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neuroscience

💘 Can love reduce pain? ⋆ AI of the week ⋆ Be beyond ordinary

From pain-alleviating power of love and the latest AI innovations like Tencent's PhotoMaker and Microsoft's Copilot Pro, to the empowering message of pursuing a unique path as championed by the Orange Book

Zvonimir Fras

• 2 min read
💘 Can love reduce pain? ⋆ AI of the week ⋆ Be beyond ordinary

Today in 3-in-3: From the pain-alleviating power of love and the latest AI innovations to the empowering message of pursuing a unique path as championed by the Orange Book.

Thing 1 - Can love reduce pain?

Yes, it can.

But how?

How cheezy do you want to get?

When people in love look at their partner's picture, it triggers the brain's reward centers, like the caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens. 

These areas are key players in feelings of happiness and drive. They also help in toning down the brain's pain-processing regions.

Based on research by Dr Sean Mackey et al, if you're in a romantic relationship, glancing at your partner's photo could provide a subtle pain relief.

For real?

This may not apply to everyone or every situation. The study had some limitations.

  • It involved 15 participants, so the results may not be representative of a larger population.
  • It used experimental heat pain, which may not reflect the complexity and chronicity of real-world pain conditions.
  • It examined the effects of viewing pictures of a romantic partner, not the actual presence or interaction with them.

(source)

Thing 2 - AI of the week

  • Tencent unveiled PhotoMaker - create portrait photos based on written descriptions and more
Screenshot of PhotoMaker demo featuring Yann LeCun
  • Microsoft launched Copilot Pro - makes me wanna switch to MS stack...
  • OpenAI commits to implementing Content Provenance and Authenticity - you'll know when an image was AI-generated or modified
  • Hugging Face created a new social media platform for AI enthusiasts
  • Deepmind’s AlphaGeometry uses a language model & deduction engine to solve olympiad-level geometry problems.
  • Meta wants to build an open-source AGI

Thing 3 - Journey Beyond the Ordinary

Never expect someone who never had the courage to walk on a truly different path to understand why you are doing it.

- Orange Book

And you shouldn't try to. Do your thing undisturbed by their opinions and the words they wield in your direction.

They are immaterial. Do your thing. Go after it.

You're better than you think!

Cheers, Zvonimir