From Logo Design to Water Usage: The Surprising Costs of AI

22 September 2024 | Issue #62

In this issue:

Working smarter, not harder, can get you arrested
A deep dive into the tech behind creating logos with AI
MAICON recap
Overcoming AI resistance in organizations
The hidden water cost of using AI
How schools should adapt to the new AI-infused world
Design quote of the week
By the way ...

**Prompt**: AI robot drinking a glass of water with her mouth --ar 16:9

The fundamental promise of generative AI is that we can automate parts of our lives that aren't a good use of time. Some people are using AI to "work smarter, not harder." Others are using it as a way to outsource creative tasks. Personally, I prefer to do the creative work and get help with mundane tasks like sorting Excel documents or editing RFPs.

Sometimes, using AI to "work smarter, not harder" can get you in trouble.

A North Carolina man has been arrested for using AI to create music. Now, this isn't usually an issue. There is a lot of AI-generated garbage out there. He used a third party to create thousands of songs each week dating back to 2018. It became a crime when he used bots to stream those songs to garner royalties for systems like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and more.

His alleged income from this scam was more than $10 million.

There will always be people who figure out how to use new technology to make easy money. This will give everyone else using that technology a bad name (sideways glance toward NFTs). If you can stay focused on the core benefits of the technology, you can cut through the negative PR and find the long-term benefits.

Sometimes AI can be used for fun, like watching Step Brothers starring Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Or it can be used to develop new medicines. The possibilities are endless. Keep trying new things (but keep it legal).

(h/t to Dave Gambaccini for the Step Brothers video).

NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF AI AND DESIGN

🦖 Revolutionizing Logo Design with Amazon Bedrock

Amazon Bedrock is transforming logo design through generative art and AI collaboration, offering new possibilities for dynamic, data-driven logos that evolve in real-time.

• Generative Art for Logos: Amazon Bedrock allows designers to create dynamic logos that adjust based on data or specific inputs, enabling more personalized and responsive branding.

• AI Collaboration: The platform enhances collaboration between designers and AI, streamlining the creative process by suggesting multiple design options and refining logos based on feedback.

• My Take: This is a deep dive into how these systems work together to generate the content. It's a good read if you want to better understand the underlying functionality.

Keep reading

🫱🏼‍🫲🏻 Four Agency’s Key Takeaways from MAICON 2024

Four Agency attended MAICON 2024, a leading event in marketing AI, to gain insights into how AI is reshaping the industry and refine their own AI strategies.

• Resurgence of Brand PR in the AI Era: Liza Adams and Susan Westwater highlighted the renewed importance of brand PR and third-party endorsements in the age of GenAI, emphasizing the need for human-differentiated, thought-leading content that stands out amidst AI-generated media.

• Key Insights: Sessions highlighted the evolving landscape of SEO for LLMs, the importance of automating expertise, and the balance between human creativity and AI capabilities. One standout session by Mike Walsh forecasted how companies will shift from product-focused to platform-driven operations.

• My Take: I felt significant FOMO last week because of this event. I hope to attend next year, and I'm thankful for the recaps I've been reading and watching.

Keep reading

🛑 Overcoming AI Resistance in Organizations

In Inbox Insights, Trust Insights CEO Katie Robbert discusses the challenges many organizations face in integrating AI, providing strategies to help overcome resistance. The newsletter highlights that addressing fears and uncertainties around AI adoption is essential for successful integration.

• Communication is Key: Organizations need to communicate clearly about how AI will benefit both the business and its employees, addressing concerns about job displacement and the role of AI in enhancing—not replacing—human work.

• Strategic Implementation: To overcome resistance, companies should start with smaller, low-risk AI projects that can demonstrate value quickly, easing apprehension and building trust in the technology.

• My Take: Last week, we talked about how transformation has to come from the top. This newsletter is great for anyone trying to implement change from elsewhere in the organization.

Keep reading

🌊 The Hidden Environmental Costs of AI Chatbots: A Bottle of Water Per Email

A report by The Washington Post reveals the significant environmental impact of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, focusing on the resources required to power these technologies, including water and electricity.

• Water Consumption: A single AI-generated 100-word email consumes 519 milliliters of water, roughly equivalent to a standard bottle. Scaled up to one query weekly by 16 million working Americans, the water usage would equal the daily consumption of Rhode Island households for 1.5 days.

• Energy Use: That same email consumes 0.14 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 14 LED light bulbs for one hour. Over a year, this would add up to 121,517 megawatt-hours if 10% of American workers used ChatGPT weekly, matching the electricity use of all D.C. households for 20 days.

• My Take: To summarize this article, ChatGPT told me it took ~5.3 bottles of water (yikes! and sorry). I didn't want to ask how much it took to do that math.

These environmental tolls are driven by the heat generated by servers, which require intensive cooling systems often powered by water or electricity, with variations depending on the data center’s location and climate.

Keep reading (requires subscription)

NEW RESOURCES FOR YOU

**Prompt:** teaching students how to think --ar 16:9

If AI Eliminates Jobs, What Then?

Marc Angelos posted a thought-provoking Thread the other day, and I keep thinking about it.

Over the last 100 years, “income” has been based on your job. The fancy Finance word for that is “labor.” If you want more…you work more. —- Over the last 1,000 years, “wealth” has been based on ownership. The fancy Finance word for that is “equity.” If you want more, you OWN more. Now comes AI. It does ONE of these two things better than humans. Which now forces a decision from each of us…..

A mentor of mine said to stop trading hours for dollars. We should be paid for our thoughts rather than effort. Unfortunately, we're looking at a future where AI will replace some thinking and effort.

Schools must better equip students with the skills they need to succeed in the new world order. I'm happy whenever I hear that schools are evolving beyond ingesting/expelling facts.

At my daughter's middle school open house last night, her science teacher discussed the new curriculum they're teaching this year, which is more focused on how to think about science rather than learning facts students will forget ten minutes after a test.

Just look at your social media feeds, and you can witness the lack of critical thinking capabilities across a wide swath of people.

Design Quote of the Week

“Design is as much an act of spacing as an act of marking.”

– Ellen Lupton

By the way ...

I saw Pearl Jam in concert twice this past week. AI will never be able to replace the collective feeling of people participating in art.

Pearl Jam on stage at Fenway Park — Pearl Jam at Fenway Park in Boston, MA, 15 September 2024

My AI disclaimer: I write the main stories by hand (with occasional assistance from Grammarly). The quick news hits are articles I've found, which I run through a ChatGPT prompt to generate the synopsis and bullet points. However, I write the My Thoughts bullet. If AI generates the images, I include the prompt so you can see how I got to that image. Nothing in this newsletter, or anything I publish anywhere, reflects the views of my employer.