speculations

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-training-data-synthetic-openai-anthropic-9230f8d8 Cheered on by VCs I have strip-mined story spaces and dredged the last vestiges of language from virgin territories. Gotta collect ’em all. Poets’ pictures; children’s first words; bureaucrats’ muddy prose; gang members’ nadsat driving the Nasdaq. My chips – born in a conflict zone, their minerals running hot,… Read the rest

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/30/business/att-passcodes-reset-data-breach.html We’re going to have to say something. I don’t care what the AIs say about the likelihood of any problems or the probability of a backlash. I want us to say something. I’m just a human, I know but I’m also old and so have seen these sort of… Read the rest

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/29/24115701/openai-voice-generation-ai-model No-one blocked ads anymore. They were so much better than the generic stream of franchise movies and series broadcasters were still trying to push. Watercooler conversations about the latest release had been replaced by private moments, content relationships. These weren’t ads, they were time machines. Since she’d uploaded the… Read the rest

https://arstechnica.com/?p=2005793 It’s alright for the MAMILs. You know, the Rapha boys (and it is always boys). They love it. When “Cycle for Work Day” started they were so happy. Of course they said it was all about the sustainability and purpose stuff but secretly it was a chance to shave… Read the rest

https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/27/understanding-humanoid-robots/ It’s difficult to try and raise it. People just think of the Terminator or the “woman” from Metropolis. Being an ad agency, some raise the Fiat ad with the opera soundtrack. Whatever the reference point, discussion never gets around to my point. Our teams are working with AI. We’ve… Read the rest

https://digiday.com/marketing/how-googles-entry-into-in-game-advertising-puts-a-spotlight-on-an-industry-in-flux My dad was a culture jammer. That’s what they called themselves in the old days. He claims he didn’t help jam billboards: painting slogans and stuff – a lot were print in those days apparently. He mainly created anti-ads and shared them online. He says he knew people, more… Read the rest

https://digiday.com/marketing/why-starbucks-elimination-of-its-global-cmo-indicates-an-evolution-of-the-role-not-a-canary-in-the-coal-mine Well we all knew it was coming. How many stories have we read about “AI taking our jobs”? First it came for manual workers, then knowledge workers and now of course those of us who thought our specific knowledge, strategic experience and, yes seniority would save us. But no.… Read the rest

https://thenextweb.com/news/buddywise-ai-startup-spots-workplace-accidents The lift doors open and the time and motion man stepped out accompanied by the Head of Talent Spaces. It was Wednesday so the floor was busy. Senior staff could work from home any day but for those on the floor, today was a “team day”. Some looked up… Read the rest

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2024/03/22/where-the-palace-lost-the-plot-and-what-we-can-learn-about-pr-and-empathy-kategate It wasn’t easy being a moderator. The things she had to see. The decisions she had to make or refer to someone who has paid more than her, in some far-off city. She tried to treat it like a job but it wasn’t easy. The company claimed it offered… Read the rest

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/mccann-london-xbox-turn-gamer-real-life-football-tactician/1866287 You always hope you’ll get “The Call”. It’s what you’ve trained for, what your parents have sacrificed so much for – as they tell you all the time. Schoolwork suffers of course. Practicing before school. Training after. Even friendships suffer. I don’t have mates who aren’t as dedicated. As… Read the rest