The Week in Data Marketing, MarTech and AI — Nov. 1, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Data Marketing, MarTech and AI, a weekly roundup from Quad Insights that sums up the latest news surrounding the technology-driven transformation of marketing.

The challenge of finding candidates to interview for open jobs often includes a series of repetitive, time-consuming tasks. LinkedIn sees artificial intelligence as a tool that can help mitigate the drudgery and let recruiters focus their time elsewhere. LinkedIn’s new Hiring Assistant, Collin Kirkland of MediaPost reports, is an “AI agent” that automates tasks such as uploading job descriptions and creating an initial candidate pool. (AI agents are meant to automate workflows, not just individual tasks.) The agent is trained on data from 1 billion platform users, 68 million companies and 41,000 skills, Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch notes.

More on AI agents

• “High quality data is key for effective AI agents” (The Next Platform)
• “This Research Firm Explains How AI Agents May Change Everyone’s Jobs, and Soon” (Inc.)
• “Your Apps Are on Borrowed Time. AI Agents Are on the Way” (CNET)
• “The Big Bet on AI Agents” (Venture Capital Journal)

With the release of iOS 18.1 this week, Apple is bringing new meaning to the notion of a “smart” phone. Owners of the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro who update to the new iOS will now have access to select features in the hotly anticipated Apple Intelligence suite. (Additional features will become available in subsequent releases.) Some initial insights from tech reporters:

• Daniel Howley, Yahoo Finance: “I’ve been using a beta version of the first set of Apple Intelligence features for a few weeks already, and while I don’t think they’re the type of upgrades that will get consumers to rush out the door to buy the latest iPhone, they do help set the stage for the company’s next set of AI updates.”

• Ivan Mehta, TechCrunch: “The feature set rolling out this week is more about creating convenience for users rather than letting users plan or brainstorm ideas with ChatGPT or search the web with Perplexity.”

• Jason Hiner, ZDNet: “Apple Intelligence takes some of the best capabilities of large language models (LLMs) and integrates them directly into apps and features rather than relying solely on a chatbot prompt.”

• CNET’s Jeff Carlson: “Installing the latest updates doesn’t automatically add the Apple Intelligence features to your devices. You’ll need to request access to Apple Intelligence and join a waitlist.”

The release of iOS 18.1 is also providing a glimpse at how Apple is positioning AI with consumers. Using both humor and sentimentality, newly released spots play up AI assistance in writing and creating photo memories.

More on AI smartphone integration

• “Google Pixel 10 and 11 are potentially getting these exciting new camera and AI tricks” (Android Authority)
• “5 Best AI Phones of 2024: Features, Performance, and Value” (eWeek)

That’s how many new state-level privacy laws are slated to go into effect in 2025, according to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, an Atlanta-based multinational law firm. (The states: Iowa, Delaware, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee, Minnesota and Maryland.)

More on data regulation

• “FCC Announces Partnership with California Privacy Protection Agency” (FCC)
• ICYMI: “Ireland threatens to fine Facebook and TikTok if they don’t end ‘Wild West’ of harmful content” (Fortune)

Further reading — on AI, measurement, programmatic advertising and more

• “Ad Measurement Trends H2 2024” (eMarketer)
• “Measuring A Media Company Or Programs – What And Where Is The Value?” (MediaPost)
• “How CMOs, agencies and consultants are clashing over AI usage” (Ad Age)
• “Inside Disney’s increasingly global approach to selling holiday ads” (Marketing Dive)
• “Linus Torvalds slams AI as ‘90% marketing and 10% reality’” (TechRadar)