AI-enabled erotica. Yes, really.

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Hi readers,

Here’s a sneak peek behind the scenes at Tech in Asia: For the last few months, whenever I write one of these newsletters and send it in for editing, I attach an installment of an original sword and sorcery adventure story of mine.

I started writing it just to provide some fun reading to the writers and editors who help vet my work. Told from the first-person perspective, it’s the tale of an unnamed courier who wields magic and travels alongside a warrior companion, De Spacio. The two are tasked with delivering an important message and have to journey across treacherous territories to do so.

I’m not gonna lie, some days I do run into a little bit of writer’s block, especially since I think the story up almost entirely on the fly. Today’s premium story introduces a startup that uses AI to help writers finish their ideas, including… writing erotic fiction?

Today, we look at:

• This startup uses natural language processing to help you TalkDirty
• A new venture fund aimed at building up the Philippines
• Other newsy highlights such as a cash infusion for Zomato just ahead of its IPO and Lalamove’s possible shift to list in Hong Kong instead of the US.

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Talk dirty to me (using AI)

Sometimes, it seems like AI can do everything, especially with digitalization kicking into high gear because of the pandemic. It can even be tasked to write suggestive language, as evidenced by content generation startup Content Villain, which released its “R-rated” service TalkDirty.

• That’s me out of a job: Content Villain bases its technology on generative pre-trained transformer-3 (GPT-3), a language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. It can perform comprehension and writing tasks at a near-human level.
• Or maybe not: GPT-3 has some restrictions, however. It doesn’t learn anything from long-term interactions and also filters out bad language. Content Villain gets around this by integrating other tools and plug-ins.
• Gaining traction: Founder Stuart Lansdale says the firm has hit a low six-digit figure in total revenue just three months after it was established in March without raising any funds. With TalkDirty now having about 2,000 subscribers, Content Villain plans to ramp up its hiring and marketing efforts.

Read more: Startup with 6-digit revenue 3 months after debut uses AI to help writers talk dirty

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

Helping to build the foundations in the Philippines