Alpha Firmware Update - 1.12.3

January 29, 2024 | 2 min read

Today, we are releasing a "Day 1" Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware update for Alpha.

This firmware coincides with Alpha's launch and contains several important bug fixes and performance improvements.  We highly recommend Alpha owners install this update as soon as possible. For a full list of Alpha firmware version 1.12.3 improvements and fixes visit the Release Notes page.

 

⚠️ Note: If your Alpha has encountered any unexpected behavior, such as returning to the original out-of-the-box experience, it's essential to perform a factory reset BEFORE installing the firmware update.  To perform a factory reset: Hold [E] + [X] + [L] + [Power] buttons for 12 seconds.  Then, release the power button, but continue holding the other keys until you see the factory reset prompt.  Finish by installing the new firmware update.

 

Firmware rolls out automatically and will be available on your device when powered down and connected to Wi-Fi.  You may also manually check for an update using the instructions below:

 

To manually check for an Alpha firmware update:

  • Step 1: Open the main menu. Hold down the power button for 3 seconds to access the main menu.
  • Step 2: Find "Firmware Update." Use [pg dn] to find the firmware update option and select [1]. Your device will search for updates.
  • Step 3: Restart, if necessary. If an update is available, your device will prompt you to restart the device in order to download the update. You can choose to manually restart by pressing "Return," or you can resume writing and the update will occur on the next power cycle.
  • Step 4: Resume writing. You're good to go!


 For more instructions, visit our support topics:


If you need any assistance, we’re here to help. Contact our Support Team here.

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But what if, in the future, your choice had larger implications on the state of literature as a whole?

This is the question that’s being raised from a new study by the University of Exeter Business School: If you could use AI to improve your own writing, at the expense of the overall literary experience, would you?

Let’s explore some context before you answer.

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The 2024 study recruited 293 writers to write an eight-sentence “micro” story. The participants were split into three groups:

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Then, 600 evaluators judged how creative these short stories were. The results confirmed a widely accepted idea but also offered a few surprising findings.

Prompts from AI Can Jumpstart the Creative Process

Right off the bat, the reviewers rated the AI-guided stories as being more original, better written, and more enjoyable to read. (Interesting to note that they did not find them funnier than the fully human-inspired stories.)

This actually isn’t that surprising. Most writers know the “blank page dread” at the beginning of a project. Even as I write this, I can’t help but wonder, “If I had been tasked with writing an eight-sentence story, what the heck would I have written about?”

Many writers share this sense of needing to pick the “right” story to tell. And that uniquely human concept of perfectionism can end up actually inhibiting our creative process.

A prompt, then, can help us quickly clear this mental hurdle. To test this, I’ll give you one, courtesy of ChatGPT: “Write a story about a teenager who discovers a mysterious journal that reveals hidden secrets about their town, leading them on an unexpected adventure to uncover the truth.”

Can you feel your creative juices flowing already?

Since its release, AI has been celebrated for its ability to assist in idea generation; and this study confirms how effective using artificial intelligence in this way can be for writers — some, it seems, more than others.

AI-Generated Ideas Helped Less Creative Writers More

It doesn’t feel great to judge a writer’s creative prowess, but for this study, researchers needed to do just that. Prior to writing their short stories, the writers took a test to measure their creativity.

Researchers found that those considered less creative did substantially better when given AI-generated ideas — to the point where getting the full five ideas from AI “effectively equalizes the creativity scores across less and more creative writers.”

This isn’t the case just for writing. Another study by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship WZ also found that AI tools most benefit employees with weaker skills.

So is AI leveling the playing field between okay and great writers? It seems it may be. But before we lament, there’s one more finding that proves using AI isn’t all perks.

AI-Aided Stories Were More Similar — And Needed to Be Credited

The researchers took a step back to look at all the AI-supported stories collectively. And what did they find?

The AI-assisted stories were more similar as a whole, compared to the fully human-written stories.

Additionally, when reviewers were told that a story was enhanced by an AI idea, they “imposed an ownership penalty of at least 25%,” even indicating that “the content creators, on which the models were based, should be compensated.”

This leads us to that all-important question about AI-assisted work: who owns the content?

According to Originality.AI, an AI and plagiarism detector, “When there’s a combination of AI and human-generated elements, the human elements may receive copyright protection if they meet the requirements.”

So right now, if a writer uses AI to generate ideas — but writes the content themselves — they retain rights to the work.

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The researchers from the University of Exeter Business School study raise an interesting point about what the future landscape for writers may look like. If droves of authors begin using AI to come up with ideas, we may end up with a lot of well-written yet dime-a-dozen stories.

So will human beings choose the easier, but less diverse, path? Or will we stick to fighting through writer’s block armed with nothing but our own brain?

Or, a third option: can we somehow learn to harness AI to supercharge our writing process without sacrificing the wholly unique creativity that infuses human creation?

That’s one question that even ChatGPT can’t answer.

Editor's Note: Artificial intelligence may have already transformed writing, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be in control of your own words. Read Astrohaus Founder Adam Leeb's statement on AI and privacy.

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