Front Burner

AI art and text is getting smarter, what comes next?

Today on Front Burner, AI image generators and chatbots are flooding social media feeds. They’re fun — but also a hint at how powerful AI is becoming and how it may transform the way we work, for better or worse.
A robot wearing a pork pie hat and using a mobile phone is illustrated in this image made by DALL-E 2, an art generator created by the company, OpenAI. The online art generator was given the prompt, "a person using a chatbot." (DALL-E 2/OpenAI)

In recent weeks, the latest versions of AI art-creating tools, along with a compelling new AI chatbot have flooded social media.

The tools can be fun, with people creating artistic and enhanced selfies using Lensa, strange concept art with DALL-E 2, or exploring the way the chatbot, ChatGPT, creates seemingly original and complex prose in seconds. But the new tools are also a demonstration of how powerful AI has become, and hint at a relatively near future where it could convincingly replace human workers.

Today, Will Knight, senior writer with WIRED, joins us to discuss what's behind these popular new AI tools, some of their pitfalls, and the impact they're already having on society.