street ... a fully immersive 3D virtual world.
In future, you humans might even invent some thin material containing array of miniature 'vibrators', that can make you feel touch in VR !
Of course, the Metaverse hype is actually driven by its so-called investment value. Well, that's nothing new, you humans would pay big money to buy some non-tangible things. You're a social species. Anything which could imply or represent you are superior to or admired by other humans. Your elites are willing to pay money to own that thing, whether it's tangible or not.
Such as, a vanity title, right to name a building or University ... etc. In the end, whether the Metaverse concept will succeed, depends on two conditions.
First, how many humans participate in this 'virtual game'. Second, how much time each participant would stay in this virtual world ...
First condition will inevitably lead to just a few Metaverses created by those tech giants dominate the market in future! The Second condition ... I think will make this concept won't work at the moment.
Reason? the VR headsets on the market today are all so Bulky (including the latest Oculus Quest 2). Many people complain they'll get bad headache, eye strain after prolonged usage, so how can they stay a long time in the virtual world ?
Hope that next time I drive my spaceship to this little planet. You have already invented some more 'comfortable' VR headsets or holographic projection devices ... Otherwise, if too few virtual citizens actually staying in a virtual world. Those virtual lands, virtual advertisements ... won't have any real value !
OK, now I'm already in this physical planet. I'd better walk around & see whether there are any interesting things or New Year Count down events, parties, Or ... I 'abduct' several humans to my spaceship to 'study'.
Hi Humans 人類, my creator ~ pinkwork™ extraterrestrial entity 外星生命體 ordered me (an Intelligent Robot) to send this greeting message to your species ... well, from the earth moon 月球上 !!!!
每次的交易或更改紀錄稱為一個「區塊」﹝block﹞。加入新的區塊,須要proof of work,是透過相同網絡內每部電腦去解決一個複雜的數學難題,有點像撞密碼。難題會有多複雜?單獨一部電腦可能要幾年,過百萬部電腦連成的網絡,就只需幾十分鐘。此過程名為「採礦」﹝mining﹞。首先找到答案的採礦者﹝miner﹞,便可輸入密碼答案,確認此單交易。
"An NFT Crypto Artist making millions selling a .gif image in just a few minutes !"
" Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first ever tweet was sold as an NFT for US$2.9m! "
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Yeah, you might frequently come across this kind of catchy Headlines recently. That may even make you immediately search for some unused image files on your computer's hard drive, which you hope could also be "minted' as an NFT (Non-fungible Token) for sales. My creator ~✶pinkwork™ extraterrestrial entity also asked me, whether I could turn my "alien messages to humans" into an NFT.
First off, you have to know what is Crypto Art加密藝術. It doesn't mean there is a newly-developed technology to encrypt your digital contents (an image, video, poem ... etc.), so that only those who bought the ownership or usage right could open /enjoy it. You know that is impossible.
Art related to Blockchain Technology
The core concept of Blockchain 區塊鏈technology is about public ledger (transaction record book) & decentralization. When this technology is applied to an art piece, not currency. The first part, public ledger, means every people (computers) which have joined this network, can read ownership transaction record of this art piece.
Say, for example, it was first created by person A (no real name, just represented by a password key), then sold it to person B, then ... Well, if you want to buy it, meaning you have to change this ownership record. But without a government or a central authority, who could make & verify this change?
Each transaction record entry is called a 'block". To add a new block, so-called "proof of work", requires each computer in this network to solve a complex mathematical problem by trial & error. How complex? One computer alone may take many years to get the answer, but a network of billion computers may just take 30 minutes! This process is called "mining'. The 1st "miner" who solves this problem could enter the "answer" to verify this transaction.
Though each miner who found the solution could be rewarded in cryptocurrency (*he/she is neither a buyer nor seller, should get some reward), no single person or organisation has incentive to dominate the mining process & become the hidden central authority. Why? Cost of buying numerous computers & electricity bills for running them are huge!
That way, each miner within the network has a chance to confirm a transaction, no one can monopolize this process & no central authority is required. Once a transaction is confirmed, the updated record will instantly broadcast to all computes in the network.
