NVIDIA: The Leading Contender for the AI Race

NVIDIA is one of the household names in the tech industry since their hardware are widely regarded as the best in the business. Indeed, their graphic cards are widely used for a multitude of purposes, but it is easy for people to forget that their specialty isn’t solely to build cutting edge computational beasts, but they are also quite adept in the creation of software that sets the industry standards. One of NVIDIA’s main fields of interest is Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they have rocked the world of development with their recent accomplishments. In this article, we’ll dive into NVIDIA’s AI, and we’ll take a look at some of the marvels that they’ve developed. 

NVIDIA and AI 

Since the early 2000s, the tech titan NVIDIA has been dabbling in the field of AI, and the full potential of their hardware was unlocked with their breakthrough series of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) that proved to be excellent tools for AI development due to their unparalleled parallel processing capabilities. Effectively, NVIDIA might have single-handedly accelerated the development of cutting-edge AI since they started manufacturing graphics cards specifically engineered for machine learning and neural network training. Of course, having access to what is essentially the best gear in the business, they started developing solutions that aimed to make AI development much easier and more accessible. One example is the CUDA platform which is designed to harness the power of NVIDIA GPUs to their utmost limit thus drastically increasing the computational power of these machines, and in turn, it has been a great tool for AI development since machine learning is a highly demanding activity in terms of processing power.  

The Modern Era 

In recent years, NVIDIA has been making breakthrough after breakthrough in the field of AI, and the culmination of their efforts exploded just a few months back. They have introduced “text-to-video" generative AI, meaning that users can use natural language to describe the video that they wish to create, and the AI takes care of the rest. Though it may sound unbelievable, trials have clearly shown the potential of this technology. Indeed, no prerequisite animation background and no software expertise are necessary to start using this software.  

More impressive still, NVIDIA’s proprietary Neuralangelo is an AI model that can create 3D models of any object. The user simply needs to provide pictures taken from different angles to then watch the magic unfold right in front of their eyes. As impressive as this technology is, it doesn’t threaten the existence of 3D generalists and artists since the models it creates still require polishing and tweaking to make them compatible with, say for instance, a game engine.  

Another astronomical achievement recently showcased by NVIDIA is their “Broadcasting” technology. In a nutshell, this solution includes two new features. The first is a tool that adjusts the speaker’s eyes when they are being filmed to look directly at the camera pointed at them. So, even if the presenter or streamer is looking at a script, they’d still be making eye contact with their audience through the lens. The second feature creates a vignette effect coupled with a subtle background blur. What this achieves is impeccable visual fidelity, almost as if filmed in a studio.  

Though the vignette effect is fantastic, the eye contact tech might be a little unsettling, if not off-putting, for the audience of a live stream. It does not feel quite natural to have the streamer constantly peering into the depth of the audience’s soul, and some may even be uncomfortable with such intense eye contact that seems unrelenting. Further experimentation will yield greater results, but these are simply some concerns about this technology.  

What now? 

Of course, all these advancements are mind-blowing, but they certainly raise a multitude of questions. Generative AI has been a highly controversial topic ever since its inception. After the Chatbot era, which caused quite an outrage about the dangers of AI and their ability to simulate human existence, came the “text-to-image" revolution.

Similarly, artists took to the proverbial streets to express their discontent with the tech as it devalued their works in more ways than one. Some arguments were unreasonable, but one that stands its ground is the legality of the training process since it includes feeding the algorithms a massive amount of, in some instances, copyrighted material. Without due credits or commissions, it is understandable that the art community fight these practices. Now, with “text-to-video,” it is going to be difficult to distinguish between works created by AI and those done by real human beings. Though we’re not at that stage yet as most generated videos have subtle details that give them away, some are already voicing their discontent with the whole situation.  

Conclusion 

All in all, NVIDIA is among the tech titans for a reason, and that reason is their competence, their dedication, and their numerous achievements. Their efforts and research in the field of AI are modernizing the world, and multiple industries have gained immense value thanks to their hardware and software. It is true that some moral concerns surrounding NVIDIA’s work are being raised, but the giants’ merits are widely sung.