"The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted." - Statement on AI Training Musicians, actors, and writers worldwide are signing their names to a statement opposing artificial intelligence companies and developers using their work without a license. According to Billboard, the statement …
“Dear Sydney” Ad from Google Gemini Ruffled A Few Feathers
Letter writing is a lost art. Think about it. When was the last time you handwrote or typed a personal letter and dropped it in the mail? When was the last time you received a real letter in the mail? Maybe Google's AI assistant (Gemini) can help to bring letter writing back into fashion. Seems like an innocent enough idea. Yet, the feel-good Team USA commercial where this idea is unveiled is receiving some …
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First Apple Crushes It, Then Samsung Uncrushes It
Last week, when people from the advertising industry began to dump on Apple's new iPad advertisement on LinkedIn, I wondered what the fuss was about. Turns out that people working in creative industries don't like it when the richest company on earth wantonly flattens guitars, books, collectibles, and other art objects. If you haven't seen the spot, here it …
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Is LLMO the New SEO?
Two Harvard professors looked into the future of AI's impact on the world wide web and what they saw wasn't pretty. Judith Donath, a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, and Bruce Schneier, a fellow and lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School published their projections in The Atlantic. Here's a short passage from "It's the End of the Web As We Know It," SEO will morph into LLMO: …
The Loss of Freedom Is Never Obvious at First
"Trust the Free Press. Not Pretty Words." That's the message from Reporters Without Borders Germany. To commemorate the group's 30th anniversary, Innocean Berlin in collaboration with Stink Films Berlin produced a series of moving films, plus posters, digital out-of-home, and social media. The three films in the campaign are powerful cinematic expressions of what's at stake today. It takes truth to grow freedom, …
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Medium Separates from the AI Pack
Medium is taking a stand on AI-generated writing. An email from Medium arrived in my inbox a few days ago describing changes that are coming to the publishing platform. Beginning May 1, 2024, stories with AI-generated writing (disclosed as such or not) are not allowed to be paywalled as part of Medium's Partner Program. Accounts that have fully AI-generated writing behind the paywall may have those stories …
AI Is Not the Problem, Lack of Original Thinking Is the Problem
How many times have marketers been told—mostly by other marketers—that the new tech is the best tech? So many times...remember when every brand had to have a home in Second Life? It was an absurd thing to say then, as it is today when the new new thing has to be tested, twisted, and made useful to real people. Nevertheless, promoters gonna promote. And Fast Company is a favorite media vehicle of promoters. For …
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Republican Accountability PAC to Invest $50M to Defeat Trump
Is the GOP on the verge of collapse? I doubt it, but there are obvious signs of decay, including the fact that a substantial chunk of Republican primary and caucus voters told pollsters that they would be so dissatisfied if Donald Trump became the party’s presidential nominee—and it looks like he will—that they would not vote for him in November’s general election. In related news, The New York Times is reporting …
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