"The Future Of Generative AI"

Once, the world was moving in its comfortable routine. But when ChatGPT arrived, everything changed. Uncertainty gripped humanity, forcing them to adapt swiftly. People embraced AI, learning its patterns and adapting for survival. The streets buzzed with humans and machines working hand in hand. The world hummed with a blend of innovation and nostalgia. AI became a tool, not a replacement, as humans held onto their essence. Together, they built a new world, where technology harmonised with humanity. And in this symbiotic dance, they discovered that progress and preservation could coexist, creating a future where survival meant embracing change. This short story written about artificial intelligence is the reflection of the world in the next few decades where the world would be completely different from today's world. The purpose of this very story was to explain the power of Generative AI which is forcing the world to change  its path of development in almost every sector. So, in this blog I will try to explain about what  exactly is Generative AI which certainly forced leading technological companies to change their way of thinking? 

Overview and definition of Generative AI.

Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new and original content, such as images, videos, text, music and more. Unlike traditional AI systems that analyse and process existing data, generative AI systems can produce novel and realistic data that did not exist before. It does this by learning from existing data, such as books, movies, and music. Once it has learned the patterns in the data, it can use that knowledge to create new content that is similar to the data it has learned from. Chat bot we are seeing these days are based on this method of technology. 

If we look back at the history then Generative AI was there from the beginning of 1950s when it used to be called generative modelling. The earliest and most important example of this is the work of Alan Turing who proposed a test for determining whether a machine can demonstrate intelligence that is indistinguishable from a human. This test is famously known as the ‘Turing Test’. In 1957 Frank Rosenblatt invented the perceptron which is a type of Neural network model that can learn a wide range of linear and nonlinear functions. It is used in many applications, including image recognition, speech recognition etc. Joseph Weizenbaum developed the first chatbot called ELIZA during the 1960s. It was one of the first examples of natural language processing (NLP) and was designed to simulate conversations with a human user by generating responses based on the text it received . In the 1980s, neural networks began to be used for generative AI. Neural networks are a type of machine learning algorithm that are inspired by the human brain. They are able to learn patterns in data and use that knowledge to generate new data that is similar to the data they have learned from. The work of Geofrey Hinton in the topic of backpropagation can also be considered as one of the breakthroughs in the field of AI as it can be used to train artificial neural networks with more than two layers.  

It was after 2010 when generative AI got much exposure after the introduction of deep learning(to understand what deep learning is you can watch the video attached to the last) . It was the year 2014 when another breakthrough happened on Generative AI and it was the introduction of Generative adversarial Networks or GANs. It was introduced by Ian Goodfellow  and his colleagues. A generative adversarial network (GAN) is a type of machine learning model that can be used to create new data that is similar to existing data. GANs work by having two neural networks compete against each other. One network, called the generator, tries to create new data that looks like the real data. The other network, called the discriminator, tries to distinguish between the real data and the data created by the generator. To understand clearly, let's look at this example.

Imagine you have a machine that can create new images. You want to train this machine to create realistic images of dogs. But how do you do that?

One way is to show the machine a bunch of real images of dogs. The machine will learn to identify the features that make up a dog, such as whiskers, ears, and fur. Then, it can use this knowledge to create new images that look like dogs.

But this approach has a problem. What if the machine learns to create images that look like dogs, but they're not actually very good? For example, the machine might create images of dogs with too many legs or no eyes.

A generative adversarial network (GAN) is a better way to train a machine to create new images. GANs work by using two neural networks to compete against each other. One neural network is called the generator, and the other is called the discriminator.

The generator is responsible for creating new images. The discriminator is responsible for identifying real images from fake images.

The generator starts out by creating very bad images. The discriminator can easily identify these images as fake. But over time, the generator will learn to create better and better images. This is because the generator is constantly trying to fool the discriminator.

The discriminator will also learn over time. It will learn to identify fake images more and more accurately. This is because the discriminator is constantly trying to identify the fake images created by the generator.

