One year ago, an unbelievable video of Will Smith eating spaghetti took the world by storm. We humans joked about it; we could easily tell that it was fake, and at that point, nobody was really afraid. Fast forward one year later, and generative AI tech has taken another huge leap forward. Will Smith eating spaghetti in 2024 is nothing to joke around about. If it doesn’t plateau soon, it could put our Hollywood idols out of business, and there would be no one left to brainwash us. In today’s video, we’ll descend further into the uncanny valley and look at five new generative AI tools that you can actually use today. By the end of this video, you’ll be able to fire your human photographer, videographer, sound engineer, and programmer. It is June 17th, 2024, and you’re watching the Code Report.
A few months ago, OpenAI previewed Sora and teased us with a bunch of AI videos. Google later followed that up with Vo, which was also quite impressive. But just this week, the Chinese dropped a new model called Kling, which can generate videos two minutes long at up to 30 FPS. It’s incredibly impressive and arguably better than Sora, but there’s one big problem with all of these models—they’re not available to the public. Well, luckily, a new tool just dropped called the Dream Machine from Luma Labs, and it allows you to create relatively realistic video clips. I tried it for two old men doing yoga, and the result is indistinguishable from real life, unless, of course, you look very closely at the fingers. In addition, this is the tool used to generate a realistic Will Smith eating spaghetti. While impressive, there’s really no practical or iphone accessories commercial use for this tool yet. All it’s really good at is simulating nightmares.
Before we move on to the next topic, let’s talk about something your LLMs and AI models can’t live without: data. Data collection on the web used to be a nightmare. You’d have to set up proxy networks, develop web unblockers to bypass CAPTCHAs, deal with server errors, browser fingerprinting, and all sorts of other issues. But with residential proxies and web automation tools like Selenium, Puppeteer, and Playwright, you can scrape the web on a massive scale without blowing up your budget in the process. That’s where Bright Data comes in, the sponsor of today’s video. They take your scrape ops to the next level at a fraction of the cost. With their scraping browser API, you can forget about proxies and web unblockers. Everything you need to scrape data at scale is under the hood, making your web scrapers unstoppable. Try Bright Data’s scraping browser API for free right now with the link in the description.
The next big AI tool you need to know about is Stable Diffusion 3 Medium. The model weights were just released hours ago, and it’s the most advanced open text-to-image model out there. Unfortunately, it’s only available under a non-commercial license, but the level of quality is pretty amazing and can now reliably generate text from your prompts. Now, if you currently have an AI girlfriend, I would highly recommend upgrading her to this new model. I know it’s the personality that matters, but she’s going to be looking pretty mid compared to all your friends on ST3.
Another tool that’s actually useful is this sound effect generator from 11 Labs, the same company that engineered my voice. All you have to do is describe what you want to hear, and it will generate multiple sound effects. Here’s an example of two different results:
Example one: A bustling city street filled with the sounds of honking cars, chattering pedestrians, and distant sirens.
Example two: A serene forest with the gentle rustling of leaves, chirping birds, and a babbling brook.
Now, what I failed to tell you is that one example was real, and one was AI-generated. I bet you can’t smell the difference.
Now we need to talk about code generation. I’ve been patiently waiting for AI to take my programming job, but so far, I’ve been disappointed. However, there may still be hope. A few weeks ago, the French startup Mistol released a new model called CodStroll. It’s also an open model but cannot be used for commercial purposes yet and performs extremely well on coding benchmarks compared to other open models. I’ve been playing around with it on Oama, and while it’s extremely impressive and also very fast, it still struggles with the age-old problem of centering a div.
When it comes to AI writing code, there are two types of people. There are people like Devon, who are doing AI maxing and trying to get AI to write nearly 100% of their code. These people are usually young and naive, according to the AI doomers. On the other end of the spectrum, there are usually Boomers who think that AI code is total slop and has no place in the industry. But the optimal hot take is likely somewhere in between.
Another free tool you can use right now is Cursor, which is a fork of VS Code and one of the first truly AI-focused code editors. Instead of memorizing syntax, give it the context of an existing codebase or documentation, then hit Control K and write your code with natural language. If you’re worried that it’s writing garbage code, you can enforce certain rules and even have it perform a code review. It’s like GitHub Copilot on steroids. Generative AI still has a long way to go, but if I were a programmer right now, I’d be very concerned about the amount of progress made by these data science nerds in just the last year.
As we descend further into the uncanny valley, it's clear that AI is revolutionizing the tech landscape at an unprecedented pace. Tools like the Dream Machine, Stable Diffusion 3 Medium, 11 Labs' sound effect generator, CodStroll, and Cursor are not just novelties—they're shaping the future of creative and technical work. Whether you're looking to create realistic videos, generate high-quality images and sounds, or streamline your coding process, these AI tools offer powerful capabilities that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
For those passionate about staying at the forefront of technology, it's essential to keep up with these advancements. Websites like Gadget Kings provide valuable resources and the latest gadgets to help you leverage these AI tools effectively. Whether you're a professional looking to enhance your workflow or a tech enthusiast eager to explore new possibilities, Gadget Kings has a wide range of products to meet your needs.
In this ever-evolving tech world, embracing AI tools can give you a significant edge. Stay curious, stay informed, and keep experimenting with these incredible technologies. The future is here, and it's powered by AI. This has been the Code Report. Thanks for watching, and I will see you in the next one.