The AI Showdown: Meta’s Llama 3 Faces Off Against Microsoft’s VASA-1 in Intensifying Race, While Python TensorFlow Example Illustrates Deepfake Generation!!

The Journey
4 min readApr 19, 2024
Graphics Credits: The Verge

Wow! Two new AI models from two tech giants! One model is already available to the public while the other remains yet to be open source. It’s an exciting time, isn’t it? Meta and Microsoft have both released amazing AI models. Meta’s AI assistant is making its way across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, while the company’s latest major AI model, Llama 3, has just been unveiled.

On the other hand, Microsoft’s new AI makes convincing deepfakes worryingly easy! Yes, you read that right! They’re aiming to make deepfakes easy to create!

It’s a bit ironic, isn’t it?

They’ll likely spend billions combating their own technology! It’s indeed a vicious cycle of tech and money!

In the ever-evolving landscape of AI-powered assistants, Meta (formerly Facebook) is making bold moves to solidify its position. With the introduction of Llama 3, the latest iteration of its foundational open-source model, Meta is aiming to surpass competitors in the AI chatbot arena.

Llama 3 boasts superior performance on key benchmarks, including tasks like coding, positioning Meta’s AI assistant as a formidable competitor to existing models. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions Meta AI as “the most intelligent AI assistant that people can freely use across the world,” signaling a commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI technology.

One of the standout features of Meta AI is its integration of real-time search results from both Bing and Google, enhancing the user experience by providing comprehensive and up-to-date information.

Additionally, advancements in image generation, including the ability to create animations and high-resolution images on the fly, further distinguish Meta’s AI assistant from its counterparts.

Moreover, Meta AI’s expansion beyond the United States into several English-speaking countries signifies the company’s ambition to reach a global audience.

While this rollout represents a significant step towards Meta’s goal of a truly universal AI assistant, there’s still ground to cover to reach the company’s massive user base of over 3 billion daily users.

Meta’s strategy of integrating its AI assistant seamlessly across its platforms mirrors its approach with features like Stories and Reels, leveraging its vast user base and adaptability to drive adoption. Despite criticisms of copying, Zuckerberg sees Meta’s scale and agility as competitive advantages in the AI chatbot race.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s unveiling of the VASA-1 research project adds another dimension to the conversation around AI and deepfake technology. While VASA-1 showcases impressive capabilities in generating lifelike videos from still images and audio clips, concerns about potential misuse underscore the importance of responsible development and regulation in the AI space.

Ultimately, Meta’s aggressive investment in AI technology, coupled with advancements like Llama 3 and expanded features in Meta AI, positions the company as a frontrunner in the ongoing battle for AI supremacy.

As the race heats up, it remains to be seen how Meta’s innovations will shape the future of AI-powered assistants and their impact on society.

Get the full-fledged details on LLAMA-3 here!

Here’s a simplified Python example using TensorFlow to demonstrate how a generative model can be used to generate deepfakes. For this example, let’s create a basic autoencoder-based generative adversarial network (GAN) to generate deepfake images:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from tensorflow.keras.datasets import mnist
from tensorflow.keras.models import Model, Sequential
from tensorflow.keras.layers import Input, Dense, Reshape, Flatten, Conv2D, Conv2DTranspose
from tensorflow.keras.optimizers import Adam

# Load MNIST dataset
(x_train, _), (_, _) = mnist.load_data()

# Normalize data
x_train = x_train / 255.0

# Reshape data for convolutional network
x_train = np.expand_dims(x_train, axis=-1)

# Define dimensions
img_shape = (28, 28, 1)
latent_dim = 100

# Build generator model
def build_generator(latent_dim, img_shape):
model = Sequential([
Dense(128 * 7 * 7, input_dim=latent_dim),
Reshape((7, 7, 128)),
Conv2DTranspose(128, kernel_size=3, strides=2, padding='same', activation='relu'),
Conv2DTranspose(64, kernel_size=3, strides=1, padding='same', activation='relu'),
Conv2DTranspose(1, kernel_size=3, strides=2, padding='same', activation='sigmoid')
])
noise = Input(shape=(latent_dim,))
img = model(noise)
return Model(noise, img)

# Build and compile discriminator model
generator = build_generator(latent_dim, img_shape)
generator.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy', optimizer=Adam(0.0002, 0.5))

# Generate fake images
def generate_fake_samples(generator, latent_dim, n_samples):
noise = np.random.normal(0, 1, (n_samples, latent_dim))
fake_images = generator.predict(noise)
return fake_images

# Train generator
epochs = 100
batch_size = 128
half_batch = batch_size // 2

for epoch in range(epochs):
# Select a random half batch of real images
idx = np.random.randint(0, x_train.shape[0], half_batch)
real_images = x_train[idx]

# Generate a half batch of fake images
fake_images = generate_fake_samples(generator, latent_dim, half_batch)

# Train the generator
g_loss = generator.train_on_batch(fake_images, np.ones((half_batch, 1)))

# Print progress
print(f"Epoch: {epoch + 1}, Generator Loss: {g_loss}")

# Generate and display deepfake images
n_images = 10
fake_images = generate_fake_samples(generator, latent_dim, n_images)

for i in range(n_images):
plt.subplot(2, 5, i+1)
plt.imshow(fake_images[i].reshape(28, 28), cmap='gray')
plt.axis('off')

plt.show()

This code sets up a basic GAN architecture using TensorFlow and trains it on the MNIST dataset to generate fake handwritten digit images. You can extend this example by using more complex architectures and datasets to generate more realistic deepfake images. Remember to use such technology responsibly and ethically.

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