Your Galaxy S23 might be powerful enough to quickly generate AI images

Date:
Fri, 24 Feb 2023 05:00:46 +0000

Description:
The next frontier for generative AI technology may be in your pocket right now.

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Fast AI image generation is now possible on an Android phone. In a recent
demo video , Qualcomm was able to generate a 512 x 512-pixel image of a cat wearing armor using AI-image-generator Stable Diffusion version 1.5 on an Android phone. And the kicker is it finished in less than 14.42 seconds, making it pretty close to what PCs can do with the tech.

To achieve this, company engineers used a process called quantization . Without getting too deep in the weeds here, they basically took the desktop version of Stable Diffusion, shrunk it down, and optimized it for mobile devices. According to Qualcomm, the process increases performance [while]
also [saving] power by allowing the model to run more efficiently thereby [consuming] less memory bandwidth.

Its unknown exactly what mobile device was used in the demonstration.
However, we do know it was powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, the exact same chipset found on the Samsung Galaxy S23 . It is worth noting that other developers have managed to put Stable Diffusion on the Sony Xperia 5 II , but generating images on that phone took around an hour because of the weaker hardware. The main takeaway from Qualcomms achievement is its speed
and what it could mean for users down the line. Stable Diffusion images generated with the prompt: "Super cute fluffy cat warrior in armor, photorealistic, 4K, ultra detailed, vray rendering, unreal engine." (Image credit: Qualcomm) Future of generative AI

The thing about generative AI models is they require a fair amount of computing power to work. Stable Diffusions developers , for example,
recommend using a computer equipped with NVIDIA hardware and, at least, 6.9
GB of VRAM specifically (video RAM) to create images. Smartphones dont come with VRAM as manufacturers opt for regular RAM to run on-device software. But now this power discrepancy is beginning to fade, so we could see this technology crop up on more mobile devices.

Jilei Hou, vice president of engineering at Qualcomm, told VentureBeat that the lessons learned in optimizing Stable Diffusion for smartphones could be utilized for other devices running on company hardware. Hou specifically points to laptops and XR headsets as potential future houses for generative AI. As for what theyll be able to do, there are a number of applications like image editing [plus] in-painting, a process where an AI fills the missing parts in a generated artwork. The company also hopes all this can be done without needing an internet connection to the Stable Diffusion cloud. As cool as this may be, its unknown if or when this tech will see a widespread launch on phones running Qualcomm hardware.

Besides generating images, developers have created writing AI to help with writing content. Be sure to check out our recent list of the best AI writers for 2023 Jasper ranks among our favorites.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/looks-like-your-galaxy-s23-might-be-powerful-en ough-to-quickly-generate-ai-images


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