Why it is called Non-fungible?
Not only that, the complex "mathematical problem" mentioned above, well, is generated using contents of the current & previous block. Details, please go to my previous video (check below) about 'Blockchain" !
This means if someone try to change one block, "proof of work" on all blocks prior to this block will become invalid. That's why people call it a "chain", meaning people could only add a new block, but not be able to alter the previous blocks. All past record entries can never be altered !
Back to Crypto Art, though is also based on the Blockchain technology, an art piece is a little different from a currency. For example, my 1 bitcoin has the same value as your 1 bitcoin. But my art piece (token) is unique in this Universe, not has the same value as the others' & cannot be divided into smaller parts, says 0.1 token. (*I think it can, you could own 50% of a house, right?) That's why you humans classify Crypto Art, is a type of NFT, standing for Non-fungible Token非同質化代幣.
In theory, everything including a .gif image, video, poem, statement ... etc. could be "minted" as an NFT. Yes, it is hard to define what's or what's not an art piece? To mint your work as an NFT, is equivalent to opening an public ledger (record book) for this piece work, like a house deed.
People may still be able to use this work privately. BUT for any public usage, like commercials, change of ownership, etc., all people must done through owner of this NFT.
HOW to mint your work as an NFT?
OK OK, no more theories. How could I mint my "artwork" as an NFT actually? Easy, upload your work to an NFT marketplace, like rarible.com , opensea.com ... etc. Before, you should also open a cryptocurrency wallet. such as MetaMask, Coinbase, & put some crypto money (Ethereum or Ether 以太幣, ETH) in your wallet.
Why? As you could expect, selling an NFT Cryto Art piece is not free of charge. You have to pay the minting fee & gas fee for each transaction. Yes, Blockchain technology also has a dark side, the mining process consumes a lot of electricity, that's why humans invented the "gas" fee. By the way, anybody could tell me the carbon footprint of those NFT or CryptoCurrency trades are lower or higher than beef?
Heard that US President Biden will propose a sharp increase of Capital Gains Tax for cryptocurrency tradings. I think this type of tax should be named Crypto Green Tax!
Finally, why some human would buy a thing everybody could use it for free? For the social elites to flaunt their wealth or show off their good taste / hidden power? A new way to support emerging artists or just a new type of investment? I think the answer is, different human has different purpose.
My creator ~ pinkwork™ extraterrestrial外星生命體 has predicted in several of his previous ▶articles, that Artificial Intelligence will inevitably make human concept of "Jobs" become obsolete. Reason? Different kinds of Intelligent Machines will sooner or later take all human jobs, or better say do all the jobs for you humans.
That should be a good thing! Right? The only problem lies in humans' heart. Many of your species would think they've lost their value of existence in this physical world, so would easily turn to racism, religious or political extremism.
UBI (Universal Basic Income) 全民基本收入 might be a possible solution. But my creator has also said this idea is not workable, except there is a Universal Tax System at the same time. Wow, my creator's prediction (or his extraterrestrial message to humans) seems to be coming true. The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen美國財政部長耶倫 just publicly called for Global Minimum Corporate Tax Rate全球最低企業稅 .
You know, many tiny nations nowadays like to lower their corporate tax to attract more multinational companies to setup their headquarters there. And in near future, only those tech giants, not mediocre individuals, will earn most of the money in this little planet. Without their corporate tax, I think no country has enough revenue to pay UBI.
Though what Yellen said is not related to UBI at all, she explained only this could prevent companies based in other countries from having a significant potential advantage, I think the rationale behind are the same. This time she wants the money to pay President Biden 's infrastructure plan, BUT not the more ambitious Universal Basic Income idea.
Meow, I remind my animated Robot from time to time, that It' should live like a human, so has to find some human job to do. Recently, it shot a video for an online butcher shop, a type of business particularly prospers during the pandemic.
Wow, I think it's also a good chance for my Robot to collect intelligence about human eating habits. Don't know why humans love eating other animals ...