The China-based company Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) told Music Business Worldwide that it has created and released more than 1000 tracks with AI vocals that mimic the human voice. According to the company, a track with AI vocals has surpassed 100 million streams.
TME claimed that the track named ‘Today’ (translated to English) has become the first-ever song by an AI singer to be streamed more than 100 million times across the internet. When run through the Streaming Calculator, the 100,000,000 streams total to $348,000 (£291,801) in revenue.
In September, TME launched the Lingyin Engine, which patented voice synthesis technology. The company added that it could quickly replicate singers’ voices to create original songs of any language and style.
One of the projects from Lingyin Engine saw the development of synthetic voices in the memory of legendary artists such as the late Anita Mui and the late Teresa Teng.
This week TME also revealed that along with voice tributes, they are planning to recreate celebrities that are still alive, including Chinese actress Yang Chaoyue.
As per Reuters, the UK government announces to make it illegal to encourage harmful content online and will fine the social media companies that fail to remove such content online.
Promoting suicide is already illegal, but UK’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Support Ministry stated that they now want social media companies to block a broader range of content.
According to the UK government, social media companies must remove and limit users’ content that deliberately encourages people to harm themselves. Full details of the announcement, like the criminal penalties faced by people who encourage self-harm and the scale of fines faced by the tech companies, will come next month when legislative amendments are put before the parliament.
Earlier proposals were designed to ban ‘legal but harmful’ material online that drew criticism from tech companies and free speech campaigners. However, children and mental health charities are strongly supporting the new announcement.
Michelle Donelan, the Digital Secretary of Britain’s Digital, Culture, Media and Support Ministry, stated that the social media firms will no longer remain silent observers and will face fines for allowing abusive and destructive behavior on their platforms as per the law.
National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), Government of India has launched the ‘YUVAi- Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI’ program to build digital readiness and address the growing skills gap among the next generation.
YUVAi aims to foster a deeper understanding of artificial intelligence, equipping school students from grades 8th to 12th across the nation with AI-based skills and empowering them to become human-centric creators and users of AI. Moreover, the program offers an applied learning experience to understand and identify how AI can tackle critical problems and lead to the country’s development.
The program will take place in three phases. In the initial phase, teachers will be chosen to identify students from their respective schools, who will then share their details with the organizing team. In the second phase, online orientation sessions will be held by experts for registered students on core AI concepts to foster an understanding of the ideation process.
Finally, students will be asked to submit ideas through a 120-second video elaborating a proposed AI-based solution for any one of the eight core themes — rural development, agriculture, smart cities, law and justice, healthcare, education, environment, and clean energy, transportation.
At last, the most innovative AI-based solutions will be declared and invited to a national showcase and felicitation ceremony.
At RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) 2022 annual event, Philips announced its new portfolio of AI-powered diagnostic systems and informatics solutions for better patient-centric imaging services.
Radiology is a vital part of diagnosing any disease and is equally challenging. Just managing the sheer volumes of data is a significant issue. In a report commissioned by Philips, the Future Health Index 2022 report, 24% of radiology experts stated that their staff feels overwhelmed by the data.
Philips’ AI-powered solutions presented at the RSNA 2022 aim to enhance operational efficiency and overcome challenges that radiology leaders come across while managing complex workflows and data. These solutions include:
Philips also unveiled its latest AI-enabled image interpretation systems with Philips Advanced Visualization Workspace at RSNA 2022 to prioritize patients based on their diagnosis. The company also introduced AI-powered MR SmartSpeed to enhance speed and imaging quality via the AI reconstruction algorithm on Philips’ state-of-the-art speed engine.
Philips also plans to spotlight its Spectral CT 7500, its novel dual-detector CT system to help in disease characterization. The technology would be significantly beneficial in oncology imaging, cardiac imaging, and interventional radiology.
The Maharashtra government will be installing face recognition cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) in Mumbai to help rein in street crimes.
On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the development comes as a part of the second phase of the Mumbai surveillance plan.
The state government, led by Fadnavis in 2014, installed CCTVs in Mumbai city within one year under the first phase. Fadnavis said the initiative was an effort to implement a suggestion mentioned in a report submitted to the state government after the 26/11 terror attack.
“Today, Mumbai is fear-free. In the past eight years, there hasn’t been any incident in Mumbai that can be called a terror attack. Also, there has been a heavy crackdown on organized crime on extortion,” he said.
According to Fadnavis, though there was an intelligence input concerning the attack, the officials failed to act due to the lack of coordination between intelligence agencies. He said a report was submitted to the government with all these findings, but the government did not address it.