Eventually, the generator will become so good at creating images that the discriminator can no longer tell the difference between real and fake images. This is when the GAN is said to be "trained."

GANs have been used to create realistic images of cats, dogs, people, and even landscapes. They have also been used to generate music, text, and code. GANs are a powerful tool for creating new content, and they have the potential to revolutionise many industries.

Examples of generative AI

  Generative AI can generate new data or content that is similar to the data it was trained on. The training is done by using two neural networks where they compete with each other as explained in the above example. Generative AI can be used to produce Text generation, Image generation and music generation. Some of the examples of these are:

1. ChatGPT: a chatbot developed by OpenAI, is capable of generating natural and coherent responses to almost any question it is asked. It is based on a large-scale language model called GPT-3, which has learned from billions of words on the internet. As of November 2023, OpenAI has already launched GPT-4 and GPT Turbo, which are undoubtedly the strongest LLMs (large language models) in history.

2. DALL-E: an image generator developed by OpenAI, can create realistic and diverse images based on text descriptions. It is based on GPT-3 and can combine different concepts and styles in novel ways. DALL-E 2 was released in April 2022(which actually is not based on GPT-3 but related with it) and DALL-E 3 which was released in August 2023. Both models are significant upgrades over the original model, and they can generate images that are even more realistic, detailed, and versatile

3. DeepMind WaveNet:  WaveNet is a really cool technology developed by DeepMind that uses deep neural networks to generate raw audio waveforms. Basically, it's a way for computers to learn how to generate speech, music, and other audio. The cool thing about it is that it's able to learn on its own, without needing a lot of labeled data. This makes it more flexible and scalable than other speech synthesis methods. It's also been used to generate speech that sounds more natural and lifelike than traditional speech synthesis methods. WaveNet is a pretty impressive technology that has a lot of potential applications in things like speech-to-text transcription, voice assistants, and more.

4. Magenta: A project by Google Brain that explores the use of generative AI for music and art creation. It provides various tools and models that can generate melodies, harmonies, rhythms, sketches, paintings and more.

Future and challenges.

As the world is seeing rapid growth in the field of Artificial intelligence, the future for generative AI also looks very promising as it  has the potential to create all sorts of content, from music and art to text and video. So, in future generative ai can be used in various fields for various purposes. Some of them could be.

• Artificial intelligence-powered content creation: Generative AI can be used to create new and innovative content, such as movies, music, and video games. This could lead to a new era of creativity and entertainment.

• Data analysis and visualisation: Generative AI can be used to analyse and visualise large amounts of data. This could help businesses make better decisions and improve their operations.

• Medical research: Generative AI can be used to create models of diseases and develop new treatments. This could lead to major advances in medicine.

• Education: Generative AI can be used to create personalised learning experiences for students. This could help students learn more effectively and efficiently.

• Customer service: Generative AI can be used to create chatbots that can answer customer questions and resolve issues. This could improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs for businesses.

While generative AI has the potential to revolutionise many industries, there are also some challenges that need to be addressed. These challenges include:

• Data privacy: Generative AI models require large amounts of data to train. This data may contain sensitive information, such as personal data or financial data. It is important to ensure that this data is used responsibly and that it is protected from unauthorized access.

• Bias: Generative AI models can be biased, reflecting the biases that are present in the training data. This can lead to the generation of content that is offensive or harmful. It is important to train generative AI models on data that is as diverse and representative as possible.

• Intellectual property: The question of intellectual property rights for content generated by AI is still an evolving area of discussion. It is important to develop clear policies and regulations around this issue.

At last, Generative AI is a powerful tool that has the potential to revolutionise many industries. It can be used to create new and innovative content, such as movies, music, and video games. It can also be used to analyse and visualise large amounts of data, develop new treatments for diseases, and create personalised learning experiences for students. However, there are also some challenges that need to be addressed, such as data privacy, bias, and intellectual property rights. And if we use this for the right purpose then definitely the world will be a better place like we explained in our short story in the beginning of this blog.