Is AI Living up to the Hype?

1 September 2024 | Issue #60

In this issue:

Use AI correctly, or you could get fired
Google AI image generator running again
ChatGPT 5 is coming very soon
Is AI living up to the hype?
New AI tool: Napkins
Design quote of the week

**Prompt**: a championship podium with the gold, silver, and bronze medalists standing on the three levels. The gold winner is a woman. The bronze winner is a robot that is sitting on the edge of the podium. --ar 16:9

For the past five quarters, we've been talking about AI's potential impact on the job market and how AI can make you better at your job.

One thing I haven't dove too deep into is the negative impact of using AI. Unfortunately, a marketing consultant found this out the hard way.

It's normal to promote a movie by showcasing positive quotes from reviewers. However, while promoting Francis Ford Coppola's new movie, 'Megalopolis,' a marketing consultant for Lionsgate decided to use quotes from reviewers who are no longer with us.

He opted to use AI to generate quotes in the voice of late reviewers such as Roger Ebert, Stanley Kauffmann, and others.

🫣

My gut could have told me this was a bad idea. But, I decided to ask ChatGPT what it thought.

Of course, it's a bad idea! Even a robot knows that.

Maybe it ties into the movie's plot and was just poor judgment. But there should have been someone along the way that said, "we can't do that."

"All press is good press" is a good idea until you get fired for it.

AI allows us to do incredible things. Its capabilities are improving by the hour. But remember a lesson we all should have learned from Jurassic Park:

It's painfully apparent that the companies making these tools aren't worried about safety, so it's up to you, the user, to establish your own guardrails.

NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF AI AND DESIGN

👮‍♀️ Google AI Can Generate Images of Humans Again, Months After Controversy

Google has reinstated the ability for its AI to generate images of humans, months after disabling the feature due to ethical and privacy concerns, signaling a renewed approach to managing AI's capabilities.

Renewed Capability: Google has reintroduced human image generation with new safeguards in place, addressing the ethical concerns that previously led to the feature's suspension.
Ethical Oversight: The decision highlights Google's ongoing efforts to balance innovation with responsibility, ensuring that AI advancements do not infringe on privacy or ethical standards.

Keep reading

🫣 OpenAI's Project Strawberry to Become ChatGPT-5, Launch Imminent

OpenAI's "Project Strawberry" is set to evolve into ChatGPT-5, with insiders suggesting that the launch is just around the corner, marking a significant advancement in AI technology.

Next-Gen Capabilities: ChatGPT-5 is expected to bring substantial improvements in natural language processing, potentially surpassing the capabilities of its predecessor in understanding and generating human-like responses.
Implications for AI Integration: The launch of ChatGPT-5 could have wide-reaching implications for industries relying on AI, enhancing automation, customer service, and creative tasks across various sectors.

Keep reading

NEW RESOURCES FOR YOU

Is AI living up to the hype?

We're starting to see the backlash to 2023's hype surrounding AI. A recent Forbes contribution dives into why people are disappointed by the AI hype.

I've noticed that those who are the most dismissive of AI are the ones who aren't using it. How often do you see people still complaining about six-finger hands?

Ignore those who say, "I tried it, I didn't like it." Technology improves over time. Just because someone hyped up AI as the road to utopia doesn't mean it will happen in the next quarter or two.

These tools are significantly better today than they were when they were launched. And they'll be better with the next release.

For what it's worth, I ran that Forbes article through an AI detector, and it estimates AI wrote 56% of the article. Another nice byproduct of using generative AI is you get better at noticing when others are using it.

My AI disclaimer: I write the main story and this story using Grammarly's suggestions (sometimes). The quick news hits are articles I've found, which I run through a ChatGPT prompt to generate the synopsis and bullet points.

AI Tool of the Week

I just started using napkin.ai and it's interesting. Paste in some copy and it will generate a series of diagrams that can be used to illustrate your point. There is some customization there, but it's all pretty generic at this point.

I've used it for concepting some ideas, but not the final output. Since I create diagrams in the style that applies to the rest of the material, all I'm looking for is ideas. Napkin works well for what I'm looking for.