speculations

https://the-media-leader.com/more-people-now-believe-in-advertisings-positive-impact They were so proud. They often rejoiced in the stereotype. “We’re tree-hugging, sandal-wearing, tofu-eating Guardian readers,” they’d say. People had long forgotten what a “Guardian reader” was but they remembered their parents talking about them. They were happy to talk about the marches, the kettles, the boycotts. Their son… Read the rest

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/the-first-ai-powered-storytelling-teddy-bear-is-here-i-gave-it-to-my-kids-to-test/ They prided themselves on their approach to tech. They’d signed their daughter up for the best filters and fact checkers on her device. It cost but they were determined to do tech-raising right. They’d thought a lot about The Bear, remembered the stories about surveillance dolls, re-read The Diamond… Read the rest

https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/14/24197107/ai-memory-recall-limitless-gemini-vergecast The Counsellor had high hopes. Both of them had responded to the initial invitations and now they were both here, sitting on the sofa. There was tension of course but the sensors showed yellow. Not bad at this stage. What was more positive, they were here in person. So… Read the rest

https://www.theguardian.com/games/article/2024/jul/13/advergames-how-games-platform-roblox-became-a-corporate-marketing-playground I suppose you could call us “aging hippies”, although the dates don’t really line up. We read “No Logo” when we were students, bought “Adbusters”, lived and worked through the Purpose Bubble. But now we’re parents and we’re angry. Our kids should be free to play. Their playgrounds should… Read the rest

https://www.engadget.com/amazons-ai-chatbot-rufus-is-now-live-for-all-us-customers-190938911.html There are three of us in this marriage, so it is a bit crowded. It’s great they have someone who shares their interests. I just can’t get excited about them and the last thing I want to do is research the latest stuff and going shopping. So I was… Read the rest

https://arstechnica.com/?p=2036279 The staff were in small groups, checking their screens, watching the days marking come through, signing off the various marks and feedback. A new young teacher wasn’t happy with the feedback and was manually editing it, much to the amusement of her colleagues. So keen. They’ll learn. The headteacher… Read the rest

https://www.ft.com/content/d6853506-13b1-428c-a529-1f62fb3d5a07 Yes Minister. Of course you can’t be seen to be meeting them. Optics, Minister, of course. And they are aware of that too. I’ve been in the department long enough to remember the convoluted things your predecessors had to do to have discussions with… unpalatable stakeholders. We were actually… Read the rest

https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/9/24195005/reform-uk-candidate-election-ai-bot-mark-matlock The awards evening had been the usual excuse for the sort of industry behaviour that some in the room could just remember from the start of their careers. The drink flowed, conversations got more and more ribald and some even took a short break to ‘recharge’. At each table… Read the rest

https://digiday.com/marketing/dtc-company-shapermints-ai-influencer-engine-highlights-how-marketers-are-actually-using-the-tech It’s part parent, part chaperone, part PA. It’s a low profile job I suppose – no red carpet at Cannes for me. But I’m vital. Look if I wasn’t here, wasn’t good at my job, you’d soon notice. We’d have our influencers in the news for all the wrong… Read the rest

https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2024/07/08/how-make-the-perfect-ai-prompt-add-plenty-data She’d even been excited about the “onboarding”. It was her dream job and even having to watch the corporate videos and listen to a talk from the Health and Safety AI couldn’t dampen her sense of anticipation. She picked up her security band and her screen. Her AI was… Read the rest