I mean, 15.ai started as a 4chan project for /mlp/ users to generate voice lines from official voice actors now that Friendship is Magic is over (google Pony Preservation Project). Honestly, the more impressive part is that a bunch of nobodies on an imageboard leapfrogged the rest of the industry and made a now-famous voice transformer model.
In the greater sense, though? Ponies have always been this weird relic of internet absurdity and bear-baiting. Some people rep it ironically, other people are dead-serious, but the community has significant overlap with the STEM field. As a result, a lot of pony-related stuff would end up propagating into the tech world, much like this very project.
In the greater sense, though? Ponies have always been this weird relic of internet absurdity and bear-baiting. Some people rep it ironically, other people are dead-serious, but the community has significant overlap with the STEM field. As a result, a lot of pony-related stuff would end up propagating into the tech world, much like this very project.