119: So much complexity
[Tuesday - Persuasion and Marketing] Sucking up data, visiting Padilla
So much handwringing.
Yesterday, The Daily featured a New York Times expose on all of the sucking up of data by OpenAI, Google and Meta to fuel their AI training models. So much gobbling. So much attitude. So much faux concern. So much opportunity for copyright lawyers. Interesting quote: The AI companies are, “using data faster than humans are creating it.” One of my students said the news made them question the benefits of AI, and their own use of AI.
Remember when we sort of felt bad about music file sharing pre-Spotify? Or when Uber arrived in a market and said, “sue us.” I am not thrilled with the notion of laws being violated. I’m not a fan of the tech utopia argument suggesting noble aims exempt shifty behavior either. But this feels like one kind of creativity at war with another.
As we noted two weeks back, the music industry (and all the lawyers) found a way for the creativity of sampling and then file sharing to co-exist alongside the legacy of recorded music. Or as Ryan Broderick notes, “One thing that I don’t think is highlighted enough is the role music, as an art form, has in bringing about philosophical changes in how we use technology.” The point is, we figure it out. And I have a suspicion there will be investigations, lawsuits, negotiations and agreements around AI training data. Because we want what becomes enabled—from sampling to ride sharing to generative AI.
Thank you, Padilla
“The business of creativity is very different than the creative business.”
Maybe it was the rain and memories of London. Kudos to Chief Creative Heath Rudduck (LinkedIn) for quoting the legendary John Hegarty at the onset of our visit to Padilla. This week marks a transition of sorts inside MCAD’s Persuasion & Marketing course, from the academics of persuasion to its fulfillment across the realm of marketing. Where better to express this than a global marketing agency; one born out of public relations.
To the quote above, the “business of” is now much more complex than it is complicated, in much the same way airplanes, food, and media have become massive global entanglements. The practice of marketing is now inherently worldwide, never asleep, oddly targetable, as unpredictable as ever. And yet its efficacy remains rooted in the primacy of insights and ideas.
We explored the complexities of changing behaviors related to blueberries, antibiotics, wireless connectivity, nutrition, and beverages from the front lines of a billboard to the closed doors inside the FDA. From advertising to influence, from the sales floor to the boardroom. “It’s a jump ball for everyone,” suggests Heath as a way of illuminating a kind of permission firms have to give themselves to solve audacious problems. And then there’s AI.
“We have to stop thinking of AI in isolation,” Heath urges. It’s not distinct from other marketing tools or practices, and ought to be integrated within them. Like so many firms I’ve spoken with, I don’t sense integration is necessarily easy. That said, “AI is a game changer when you’re under pressure,” according to Heath.
Many thanks to the Padilla team: Chris, Lacey, Claire, Steve, Thea, Will, Marie, Jennifer and Heath for sharing their time and insights.
AI+Creativity Update
🤖🎨 Smart Midjourney tutorial here on structure/form and style prompting. Funny how it takes humans to figure out how machines might work. Thanks for digging through YouTube, Steve!
🤖👟 During its 2024 Olympics fashion reveal Nike debuted “A.I.R. sneakers” (via Hypebeast), shoes “designed” in some murky respect via AI.
👏🏾👏🏼 This is two months old but still stunning, and troubling: The Shotline — using AI to generate the voices of kids killed by gun violence, then robocalling senators and House members who support the National Rifle Association.
🚢 ☁️ The Cloud Under The Sea is fantastic UX and a worthwhile long read from The Verge about all those undersea internet cables we rely upon.