Welcome to The Week in Generative AI, a weekly column for marketers from Quad Insights that quickly sums up need-to-know developments surrounding this rapidly evolving technology.
OpenAI and Common Sense Media launch collaboration
On Wednesday, ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced it would team up with Common Sense Media — a nonprofit organization focused on examining how suitable various tech products and services are for children — to develop safe and educational AI products for young users.
TechCrunch’s Kyle Wiggers reports that this collaboration could yield a sort of “‘nutrition label’ for AI-powered apps” that would analyze “the contexts in which the apps are used and highlight areas of potential opportunity and harm.”
The takeaway: This initiative marks an early step toward integrating AI into family settings, which could be crucial as more and more young people turn to chatbots for academic and personal advice. Partnering with Common Sense Media is also a good PR move for OpenAI, given that it’s facing rising scrutiny from regulators and legislators.
Related coverage:
The New York Times is building out its team exploring the use of AI in the newsroom
Emilia David reports in The Verge that The New York Times is now hiring for its “AI Initiative” team, led by Zach Seward, who was hired in December as we noted at the time in The Week in Generative AI. She notes that Seward “posted on Threads that the team will be focused on prototyping uses of generative AI and other machine-learning techniques to help with reporting and how the Times is presented to readers.”
The takeaway: The Times has had a rocky recent history with generative AI — in late December, for instance, it filed suit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that its copyrighted content was “used to train chatbots that now compete” with the Times. By building out its own AI capabilities, the Times is seeking to control its own AI-related narrative — and destiny.
Further reading
AI advancements:
- “Apple CEO Cook: Gen. AI a ‘huge opportunity’ for Apple, announcements coming this year” (Yahoo Finance)
- “Google Splits Up a Key AI Ethics Watchdog” (Bloomberg)
- “Humanoid Robot Startup Figure AI in Funding Talks With Microsoft, Open AI” (Wired)
- “Meta is bucking just about every AI trend, including the ‘boys club’” (Semafor)
- “This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language” (MIT Technology Review)
- “Volkswagen sets up its own AI lab as car industry looks to embrace the tech” (CNBC)
AI x marketing:
- “A.I. Fuels a New Era of Product Placement” (The New York Times)
- “Etsy launches AI-based gift recommendation service” (Retail Dive)
- “Why ChatGPT still can’t write a Super Bowl Commercial” (Ad Age)
- “Amazon Enters Chatbot Fray With Shopping Tool” (The New York Times)
AI x jobs:
- “Generative A.I.’s Biggest Impact Will Be in Banking and Tech, Report Says” (The New York Times)
- “The New Future of Work Report” (Microsoft Research)
- “Which entertainment jobs are most likely to be disrupted by AI? New study has answers” (Los Angeles Times)
AI x regulation:
- “AI Executive Order: White House Releases 90-Day Progress Report” (TechRepublic)
- “Law Enforcement Braces for Flood of Child Sex Abuse Images Generated by A.I.” (The New York Times)
AI x tools:
- “Baidu’s Ernie AI chatbot to power Samsung’s new Galaxy S24 smartphones” (CNBC)
- “Google’s AI image generator finally rolls out to the public – here’s how to try it” (ZDNET)
- “Opera to launch new AI-powered browser for iOS in Europe following Apple’s DMA changes” (TechCrunch)
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you next week.
If you’d like to catch up on prior installments of this column, start by heading to our last recap: “The Week in Generative AI: January 26, 2024”
