It seems like every day there is another news article about the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI). From the Pope wearing a coat, to Coca-Cola running a new AI competition, this technology is one that keeps expanding daily. As we all try to adjust to this new world, businesses and brands included, here is a roundup of some of the ways AI is making an impact.
The Pope wearing a coat
This image of the Pope wearing a stylish, white puffer jacket has gone viral on social media as viewers have been debating whether the image was real or not. The answer? It is fake- the image was created by an AI tool called Midjourney and posted on Reddit before being spread across Twitter and confusing many viewers. The user in question has had their account suspended on Reddit.
As reported by NewScientist, “Web culture expert Ryan Broderick has called the pope image ‘the first real mass-level AI misinformation case’.” This also comes after images were made on Midjourney of former US President Donald Trump being arrested, which also went viral earlier in March.
These examples show the concern of misinformation being able to spread more rapidly and fool more people as advancements in AI tools increase, as well as access to them.
Coca-Cola’s “Create Real Magic”
Coca-Cola has invited digital creatives to “use a first-of-its-kind AI platform to generate original artwork with iconic creative assets from the Coca-Cola archives.” This has been built exclusively for Coca-Cola through a partnership with OpenAI and Bain and Company, and combines OpenAI’s GPT-4 and DALL-E technologies.
This marketing campaign runs until March 31st 2023 in select countries, and creatives can submit their work in the hope that it will be selected to feature on digital billboards in New York City and London.
Thirty creators will then be selected to attend the ‘Real Magic Creative Academy’ where they will co-create content that could be used for Coca-Cola and be credited for that work.
As James Quincey, the Chairman and CEO of The Coca Cola Company, states- “We see opportunities to enhance our marketing through cutting-edge AI, along with exploring ways to improve our business operations and capabilities.” This is a good example of brands using the latest developments in artificial intelligence to create an impact in their digital marketing strategies.
Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator Tool
Microsoft has announced a new tool called Bing Image Creator which will “bring OpenAI’s DALL-E visual creation capacity into Microsoft’s Bing search engine, as well as its Edge browser, enabling users to easily access AI image generation at any time”, as reported by Social Media Today.
The visuals that are created using the tool are owned by the user and free to use for any purpose under Open AI’s usage guidelines.
Earlier this year, Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI and has incorporated ChatGPT type elements into most of its workplace applications and tools. The Bing Image Creator is currently with preview users, but it goes to show how Microsoft are trying to become a front runner in the AI world and use these tools to get people to come to their platforms.
As well as this, as reported by Daily Star, Microsoft has admitted ChatGPT-4 is demonstrating ‘human-like’ intelligence. The company’s researchers described the technology as showing “the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.” If this develops and is correct, this could be a major turning point in human history and one that Microsoft says they will continue to keep the scientific community in the loop about.
TikTok bans deepfakes
With all the pressure that TikTok is facing with threats of a US ban looming, it has decided to make a stand against sharing AI deepfakes, which have become increasingly popular on the platform.
The recent rule change, as reported by The Verge, states “all realistic AI generated and edited content must be ‘clearly disclosed’ as such, either in the video caption or as an overlaid sticker.” As well as this, TikTok says it won’t allow any artificial media “that contains the likeness of any real private figure” or shows a public figure, such as a celebrity or politician, endorsing a product or violating other rules like hate speech.
This also comes at an interesting time for the music industry as voice cloning of popular artists is becoming more prevalent, with videos of an AI Harry Styles voice making the rounds on TikTok. As well as this, AI expert Roberto Nickson stunned fans by creating and writing a verse, recording it, and then using AI to replace his vocals with Kanye West’s voice, which he then shared on Twitter. He tweeted “And just like that. The music industry is changed forever”.
Overall, these examples of the latest developments in artificial intelligence show how quickly the technology is expanding, and how brands and businesses want to become the first to utilise these tools in campaigns and within their own platforms. As more is discovered, however, regulations and rules may need to be in place to stop the spreading of misinformation and misuse.
Want to learn more about ChatGPT? Why not check out Escapade’s blog post on ‘How ChatGPT is shaping the future of AI’!
Sources
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/news/microsoft-thinks-new-ai-showing-29564840
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/21/23648099/tiktok-content-moderation-rules-deepfakes-ai?ref=email
