Is GenAI Hollywood's New Star?

If there is one area that generative AI isn’t quite useful yet, it’s video creation. Open AI announced their video model, Sora, in February 2024, which is yet to be open to the public.

GenAI in the movies

In that context, the fact that Tom Hanks’ latest film uses Gen AI tickled my fancy. As it turns out, the filmmakers have used GenAI to de-age Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in real time. If this image is anything to go by, the de-aging looks good!

I haven’t had the chance to see the film. If you have, do tell me what you thought. More on the film here. Now to some serious business.

Productivity gains with generative AI

Measuring the exact quantum of productivity gains in knowledge work can be a challenge. What does it mean to say your star software developer is 20% more productive with ChatGPT?

Well, researchers at MIT Sloan found somewhat of an answer. Measuring productivity as output, i.e., the number of tasks completed each week, researchers studied the impact of Microsoft Copilot on developers.

One of their findings is especially telling: Recent hires and junior developers had up to a whopping 39% increase in productivity.

My theory is: If junior developers can do more with GenAI, perhaps it is the solution to the humongous talent gap we’re facing today?

GenAI value in the Middle East

We often pay most of our attention to the US, naturally, as the most exciting GenAI work is happening there. However, looking into diverse countries and markets can just expand our perspective.

I found this McKinsey study about the state of GenAI in the Gulf quite revealing. Like elsewhere in the world, organizations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are investing heavily in AI tech. However, the ones that have seen success - a small part of McKinsey’s sample - offer us something to learn.

The general trends that I see GCC businesses do differently are:

• They significantly fine-tune models or create proprietary ones to meet their unique industry/geographic needs

• They follow best practices and are keen on continuous improvement, being risk-aware from the start

• They invest in good data management, enabling them to pivot/scale as needed

GenAI governance framework for enterprises

Speaking of data management, one of the things that business leaders like you keep asking us about is: Governance for GenAI.

So, we wrote a primer for it. Drawing from industry best practices and regulatory requirements, we’ve covered everything you need for efficient, cost-effective, sustainable, ethical, and responsible AI.

[Read the blog post]

Caution with GenAI

Every week I bring to you something that explores the larger social and cultural impact of GenAI, because I believe it’s important. This week is this comprehensive report by Microsoft on ‘Protecting the public from abusive GenAI content.’

It’s the reality check we AI-enthusiasts need. I hope it’ll make for good weekend long-read for you.

Best,
Anshuman Pandey

P.S. Llama 3.2 Vision Language model is now available on Tune Chat