Here’s what happened, and is happening, in AI marketing news.
Coming in hot, Apple’s most public discussion yet of upcoming AI Tools
In the most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook told listeners that Apple is making significant investments in their proprietary AI offerings, saying:
"We believe in the transformative power and promise of AI, and we believe we have advantages that will differentiate us in this new era including Apple's unique combination of seamless hardware, software, and services integration; groundbreaking Apple silicon with our industry leading neural engine; and our unwavering focus on privacy."
Sandwiched between better-than-expected earnings numbers, the statement has spurred a lot of excitement. Considering Apple has been waiting in the wings as rivals Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Amazon have all debuted various AI tools, anticipation is building to see if Apple will bring down the house.
Red Lobster’s new AI-assisted tribute album
While Red Lobster profits may be lagging (endless shrimp, anyone?), AdWeek relayed some AI marketing news that highlighted an AI-powered Cheddar Bay Biscuit campaign that’s ahead of the game.
Step 1. Gather up all the social media love dedicated to buzziest product. In their case, Cheddar Bay Biscuits.
Step 2. Train an AI model using all that fan-generated content.
Step 3. Get your fan-fiction-powered model to output an album. In their case, 30 tracks that range from jazz to country and everything in between.
Step 4. Drop your tracks on social media. You can listen to Cheddar Bay-I – Side A and Cheddar Bay-I – Side B on YouTube.
While the move may make music folks uneasy, Red Lobster chief experience officer Sara Bittorf clarified that the tracks were made with “a little help from AI,” meaning that a lot of humans were still needed to get them the rest of the way.
She added, “Cheddar Bay-I brings our guests’ love of Cheddar Bay Biscuits to life in a way that’s part cheesy, and a whole lot of fun.”
An AI boom without climate doom?
With the proliferation of AI has come the sticker shock of its electric consumption. AdAge reported recently on the resulting effects on infrastructure and, most especially, the environment.
As AI servers pop up all over the world, the systems will result in huge increases in terrawatt-hours of electricity consumption and billions more cubic meters of water to both generate energy and cool servers.
But all is not doom and gloom.
Scientists are increasing capacity for fusion energy production and as AdAge points out, “There’s no reason why future innovations in AI generation and use cannot address its current challenges of excessive energy consumption and a massive carbon footprint.”
Forbes weighs in on how AI is reshaping entertainment
With the film and TV industry fretting over how AI will affect everyone’s job, Forbes chimed in to breakdown how AI is changing the game.
The pros of AI entertainment include more personalized and fine-tuned recommendations, optimizing development and marketing, predicting box office numbers, improving streaming video quality, and individualizing targeted advertising.
And looking at the possibilities of AI-driven interactive shows and virtual or augmented reality experiences, the opportunities unlocked by future AI models continue to look promising.
AI-Generated Video Continues to Generate Excitement and Concern
As OpenAI continues to tout Sora to industry leaders, it’s joined by Runway, Pika, and now China’s Vidu. ArsTechnica provided comparisons of the first three based on the experiences of leading animators, advertisers, and real estate agents.
And Washed Out has released the longest-to-date music video produced through Sora technology. “The Hardest Part,” directed by Paul Trillo is worth the watch. Trillo is one of a number of creatives with early access to Sora.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Trillo said he completed the video in about six weeks, editing together about 55 clips in the video from the roughly 700 that he generated using Sora.
Trillo also admitted, “You have to know where to pick your battles with it. You kind of have to relinquish a bit of your free will in working with this thing and you kind of have to accept the nature of how chaotic it is.”
It’s that lack of control and revising that has former Pixar animator Craig Good doubting the quick adoption of AI.
In a recent talk with CalArts students, Good commented on a Sora-produced animated video, saying “If I’m trying to use this in a production context, my first question is going to be, how do I revise this?”
And further, “Making a movie is all about iterating. It’s iteration. And if you can’t iterate on one of these, I don’t know how you would possibly use it in production.”
More AI marketing news where this came from
And in case you missed it, here’s our last roundup, plus some interesting insights into digital marketing trends from our creator’s panel at VidSummit.
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