Strangeworks may be the first startup to rely on AI to create everything it brings to SXSW.

It is a very trendy juggling trick: Construct an SXSW discuss out of nothing with the assistance of prolific AI. That is what Whurley did in Austin this 12 months.

One of many cornerstones of the Austin tech scene, Whurley took 9 weeks to create and put together for a keynote. SXSW 2018the place he’ll launch Strangeworks, a quantum computing startup he co-founded and runs. 5 years later, the generative AI would full the duty in only a few hours.

And it was truly fairly good. The 45-minute discuss was complete, attention-grabbing, and whirlwind. There was swearing (fuck it) and some jokes (together with two attorneys) that the viewers laughed at. The toughest half, apparently, was studying the script the AI ​​offered from his pill, at the least whereas he was on stage. (Whurley is understood for his freeriding type within the SXSW scene, the place he’s an everyday.)

shooter? He waited till the top to offer probably the most essential level.

“Every part at present, from the slides to the speech I am studying proper now, was created by generative AI,” he stated on stage, earlier than shifting on to the how and why. A buzz of whispers, wow and chuckles unfold by the room stuffed with a whole lot of SXSW attendees.

Strangeworks may very well be the primary to leverage generative AI for all of its onstage and offstage content material at SXSW. Whereas the experiment is a enjoyable new present, it additionally demonstrates the flexibleness and rising reputation of AI instruments.

Why trouble? Publicity and schooling, Whurley informed TechCrunch this week after the incident.

“We’re on the verge of the best interval of technological development in human historical past. I really feel like individuals aren’t prepared for it, do not even understand it is there. “I needed to attract consideration to that,” he stated. “We’ll see extra adjustments within the subsequent ten years than we have now seen within the final 100 years. Folks can say no all they need, however the technological change that’s about to occur can’t be stopped. The convergence of quantum computing and synthetic intelligence will likely be a step operate, if not a number of steps, for scientific discovery and progress.”

Interval

The experiment started, as many do, with a restricted scope. Whurley used generative AI to put in writing a press release for his SXSW discuss titled “” in October 2022.Quantum Artificial Intelligence: Why Your Future Depends on Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence” And no, he did not inform the SXSW organizers.

“It began with a immediate,” he stated whereas on stage. “I stated write an 800-word South by Southwest abstract. Right here is the idea, right here I gave it a title and some spots and all the things you see on the South by Southwest web site was created by ChatGPT. And I delivered.”

ChatGPT is the picture and textual content comprehension AI mannequin powered by GPT 3.5 and developed by OpenAI. A brand new model of the underlying engine, the GPT-4, was launched on March 14.

His request was:

Write an 800-word abstract for an SXSW keynote for a session titled “QuantumAI: Why Your Future Is dependent upon the Convergence of Quantum Computing and Synthetic Intelligence”, the place the speaker discusses advances in quantum computing and synthetic intelligence and the challenges our species faces. and the inevitable convergence that would result in a quantum superintelligence that can change our world ceaselessly.

Simply days earlier than the SXSW featured session, Whurley determined to take it even additional. He requested the AI ​​to make use of the abstract to create a top level view of what the presentation would possibly appear like. After just a few tweaks (or “redirects” as he calls it), the mainline acquired his approval.

Immediate:

That is nice, I would like to search out sufficient slides to debate this subject for an hour. Are you able to counsel what a potential define can be for a 1 hour dialog on this subject?

Whurley shared this together with his staff at Strangeworks they usually determined to do something collectively. “At that time, I informed TechCrunch that the plan would begin doing no matter was obligatory for the 11:30 p.m. keynote,” he informed TechCrunch.

Strangeworks’ artistic staff, Casey Barthels, Nicole Majeske, and Ada Onyiuke, used Midjourney, a synthetic intelligence artistic artwork device, to create slides and graphics for the presentation. Then they raised the stake once more by having Midjourney construct the story and graphics in a seven-page print publication that includes Strangeworks mascot Schrody Cat. The journal was distributed to the members.

“And final evening, I believed, if I did a top level view, a abstract, and all of the slides, why cannot we put the phrases in my mouth too.” stated. Whurley took all of his earlier requests and forwarded them to GPT-4, which was launched on Tuesday.

In different phrases, what can be the ultimate situation, charts and slides have been created on the morning of the keynote. They usually lower shut. “As I entered the lodge at virtually 11 am, I took the ultimate model of the script and lower it and pasted it into the teleprompter software program I downloaded onto my iPad,” he wrote to TechCrunch after the incident. .

“It is positively the largest danger I’ve taken at SXSW,” he stated.

Generative AI was additionally used to create whurley’s personal websiteDebuting Wednesday, that includes a whole lot of blogs in Whurley’s voice. Labored with Huge Human collaborator David Hudson on the weblog venture.

These blogs have been deleted to make room for one more venture launched on Thursday. The Strangeworks CEO ran the immediate once more through ChatGPT, this time asking him to publish the web site and blogs in 10 languages, together with Spanish, Chinese language, Italian, and Arabic.

Whurley stated the response was overwhelmingly optimistic. She famous that a number of anti-AI/tech people made condescending feedback or veiled threats through social media, however “once more, only a few detractors.”