AI and Beethoven's 10th

 Yes.

His tenth.

But he only has nine you say.

Yes, but he had many sketches for his tenth at the time of his death.

So what?

Yes, we can never know exactly what he would have created had he finished it but we can gleam something from it, through Artificial Intelligence.

AI works through a process of cognition through a hero sketch and repetition, followed by an execution effort.

So we might take a very clear photo of a person, teach the AI system who that person is, then run thousands of video files through it to find instances where a person is in the frame who looks like that hero photo.

With Beethoven we have nine completed symphonies to teach the AI and a sketch of the tenth.  Why not finish it?

Here is a brief history of the 10th as it was prior to AI:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._10_(Beethoven/Cooper)

And here is a story about he completion of the 10th using AI:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-artificial-intelligence-completed-beethovens-unfinished-10th-symphony-180978753/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The task at hand eventually crystallized. We would need to use notes and completed compositions from Beethoven’s entire body of work - along with the available sketches from the Tenth Symphony - to create something that Beethoven himself might have written.

This was a tremendous challenge. We didn’t have a machine that we could feed sketches to, push a button and have it spit out a symphony. Most A.I. available at the time couldn’t continue an uncompleted piece of music beyond a few additional seconds.

Best,

J.W. Gant

BRotD Entry 0264 - Car Sensors Focused on Humans

We have sensors for many things in the systems we use, the devices.  Many of our devices are quite personalized.  "Siri, when do the RedSox play again?"  Our voice is known, our location, our history, all kinds of things unique to "you" are known by the AI and used (for convenience, and, to sell you things).

Cars spend all their time monitoring the road and other drivers.  What about the driver in the car? You? 

Referred to as human-centric sensors. The idea is for the system to know the human as well as so many other devices and systems do.

Read more here:

https://europe.autonews.com/guest-columnist/get-ready-wave-human-centric-sensors

Here is a snippet from that piece:

But this dynamic is changing because of the growing popularity of driver monitoring systems (DMS) that add AI-powered intelligent safety features to cars, which can detect the state and behavior of drivers.

For example, DMS can determine if a driver is experiencing symptoms of sickness or nausea and course correct the in-vehicle experience through controls such as regulating air conditioning or releasing aromatherapy, just as cruise control slows down or speeds up the vehicle depending on real-time sensor inputs.

All the best,

J.W. Gant

Empathy in the Workplace

 Hello Everyone,

I am going to write up a little about a passion of mine and how it should alter your hiring and managing methods: empathy.

We have a hyper competitive environment in the United States where every executive learns the right thing to say and is sure to check those boxes.  I have unfortunately encountered too many executives who just check the boxes for areas such as "Servant Leadership", which they can define in limited fashion but can't practice, and have seen the dire consequences of these failures.

Empathy in the workplace is the single biggest differentiator a manager can bring to add value to the company.

It starts with recruiting and hiring with empathy and a little solution selling:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2022/05/19/recruiting-with-empathy-how-to-succeed-in-the-war-for-talent/?sh=71899acc468d

Here is a snippet from that:

When was the last time a recruiter called you and said, "I have an opportunity you are going to love." I am? How do you know? You don’t know me. It’s a short-sighted approach that focuses on the what instead of the why. It doesn’t sound like an empathetic approach. Empathy is rooted in recognition and appreciation for the "why." It involves putting yourself in another person’s shoes. When done well, we can better understand and provide solutions.

Here is a nice Medium post I agree with that states we should hire for empathy and train for everything else:

https://medium.com/@ioanabelu/hire-for-empathy-train-for-everything-else-3b434ba06cae

Here is a snippet from that:

We cannot outrun a car, outfly a plane or outsmart a computer; it would be foolish to even try. If a machine can do it better, maybe that’s not where we should try to excel. We can instead choose to focus on that which I cannot imagine will be technologically replicated too soon — empathy, sensorial intelligence, introspection.

So, here we are.

If we know it is important how do we hire for it?

Think of your behavioral questions and look for those with an opportunity for the person to see another viewpoint.  Ask questions such as "when did you not get your way at something you really wanted? How did it come about and how did you handle it?"

Best of luck,

J.W. Gant

Streaming Has Changed How Movies are Made

 Hello Again,

Continuing on the topic of streaming video.

I was very surprised to learn the target length for movies had been influenced by the size of VHS tapes and Blockbuster rentals.

See some more on that here:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/06/entertainment/movie-runtimes-longer-mcu-batman-oscar-bait-cec/index.html

... and now movies are getting longer for very different reasons.

The overall state of chaos in Hollywood is very interesting to observe.  I'm old enough to remember 3 main tv channels tuned in over air.  "Event" television meant you had to tune in (literally tune to the channel) to watch that show that week or you might never have the chance again.  How times have changed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/business/dealbook/movies-hollywood-streaming-services.html

Here is a snippet from that excellent piece:

The broad outlines of the change are clear enough, even if the outcome is, as ever unknowable. The screenwriter William Goldman’s axiom that “nobody knows anything” in Hollywood remains a good rule of thumb. Anyone who predicts the future of movies (this writer included) is either bluffing, guessing or indulging in wishful thinking.

What will tomorrow bring?  Another Disney animation, another Marvel movie and more Star Wars. Yes. You can bank on those claims.

Best,

J.W. Gant

Streaming Passes Cable

 Hi!

In the pages of this blog I've been tracking all things technology related in various verticals including streaming video (including a post stating the newly declared Disney+ would become the new Netflix).

The recent news has spurred me to post again.  It has happened.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/18/streaming-viewership-surpassed-cable-tv-for-the-first-time-says-nielsen/

Streaming video has passed cable tv in viewership.  Wow!  How we have changed (or how far have we come? Have we?).

The milestone was reached in July this year, 2022.  Streaming held 34.8% while cable had merely 34.4% of viewers.  This may be as much about the decline in cable (I cut the cord years ago when my bill went up 39% with no additional services provided) as it is about the advent of streaming but new services being added every day such as Paramount +, Hulu, etc. mean more options in the modern preferred channel.

The next question to ask is, who is doing best at streaming? Netflix is on top and Amazon is #2 but those numbers are likely misleading.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/496011/usa-svod-to-tv-streaming-usage/

Is Amazon showing elevated streaming numbers because it is a service bundled with Prime, that offers many things as a possible priority to the subscriber over streaming video?  We may not fully know the answer to that yet.

Best,

J.W. Gant