On 5 April, OpenAI unveiled “Voice Engine,” an AI that can clone a person’s voice and speech patterns after hearing a 15-second sample, the company said. The program also can read text aloud in the borrowed voice and enable the cloned voice to speak in foreign languages.
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
Here is the hard fact. No one in the world, other than The Trends Journal, had forecast that a Top Trend of 2024 would be a “GOLDEN YEAR FOR GOLD.”
HOW DID YOU LIKE THE BIG SHOW?
You want to talk about unprecedented? Ok, let’s do that. This weekend’s event is being broadcast to the world via the mainstream media outlets as “unprecedented,” (same word being repeated over and over by each of them).
AS FORECAST: COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS KILLED THE HUMAN SPIRIT AS ALCOHOL USE SURGED DURING OUTBREAK
Americans turned to the bottle during the COVID-19 outbreak and alcohol consumption had a particularly deleterious impact on women from April 2020, the start of lockdowns, to September 2021.
JUNIOR PARTNERS IN THE AI > HUMAN SYMBIOSIS
Data is the lifeblood of generative, fast emerging Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
WAR GANG CLAMORS FOR WAR WITH IRAN
The Israeli extremists who occupy top positions in government pushed for a major conflict with Iran after Tehran launched its retaliatory strikes Saturday in response to Israel’s consulate bombing in Damascus.
TOP TREND 2024: EV GO FU
Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the U.S. have slowed lately and one reason is the “significant disconnect” between the needs and wants of potential buyers and what car makers are giving them, according to the 2024 Edmunds EV Sentiment Survey.
Global Economy
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S ECONOMIC PLIGHT
On 10 April, Fitch cut its outlook on China's credit rating from stable to negative, pointing to risks as the country adopts a new approach to economic growth and struggles to steer its economy away from dependence on real estate development and publicly funded infrastructure projects.
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
Merger and Acquisition took a break when the Federal Reserve and EU began aggressively raising interest rates from their zero and negative levels back in March and July 2022 respectively.
TOP TREND 2024: BANKS GO BUST
Despite a strong economy, several major banks muted their earnings forecast for this year, citing the need to pay higher interest on customers’ deposits.
The Israel War
NY TIMES RUNS “HATE IRAN” DAVID VS. GOLIATH PROPAGANDA PIECE
The New York Times devoted a front-page article last week to allegations by “U.S. officials” that Iran has been pumping the West Bank with weapons—in an apparent effort to lend support to Israel’s ethnic cleansing effort in the territory and illegal land grabs based on “security” concerns.
WAR GANG CLAMORS FOR WAR WITH IRAN
The Israeli extremists who occupy top positions in government pushed for a major conflict with Iran after Tehran launched its retaliatory strikes Saturday in response to Israel’s consulate bombing in Damascus.
ISRAEL BOMBED TO RUIN AT LEAST 357 HUMANITARIAN-RUN SITES IN GAZA
Israel has been targeting humanitarian centers throughout Gaza even after receiving detailed coordinates about the locations in advance, according to a report in Middle East Eye.
AI
APPLE IS BUILDING AI CAPACITY INTO EVERY NEW MAC
After equipping some Mac computers with M3 AI chips late last year, the company will now power all Macs with Apple’s proprietary next-generation M4 chips, people familiar told Bloomberg.
FAST FOOD TURNS TO AI TO CUT STAFF, MAINTAIN PROFITS
Yum Brands—the Kentucky company that owns KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and the Habit burger chain—has nearly doubled its investment in technology from $11 billion in 2022 to $21 billion now.
OPENAI UNVEILS NEW VOICE-CLONING PROGRAM
On 5 April, OpenAI unveiled “Voice Engine,” an AI that can clone a person’s voice and speech patterns after hearing a 15-second sample, the company said. The program also can read text aloud in the borrowed voice and enable the cloned voice to speak in foreign languages.
Hi-Tech Science
RESEARCHERS INTERCONNECT PARTS OF LAB-GROWN BRAINS
Bioscientists use “organoids”—small, lab-grown portions of organs—to study their development, test the effects of new drugs, and understand the origins and progression of diseases.
IT’S RAINING ENERGY
A porous film devised by researchers at the University of Massachusetts can collect the electrical charges naturally present in humidity and convert them into an electric current.
STEM CELL TREATMENT RESTORES FEELING, MOVEMENT AFTER SPINAL CORD INJURY
The 500,000 people who suffer spinal cord damage each year have had limited options for regaining feeling and movement. Now they have another.