Adobe Leaps Towards Generative AI — Info

Hello and welcome to the weekend.

About 11 months after OpenAI released its text-to-image generator, Dall-E 2, in April 2022, many of us have been unaware that Adobe has created Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premier.

The wait felt long, especially given how quickly startups like Open AI, Stability AI, Midjourney, and Runway ML are releasing amazing new tools. Finally, in March of this year, we got what we’ve been waiting for when Adobe released a beta version of its text-to-image conversion model, Firefly. The program was an instant hit in the design and AI worlds, and Margaux was persuaded to delve into this week’s cover story about AI giant Adobe, who is no longer sleeping.

To prove how cool and easy Firefly is, check out the images that grace this newsletter. These were all created by designer Clark Miller using his Firefly’s generative fill tool in his Photoshop. Below is Clark’s unofficial beta review of his Firefly.

“The biggest strength for me is that it’s built right into Photoshop, so it fits very well into my workflow, unlike Dall-E and Midjourney, which require me to work within their respective web programs. , while other generating AI programs output relatively low- or medium-resolution final images, there are also no resolution limits, and Firefly matches the quality and resolution of the images you’re working with.

“Another big advantage is that you start with the base image you want to build (it can even be an AI-generated image), so you don’t have to tell Firefly everything you need for your final image all at once. Built around Midjourney Prompt Engineering, it teaches you how to properly build prompts, and includes everything from style to composition to lighting to level of detail. You can build it slowly, you will be prompted there and then use stock elements or my own illustration to build something that blends all of the above or just a specific area of the image ask you to

“The biggest appeal is that I feel like I am creating something, rather than having an AI do it for me. Maybe it’s just my self-deception, but this is just a tool in Photoshop, so rather than giving the AI full power, I use it to help me do my job. I feel like I am.”

Let’s move on to this week’s story. . .

With its $20 billion Figma acquisition at stake, the software giant is eyeing Firefly, a copyrighted generative AI model under the leadership of product mogul Scott Belsky. Margaux asks Belsky if “generative fill” can help get the company back on track.

Argentinian football giant Lionel Messi is set to sign a contract with MLS side Inter Miami CF, notable for their size and ambition. Daniel Kaplan explores how this contract, inspired by how tech companies reward their star employees, can give players unprecedented influence.

Today’s hiking gear isn’t just basic lace-up boots and walking sticks. New tech upgrades improve comfort and safety for hikers, plus make the whole experience even more enjoyable. Beth Shapolli sat down with some of Silicon Valley’s most avid hikers to find out what they’re doing to spend less time on the trail.

Generation: Chinese AI chip black market
China’s black market shelves are flooded with new products: the Nvidia AI chip. Reuters reported on the impact of President Joe Biden’s call on Nvidia to stop exporting its most powerful chip to China. Despite the sanctions, chips are still readily available. Reuters said it was able to speak to at least 10 electronics vendors in Hong Kong and mainland China and said there would be no problems sourcing the chips. Vendors could plunder them from excess inventory delivered to U.S. companies and other foreign companies. And the sanctions gave underground vendors room to double their normal prices to $20,000. Getting a few of his Nvidia chips is relatively easy (albeit expensive), but the US government isn’t concerned. To run a powerful AI model like OpenAI’s GPT, the Chinese company will need to amass 30,000 of his chips. Experts believe it has more benefits than the black market can offer. — Margaux

Watching: “Rich Men Pissing In Their Pants”
Spoken by Pete Davidson with rapturous jubilation, it would make a great name for a 2020 GameStop short-squeeze movie. Instead, the producers opted for “Dumb Money,” which also captures the madness of the time. The newly released trailer for the film is a three-minute tornado that triggers fond memories for some and traumatic flashbacks for others. The film’s credits alone should make you look forward to its release on September 22nd. This work is based on a book by author Ben Mezrich, whose previous work inspired The Social Network. Directed by Craig Gillespie, best known for the excellent I, Tonya and the brutally underrated Cruella. Writers include Wall Street Journal alumni Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Shuker Blum, and—take this―Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. And the cast is studded with stars like Seth Rogen, Paul Dano, Davidson, Nick Offerman, Shailene Woodley, America Ferrera, and more. This is one of his Hollywood productions that probably shouldn’t be shorted. -John

Reading: An ever-expanding AI machine
“How many humans does it take for technology to be human?” Read this week’s cover of New York Magazine. “There are millions,” journalist Josh Ziza says of dozens of national and international “annotators” who are training, mentoring and enhancing AI as part of an investigation into the dark underbelly of large-scale language models. I talked. He challenged himself to the task. Most of the time, the task is ignorant and simple, like labeling and categorizing thousands of images of shoes, cars, and in some cases, C-3PO. These processes are often outsourced to other countries for little remuneration. “What simplifies reality for machines becomes very complicated for humans,” Zieza wrote. But this story is a fascinating counterpoint to many of the concerns about AI that it will make jobs disappear, perhaps to the idea that AI will create a different kind of job. offers a story. It’s “more alien, more isolated, more boring.” –Annie