Lifeboat Foundation

Now that’s something. Funny this came up on my feed as I’m jamming to music on my phone to destress.

Breakthrough raises hopes that musicality of natural speech can be restored in patients with disabling neurological conditions.

Researchers in the field of information security at Horizon3 have made public the proof-of-concept (PoC) code for a major privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2023–26067) found in Lexmark printers. On a device that has not been patched, this vulnerability, which has a CVSS score of 8.0, might enable an attacker to get elevated access if the device is not updated.

Incorrect validation of user-supplied information is what led to the vulnerability in the system. This vulnerability might be exploited by the attacker by having the attacker make a specially crafted request to the printer. Once the vulnerability has been exploited, the attacker has the potential to get escalated rights on the device, which might give them the ability to execute arbitrary code, spill credentials, or obtain a reverse shell.

Configurations prone to vulnerability An initial Setup Wizard is shown on the display of the user’s Lexmark printer the very first time it is turned on by the user. This wizard walks the user through the process of configuring several system settings, such as the language, as well as giving them the opportunity to setup an administrative user. If the user makes the selection “Set Up Later,” the printer will provide “Guest” users access to all of the features and pages available through the web interface of the printer. If the user selects “Set up Now,” the printer will prevent them from accessing a significant portion of their accessible capability until they have authenticated themselves.

The AI tool allows people to create songs using the voices of various artists. What will this do to the music industry?

Months after an outburst over AI-engineered songs that used the voice of artists, it seems like the world’s largest record label – Universal Music Group (UMG) – is getting on board to ride the AI wave before it washes out the company.

In collaboration with Google, UMG will soon develop a tool allowing fans to create AI-generated music using musicians’ voices, reported Financial Times. The deal involves paying copyright holders their share in using their melody and allows the artists a choice to opt in.

“Frank Sinatra’s voice has been used on a version of the hip-hop song ”Gangsta’s Paradise,” while Johnny Cash’s has been deployed on the pop single ”Barbie Girl.” A YouTube user called PluggingAI offers songs imitating the voices of the deceased rappers Tupac and Notorious B.I.G.

”An artist’s voice is often the most valuable part of their livelihood and public persona, and to steal it, no matter the means, is wrong,” Universal Music general counsel Jeffrey Harleston told US lawmakers last month.

Discussions between Google and Universal Music are at an early stage, and no product launch is imminent, but the goal is to develop a tool for fans to create these tracks legitimately, and pay the owners of the copyrights for it, said people close to the situation. Artists would have the choice to opt in, the people said.

Continue reading “Google, record labels working on deal covering musical ‘deepfakes’” »

HBP researchers from Germany performed detailed cytoarchitectonic mapping of distinct areas in a human cortical region called frontal operculum and, using connectivity modelling, linked the areas to a variety of different functions including sexual sensation, muscle coordination as well as music and language processing.

The study contributes to the further unravelling of the relationship of the human brain’s structure with function, and is the first proof-of-concept of structural and functional connectivity analysis of the frontal operculum. The newly identified cytoarchitectonic areas have been made publicly available as part of the Julich-Brain Atlas on the EBRAINS platform, inviting for future research to further characterise this brain region.

Based on cell-body stained histological sections in ten postmortem brains (five females and five males), HBP researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and Research Centre Jülich identified three new areas in the frontal operculum: Op5, Op6 and Op7. Each of these areas had a distinct cytoarchitecture. Connectivity modelling showed that each area could be ascribed a distinct functional role.

Summary: A recent study reveals that everyday pleasures like music and coffee can significantly enhance cognitive performance.

Utilizing groundbreaking brain-monitoring technology, the study examined brain activity during cognitive tests under various stimulants, including music, coffee, and perfume. Results indicated increased “beta band” brain wave activity, linked to peak cognitive performance, when subjects engaged with music or consumed coffee.

AI-generated music, in particular, showed significant performance boosts, opening new avenues for exploration.

Can AI capture the emotion that a singer today can convey, or dupe us into believing they’re not human? Can Ronnie James Dio’s voice be brought back from the dead? In this episode of The Singing Hole, we explore where AI’s technology is today, how creators are harnessing the technology and how we can better prepare for the eventual future with music.

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Continue reading “How long until AI can replace a singer? It’s already happening” »

On Wednesday, Meta announced it is open-sourcing AudioCraft, a suite of generative AI tools for creating music and audio from text prompts. With the tools, content creators can input simple text descriptions to generate complex audio landscapes, compose melodies, or even simulate entire virtual orchestras.

AudioCraft consists of three core components: AudioGen, a tool for generating various audio effects and soundscapes; MusicGen, which can create musical compositions and melodies from descriptions; and EnCodec, a neural network-based audio compression codec.

“Fake Drake” and similar controversies have gotten most of the attention, but not all uses of artificial intelligence in music are cause for concern.