Listen "S4 E109 Training an AI: Backflip (Dec 2023)"
Episode Synopsis
Backflip is a docu-style film, made over a period of three years where Nikita Diakur presents his progress using AI to teach a character to backflip. The character is the 3D scanned artist and the learning process applied is based on a technique he read in an academic paper. To say its chaos is an understatatement, and something anyone in research could probably have told him when attempting to replicate a finding in a publication (which of course is why LLMs using text alone will never be 'intelligent'). It is also everything one would expect from a character rig with the physics of a double-jointed arachnid... but it sure is hugely entertaining to watch, and brilliantly edited together. Backflip is a must watch for anyone using AIs for animation, not least because it serves as a reminder of just how tough this all was pre-mid 2023!1:13 News updates: Half Life 2 celebrates 25 years, GTA6 release and Elden Ring DLCs5:06 John McInnes connecting machinima to virtual production with Baad Viibes7:43 Backflip review and discussion16:10 Focussing on the glitch25:57 How smart is AI really?34:54 Narrative arc and the use of AI Credits -Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy HarwoodProducer: Damien ValentineEditor: Ricky GroveMusic: Coast by Anno Domini Beats
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