Five things on Friday #364
Things of note for the week ending Sunday March 17th, 2024.
INTRO
What's up, friends. How has your week been?
Over here it's been preeeetty hectic of late. Coffees and lunches and meetings - oh my! A busy week. A week of talking, learning. Digging.
But also a week bookended by quality time with loved ones.
Monday we FINALLY saw Dune 2 at the IMAX (in Watford, at lunchtime) the cinema was empty and the film was AMAZING, obvs. GO SEE IT.
Tue-Fri I'm NDA'd up to the wazoo so can tell you nothing about that. Soz.
And then yesterday, Saturday, we did a family spring clean: cleared out the kids' rooms (mission), clearing and prepping the garden for spring (snip snip), and (after a particular long talk with the smaller members of the fam) releasing our pet snails, and their new family of young-uns, back into the wild. We rounded off the day by watching the classic 1968 Disney movie: THE LOVE BUG (kids were dead against it but were completely won over by the end).
So yes, here we are on a Sunday morning.
It's 1035am as I write this to you now. The weekend ritual of Daddy's-lay-in-to-write-his-newsletter (meaning the kids get extra Fortnite/Minecraft time) is upon us and there may well be a newsletter arriving in your inbox at some point today. Hooray!
With the Ides of March behind us, 2024 is in full swing... it's time to start making plans, gang.
Short, mid, long - what are you up to?
And if you don't know how to start, then maybe consider heading into your new week with the energy of Miriam Margoyles turning down half a million quid from Disney because she 'doesn't like America' (the Nanny Ogg/MCU crossover we all needed alas will never come to pass).
Funny how what could be a story about greed is probably more about values and, given Ms Margoyles limited time left on Earth, what we hold important to us.
Values come first.
Live by them.
Stick to them.
And don't move them one iota.
"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man"- Polonius, Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 3.
Shall we crack on then?
Let's.
TO THE THINGS!
1. TRAINING SORA AND THE OPEN AI CTO SAYING THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD
I've tried to keep Five things on Friday a relatively AI-free zone. I'll be honest: the topic bores me. We are on a precipice, yes. Of a new technology, yes.
And depending on who you read, it's the end of:
ALL ADVERTISING AGENCIES EVER!
CREATIVITY AS WE KNOW IT!
POLITICAL DISCOURSE!
HUMANITY!
'A friend of mine' recently compared generative AI as like an experience they once had in a k-hole. They could describe in great detail the amazing things the hole took them to but ultimately knew that the hole was bound by whatever information already existed in my friend's brain.
'Show me something new!' they demanded of the drug-induced disassociation - and it couldn't. My friend knew that whatever it showed them would already be based on pre-existing information held in their brain.
'Just like AI' they said.
And there's the rub: even if you're OK with the AI models of today being trained on questionably-sourced data (I once asked IBM's Chief Data Officer to remove my Flickr photos from its AI model-training after reading this article - they complied, well they told me they did), then the generative output of that data will only ever be equal or less than the sum of its parts (not greater).
And ethical questions aside, my God it's boring (by all means feel free to hit reply and convince me otherwise).
As always - and like it has time and time again - regulation is gonna come.
Whether that's to protect the IP of artists, the integrity of political speech, or simply... oh I don't know... every single piece of social media content you've ever published on the internet. Then eventually there will be a line drawn, licences sought, opt-outs awarded, and fines distributed.
But we'll see eh? These things take time.
On the social media training piece, take a look at this -
Joanna Stern from the Wall Street Journal sat down with Open AI CTO, Mira Murati, to ask some questions.
Specifically, at 4mins 24, Stern asks:
'What data was used to train Sora?'
'We used publicly available data and licensed data'
'So... videos on YouTube?'
[Murati pulls a face and then says]
'I'm actually not sure about that'
Hang on a second, sorry. What?
IF THE CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER OF OPEN AI DOES NOT KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOUTUBE CONTENT WAS USED TO TRAIN ITS OWN VIDEO AI PLATFORM THEN HOW THE HELL ARE YOU MEANT TO KNOW?
Even if OPEN AI does know the answer, the hubris to waltz into a conversation with the WSJ's tech reporter without having that information to hand is as telling as it is stupid.
Anyway, watch the whole thing (it's all of about 10mins) and then tell me if you feel a bit grubby afterward.
And then maybe consider writing to your local political representative.
- - - -
Related: is AI smarter than an 8th grader?
The Future of Poetry. Is AI Smarter Than an 8th Grader? | by Sierra Elman | Mar, 2024 | Medium
Is AI Smarter Than an 8th Grader?
2. WHAT NEXT?
'Hey James, what are you looking for in your next role?'
It's a good question. I've had it a lot lately.
