The Weekender: Weird AI edition.
The Weekender: Weird AI edition.
AI article writing wasn't a great idea, ad agencies in recession, Matt Yglesias' content secrets, the ChatGPT roundup: Context Collapse #182
In this issue: Headaches caused by AI technologies writing articles that weren’t factchecked, advertising holding companies in a weird economy, Matt Yglesias as pundit case study and a whole lot of ChatGPT content.
→ CNET Publishing Articles Written By AI
Via Futurism (and first spotted by Gael Breton), CNET is quietly publishing entire articles generated by AI:
The articles are published under the unassuming appellation of "CNET Money Staff," and encompass topics like "Should You Break an Early CD for a Better Rate?" or "What is Zelle and How Does It Work?"
That byline obviously does not paint the full picture, and so your average reader visiting the site likely would have no idea that what they're reading is AI-generated. It's only when you click on "CNET Money Staff," that the actual "authorship" is revealed.
I remember a few years ago the Associated Press used AI to write articles for short set-format pieces like sports scores (using tech from a company called Automated Insights), but nothing like this scale. Apparently the CNET articles were barely edited by humans and a ton of them had massive errors that needed to be corrected. Human journalists, you need not fear for your jobs yet.
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→ Ad Agencies In Q1 2023: No Layoffs But Less Hiring
A pretty solid analysis of industry big players like IPG, WPP and Havas by Adweek’s Olivia Morley finds that large ad agencies have no immediate plans for layoffs, but certainly seem to be hiring less:
The holding companies are now in an apparent waiting period. Leaders are treading choppy waters, entertaining a nervous optimism going into 2023 as they watch the economy. WPP investment arm GroupM’s year-end ad spend forecast projected 2022 global ad spend increased by 6.5%, compared to 2021’s 22.5% growth. GroupM expects ad spend will decelerate again in 2023, an encroaching squeeze that introduces uncertainty. Sustaining growth will require holding companies to find new ways to drive revenue and compete for more pitches that are, on average, less valuable than last year.
Morley’s looking at holding companies rather than the ad agencies themselves (which is a topic for another newsletter, folks) but the big X factor is how unpredictable the economy is right now. We’re in a big lumpy shaped recession where some sectors are doing great and others are doing crappy. Uncharted waters etc etc.
→ Matt Yglesias And How To Be A Successful Content Entrepreneur
Smart piece from Max Read (building on a Washington Post profile of Yglesias by Dan Zak) about how politics/culture pundit Matt Yglesias built an empire of monetized hot takes:
The Yglesias profile’s very existence reminds us of an important rule of thumb for navigating the content economy in the 21st century: Under the present regime, there is no real downside risk to posting. You might lose a small handful of subscribers or followers if you overwhelm their inbox, or write an egregiously bad post -- but on balance you will never lose as many readers from “posting all the time” as you will gain new ones.
Read’s profile is depressing (though not inaccurate!) in a very specific cultural context that makes increasingly less sense the further away you get from New York, Washington DC or San Francisco. Being a successful pundit or opinion personality in 2023 requires constant posting, constant social media engagement and finding a take on everything whether you truly care about it or not. This seems kind of awful, but I’m also a weirdo who prioritizes sustainable business growth and time well spent on personally rewarding things rather than aggressive social follower gaining, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
→ The ChatGPT Roundup
Lots to read this week on everyone’s new favorite free technology until OpenAI starts charging to use it!
Zvi Mowshowitz on what AI means for bullshit jobs (Sample: “New in person face time bullshit tasks could replace old bullshit tasks. This ensures bullshit is performed, bullshit jobs are maintained, costly signals are measured and intentionally imposed frictions are preserved.).
Francois Chollet on ChatGPT hype. (Twitter thread)
Mark Hurst on ChatGPT’s drawbacks and how to respond. (Sample: “Seriously, whatever the countless flaws of surveillance-based search, you at least can scroll through multiple sources. ChatGPT, on the other hand, in giving a single answer, can be confidently wrong.”)
Loving this GitHub repot of Awesome ChatGPT prompts. (Sample: “I want you to act as a motivational speaker. Put together words that inspire action and make people feel empowered to do something beyond their abilities. You can talk about any topics but the aim is to make sure what you say resonates with your audience.”)
Sam Schechner at the Wall Street Journal on Microsoft integrating OpenAI and ChatGPT tech into their products. (Sample: “Microsoft said Monday that it is giving more customers access to the software behind those tools through its cloud-computing platform Azure. Mr. Nadella said at the panel Tuesday that the aim was to make Azure “the place for anybody and everybody who thinks about AI.”)