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In just one year, image generation technology has undergone multiple breakthroughs, transforming creativity and art. With the help of AI, anyone can now generate high-quality images and dedicated AI artists can create award-winning art. This evolution began with the launch of OpenAI's image classifier, Clip, which enabled programmers and artists to make significant breakthroughs. The concept of denoising, or removing noise from images, played a crucial role in generating high-resolution images through iterations. OpenAI then launched DALL-E 2, which paved the way for an unprecedented wave of experimentation and creativity globally. Image generation has scaled rapidly, inspiring new products and workflows while also raising questions about the future of human creativity.
Playground AI, led by Suil Doshi, is striving to create a powerful and user-friendly AI-driven creative tool. Their vision is to offer users complete control over pixels, empowering them to generate high-quality images, videos, and 3D designs based on their thoughts and instructions. The goal is not to replace existing tools like Photoshop but to invent a novel creative tool within the Adobe Creative Suite. By enabling users to make subtle and precise edits, Playground AI aims to make creative expression accessible to everyone, regardless of their design skills. The long-term plan includes expanding into areas beyond images, like video and 3D, to become a comprehensive tool for all things pixel-related.
The rise of AI-generated art has sparked a controversy within the artistic community. While AI-generated art is celebrated by some as a new form of artistic expression, others feel threatened by its ability to replicate and create art. Suil Doshi and Playground AI have faced criticism and cancellation from those who view AI art as a threat to traditional creativity. However, Suil believes that AI art and human creativity can coexist, with technology augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing them. He suggests that the emergence of AI-generated art will lead to new forms of artistic expression that we have yet to imagine.
Playground AI places a strong emphasis on user feedback and aims to provide a generous free plan to acquire more users and collect valuable data. While some companies heavily rely on A/B testing, Playground AI focuses more on qualitative feedback and user interaction. Suil Doshi believes that data collected from user behavior is more important than quantitative metrics alone. By understanding and analyzing how users interact with the product, Playground AI can improve and generate new features that users will love. The company is also investing in compute scalability to reduce costs and maximize performance, ensuring users have a seamless and efficient experience.
The podcast episode discusses the importance of hardcore users who spend significant time on a product, playing with it and exploring its features. These users not only contribute to the product's success but also find personal value and fulfillment in their engagement. Some users even credit the product for alleviating their anxiety. However, there is a question of whether such high levels of obsession are healthy or desired.
The podcast episode highlights the need for integration and combining various AI functionalities to build innovative products. The speaker suggests that just like the mashup era of Web 2.0, where different services were combined to create unique apps, a similar trend may emerge in the AI space. This integration can lead to the creation of intricate and valuable products, with AI models being combined in novel ways. The pace of development in the AI field is relentless, with new models and capabilities emerging regularly, which presents a ripe opportunity for experimentation and the creation of groundbreaking applications.
We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.
00:00 Intro
00:30: Image technology breakthroughs
00:45 The Cognitive Revolution
03:10 Intro to Suhail
03:43 Sponsor
07:04 Suhail’s path to AI
12:57 Suhail’s vision for Playground
17:58 Suhail’s cancellation on Twitter
19:06 AI artists are artists
20:25 Non-AI artists feel threatened by AI
26:47 Suhail on defensibility at AI companies
30:30 Playground’s product roadmap
33:01 Suhail on good design
35:55 Latent space
44:04 Building Playground with lessons learned from Mighty
53:55 Monitoring led to 2x improvement in the product
55:53 How people use Playground
1:03:48 AI is having it’s mobile moment
01:15:12 Finding, investing and building durable AI companies
01:22:06 Suhail’s kid’s best friends may be AI characters
01:23:20 AI religion
01:24:16 Conclusion
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SPONSORS: SHOPIFY | OMNEKY
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Thank you Omneky for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real time advertising data, to generate personalized experiences at scale.
Twitter:
@CogRev_Podcast
@eriktorenberg (Erik)
@suhail (Suhail)
@labenz (Nathan)
Websites:
playgroundai.com
mixpanel.com
waymark.com
This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.
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