Lab Weekly - 09/06/2024
Debating the true use cases for Gen AI; Plus, thoughts on the rumored Alexa 2.0, ChatGPT in VW cars, and more latest news & stats
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Apple Intelligence Could Usher In A New Era For AI
In this article published on The Drum, Adam Simon, our managing director, outlines the way digital advertisers must adapt by integrating with AI ecosystems, enhancing personalization, optimizing for voice search, and building brand loyalty to avoid disintermediation from traditional touchpoints as AI assistants like Apple Intelligence gain prominence.
In case you missed it…
The Future of Real Estate
As people have adapted to new ways of living in this post-COVID era, their expectations and preferences for housing have also evolved. In tandem with broader economic changes, such as the end of Zero Interest Rate Policies (ZIRP) and shifts in mortgage rates, these evolving consumer trends are driving significant changes in the real estate market.
The Crucial Differentiator in the AI Search War
The burgeoning AI search war carries far-ranging implications for the future of the web and digital advertising. Everyone needs the latest news content to keep their AI search engines up-to-date, and access to quality content has become an increasingly important differentiation point.
What’s Next for the Entertainment Industry?
This summer has been one of turmoil and reorganization for Hollywood. Still recovering from the historical double-strikes that put the industry on pause last summer, the entertainment industry is trying to realign its streaming-led business model with the post-streaming-wars market reality. The streaming services are all in on ads, yet Hollywood needs to look both outward and inward to find its future.
Amazon Turns to Anthropic's AI for Alexa Revamp [Reuters]
Take the following with a grain of salt, since none of it has been confirmed by Amazon. But, the upcoming version of Alexa, scheduled for release in October 2024, will reportedly be powered primarily by Anthropic's Claude AI instead of Amazon's own in-house models. This shift to an external AI partner comes after internal models failed to deliver the expected performance, with delays of six to seven seconds to respond to prompts. Also, Amazon reportedly plans to charge $5 to $10 a month for the enhanced version of Alexa, while continuing to offer the basic version for free.
Amazon's decision to rely on Anthropic marks a significant departure from its typical strategy of building AI in-house. This shift is likely driven by the urgency to keep pace with rivals like Google and Apple, who have integrated generative AI to enhance their AI assistants. For now, Alexa still dominates the smart speaker market thanks to Echo devices taking up 65% market share in the US. But now that Google is starting to roll out the Gemini-powered Google Assistant across its ecosystem and making it the default, Amazon is under tremendous competitive pressure to keep up.
Despite this strategic pivot, Amazon will likely benefit from an enhanced Alexa capable of performing advanced tasks, such as providing shopping advice, home automation, and handling complex user requests. However, for customers to be willing to pay for a service that has traditionally been free, the bar is very high on the type of user experience that Alexa will need to clear.
Since February, Amazon has been testing a Rufus AI assistant in the Amazon app, which focuses on narrow use cases of recommending products and answering product-related questions. At the end of the day, however, “Alexa” is a household name that Amazon has sunk millions of dollars into marketing, and it has no choice but to stick with it and revamp it with generative AI.
Related: Amazon aims to launch delayed AI Alexa subscription in October [Washington Post]; Gmail users on Android can now chat with Gemini about their emails [TechCrunch]; Google rolling out Gems and Imagen 3, with people generation, to Gemini Advanced [9to5Google]
New Volkswagen Models Will Answer Some of Your Questions with ChatGPT [The Verge]
Making good on its CES announcement in January, Volkswagen has started rolling out its ChatGPT-integrated Plus Speech voice assistant, IDA, in the US, starting with the 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI models. IDA combines locally processed responses for simple tasks, like adjusting AC settings, with cloud-based responses powered by ChatGPT and other models from Cerence for handling more complex requests, such as restaurant recommendations or even telling stories to keep you company (or your kids quiet) on the road. Simple commands like “I’m cold” will be handled locally, while more intricate queries will be processed in the cloud.
For auto-brands, upgrading the in-car voice assistants provides some obvious enhancements to the user experience, while also opening up a new revenue stream through subscription fees. However, I do wonder how many people actually wish to have a full-blown conversation with their cars. If anything, it would seem that the majority of the in-car use cases are focused on simple commands that require accuracy — something that LLMs often struggle with.
Related: Google’s AI-powered Ask Photos feature begins US rollout [TechCrunch]; YouTube is developing AI detection tools for music and faces, plus creator controls for AI training [TechCrunch]
Snap CEO Rallies Workers on Ad Business Amid Stock Drop [Bloomberg]
Snapchat has been in the news lately, mostly for the wrong reasons. Besides the fresh lawsuit that New Mexico AG is bringing, the company’s stock has fallen around 48% so far this year. CEO Evan Spiegel attempted to rally employee morale with an open letter, pledging to focus on growing its ads business. He mentioned in his letter that Snapchat will soon start testing sponsored messages next to chat threads from friends (essentially paid DMs). Snapchat’s also adding “Promoted Places”, which will enable businesses to highlight their stores on the Snap Map. In June, Snap launched generative AI tools that enable users to apply more realistic effects when using their phone cameras to film themselves.
Still, Spiegel remembered to mention that what really sets Snapchat apart from all the other social media platforms is its “camera-first” approach and its dedication to AR features. Focusing on expanding its ad formats would most likely mean leveraging Snapchat’s AR prowess to develop unique AR-enabled interactive ad formats. Time will tell if they can come up with some compelling new AR ad products beyond sponsored lenses.
Related: New Mexico attorney general sues company behind Snapchat alleging child sexual extortion on the site [AP News]; Snapchat finally launched an iPad app [The Verge]
Situational Awareness:
Ki is bringing wireless power to kitchen appliances [The Verge]
This is an interesting development in wireless charging. Love the idea of electric stove tops that double as wireless charging pads for kitchen appliances. Wonder how they will handle the leak issue inherent with wireless charging that would surely be exacerbated by the higher voltage that kitchen appliances require, compared to charging mobile devices.
DJI’s $199 Neo selfie drone is going to be everywhere [The Verge]
The Verge is right – at that price point, and designed to be used with no controller, this new DJI selfie drone might just become the next selfie-sticks, only more annoying and disruptive in already-crowded tourist areas. Let’s hope that everyone uses some common sense and keeps the usage to the great outdoors.
Strava and Letterboxd surge as users crave social-media refuge [Bloomberg]
People yearn for interest-based networks, and it shows! If young people are now fed up with ineffective dating apps and ditching them or running clubs, all these “affinity-based” apps need to do is to add a DM function and voila, new dating apps with built-in icebreakers.
Spotify launches its evolving playlist, Daylist, globally [TechCrunch]
A dynamic playlist that changes throughout the day based on your personal listening habit is a cool idea in implementing AI automation for hyper-personalization, but those goofy, AI-generated playlist titles are a bit cringe and unnecessary, if you ask me.
Google’s AI Overviews now appear in 17% of search queries in the UK and US, and it is significantly impacting visibility for publishers, new research from Authoritas suggests. Press Gazette reports.
Apple Podcast is losing its dominance as a podcast channel to YouTube and Spotify. A study published last month by Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights found that YouTube is now the most popular podcast listening platform in the US, with 31% of respondents saying they use it. It’s followed by Spotify at 21% and Apple at 12%.
Meta Platforms’ artificial intelligence assistant, Meta AI, has more than 185 million weekly active users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on Threads Thursday. The assistant has more than 400 million monthly active users, he said, confirming The Information’s previous reporting.
Black Myth: Wukong, a video game backed by Tencent, took just 83 hours to sell 10 million copies, Bloomberg reports, making one of the fastest debuts in the gaming industry’s history.
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