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Keying in on industrial and academic uses of artificial intelligence, Houston Community College will host a conference on both subjects March 30 and 31 from 9:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Houston Community College's West Houston Institute at 2811 Hayes Road, Houston.

On March 30, the Gulf Coast Annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence will feature a student panel on academic and career pursuits in AI and machine learning as well as keynote speakers and presentations from industry experts and educators. NVIDIA Senior Solutions Architect Pavel Dimitrov will speak on Modulus, MTC & Omniverse, while Austin Carson, founder and president of SeedAI, will speak on building AI across America.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, is also expected to speak on March 30.

Additional speakers from NVIDIA, the Mitre Corp., semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon Web Services and Dell Technologies are expected to present on March 31.

Tickets are available to students for $10 a day or to professional registrants for $40 a day. Virtual registration is available for $25 and group registration is also available.

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Houston Community College to host Gulf Coast Annual Conference ... - Community Impact Newspaper

Bank crises and the bailouts that often ensue are nothing new. Apropos one such bailout, where the authorities had shored up bank solvency by buying up distressed assets, a certain financial journalist wrote, In other words, the fortune of the whole community, which the Government represents, ought to make good the losses of private capitalists. This sort of communism, where the mutuality is all on one side, seems rather attractive to the European capitalists.

The occasion was a bank crisis in Hamburg; the date was November 1857; and the journalist, reporting to readers of the New York Daily Tribune, was Karl Marx.

Since 1857 bank crises and bailouts have come and gone, each one adding layers of literature to the question why bank crises happen and how to prevent them happening again. And with each crisis, public esteem for authorities that oversee financial markets has risen. In 2022, for his analysis of financial markets dysfunction and for steering them out of the 2008 crisis, Professor Ben Bernanke of Princeton University and the Federal Reserve was awarded Nobel laurels. The complacency of 2022 now seems the swan song of a different era. At the very moment when public esteem for financial market regulators could not have been made more conspicuous, troubles have set in.

In October 2022 pension funds in London required emergency intervention. In March 2023 distress calls have gone out from distant ends of the globe, from swashbuckling venture capitalists in California and sedate wealth managers in Switzerland. Regulators are discovering that their hold on financial markets is as firm as a grip on a wet bar of soap in a bathtub.

How did we get here?

Central banks and regulators have nursed back global financial markets from a near-death experience in 2008. Central banks did this by injecting generous doses of near-zero cost funding in the shape of quantitative easing (QE), and regulators by arranging regular health checks in the shape of stress tests.

Central banks in the post-2008 era administered QE as a temporary application. It was supposed to be withdrawn after restoring the patient to health. But given that the nemesis in all three recent cases seems to have been the rise in interest rates, for swathes of the financial sector QE appears to have become a form of artificial life support.

Regulators had expanded their remit to supervise banking practices and oversee stress-testing, undertaken annually with a no-expense-spared allocation of resources. But the pernicious impact of interest rates, increased several times in quick succession, seems to have been missing from their list of checks.

Although it is a commonplace that there is no such thing as a free lunch, it has been thought for some time that there is such a thing as a free bank rescue. Distortions caused by bank rescues are showing up as the money pouring out from central banks has flooded markets for real assets housing, art and luxury goods. Latterly, inflation has spilled over into consumer goods. Once interest rates began to rise, this has begun to pinch those with mortgages as well as other borrowers. Bank bailouts have tried to be all things to all men but have failed. Financial authorities have now reached the end of the road with the palliative measures applied since 2008.

Authorities can rescue banks. Or they can tamp down inflation. But they cannot do both. It would be unconscionable if the authorities were not able to counter Karl Marxs adage: that bank bailouts are a form of communism where the mutuality is all on one side.

We are the only publication thats committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one thats needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout these hard economic times. So please, make a donation.

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Bank bailouts, or: communism for the capitalists - TheArticle

Runway, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform, has recently released its latest software, Gen-2, which can create full videos from text descriptions. Gen-2 was developed after Runways previous model, Gen-1, which used existing video data to make new videos. The new platform is the first publicly available text-to-video model on the market and can realistically synthesize new videos from text descriptions. Gen-2 combines the features of its predecessor and can create entirely new video content from text prompts. The web-based platform can generate high-resolution videos that demonstrate the technologys power, even if they are not photorealistic.

