/Embedded Podcast. Could memberships to a journalist's world beat machines, avatar influencer marketing, and a win for creators
Here’s Embedded, our weekly podcast, with stories that have a communications or media focus.
The secret to getting ahead is getting started, - Mark Twain.
I liked that quote for the weekend. The team at The Rundown is prioritizing what we need to get done to get started. Recent reads I’d recommend to anyone building or wanting to build a product include Build by Tony Fadell; Zero to One, by Peter Thiel; and Traction (never gets old).
An inspiring weekend watch recommendation is The Dynasty, the teamwork, dreamwork and hard work of the New England Patriots. I binge-watched all 10 episodes.
Also, please do join me for the "Leading with AI" conference on May 7 to learn about digital transformation insights for your organization. Led by HBS professors
Tsedal Neeley, and Mitchell Weiss. It’s presented in partnership with the Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard, a pioneering hub dedicated to the study of transformative technologies. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/HBS_conferenceMost newsrooms surveyed are using AI
The Associated Press found nearly 70% of newsroom staffers across almost 300 organizations are already using generative AI tools for crafting social posts, newsletters, headlines, translation, transcription and even drafting stories. The AP recently partnered with 5 local newsrooms to develop custom generative AI tools.
56% believed the AI generation of entire articles or broadcasts should be banned outright, showing that there are some fears about credibility, trust and authenticity.
Only 7% expressed any worry about AI displacing journalism jobs.
The bigger challenge for journalists was actually getting proper training. 18% said they’ve been given a lack of guidance on responsibly using these powerful technologies. And P.S. This is exactly why we are creating The Rundown!
Here’s Embedded, our podcast for the week wrap, with stories that have a communications or media focus. It’s being read by my AI voice. You can hear a few AI glitches so it’s not perfect. This is because Eleven Labs needs some specific styles for pauses and better flow, which I’ll learn and share with you.
Sous-Chef, Eleven Labs AI
Axios has been at the forefront of testing the use cases of AI in the media world.
For them, it translates into focusing on more live events, a membership program centered on its star journalists, and an expansion of its high-end subscription newsletters. This means doubling down on delivering premium or paywalled journalistic expertise that AI can't easily replicate, like what we see with the popularity of Substack.
The company just launched a 1,000 dollar annual membership program built around a star journalist complete with exclusive reporting, events, and access. They’re even expanding their high-end subscription offering, Axios Pro, a collection of niche policy and deals newsletters, with pricing starting at 599 dollars a year.
The play here is that quality journalism, with people who can tell you things you do not know, will become more important with the deluge of AI, and will beat out machines.
In a win for creators, a new bill introduced in the US is trying to bring some transparency
As generative AI tools have exploded in popularity, questions are growing over whether these companies illegally ingested copyrighted data, from books and news articles to music and art, to build their capabilities.
The Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act would force major tech firms to disclose any copyrighted works used in training AI. The bill is one of the first government attempts at regulation. It means AI companies would have to submit lists of any copyrighted training materials to the US Copyright Office at least 30 days ahead of launching new generative AI products. Firms that don’t disclose their datasets would be heavily fined. But the bill does stop short of banning training on copyrighted works altogether.
A partnership that offers brands a chance to ethically tap into influencer power on a new scale.
In a move that is definitely going to shake up the influencer marketing industry, two AI startups, Dicer and FameFlow, have announced a partnership. Dicer leads on AI-driven ad performance analytics. FameFlow is the world's first platform for licensing celebrity and mega-influencer AI likenesses.
The pitch is that they will be giving brands and agencies exclusive access to fully-licensed celebrity and top influencer AI avatars for endorsements, powered by Dicer's cutting-edge ad tracking and conversion-as-a-service AI technology.
This is tech that specializes in content creation. By uniting FameFlow's massive network of avatars with Dicer's ability to deliver real-time, ad performance insights and AI content creation technology, the collaboration aims to maximize engagement and improve return on ad spend for celebrity and influencer campaigns.
This partnership also emphasizes social responsibility and ethical standards as core tenets. Avatar consent is required. Ethical considerations are key and ensure that likenesses are used safely and transparently in any advertising or digital space.