"It is said that there is nothing firm, nothing balanced, nothing durable in all the universe – that nothing remains in its original state, that each day, each hour, each moment, there is change" - Panoplia Propheticus of the Bene Gessert
How many days since your last mind-blowing moment? Back in 2020, OpenAI released their largest LLM model (GPT-3) with 175 billion parameters and I was probably debugging some legacy code, struggling with the fact I could solve my technical problems at that moment but then I would question again about what's next. Today, we are whiteness of the AI breakthroughs that will reshape our history for better or worse. It is impressive the amount of information, tools, papers, new companies, tons of startups and the ethical challenges we see every single day. It is becoming very hard to keep track of everything. So a new challenge arises: how to move and learn in a super-mega dynamic space where the information flood is real. I do not really know how exactly but I know what spark my curiosity to keep forward: LLMs 🧠
What is a LLM? Let my friend explains it
I can't avoid thinking about the future more than ever, making up my own stories. In my imaginary world we're gonna laugh about literature paradoxes. One I've been thinking of is about a (biblical myth) narrative called The Tower of Babel. This tale speaks of a structure built in the land of Shinar (Babylonia) some time after the flood by a rebellion against God by Noah’s descendants. The story of its construction appears to be an attempt to explain the existence of diverse human languages. The Babylonians wanted to make a name for themselves by building a mighty city and a tower “with its top in the heavens”. God disrupted the work by so confusing the language of the workers that they could no longer understand one another. The city was never completed, and the people were dispersed over the face of the earth.
The resulting judgment of this rebellion accounts for the variety of languages and people groups seen in our world today and for the first time in earth’s history, there was a language barrier.
Languages, in their rich tapestries, guide our thinking, each boasting its own beauty and complexity. They are the vessels of history, culture, and the nuances of human expression and identity. Yet, sometimes, in certain contexts, they also form barriers. Enter the progress of AI, reshaping this paradigm.
I think, languages are so rich and they led the ways of thinking, each with its own beauty and complexity. They mean history, they gravitate towards culture, and embody the nuances of human expression and identity. It is also true that sometimes in some context they mean a barrier. The progress of AI comes in different shapes and flavors and today it seems trivial to think AI as bridging the gaps (or at least some).
The realm of innovation is vast, teeming with countless projects and startups that are actively shaping the future. Among these, one particularly noteworthy example that has captured my attention is ElevenLabs, a voice AI research & deployment company with a mission to make content universally accessible in any language & voice. This is huge! Imagine the applications: audiobooks, educational materials, real-time conversation translation, voiceovers for films, interactive gaming experiences, personalized virtual assistants, and giving voice to the voiceless. ElevenLabs' technology heralds a new era in breaking down language barriers and fostering global communication. There are also ethical challenges ahead of course. We need to foster and raise education and awareness about these issues.
Living in a foreign country, we, as native speakers of a different language, often find our experiences to be a testament to the challenges of language barriers. Despite our efforts, we can find it challenging to fully understand and communicate in complex situations, such as doctor's appointments. The nuances and intricacies of a new language can be overwhelming, leading to anxiety and miscommunication. This is precisely where ElevenLabs could be revolutionary.
"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world," - Ludwig Wittgenstein
As we stand on the cusp of this new era, endeavors like ElevenLabs' not only expand our linguistic capabilities but also our understanding and connection to the world.
More than ever, raise your code voice! 🗣️
from elevenlabs import generate, play
audio = generate(
text="Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied",
voice="Lily",
model="eleven_multilingual_v1"
)
play(audio)What could the future hold if we could all speak and understand every tongue?
Let's ponder this as we step into a world where the Tower of Babel is not a symbol of division, but a beacon of unity in our diverse, yet interconnected world.
So back to my question: What's next?....