The second generation includes three new modes:

Traditionally, creating a video requires a lot of time, effort, and resources. The process was often laborious and expensive, from scriptwriting to filming and editing. However, with the introduction of text to video, creating a video has become significantly more accessible and efficient.

Text-to-video is an AI-powered tool that enables users to generate a video from written text. Essentially, the tool transforms a piece of text into a video, complete with images, animations, and voiceover. The result is a professional-looking video that can be used for many purposes, such as marketing, education, and entertainment.

The process of creating a video using text-to-video is straightforward. First, the user enters their text into the platform and any visual or audio assets they want to include in the video. Next, the platform uses its AI algorithms to analyze the text and generate a storyboard, which outlines the sequence of images and animations used in the video.

From there, the user can fine-tune the video by adjusting the visuals and audio, adding music or sound effects, and selecting a voiceover artist. Once complete, the video can be exported in various formats, including high-definition (HD) and 4K.

One of the key advantages of text-to-video is its speed and efficiency. Rather than spending hours or days filming and editing a video, users can generate a professional-looking video in minutes or hours. This makes it an ideal tool for marketers, educators, and content creators who must produce high-quality videos regularly.

Another advantage of text-to-video is its accessibility. Unlike traditional video production, which requires a significant investment in equipment and expertise, text-to-video is a highly accessible tool that anyone can use regardless of their technical expertise or budget.

Finally, text-to-video can transform how we share information and tell stories. By making video production more accessible and efficient, we can expect a significant increase in the amount and variety of video content produced. This, in turn, will open up new opportunities for communication, education, and entertainment and help us to share our ideas and experiences with a wider audience.

In conclusion, text-to-video is a game-changing tool that can transform how we create and share video content. Whether you are a marketer, educator, or content creator, this innovative new tool is worth exploring to streamline your video production process and reach a wider audience with your message.

Check out theGen-2 Tool.All Credit For This Research Goes To the Researchers on This Project. Also,dont forget to joinour 16k+ ML SubReddit,Discord Channel,andEmail Newsletter, where we share the latest AI research news, cool AI projects, and more.

Niharika is a Technical consulting intern at Marktechpost. She is a third year undergraduate, currently pursuing her B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Kharagpur. She is a highly enthusiastic individual with a keen interest in Machine learning, Data science and AI and an avid reader of the latest developments in these fields.

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If You Can Say It, Now You Can See It: RunWays Latest Artificial Intelligence Tool Can Generate Videos With Nothing But Words - MarkTechPost

Remember in the 70s and 80s when grandstanding politicians attacked Soviet businesses bent on meeting the needs of American customers in order to spy on them? Neither can I. With good reason.

Communism is an ideology of force rooted in the Marxian notion of from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. Translated, there are no globally-beloved businesses in communist countries.

Conservatives seemed to understand this best when the Soviet Union still existed. Figure that Ronald Reagan ran for president on the correct notion that government was arrogating to itself way too much of the fruits of American production, and the latter proved a deterrent to production. Reagans analysis of what kept the U.S. down in a relative sense was what kept the U.S.S.R. down in a near total sense, and by extension, its what had Reagan confident that the U.S.S.R.s days were numbered.

Which is why the evolution of modern conservatism is at times so disappointing. Conservatives of old knew that communism was the biggest reason the Soviets werent starting businesses that had even a faint hope of meeting the needs of the American people.

The communism that rendered the Soviet Union economically irrelevant is what should have the American political class confident today that China is many things, but communist isnt one of them. The happy fact that Chinese companies like TikTok so expertly meet the needs of the global population is all the evidence we need that China is no longer communist. If it were, there would be no active House committees focused on alerting Americans to the perils of a rising China.

Communist countries are defined by relentless drudgery, period. Yet the people of China presently represent the biggest non-U.S. market for American plenty in the world. That they do signals an impressive level of production there born of rising economic freedom. As Americans we know this intuitively based on when communism so cruelly infected so much of the world. When it did, Americans had billions fewer customers to meet the needs of.

Worse, Americans had billions fewer individuals around the world meeting their needs. Since communism penalizes production almost in total, theres logically very little production to export. And we Americans suffered this sad truth. Again, basic economics. The division of labor is the path to staggering leaps in terms of productivity as individual hands get to migrate to the specialized work that most elevates their unique genius.

