Generative Predictive Palatable AI

Another week, and yet another example of AI that makes your head spin with just how far the technology has come since it entered mainstream consciousness in the early 2010s.   I’m easily unsettled when I see AI being used in a way that encroaches on what I consider the domain of human creativity – Literature, Art, Poetry, and (the one that really makes me shudder) Music.

But this week, I had to admit a level of defeat – as a child of the 90s (just), I had witnessed multiple attempts of people using AI to slowly butcher all the great music I had grown up with.  I was pretty convinced I would never be impressed with any music AI could produce – at least, that’s what I thought – until friend of mine (with an impeccable taste in music) sheepishly sent me a link with no text – just a clear reference to a “What if…”  from a content creator that is well known for his work in turning 80s and 90s music into soul covers.  Surely no good could come of a link of this nature.

Gulp.  …it was unbelievable – or rather unbelievably amazing – and I would recommend you avoid listening to it (unless you want to listen to it over and over again).

Isn’t this a world away from what I (personally) think AI should be doing?  Leave the creative stuff to people who create and leave AI to focus on making everything else easier!

Er, but before you leave, can you have a crack at Skid Row’s “18 and Life”?  You know, just to see if you can?

Audio Recap in Teams

Somewhere in between creating glossy R&B covers and the straight functional approach (boring) of “summarise this message for me” is Copilot’s Audio Recap functionality which has been rolled out to Copilot license holders this month.

Copilot will eagerly create a summary of key topics, decisions made and actions to come from your meeting (or multiple meetings) and provide a podcast style audio replay for you to work through to quickly catch up on what you’ve missed – you can even pick a style that is palatable to you – Executive, Newscast or Casual (I was looking for a Motown-styled option, but maybe that will come in a future release🤣).  Audio Recap will even generate a QR code for you to listen to the Audio recap on your mobile.

I obviously need to loosen up around what I consider to be “palatable” AI creation – and remind myself that with play and experimentation we often uncover unexpected gains and improvements!

So I’m making a change in the way I think about things – whether we’re using AI for fun or business, it all serves a purpose—even if that purpose is just to make me question whether my next meeting recap should come with a backing track.