No Surprise: AI Headlines CES

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Developments in AI continue to supply the news hook for technology and innovation stories?coming out of CES this year , including Wednesday’s debut of OpenAI’s GPT Store .?

The store allows anyone using the GPT Builder program?to release agents that solve specific tasks ?against equally specific use cases. OpenAI’s announcement also highlights?a revenue-sharing opportunity with the GPT builder community , though some?observers have pointed out ?that those payments are not beginning until later in the first quarter.

But along with announcements about new generative AI innovations, there’s been a recent and significant uptick in concerns that AI integrations will result in mass layoffs, in part because that’s what tech platforms and companies are currently signaling as a justification for adjustments to their employee headcounts. Duolingo, for example,?cut contract workers ?(roughly?10 percent of the overall workforce ) and is redoubling efforts to use AI in generating second language acquisition lessons?for its 24.2M daily active users . But the quality of GenAI?lessons are dubious at best .??

Why it matters

An undercurrent of concern (some might call it a “trough of disillusionment ”) about technological progress will continue to influence?how people react to GenAI developments and executions , as well as broader narratives about innovation and technology leadership. To combat this, brand messaging across social and digital touchpoints should include emotional reassurances based on frictionless product experiences, trust, and digital safety.

Other news and trends

Reporting from CES: AARP & Mario.?AARP is using CES ?to discuss ways in which technology can help older cohorts “live longer, better, and more independently, ” especially through efforts to cure loneliness. But one integration—with hologram technology company?Proto Hologram— is causing a stir after Proto showed?an unlicensed and relatively perturbing ?hologram version of Mario that?people are saying ?has been “haunting CES 2024 .” Nintendo, which is notorious for guarding its IP, didn’t license the hologram, leading Proto spokespeople to defend that they were just showing “an unfinished proof of concept tested for a client to demonstrate technological capabilities .”

• Related: Tetris & Video Game Nostalgia.?Thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson,?who has a YouTube channel as Blue Scoti ?(29k followers), made history as the first human?to ever beat Tetris . (Upon clearing level 157, the screen freezes and begins to break down, likely because of an assumption when the game was originally produced that no one would have the coin to play in an arcade that long.) Gibson has since?met the founder ,?touchingly dedicated this moment to his father , who passed away last month. The combination of feel-good human interest storytelling and video game nostalgia has caused the story to trend on TikTok (#WillisGibson ?and?#Tetris ?on TikTok — 12.2M views and 1.8B views respectively).

Follow-up: Air travel snags.?As commercial airlines pursue?safety checks of Boeing 737 Max 9s in their fleets ?following the?FAA’s grounding order , travelers are experiencing a continued?cascading impact ?to flight schedules,?including cancellations . The disruption is coming ahead of Martin Luther King, Jr weekend, which typically?sees a spike in air travel ; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the current forecast is for?roughly 45k flights per day , beginning Thursday.

Contributors: Head of Social Content and Engagement Strategy Cristina Lawrence , Senior Vice President Jerry Lawrence , Group Vice President Andrew McKernan , and Senior Vice President Tammy Pepito .

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