The team of researchers behind Apple’s Face ID, from Bionaut Labs, has developed robots that deliver drugs directly into the brain. The trials aim to deliver drugs with the help of tiny robots to treat certain types of brain tumors at complex locations and a rare neurological disorder called Dandy-Walker Syndrome. The robots will poke holes in the located cyst and eventually release a drug to the targeted area.
Bionaut Labs is an LA-based research lab that revolutionizes treatments requiring medical professionals to reach deep locations in the human body safely and precisely. The company has raised approximately US$43.2mn in a funding round led by Khosla Ventures to fund its latest clinical trials.
Micheal Shpigelmacher, Bionaut’s chief executive, said that robots have the potential to become a “holy grail,” opening more pathways to treating brain diseases, diseases across the central nervous system, and much more.
These robots, a few millimeters long with a robust micro-magnet, could also perform biopsies. They use external control frameworks and, under predetermined magnetic fields, poke a hole in the targeted area and release the drug.
However, brands and designers that embrace the latest technology to diversify design and production have a greater chance of coming out on top in the fast-changing fashion world. Here are a few ways artificial intelligence in fashion is transforming the apparel industry.
Trend Forecasting with Machine Learning
Fashion brands are reshaping their product design and development approach by predicting what customers want to wear next. Artificial intelligence in fashion is helping with the same. Trend forecasting is usually labor-intensive, involving digital or manual observation and data collection from fashion influencers and designers. By gathering data directly from users, brands like StitchFix and Finery can easily access information to plan the styles people will love and the quantities to manufacture.
Stylumia deploys its machine-learning platform to assist fashion and lifestyle brands forecast demand, manage inventory, spot trends to make informed business decisions. Shoppers can also benefit directly from AI during their online browsing experiences. TrueFit uses behind-the-scenes data to help its customers find the perfect fit, whereas B2B solution Virtusize helps brands build virtual sizing tools to raise customer satisfaction and reduce returns.
AI in fashion industry is setting a unique precedent for models. Virtual models not only help designers showcase their latest creations worldwide, but they also help reduce waste by showing clothes that have not yet been manufactured.
Shudu Gram is a CGI model developed by Cameron-James Wilson, a visual artist, and fashion photographer. Since its creation, Shudu has gained a following of over 200,000 on Instagram. Many of its followers assumed it was an actual human after Wilson launched its online presence, and followers were surprised to find out that Shudu is entirely digital. Now Wilson is the CEO of the world’s first all-digital modeling agency, The Diigitals.
Sustainable Digital Fashion
Fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries. As a result, several companies are using technology to make fashion more sustainable and eco-friendly. The Fabrikant creates interactive experiences for brands through the creation of photo-real, 3-D fashion designs, and animation. The clothes are never made in the physical world, making this a more sustainable way for companies of all sorts to make a statement without creating a large footprint.
Meanwhile, with Dress-X, one can buy digital clothes for their online persona on social media. One can simply upload a photo of themselves, pay for the garment, and get back an image of themselves wearing the new item. You’ll never see the article in person or hang it in your closet. However, you can give your online persona a makeover while cutting on textile waste in the fashion industry.
Conclusion
It is evident from the above-mentioned examples that technological advances are transforming fundamental aspects of the fashion industry, right from the initial sketches to fashion shows and individual online shopping experiences. Predictive modeling and automation are creating better customer service experiences while the fashion industry is taking innovative steps to reduce waste through digital fashion. With the help of AI in the fashion industry, we will soon be able to purchase a new outfit for our Zoom persona and start sporting the latest in fashion on those remote conference calls.
RBI recently rolled out its first-ever pilot test program to review and improve India’s digital currency e-rupee’s functionality. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the e-rupee on November 1 for the wholesale segment. Although the digital currency of India is gaining traction, some are still asking what the e-rupee is, how it differs from cryptocurrency, and, most importantly, how it will benefit the Indian population. Let’s have a look.
What is a digital currency?
Digital currency is an electronic form of money which can be used for contactless transactions. In India, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or the e-rupee is a digital form of rupee issued by the central bank, i.e., RBI. According to RBI, “CBDC is the legal tender issued by the central bank in a digital form. It is similar to a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the same. Only its form is different.” As per the central bank, there will be two types of digital currency, Retail CBDC (e₹-R), which would be available for the public, and wholesale CBDC (e₹-W), which is designed for restricted access to select financial institutions.
How is digital currency different from cryptocurrency?
CBDC cannot be compared to cryptocurrencies exactly. “Unlike cryptocurrencies, a CBDC is not a commodity or claims on commodities/digital assets. Cryptocurrencies have no issuer. They are not money and certainly not a currency, as the word is understood historically,” said RBI.
