Brain training: A new frontier for football — and VR

https://thenextweb.com/news/vr-brain-training-football-cognitive-skills Somewhere between a Sergeant from a Vietnam war movie and the PE teacher in Kes. You know the sort. His voice has one volume and his sentences always have the same number of words. I guess you have to respect him. He’s taken the team to where it is now. That doesn’t mean you … [Read more…]

Reencle teases a hungrier, quieter home composter — for a price

https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/17/reencle-teases-a-hungrier-quieter-home-composter-for-a-price/ We’ve had one for a while. No idea for how much longer though. It was a talking point at first, particularly at dinner parties or kids’ birthday parties. It was a statement of what we believed as much as a functional thing. We got it when everyone we knew seemed obsessed with privacy, paranoid … [Read more…]

78% of adland demand better mental health support

https://www.moreaboutadvertising.com/2024/01/78-of-adland-demand-better-mental-health-support/ She was used to the alerts. The company didn’t call them “alerts” of course, far too triggering. No they were “notes”, accompanied by musical notes specially composed for their consonant feel. She knew she was being cynical and why, the note told her. As had the system at her most recent “drop in”. The … [Read more…]

How to Launch a Custom Chatbot on OpenAI’s GPT Store

https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-launch-custom-chatbot-openai-gpt-store/ It’s a bit like when you were a kid and had a secret language your parents couldn’t understand. My brother and I would talk. Really annoyed my dad. That was part of the point. I’m not a kid now but a “secret” language is even more important. Certain authorities would love to know what … [Read more…]

Taylor Swift deepfake ads—what brands need to know about generative AI risks after phony Le Creuset promo

https://adage.com/article/digital-marketing-ad-tech-news/taylor-swift-deepfake-ads-what-brands-need-know-about-generative-ai- The company didn’t call it surveillance. It never had. Even in The Before when it was just a manager touring the floors, it was… well management. Key stroke logging was just for getting productivity data. “Nothing to see here”, they said with no sense of irony. When the workforce dispersed and then “reconnected” – … [Read more…]

AI girlfriends are here – but there’s a dark side to virtual companions

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/13/ai-girlfriend-chatbots I’m one of the few people who like the company parties. The virtual ones. They began during The Shift obviously and those early ones were a bit clunky but then when we got The Verse they got interesting. I remember when Chris was a superhero for the afternoon. And Jo got their avatar some … [Read more…]

Marketers at CES 2024 predict Al evolution, ad renaissance & more to come in the new year

https://admin.thedrum.com/news/2024/01/12/marketers-ces-2024- predict-ai-evolution-ad-renaissance-more-come-the-new-vear Words: 100 It wasn’t his favourite bit of the job. He much preferred his spreadsheets or the meetings with agencies where he could feel creative for a few hours. When you got to his level it was a mixture of numbers and ideas. But it was also his job to talk to journalists. … [Read more…]

Snapchat now lets parents restrict their teens from using the app’s ‘My AI’ chatbot

https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/11/snapchat-lets-parents-restrict-their-teens-using-apps-my-ai-chatbot-view-their-privacy-settings/ It was my big brother who made the introduction. He’d been using the guy for years. All his mates had. No one knew his real name. They just called Neo. Some reference apparently. Neo was good. Very good. He not only got you access, he made sure your parents never knew. He saved my … [Read more…]

Walmart makes a rare CES appearance to promote AI-powered shopping

https://www.engadget.com/walmart-makes-a-rare-ces-appearance-to-promote-ai-powered-shopping-005538465.html I grew up watching Friends. I remember when Rachel worked as a personal shopper, helping an attractive guy find the right look. I never thought I’d have a personal shopper but here I am buying stuff that I know is right for me. Rachel has said so and she should know. I can relax, … [Read more…]