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.
Will You Partake In The Metaverse Of Madness?
Since the beginning of time, technology has never been stagnant – it’s constantly evolving. Most of us are used to these fleeting technology trends and apps. We first started virtually communicating on MySpace and then ventured into the world of avatars with Snapchat's snappy 10-second stories.
We – or should I say Millenials and Gen Zers – are used to new ideas. But even we couldn’t conceive of a virtual world where people can live, interact, and earn money until . . . the Metaverse was born.
October 28th 2021 will go down in history. That’s when the company formerly known as Facebook rebranded as Meta fully committing to a 3D version of the internet know as the Metaverse.
Metaverse-Metaverse-Metaverse it’s all over the place. But what is it exactly? Simply put, it’s a virtual world that blurs the lines between online and offline communication.
Hold on! Virtual reality? My grandparents are only just getting used to taking my video calls, and now I have to introduce them to the Metaverse – a world where their avatar can walk, talk, and even get married?
During the last few years when people couldn’t interact IRL, a virtual world was ideal. People – or should I say Avatars – could meet and engage in a rocking virtual party. That wasn’t too extreme, but then people started buying property !?! This resembled a piece of land you can own and do with whatever you please. I cannot imagine living in a Metamansion – unless it’s in a game of Sims.
Then came NFTs – or did they come before? – it’s super hard to keep track of. But NFTs are Non-fungible tokens – digital assets like art, music, videos are bought and sold online through cryptocurrency. Oh-yeah, then there’s cryptocurrency. It’s a digital or virtual currency that’s secured by cryptography, which makes it close to impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Cryptocurrency revolutionized the finance world with people making a ton of money through bitcoin.
Slowly, the fashion industry moved into the Metaverse as well. A Gucci - Roblox bag recently went for 350,000 Robux (close to $4000) on Roblox – a site where you can purchase upgrades for your avatars. I mean, your Avatar can’t be roaming the Metaverse in just jeans and a sweater, they need high-end fashion.
Obviously, with so many items moving into the Metaverse, it made sense for people to secure virtual insurance. I cannot believe this – Virtual insurance! So if you break or lose, or your artwork gets stolen, it makes sense to have a cover. Soon enough, educational institutions imagine digital classrooms, and medical professionals visualize a world where junior doctors practice medicine digitally.
There doesn’t seem to be a limit.
Since we cannot physically inhabit the virtual world, most of these ties make sense until Coke-Cola recently announced a limited edition Coca-Cola® Zero Sugar Byte.
Coke promises that it tastes just like pixels. “The drink’s bright, upfront taste is reminiscent of powering up a game. And its refreshing finish makes for a perfect gaming companion.”
Personally, I don’t understand the concept of creating a beverage for the Metaverse. And I’m so not interested in tasting pixels – I anticipate something chalky and salty. But if you pick up a Zero Sugar Byte before they hop back into the Metaverse, you are one brave individual.
In addition to this drink, Coke is hosting an immense digital experience that includes an original, augmented reality game. Then there’s Pixel Point, an island designed by Coca-Cola where fortnight players can experience this refreshing soda and enjoy a few mini-games.
Now that beverages are being created for the Metaverse, the big question is what next? Will our Avatar’s start grocery shopping in a virtual Target to survive?