Put another way, the perils of a rising China are anything but. If the Chinese were really our enemies, they would do as the Soviets did and produce nothing. The latter was the certain path to a weaker United States, as was Chinas lack of production when it was actually communist. When the Chinese werent producing, Americans were poorer and they were simply because something on the order of a billion Chinese people were not working alongside them. When were unable to divide up work with others, were not realizing our talents.

Please keep this in mind with TikTok top of mind. Its success is a sign of Chinas rapid move away from communism in concert with the rise of China as a market set to grow by leaps and bounds for American companies. And the more productive the Chinese become thanks to growing amounts of economic freedom, the more that Americans will realize their staggering economic potential.

All of which raises the question of why? Why in consideration of Chinas evident move away from communism are U.S. politicians attacking the obvious fruits of this move? That TikTok is capable of competing on the world stage means that the outlook for American companies can only improve. Competion is fuel. Yet TikTok is under attack by protectionist U.S. politicians in ways that can only hurt U.S. corporations. It's simple economics. Protectionism logically weakens those protected.

Which brings us to an arguably more troubling scenario: that the U.S. political class actually believes TikTok et al a threat to our national security. In the words of Rep. Michael McCaul, "The younger generation loves TikTok, but I don't think they appreciate the dangers. I call it the spy baloon in your phone." Yes, the victim play. An app might get us, it might cause Americans to embrace Chinas ways, including its alleged communist ways. If so, how insulting...to America.

Really, what a statement from alleged patriots about the U.S. that what we have is so weak and unworthy of regard that a bunch of Chinese intelligence flunkies can turn us. That Americans are so clueless and malleable. Were better than this. Harassing foreign competition is beneath us on its face, after which how shameful it is that U.S. politicians would insult us with their pretense that the Chinese can bring down the U.S. with an app.

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The Political Class's Attacks On TikTok Ultimately Insult the American People - RealClearMarkets

An expert who tackles Christian persecution sounded the alarm this week on parallelshe sees between western nations tactics and crackdowns perpetuated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, a group that monitors persecution, said similarities in the playbooks used by U.S. and China are striking, particularly when exploring how the West handled COVID-19 restrictions.

Listen to the latest episode of CBNs Quick Start podcast:

The similarities are very, very striking between the Chinese Communist way of persecution and the American leftist way of restriction and even discrimination, Futold Fox News. It is very shocking and horrible to see American societys transformation evolving from its constitutional basis.

The nonprofit leader, who became a Christian in the Chinese underground church and even went to prison for leading house churches before escaping in 1996, saidhe believesthe American left is increasingly turning to dictatorial tactics, refusing to allow diverse voices.

Fu reflected on Californias handling of the pandemic to illustrate one such example.

I saw the governor of California basically proscribe and order the church to shut down and say not only when they can worship, but how, hetold Fox News. The ways that he threatened to punish those churches and pastors sometimes were word-for-word exactly the same as what the CCP is using against the Chinese churches.

Read more of what Fu had to sayhere.

Fu isnt the first person to note purportedly similarities between the U.S. and repressive regimes.

North Korean defector-turned-U.S. citizen Yeonmi Park, who is out with a new book titled While Time Remains: A North Korean Defectors Search for Freedom in America, recently told CBNs Faithwire about patterns she sees developing in America dynamics that could threaten the freedoms held dear.

The mother of a young American son, Park said shes afraid for the nation she now calls home.

I was realizing that freedoms that I thought Americans had, it was like slipping away from all of us, she said, noting she worries America is in the beginning phase of becoming more like North Korea, particularly when it comes to tactics to divide as well as free speech restrictions.

America uses race to divide people, Park said. In North Korea, they use what our ancestors did to divide people. Even though youre the same people, same language, same skin colors, same genetics.

She added, Based on what my great-great-grandfather did, they determined if I have oppressor blood or oppressed blood.

Thus, based on familial ties, ones standing is decided, with Park likening this to some of what she sees happening in America today on the race front.

There is forever no redemption in that system, she said. So, collective guilt, collective punishment.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up forFaithwires daily newsletterand download theCBN News app, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

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'Word for Word': Persecution Watchdog Warns of Striking Parallels with Communism, 'American Leftist' Restrictions - CBN.com