Dall-E Mini, the AI-powered text-to-image generator has taken over the internet. With its ability to render nearly anything your meme-loving heart desires, anyone can make their dreams come true.
DALL-E 2, a portmanteau of Salvador Dali, the surrealist and Wall-E, the Pixar robot, was created by OpenAI and is not widely available; it creates far cleaner imagery and was recently used to launch Cosmpolitan’s first AI-generated cover. The art world has been one of the first industries to truly embrace AI.
The open-sourced miniature version is what’s responsible for the memes. Programmer Boris Dayma wants to make AI more accessible; he built the Dall-E Mini program as part of a competition held by Google and an AI community called Hugging Face.
And with great technology, comes great memes. Typing a short phrase into Dall-E Mini will manifest 9 different amalgamations, theoretically shaping into reality the strange images you’ve conjured. Its popularity leads to too much traffic, often resulting in an error that can be fixed by refreshing the page or trying again later.
If you want to be a part of the creation of AI-powered engines, it all starts with code. CodeAcademy explains that Dall-E Mini is a seq2seq model, “typically used in natural language processing (NLP) for things like translation and conversational modeling.” CodeAcademy’s Text Generation course will teach you how to utilize seq2seq, but they also offer opportunities to learn 14+ coding languages at your own pace.
You can choose the Machine Learning Specialist career path if you want to become a Data Scientist who develops these types of programs, but you can also choose courses by language, subject (what is cybersecurity?) or even skill - build a website with HTML, CSS, and more.
CodeAcademy offers many classes for free as well as a free trial; it’s an invaluable resource for giving people of all experience levels the fundamentals they need to build the world they want to see.
As for Dall-E Mini, while some have opted to create beauty, most have opted for memes. Here are some of the internet’s favorites:
pic.twitter.com/DbLoe1s00c
— Weird Dall-E Mini Generations (@weirddalle) June 8, 2022
pic.twitter.com/cxtliOrlHz
— Weird Dall-E Mini Generations (@weirddalle) June 12, 2022
no fuck every other dall-e image ive made this one is the best yet pic.twitter.com/iuFNm4UTUM
— bri (@takoyamas) June 10, 2022
pic.twitter.com/rEBHoWR7lH
— Weird Dall-E Mini Generations (@weirddalle) June 12, 2022
pic.twitter.com/RSZaCIDVV7
— Chairman George (@superbunnyhop) June 9, 2022
back at it again at the DALL•E mini pic.twitter.com/iPGsaMThBC
— beca. ⚢ (@dorysief) June 9, 2022
There’s no looking back now, not once you’ve seen Pugachu; artificial intelligence is here to stay.
8 Things You Didn't Know About Martin Luther King Jr.
The American icon was a complicated man.
Every year, we celebrate the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. on the third Monday of January. This typically works out to be around King's birthday, January 15. Most people know that King was a civil rights leader that fought against segregation. He also worked to secure voting rights for black Americans and other minorities. His work helped push the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress and into law.
But there is so much more about Martin Luther King Jr. that just isn't common knowledge. Here are a few things that have been forgotten over the course of history.
1. King was a strong supporter of democratic socialism.
During the 2016 election, Bernie Sanders brought the term "democratic socialism" to the forefront of American politics. But Martin Luther King Jr. openly supported the philosophy throughout his life. As a child, King saw the bread lines during the Great Depression. "I can see the effects of this early childhood experience on my present anti-capitalistic feelings," he wrote in a paper while he was a divinity student in 1950. King saw capitalism as "a system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes."
2. King's activism went beyond the Civil Rights Movement.
He also protested the Vietnam War. In 1967, King delivered a speech entitled "Beyond Vietnam," in which he called for the United States to stop bombing in Vietnam. He also stated that American troops should pull out of the area and the U.S. should enter into a truce that would lead to peace talks. King viewed the American intervention in Vietnam as imperialism. He was staunchly anti-war and a pacifist.
3. It wasn't until the year 2000 that MLK Day was observed in every state.
While Martin Luther King Day became a federal holiday in 1986, but not every state observed it until 17 years ago. South Carolina became the last state to recognize the holiday in 2000. Because MLK Day is a federal holiday — not a national one — only federal employees received a paid day off. The holiday was met with resistance when it was first enacted because some felt King was too subversive to receive federal recognition.
4. King held numerous academic accomplishments.
Throughout his life, King's intellect shined in his writing and activism. As an adolescent, he skipped both the 9th and 12th grades. He entered Morehouse College at age 15. He studied Sociology and Systematic Theology and received his Ph.D. in 1955. He was also awarded many honorary degrees from various U.S. institutions and some foreign universities. Among them are multiple degrees titled Doctor of Law, Doctor of Humanities and Doctor of Divinity.
5. Over 900 streets in the United States are named after Martin Luther King Jr.
After his assassination in 1968, many states re-named streets in his honor. His name even graces streets in foreign countries. Forty states in America have at least one street named after King. Unfortunately, many of the streets in the U.S. with his namesake often struggle economically. These streets tend to have high levels of poverty, inequality, and racial segregation when compared to their respective cities and states.
6. He was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America. At 35, he was the youngest person to ever receive the award. Alfred Nobel, for whom the award is named, described the recipient of the Peace Prize as "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
7. King was a fan of Star Trek.
The classic science fiction TV show first aired in 1966. Star Trek made a mark on American pop culture and civil rights. The U.S.S. Enterprise crew was made up of various races and nationalities, including Lieutenant Uhura. Nichelle Nichols even discussed with King the possibility of leaving the show after its first season. King encouraged her to stay on. The representation of an African-American woman in a position of leadership was too important.
8. He was TIME Magazine's first black Man of the Year.
In 1963, TIME Magazine named King as the Man of the Year. That was the same year King delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech on the steps of President Abraham Lincoln's memorial. The magazine cited King's essay "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and his leadership in many peaceful protests as justification for the title.