The Download: measuring returns on R&D, and AI’s creative potential

—Matthew Raine, whose 16-year old son Adam died by suicide after repeatedly sharing his intentions with ChatGPT, gives evidence to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating chatbot dangers, the Washington Post reports.

One more thing

AI is coming for music, too

While large language models that generate text have exploded in the last three years, a different type of AI, based on what are called diffusion models, is having an unprecedented impact on creative domains.

By transforming random noise into coherent patterns, diffusion models can generate new images, videos, or speech, guided by text prompts or other input data. The best ones can create outputs indistinguishable from the work of people

Now these models are marching into a creative field that is arguably more vulnerable to disruption than any other: music. Read the full story.

—James O'Donnell

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.)

+ Food, in all shapes and forms, is bigger than ever. So why aren’t we watching cooking shows any more?
+ Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love turns 40 this year, but still sounds as fresh as ever.
+ Here’s how to maximize your chances of booking a bargain flight.
+ Robert Redford, you were one of a kind.