🤔 Midweek Wiser! - Space Training in VR | AR Applied Make-Up | Twitter Happenings | McDonald's Metaverse | Gen AI Tools
What's happening and what's coming next in tech, web3, metaverse, innovation and strategy.
Hello Wiser! readers, here’s your mid-week “in case you missed it” recap of the key stories from Wiser! #108 - with updates and new stories.
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What’s happening in Tech, Web3 and Metaverse
The US Space Force plans to use virtual reality technology for training Combat Rescue Officers, flight surgeons, and Pararescuemen.
Roblox has plans to rollout the gaming platform on Meta Quest headsets.
Pearson announced a partnership with XR Bootcamp to prototype VR language learning games. (Related: learn about how Pearson plan to use NFTs for the secondary book market.)
Hong Kong is pushing ahead with the development of its Web3 industry as part of a plan to re-establish itself as a global cryptocurrency hub.
El Salvador is to raise funds through the world’s first sovereign blockchain bond after Congress passed a digital-securities law.
NFT December sales surged to their highest levels since June last year.
Twitter is developing a ‘Coins’ feature with Stripe payments.
Apple’s mixed-reality headset is set to launch this year after seven years of development and delays, according to Bloomberg.
Brand Strategies in Emerging Tech
McDonald’s new media campaign to celebrate the Lunar New Year uses AI, augmented reality, 3D filters and has a metaverse theme. In their press release, a McDonald’s spokesperson said:
"We know our fans live at the intersection of innovation and culture and that's where McDonald's needs to meet them.”
Mastercard is launching a web3-focused incubator to help artists connect with fans. Also, Mastercard just released a new AR experience to see Miami's Design District.
Meanwhile, L'Oréal unveiled Brow Magic, which uses AR to print brows onto the user's face.
Diesel launch NFT collection to connect physical and virtual experiences.
For more on the brand strategy of H&M, American Eagle and McDonalds in emerging tech, sign up for the Brand Strategy Collection.
What’s going on at Twitter
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has given his take on Elon Musk's approach to Twitter content moderation, “it's going to be very interesting”. Content moderation is very tricky, as can be seen in this interesting recount of a Twitter team meeting the day before the Jan 6th insurrection.
A review of Twitter by NBC News found dozens of accounts and hundreds of tweets claiming to sell child sexual abuse material. Meanwhile, TikTok faces growing regulatory challenges in the West over a range of concerns about data access and propaganda. These include calls for TikTok to be banned in the USA, (which I don’t think will happen) and tighter regulatory hurdles and investigations in the EU. Remember, TikTok is already banned in India.
Meanwhile, Twitter say they are going to publish the tweet recommendation algorithms in February. Elon Musk tweeted “Instagram makes people depressed & Twitter makes people angry. Which is better?”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Twitter is offering brands $250,000 in free ads to lure them back. Clients of WPP-owned GroupM have cut their spending on Twitter by between 40% and 50% since Elon Musk took control of the company in late October.
Tools and Apps that use Generative AI
Notion have integrated NotionAI into their knowledge management and productivity system. I use Notion for everything, from writing, research and content management to productivity, tracking and planning.
ProfilePicture.AI is an easy to use and versatile selfie generator that uses over 168 different styles to auto generate the perfect profile pic for every occasion.
7 AI tools that I use to save me time and boost my productivity.
Tana is an intriguing new notes app that combines elements of Roam and Notion, two of the most innovative apps for organising info and ideas.
Descript is a video & audio editing tool that makes it easy to polish multimedia pieces by editing the transcript.
Scrintal makes note-taking into a visual process by incorporating whiteboarding and mind-mapping.
Writesonic provides over 65 AI writing features to support creators with industry-specific content using a brand’s writing style and tone of voice.
Moonbeam is specifically trained to write essays, articles, blogs, and other long form content.
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What’s happening in Technology & Innovation
Microsoft plans to invest $10 billion in OpenAI on a $29 billion valuation. This week they announced plans to add ChatGPT to its cloud-based Azure OpenAI service 'soon'.
OpenAI have updated ChatGPT for “improved factuality.” You can also stop the AI mid-generation.
Consumer spending on the Chinese version of TikTok skyrocketed last year, up 76% to $208 billion. TikTok is positioning itself to be the alternative to Amazon and Google as well as Instagram and YouTube.
Google has issued a Code Red over ChatGPT. Should they be worried?
OpenAI has opened a waitlist for a professional version of ChatGPT.
Meanwhile, browser Neeva has integrated ChatGPT into it’s ad-free subscription service.
Security research group Check Point Research (CPR) published a terrifying article entitled “OpwnAI: Cybercriminals Starting to Use ChatGPT.”
Meanwhile, according to Forbes, people are using ChatGPT to write fake scientific abstracts which are good enough to fool scientists.
ChatGPT is free to use. But that hasn’t stopped a ton of new mobile apps charging fees to use the free technology.
Ryan Reynolds read from an AI-generated script in the new Mint Mobile ad.
Microsoft has shown off its latest research in text-to-speech AI with a model called VALL-E.
Healthtech biometrics goes down the pan - sensors inside the toilet are measuring human waste to detect health markers.
Panasonic and Biel Glasses have announced a new pair of smart glasses to aid mobility for the visually impaired that describe as “life-changing.”
Hyundai have demo’ed its 'crab-walking' e-Corner technology that allows the wheels of a car to turn in ways they can’t on a traditional suspension system.
John Deere says it makes AI robotics, not farm equipment.
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Wiser! is a free newsletter that helps you make sense of what’s happening in tech and what’s coming next. Each week, Wiser! gives you the headlines and key takeaways from BigTech, web3, Metaverse, AI and the world of emerging tech.
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