The CBDC is the digital version of paper currency issued by central banks like RBI and will be exchangeable with cash. The commonly-known digital rupee is a currency that the RBI will issue, and the digital rupee will have the same function. However, it will not be a decentralized asset like the cryptocurrencies.
The digital rupee will be a currency issued by the central bank responsible for managing and governing the assets, which means one can use it to buy what they want. Through blockchain technology, a person can safely send money to another person without going through a bank or financial services provider. In the case of digital currency, blockchain will act as a decentralized and distributed digital ledger that will be used to record transactions across many computers. The record will not be altered retroactively without altering all subsequent blocks and the network consensus. A blockchain-based CBDC will enable the central bank to control the currency while protecting the privacy and independence of the CBDC’s use to the end users.
Does India need digital currency?
RBI’s most important reason for launching a digital rupee is to push India forward in the virtual currency race. E-rupee will benefit by reducing the transaction cost. A digital currency will make it easier for the government to access all transactions within authorized networks. It will also help the government to control how money enters and leaves the country. It is impossible to escape the gaze of the government through CBDC, as it can neither be torn, burnt, physically damaged, or lost. Moreover, it is more durable compared to physical notes. Using the digital rupee can possibly make the interbank market more efficient and help reduce dependence on the dollar.
Besides the above-mentioned advantages, the digital rupee will maximize transparency and efficiency with blockchain technology. Blockchain will also enable ledger maintenance and real-time tracking. The payment system will be available to retail wholesale customers 24/7. Indian buyers can pay without an intermediary, and one does not have to open a bank account to use a digital rupee. Lower transaction cost, real-time account settlements, fast cross-border transactions, and no risk of volatility are some of the other benefits of the e-rupee.
But with popular payment systems like UPI around, can CBDCs be a game changer? According to an RBI survey, cash remains to be the most preferred mode of payment for receiving and sending money for regular expenses. In India, cash is used predominantly for small-value transactions (amounts up to INR 500).
Conclusion
By introducing the digital rupee, the RBI aims to address problems associated with already existing physical currencies and cross-border transactions. Converting money into foreign currency and cross-border money transfer is expensive and tedious. The instant cross-border money transfer with the launch of the digital rupee is set to make bank cash operations and management more seamless.
In India, cash placement and its tracking are a challenge. CBDC can address anonymity and resolve the issue in a non-intimidatory way, as well as reduce the demand for cash. The government will save operational, storing, printing, and distributing costs, thus empowering the government’s vision toward a cashless economy. Therefore, considering all the benefits that the e-rupee will render, it is clear that India does need a digital currency.
Researchers at the Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI), Korea, develop a new deep learning model to produce engaging social behaviors like hugging or shaking someone’s hand in robots. Their research on the new deep learning model is presented in a paper on arXiv.
According to the researchers, deep learning techniques have shown exciting results in computer vision and natural language processing. They wanted to apply deep learning to social robotics to allow robots to learn social behavior from human interactions.
The deep-learning model’s architecture combines the sequence-to-sequence model introduced by Google researchers with generative adversarial networks (GAN). GAN is a machine learning model where two neural networks compete to become more accurate in the prediction. The architecture in the deep learning model is trained on the AIR-Act2Act dataset, which consists of 5000 human interactions occurring in 10 different scenarios.
Korean researchers have tested the new deep-learning model on a simulated version of Pepper, a humanoid robot. The model generates five non-verbal behaviors for robots: bowing, staring, shaking hands, blocking their face, and hugging. The new deep learning model will help to make social robots more adaptive and socially responsive. In the future, the new deep learning model can be tested on many robotics systems like home service robots, guide robots, delivery robots, educational robots, and more.
The University of Birmingham and IIT Madras announce the establishment of joint master’s programs to explore studies in data science, biomedical engineering, and energy systems.
The University of Birmingham and IIT Madras have decided to launch the first postgraduate program next year before developing further study programs in subsequent years. During a visit to Chennai, the partnership between both universities was reached by Professor Adam Tickell, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham.
The joint master’s programs will be carried out at the campuses of both institutions, and the mutual recognition of the academic credits will lead to a single degree certificate. As per IIT Madras, the joint master’s program is the first education partnership at the master’s level between any UK Russell Group University and IIT. The new partnership will benefit students with academic flexibility to learn and work through the latest technology to define the future of global engineering.
Adam Tickell stated that the University of Birmingham is a global ‘civic’ institute committed to shaping education and research partnerships in India. The new post-graduation programs between the two institutions will offer students better opportunities to pursue a world-class education and have their educational achievements recognized by both.
