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It's 2025, so it should be no surprise that another organization has sold its soul (entered into a licensing deal with an AI company) for an undisclosed sum. A new partnership allows UK-based Synthesia to access Shutterstock's content library for training its latest AI model, EXPRESS-2. This deal isn't the first of its kind for Shutterstock, which previously teamed up with OpenAI to sell stock images made using AI generator DALL-E 2. Synthesia creates avatars for corporate videos about topics such as cybersecurity and good communication at work. It aims to use Shutterstock's video data to "try out new approaches that will improve the performance of EXPRESS-2, and increase the realism and expressiveness of our AI generated avatars, bringing them closer to human-like performances.," Synthesia stated in a release. Typically, Synthesia uses actors to create avatars, paying to use their likeness for three years. But, now it will have access to individuals through Shutterstock's videos. Though these people will not be used to create avatars but to model body language, tone of voice and how people look at a desk or while using a whiteboard, for example. While, it means that someone featured on Shutterstock won't suddenly see their face in a workplace video, it does mean that their existence whether it's movements or words is being fed to an AI company. Time and time again, companies are selling AI companies the rights to use individuals' work without any consultation (or typically compensation) for the creators or participants. Such is the case for licensing deals with the likes of DotDash Meredith, Time and Reuters, to name only a few instances. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/shutterstock-licenses-its-video-library-to-ai-corporate-video-company-120004055.html?src=rss
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Netflix has released a game called Thronglets based on episode seven of the latest season of Black Mirror. It's like a game of Tamagotchi and Pokémon, with dark, existential themes like what you'd expect from a tie up for the series would be. Thronglets was developed by Night School, the same studio behind Oxenfree that Netflix had acquired in 2021. "Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflixs track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing," said Sean Krankel, the founder of Night School Studio, at the time. In the series, Thronglets is at the center of episode seven's story, which is set in the same universe as Netflix's interactive movie Bandersnatch. It's a long-lost game by Tuckersoft, the same gaming studio in the movie, that hasn't been seen since it was cancelled in 1994. In the game, you'll have to hatch, evolve and raise creatures called Thronglets, bathing them, feeding them and entertaining them as they multiply more quickly than gremlins. Netflix says the game is not really only about raising virtual creations, though, but about "exploring the depths of human nature and the consequences of our digital obsessions." When you build groups of Thonglets known as a Throng, you can unlock video fragments of a documentary titled Ritman Retrospective. The videos are from a series of interviews with Tuckersoft chief Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry) and the game's creator Colin Ritman (Will Poulter). At the end of the game, you'll get a personality test result that you can share on your socials. Thronglets, like Netflix's other games, are free to play on its iOS and Android app for anybody who has an account. It comes after the company's first gaming boss Mike Verdu left the company and after it announced that it will put a focus on party and narrative games. The new season of Black Mirror arrives on the streaming service today. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-black-mirror-game-thronglets-is-real-and-available-for-ios-and-android-070128362.html?src=rss
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After dozens of mind-bending, thought-provoking escapades across time and space, Black Mirrors seventh season is tackling something new: its first-ever sequel episode. The Emmy-winning Netflix series dropped its entire six-episode seventh season on Thursday, April 10, closing with the finale USS Callister: Into Infinity. The sprawling 90-minute episode rounds up many of the actors from Black Mirrors season 4 episode USS Callister including Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, Billy Magnussen, Osy Ikhile, Milanka Brooks and Paul G. Raymond for another adrenaline-pumping adventure. The USS Callisters crew, still trapped in the Infinity companys space-faring virtual reality MMORPG, are barely scraping by, robbing other players of their credits to simply survive. In the real world, the crews in-game robberies become problematic for Infinitys greedy CEO James Walton (Jimmi Simpson) when a tenacious investigative reporter starts to ask questions, threatening to implicate the company and its former founder Robert Daly. Sequels are generally difficult to pull off well, but USS Callister: Into Infinity is a rare exception, thanks to years of development by Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, who worked on the script on-and-off for years after USS Callister aired in December 2017 and became one of the shows most popular episodes. Simpson told Engadget he first learned he would revisit the Black Mirror universe in 2021. The 49-year-old actor holds credits in shows like Westworld, Dark Matter and Pachinko and yet, Simpson is still surprised when projects come together. When people say it's happening, I don't believe them, ever, until it's definitely happening, he said. Beyond his hesitation about gigs panning out in general, Simpson also had reservations that the original episode could successfully be iterated on. It's a one-piece film. I was a little bit cynical," he said, "How are you going to top [the first episode]. They found not just the reason to spend more time with these characters, but the reason why the story wasn't done yet, he continued. That was my favorite part, that they made this sequel kind of essential. Nick Wall/Netflix Revisiting Walton after seven years wasnt as difficult as he thought it might be. It was pretty natural. It was kind of like putting on an old suit that had ketchup stains all over it. So it's familiar, but smells weird, Simpson mused. And so I just dropped into that guy. It also helped that many of Simpsons scenes this time were with Milioti, who reprises her role as an Infinity programmer, now turned captain of the USS Callister. For Simpson, she was the ideal acting partner. [Milioti] takes pauses like a jazz musician, he explained, adding, She's always making something alive, and so I think our work together was some of my favorite stuff. Brooker previously described season 7 as a little bit OG Black Mirror and back to basics in many ways, which bodes well for the beloved show. It left an indelible impression on viewers since premiering in 2011 by weaving heady speculative fiction premises with a deep sense of humanity. Simpson hopes that longtime Black Mirror viewers and fans of USS Callister in particular find the shows first expansion episode worth the long wait, and that theyre beyond entertained by what the cast and crew took time to painstakingly and lovingly create. Entertainment, you know, what we do, it's about giving you a nice time, because the world sucks sometimes, he admits. So let's spend some time together. Weve got that in spades. I think we also have a little commentary on the power of loneliness and the power of togetherness, and it shows you both of those things perfectly.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/jimmi-simpson-worried-black-mirrors-return-to-the-uss-callister-wouldnt-be-essential-070050250.html?src=rss
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