Computer system creativity is a key step on the pathway to artificial general intelligence (AGI). It is elusive, however, due to the fact that human creativity is not fully understood and, thus, it is difficult to develop this capability in software. Large language models (LLMs) provide a facsimile of creativity and the appearance of sentience, while not actually being either creative or sentient. While LLMs have created bona fide new content, in some cases - such as with harmful hallucinations - inadvertently, their deliberate creativity is seen by some to not match that of humans. In response to this challenge, this paper proposes a technique for enhancing LLM output creativity via an iterative process of concept injection and refinement. Initial work on the development of the Creative Artificial Intelligence through Recurring Developments and Determinations (CAIRDD) system is presented and the efficacy of key system components is evaluated.

Last week, after briefly deposed CEO Sam Altman was reinstalled at OpenAI, two reports claimed that a top-secret project at the company had rattled some researchers there with its potential to solve intractable problems in a powerful new way. "Given vast computing resources, the new model was able to solve certain mathematical problems," Reuters reported, citing a single unnamed source. "Though only performing math on the level of grade-school students, acing such tests made researchers very optimistic about Q*'s future success." The Information said that Q* was seen as a breakthrough that would lead to "far more powerful artificial intelligence models," adding that "the pace of development alarmed some researchers focused on AI safety," citing a single unnamed source. Reuters also reported that some researchers sent a letter expressing concerns about Q*'s potential power to the nonprofit board that ejected Altman, although a WIRED source familiar with the board's thinking says that was not the case.

We've been hearing rumblings about Elon Musk's new AI venture, xAI, for months, and now it looks like it's almost here. The Tesla CEO and noted social media guru just took to Twitter/X to proclaim that his AI venture will launch its first model tomorrow, November 4. This is a beta phase, of a sort, as it's being released only to a "select group", though Musk didn't specify as to what went into the selection process. Will it be a random drop or will the AI model be reserved for "VIPs" like, uh, Tucker Carlson, Chaya Raichik or the indefatigable Catturd? Musk is making lofty promises about his AI, announcing that "in some important respects, it is the best that currently exists." It'll be competing with big-time offerings by OpenAI, Google, Meta and numerous others, so we'll see what "important respects" make it the best that currently exists.

When Elon Musk introduced the team behind his new artificial intelligence company xAI last month, the billionaire entrepreneur took a question from the rightwing media activist Alex Lorusso. ChatGPT had begun "editorializing the truth" by giving "weird answers like that there are more than two genders", Lorusso posited. Was that a driver behind Musk's decision to launch xAI, he wondered. "I do think there is significant danger in training AI to be politically correct, or in other words training AI to not say what it actually thinks is true," Musk replied. His own company's AI on the other hand, would be "maximally true" he had said earlier in the presentation.

Elon Musk has a new AI company. A website has appeared for xAI, which will embark on the self-described mission to "understand the true nature of the universe." The announcement comes after filing documents revealed the existence of a company called "X.AI Corp" earlier this year. Musk also said in an April interview that he wanted to start a venture for "maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe" that "hopefully does more good than harm." Not much else is known yet about Musk's latest venture.

Electric vehicles have the potential to substantially reduce carbon emissions, but car companies are running out of materials to make batteries. One crucial component, nickel, is projected to cause supply shortages as early as the end of this year. Scientists recently discovered four new materials that could potentially help--and what may be even more intriguing is how they found these materials: the researchers relied on artificial intelligence to pick out useful chemicals test from a list of more than 300 options. And they are not the only humans turning to A.I. for scientific inspiration. Creating hypotheses has long been a purely human domain.

The long-anticipated, Steven Spielberg-helmed Ready Player One has just been released in UK cinemas this week, and as a film of obvious interest to DreamingRobots and Cyberselves everywhere, we went along to see what the Maestro of the Blockbuster has done with Ernest Cline's 2011 novel (which the author himself helped to adapt to the screen). A one-time viewing and a next-day review are, of course, too early to answer such big questions with any certainty. Fortunately, however you feel about the film itself, it will reward many multiple viewings on DVD as even the most unsatisfied viewer won't be able to resist pausing the action frame-by-frame to catch all the references and fleeting glimpses of their favourite video game characters of the past. Cline's original novel was very much a paean to plucky independent gamers resisting the ruthless greed and world-conquering ambition of the Corporate Villain (while simultaneously, strangely, lionising the richest and most world-conquering of them all, James Halliday, the Gates-Jobs figure transformed here into the benevolent deus ex machina that built his trillions on creating the OASIS). The film remains true to Cline's vision, and perhaps even heightens this black-and-white, goodie-versus-baddie (IOI), with a brilliantly cast Ben ('Commander Krennic') Mendelsohn and a tragically under-used Hannah John-Kamen heading an army of faceless corporate infantry.