š„ MidWeek Wiser! - Generative AI | Twitter's Latest Fail | Meta's AI Cock-Up | Online Safety | Disney's Time Machine | Porsche NFTs
GenAI is stealing headlines. Does Musk really have a plan for Twitter & what are the alternatives? Meta make an AI cock-up with Galactica. The UK debates online safety and Porsche gets into NFTs.
Hello Wiser! readers, hereās your mid-week reminder of the key stories from Wiser! #102 with updates and some new stuff.
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The top stories:
š¤ Generative AI that takes the effort out of writing
As Wiser! was going out on Friday, news broke that OpenAI had released chatGPT. This is the latest AI model to be put into the public domain, and it caused quite a stir over the weekend.
Iāll bring you up to speed with chatGPT shortly, but in the meantime here are two pieces of content that helps make sense of whatās going on with artificial intelligence in the writing, drawing and making music space.
First, read this. Iāve writtan about most of the AI tools I already use in my work. They not only save me time, but have massively improved the amount of output I can produce.
Second, listen to this weekās Big Tech Little Tech podcast. Shaun and I talk about what AI, what it is, how it works and why AI is being used in content creation.
š¦ The Twitter Files failed to justify the popcorn
Over the weekend, the so-called āTwitter Filesā were published. Musk had set the expectation of a big reveal from the Twitter archives, even tweeting a popcorn emoji šæ to get settled in for a night of entertainment.
The anticipated disclosure was supposed to prove that Twitter was in the pocket of the Democrats and had suppressed (censored) a story damaging to Joe Biden.
In the end, this turned out to be another half baked attempt at resurrecting the conspiracy known as āHunter Bidenās laptopā. At the heart of the issue is how Twitter handled the story during the 2020 presidential campaign.
The files show the debate inside of Twitter about what to do given that the story was dubious in nature and had been obtained via hacking (violating Twitterās policies at the time.)
Twitterās teams did suppress the story for a few days before un-suppressing it.
Hereās The Thing: the Twitter Files do nothing to support the Republican theory that the suppression of the story was at the behest of the Democrats. But that hasnāt stop Donald Trump calling this a constitutional crisis over the weekend.
However, what is does show us is how difficult content moderation is for a social media firm, and that it canāt be 100% automated. Musk has closed down most of the human moderation inside Twitter, which means heās now the arbiter-in-chief and will have to handle this matters himself.
Meantime, Twitter has cut its ad rates and advertisers are returning. But Iāve not and am still working my way through the alternatives.
Premium subscribers can read all about it here...
In other BigTech newsā¦
Facebook has been found to send private tax data, including user names, income, refund amounts and filing status to Facebook to inform its advertising algorithms.
The USA is opening an anti-trust investigation into Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activation.
The UK is launching a full investigation into cloud gaming and browsers.
Reuters report that the EU is looking the anti-trust complaint about Microsoftās bundling of Teams with Office.
DHL orders 2,000 Ford E-Transit electric delivery vans.
Adobe accepts AI-generated stock art, with limits.
Neuralink is reportedly under federal investigation over animal testing.
Continue reading this story and other Big Tech newsā¦
UK's Online Safety Bill
On Friday, I reported about the UKās attempt to catch up the EU, Australia and Canada when it comes to tightening the rules for BigTech, Social Media and online activity.
Recent polling by Ipsos show over whelming support from the British public for tighter controls, especially when it comes to kids online. Yesterday, the latest iteration of the draft Bill passed in the House of Commons and now goes to the House of Lords for debate.
Hereās The Thing: This bill is long overdue (now on its third prime minister) and is steadily being watered down. Itās hard not to conclude that the UK Gov is saying one thing and doing another.
The rhetoric is tough on Big Tech but the action (much like the recent end to the so-called Big Tech tax clampdown) doesnāt live up to the hard words. Itās no better in the USA, where little to no progress is being made at a federal level.
For more on this and all the latest headlines from Social Media and Twitter, go hereā¦
š Porsche launch customisable NFTs
Porsche has unveiled a new NFT initiative that will allow holders to customise their own digital artworks. Buyers will be able to select one of three key themes of the Porsche brand and apply it to the artwork. They will be able to unlock a variety of design features based on their preferences, transforming their white Porsche 911 into a personalized, one-of-a-kind work of art.
Starting in January 2023, a total of 7,500 Porsche 911 NFTs will be available for purchase. This follows Porsche's 70th anniversary NFT digital art car pieces from last December.
Porsche is also integrating blockchain technology into existing and future processes and solutions.
š Continue readingā¦
UPDATED: Brand Strategies in Web3 and the Metaverse
The Brand Strategies Collection contains 250 consumer brands and their projects, initiatives and use-cases in web3 and the metaverse.
I have tracked, analysed and documented consumer brands use of emerging tech, such as NFTs, blockchain, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and crypto.
The Collection currently contains 110 brands named from A to M, plus over 30 celebrities and 15 destinations, all exploring the use of emerging tech to build communities, better engagement and find new sources of revenue.
The latest additions to the Collection include: JP Morgan, Kelloggās, Kia, KPMG, Kraft Heinz, LāOreal, Lacoste, Lamborghini, Lavazza, Lego, LG, Louis Vuitton, Macyās, Mars, Mattel, McDonaldās, Mercedes-Benz.
Delve deeper into the Brand Strategy Collection with a Premium Subscription, or buy a lifetime pass here.
In Other News In The Metaverse
Animoca Brands announced it is working with 14 new brands, including TIME and Playboy on owning virtual real estate.
Deloitte say the Metaverse could add $1.4 trillion to Asia's GDP by 2035.
Kelloggās has made its first venture into the Metaverse.
LG Electronics announced plans to hire two new CTOs to lead its Web3 and blockchain technology operations.
Lacoste opened its first-ever virtual store in the metaverse for the Christmas ā22 holidays.
Johnnie Walker is releasing the Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottle as an NFT.
Kids Foot Locker has developed an immersive play park in the metaverse gaming world of Roblox.
š For more news and headlines from whatās happening in the Metaverse, go hereā¦
The Future of Emerging Technology
Here are two video conversations recorded recently on the subject of whatās happening in emerging tech.
First, I was the guest of Efi Pylinarou on her podcast and we discussed embedded finance and Appleās move into Buy Now Pay Latter, whatās going on with social media and the move to Mastodon, and brand strategies in web3 and the metaverse.
The other was for my own podcast channel in conversation with digital strategist Paul Armstrong.
š You can read all about it here.
BeReal is Named App Of The Year
BeReal has been named āapp of the yearā in Appleās annual App Store Awards in 2022. I wrote this about the rise of BeReal a couple of months ago...
š¤ Meta's Galactica AI Cock-Up
BackStory: When Meta launched Galactica, it was meant to be the AI that revolutionised humanity's access to the vast and complex world of scientific data.
However, with all this talk about how AI can change the world, this is a story that shows it doesnāt always end up like this.
Here's The Thing: Within 3 days of the launch on November 15th, Galactica was taken down on the 17th.
š To find out about the full story, go here..
Disney's AI tool that automatically makes actors look younger (or older)
Disney has developed a powerful AI tool could revolutionise the way movies are made. The AI can make actors look younger or older in movie-quality footage. See for yourself...
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Website: rickhuckstep.com
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