So, I spent the last couple of months processing a lot of information. Reading up on the theory behind current LLM stuff, a lot of Wikipedia, whatever science papers I can find related to my own thoughts/observations, like non-linguistic forms of intelligence, the brain being a physical machine that changes structure, concepts like brainwaves applied to AI (LinOSS seems interesting).

And, of course, I've been reading blog posts and comments from Phantasia (and Steve's old WordPress, etc.).

Something I'm not fully clear on (and hoping it isn't rude to ask!) is whether some of the outside ideas/research address Steve's past criticisms about the shallowness of mainstream AI research, whether certain ideas overlap, etc.

Like "world models", for example. The premise of modeling and predicting the states of the physical world seems similar to the premise Phantasian brains, but I don't think they're the same.

I also figured it's time that I join some communities with people who actually know/talk about the subject of AI in some way, instead of burdening a couple Discord contacts with my entire stream of consciousness, random scientific papers, and excerpts from my cluttered notes.

Obligatory mention: I sometimes do YouTube. I've struggled to actually be productive for many reasons (I've rewritten this post several times) but I'd be happy to contribute on the "content creator" front if people have ideas.

I'm currently stuck between deciding on two paths forward, I'm not sure if I should purchase a thermal camera for effective infrared spectrometry or if I should try and build a gas chromatograph. 

Any feedback welcome and appreciated!

It's a more philosophical topic, but I found it to be pretty thought provoking. 

How long have you been breeding ducks?  What kind of controls do you keep in place to monitor breeding? 

How do you rear the young?  Or are you going complete natural, just imprinting them with home and hoping for the best?

Also, do you keep any charts or records regarding the rats?

I'm all about research, and I'm hoping to benefit from the experience of others, I've got lots of learning that I've done but basically zero experience and I want to compile a series of useful guides for myself to reference in three months or so in order to temper my ADHD and keep me focused on what matters.

Generally, I binge learn and then get distracted by new projects, but I really want to stick with this one in the most methodical way I can. 

Any other user's input would be greatly appreciated as well, doesn't matter what species you've bred, I am just want to learn general best practices.

Mine is to drink less coffee and eat less sugar... I make this resolution every year...

I know that there are decent models out there for adding lip-sync to a static image, and likewise there are models for cloning voices.  There must be something slightly more advanced that i could use locally, offline without paying ridiculous amounts of money.

If not, there's always her birthday or next year.

Thanks in advance and happy solstice celebrations of your choice!