Co-hosts Dr. Mike Seymour and Scott Broock examine the application of synthetic data and machine learning to visual effects and social media. It's a fascinating discussion of the many faces of machine learning and the fine distinction between input on the one hand and output on the other. 

Check out the article on fxguide that served as the jumping off point for this week's episode.

In the season finale of Animated Intelligence, co-hosts Dr. Mike Seymour and Scott Broock are joined once again by Professor Kai Riemer, from the University of Sydney to look at the evolutionary shift of an enhanced perception of reality through machine learning. Holographic instead of hallucinatory, embodied instead of distracted, and sensorily extended instead of sensorily limited.

As we close out this first season of Animated Intelligence, we end up running alongside the "Cognitive Revolution" that is spreading through "AI Salons" from LA to Europe and Asia. These are multidimensional gatherings from the broad domains of computer science, telecommunications, entertainment, visual effects, neuroscience, philosophy, depth psychology, and media ecology. The theme of massively collaborative creativity through multiple perspectives illuminates the entire field through clarity, accessibility, and a metamodern optimism focused on the Evolutionary Revolution of Holographic Reality.

We'll be back in several weeks with an update from Tokyo and Sydney.

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Show Notes: 

fxguide's profile of LA based Magnopus and their unique blending of multiple viewpoints in an open source project for extended reality.

Eric Steuer's classic essay on telepresence and the concept of a "virtual" field created by two communicating parties separated by time and space.

This episode of Animated Intelligence is the one that has it all. Straight from the cutting-edge brain-storms at last week's SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, ground zero for the emergent phenomena of AI Salons and AI LA. As you'll hear, the emergent theme is a radical reconfiguration of the public discussion of AI with a multidisciplinary perspective on our evolutionary arc as a globally networked society and culture. We begin to weave together the threads of media theory, philosophy, psychology, telecommunications technology, and self-organizing systems that we have been exploring step by step this season as we build up a clear picture of our current medium and what happens next. Join us as we state the case for an evolutionary new branch of the collective unconscious in the age of AI. An ultra-low latency cerebral cortex to fit atop the adolescent brainstem of our current Internet. 

Chris Dixon has famously stated that the next big thing will start out looking like a toy. And AI at the moment is still extremely toy-like in most respects. Meaning its highest and best use right now is for fun and games that can be played in the open. The perfect playground is a networked, location-based entertainment experience that acts as a scalable node for massively collaborative creativity. This episode is a preview of the special AI Salon that we will be running as a "Birds of a Feather" at SIGGRAPH LA on May 9, from 4:00 - 5:30 pm PST in Room 510. If you are attending, please come by and join the conversation.

Dr. Mike Seymour crosses multiple time zones to travel from Sydney, Australia, to Apple's 2023 WWDC for the unveiling of the Vision Pro.

In this second episode, Mike and VR veteran Scott Broock explore the offstage developer discussions about the positioning of the Vision Pro relative to Meta, the machine learning that defines Apple's paradigm of "Spatial Computing," and the magic of capturing "Polaroid" moments in time with 3D video and audio. 

We also examine lessons learned from the launch of Google's Daydream headset and the distancing of the Vision Pro from any mention of the Metaverse.

And of course, Disney's teaser of the animated intelligence that will power your very own Mickey Mouse AI companion.

Let us know your thoughts on the $3,500 price point (before tax and corrective lenses) and whether you will be an early adopter. 

What does the Metaverse have to do with AI? 

Rewind to 1994 when new kinetic and spatial metaphors were first breaking through into public consciousness, creating new action words for navigating a simulated world that could be experienced through the windshield of a computer screen.

We examine why a generation that has grown up in the simulated reality of social media is suddenly rejecting the techno fatalism of journalistic meta-narratives and resurrecting critical media theory as a vehicle for remembering the precedence of the real world as their frame of reference. And the role of AI in establishing new metaphors.

Show note: For more on this episode's discussion, see "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in an Age of Specialization" and "Jean Baudrillard in Cyberspace: Internet, Virtuality, and Postmodernity." [JSTOR access required]. 

Dr. Mike Seymour and co-host Scott Broock welcome Prof. Kai Riemer to join this week's discussion about the existential philosophy and psychology of AI as a medium of experience. We explore the reasons why .com plus AI may lead to a "Brave New World" of amusements that pacify and commodify rather than illuminate and expand human potential. A shift to new models of engagement and participation in the domain of .ai can disrupt the existing incumbents and reverse the paradigm of the user who has become the used.

Hosts Mike Seymour and Scott Broock invite you to join a global conversation about the emergent medium of AI. In this inaugural episode, we take you beyond the headlines for a deep dive into the art, science, and philosophy of AI as "Animated Intelligence." Highlights include:    

Kasparov's Law. Elevating writers with good process and a path forward from the strike in Hollywood.

Community trained AI. Gamifying fine-tuning of AI with a positive reinforcement loop of fandom.  

Beyond the Metaverse. William Gibson's prophetic vision of AI and the concept of the "Idoru" - a virtual performer that is one thing to fans individually and another to fans collectively. 

A case study of Hatsune Miku and Miku Miku Dance (MMD) and the new wave of entertainment originating from Asia.

Lessons from AI Salon #3 in Los Angeles. A cross-disciplinary model for information sharing in smaller "pods" versus the traditional panel format. Linking up an international network of artists, engineers, academics, and multimodal producers. 

The politics and economics of open-source AI and the concept of "commoditizing your complements." What is Meta's point of view?

Apple, AI, and the opportunities of WWDC. Lessons from the disruptive effects of Final Cut Pro in an Avid world and the primacy of privacy and security in our AI infused future.

Why the next big thing always starts out looking like a toy.

Marshall McLuhan's prophetic framework for understanding the medium and message of AI. 

Next Episode: WWDC on the ground and the impact of Reality Pro revealed

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Dr. Mike Seymour is the co-founder of the Motus Lab at the University of Sydney, which focuses on the cutting edge of digital humans, cognitive AI agents, and the ethics of machine learning. He is also the co-founder of fxguide and fxphd, two acclaimed resources for the visual effects and virtual production industries.

Scott Broock is the founder of Totem Networks, LLC, which focuses on the intersection of AI, animation, and entertainment in global markets. He is the former EVP of digital strategy and innovation at Illumination Entertainment, the Global VR Evangelist for YouTube, and VP of VR content and content deal development at Jaunt XR.