Thank you for reading my latest article The 5 Biggest Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trends In 2023. Here at LinkedIn and at Forbes I regularly write about management and technology trends. To read my future articles simply join my network here or click'Follow'. Also feel free to connect with me via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Slideshare or YouTube. Over the last decade, Artificial intelligence (AI) has become embedded in every aspect of our society and lives.

Today, DALL-E is introducing Outpainting -- a new feature that helps users extend their creativity by continuing an image beyond its original borders. With Outpainting, users can generate large-scale images in any aspect ratio while maintaining the context of the original image. This capability is made possible by DALL-E's Edit feature, which enables changes within a generated or uploaded image. So whether you want to add visual elements in the same style or take a story in new directions, DALL-E makes it easy! Outpainting is a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of purposes.

Having the chance to try DALL-E 2, the new AI system from OpenAI that can create realistic images from natural language, was pretty extraordinary. There's no question the system is still in its infancy, but it's clear the technology is moving quickly and we're already starting to see improved text-to-image models. Google Brain's Imagen, which can generate photorealistic images of a scene given a textual description and Meta's Make-A–Scene, which allows users to draw a freeform digital sketch to accompany a text prompt, are both promising examples. There are a number of ways small and midsize businesses can take advantage of text-to-image technology today. On average, it's recommended that small businesses spend 7–8% of their gross revenue on marketing.

In this article, I would like to start with a recent announcement that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) made and then show how, even though it may be of little relevance, it offers once again the opportunity to understand how Microsoft runs its business and, most important, defends its wide moat. I really enjoy carrying out this kind of research, especially when I have to deal with a very large company such as Microsoft. In fact, I think that very often, understanding well how one particular choice works, enables me to get a grasp of the whole company better than if I were to analyze only its financials without diving into some of its operations. Let's get to the announcement: Microsoft is launching Microsoft Designer, a graphic design app in Microsoft 365 that helps users create social media posts, invitations, digital postcards, graphics, and more, all in a flash. The most important feature is that Microsoft Designer is powered by AI technology, including DALL E 2 by OpenAI, which enables to instantly generate a variety of designs with minimal effort.

Microsoft is reportedly in advanced talks with OpenAI to invest more in the seven-year-old research company. Both The Wall Street Journal and The Information, citing unnamed sources, said no deal has been reached and no funding amount settled on, but the two companies have met in recent weeks to discuss the possibilities. According to WSJ, OpenAI uses a huge amount of compute power to run its AI products on Microsoft Azure. Funds from any new investment could be used to help offset those costs. The money would come on top of the $1 billion Microsoft invested in OpenAI in 2019 in a deal that included OpenAI agreeing to jointly develop new supercomputing technologies for Azure based on its AI products and making Azure its exclusive cloud provider.

Many observers were disappointed with the recent demo of the AI-enabled "Optimus" robot at Tesla's AI Day. One reviewer cleverly titled his article "Sub-Optimus." However, these views actually miss the point. Whatever else may be said of Elon Musk, he is a genius at sensing timing and opportunity, applying technology and providing the necessary resources. The quality and enthusiasm of the engineering team suggest Optimus could succeed, even if it takes longer than the estimate of 3 to 5 years for full production.

When scenes created by the AI image generator DALL-E started circulating online earlier this year, it seemed inevitable that someone would turn the technology to fashion. DALL-E is part of a new crop of AI capable of creating extraordinarily detailed and realistic imagery from a text prompt, making it easy for anyone to use. Artists have quickly begun applying these programs to creating digital art, with one piece conjured up by the program Midjourney even beating out its human-generated competition for a prize. The same power could easily be used to whip up clothing designs. The idea is already becoming reality.

If you've had your ear to the ground for the past couple of years, you'll have heard at least some of the rumbles of debate over the ethics and impact of AI art. You may have even heard the names of some tools used to create AI art, like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL-E. But you may also be wondering why these tools have spawned such strong opinions in the news, on social media, and even among people you know. After all, haven't we been having the "robots will take our jobs" discussion for decades, now? The hook behind these publically-available AI tools is that they can take wildly specific prompts and unflinchingly depict them, like an artist working on commission that doesn't care if you want a lifesize painting of Mario and Luigi eating a barbecued Toad, just as long as they get paid.

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning based on artificial neural networks. These neural networks mimic how the human brain learns, enabling them to learn from data without being explicitly programmed. As deep learning continues to evolve, we can expect even more impressive advancements in the field. Deep learning will play a key role in improving our understanding of natural language processing and image recognition. Additionally, it will help us create more accurate models for predicting outcomes and prescribing actions.

Venture capitalists are shaking themselves out of a bear market slumber to chase deals in a pocket of artificial intelligence that's spilled into the mainstream this year: AI that generates art, videos and writing. Jasper AI, which last year started selling an AI-assisted writing tool, raised funding from Insight Partners at a $1.5 billion pre-investment valuation around June this year, according to two sources familiar with the talks. Startup valuations have fallen since then. But earlier this month hedge fund Coatue Management paid a higher price for new shares in the Austin, Tex.–based Jasper, which has rapidly increased its revenues using software developed by startup OpenAI. Meanwhile, Descript, a startup that uses AI for video and audio editing and was founded by Groupon co-founder Andrew Mason, has been in talks with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other investors to raise a new round, according to people familiar with the discussions.