The short answer is: I'm still figuring it out - and enjoying the process along the way.
Per previous editions, I'm noodling a lot on the values of leadership; integrity, accountability, vision - as well as the dotted line of entertainment; movies, music, and gaming - (note to self: do you mean CONTENT? - really, anything content related - or more? I don't know - maybe you mean 'forward thinking communications and connections' - do you?) - mixed together with strategy and planning; audience insight, emerging trends, brand building.
It's a lot. And hard to simplify. So - in the name of open plan thinking - here's some more on that introspection (skip it if you find it dull).
My old pal and creative leader Emma de la Fosse (Emma, I owe you an email) used to describe me as 'a planner that can' - which I always found flattering (but could never figure out why).
In reverse order, I've spent the best part of 15 years 'doing' strategy as either part of my role or as the sole focus of my day to day. So it makes sense to put that at the heart of it.
Entertainment, from last week's edition you know friends have recently held up a mirror to the amount of entertainment-based work that has run throughout my career. From working on OK Magazine's first mobile app through to multiple brand partnership activations with the likes of Warner Bros, Disney, Lady Gaga, and more - it's all there.
But ultimately these were all through-the-line integrated comms pieces that required a sharp knowledge of digital platforms, a clear understanding of the brand play at work, and above all else, a single-minded focus on what would actually work for people we were trying to engage at the end of the campaign.
Comms/content/entertainment... Hmm. What else?
Leadership, I've spent a fair chunk of time learning what good leadership does and doesn't look like. I've written about it before.
Be that as it may, these three vectors don't need to be completely fulfilled for me to not move onto the next opportunity. Because actually, it's not about that. It's about a sense of drive.
The other main thing I'm always looking out for is an adventure.
Years ago, when doing my own vision setting as part of the Marketing Academy (original 2010 cohort, right here), we met with a whole bunch of senior marketing leaders and the one that always stands out for me was a session we had with the then CMO of AVIVA, Amanda Mackenzie OBE. We had done a bit about why people get out of bed in the mornings and what drives you etc. And the interviewer put the question to Amanda: 'What's your brand vision?'
In a heartbeat, she replied 'Adventures with my friends'. Which I loved. Amanda then went on to explain how she lived that vision from brand building to team building and every bit of new broken ground in-between. It was superb.
And I think about that a lot.
So what's the next adventure? is a question I'm coming back to at the moment. You know what you like, you know what you're into, and you know what you're good at. But where's the next thing that you can get your teeth into?
I guess this is my own food for my own thought - but it's valuable being able to write it out and talk about it openly. I mean, why not?
FWIW, it's my ambition is to find something perm before the summer starts. Ideally, at least. In the meantime I'm taking on freelance projects and advisory roles but longer term, I want to find something that helps pull all the threads outlined above together.
So we'll see, eh? :)
3. THIS WEEK IN GAMING
The annual Games Developer Conference (GDC) kicks off next week and as a result, I'm reminded that due to the Nov-Feb newsletter break, I forgot to share the output from the annual GDC State of the Industry (SOTI) report that comes around at the start of each year.
The 2024 edition, available here, is a one of my favourite reads and acts as a great bellwether for the direction of the industry.
PLUS it's actually useful for brands - as the developers surveyed (over 3000 of them) are the ones building and developing the gaming trends of the future.
Any wang can stand on a stage and say 'NFTs are going to change gaming forever!' but when over 80% of surveyed developers are either 'Not interested in' or 'Have used it but stopped using' blockchain technology, it's quite hard to think how that might change between here and 2030.
For transparency, 17% of developers said they were somewhat or very interested in the tech - down from 27% in 2023.
Here are some headlines:
(that make for good deck fodder should you be chatting about the actual future of games soon vs made up trend bs from tech 'mavens')
PC is the dominant games platform for developers (66% developing for PC, 35% for PlayStation, 34% for Xbox - hidden away near the bottom 8% for the 'Nintendo Switch successor')
Top three most interesting platforms for devs right now:
PC (62%)
PS5 (41%)
Switch Successor (32%)
Top three VR/AR platforms for devs next games:
Meta Quest (34%)
Steam VR (26%)
Playstation VR 2 (15%)
Apple Vision OS is in 4th place with 13% - I wonder how much that'll change by next year...
Top three VR/AR platforms that are most interesting:
Meta Quest (40%)
Steam VR (34%)
Apple visionOS (30%)
This does not bode well for PSVR2.
Four in five developers are worried about the ethical use of AI
81% of developers are either not interested in or have just stopped using any kind of web3 tech for their games.
97% of respondents who mentioned Twitter/X expressed negative views about the platform (wow).
There's this and so so so much more in the whole doc (linked at the top) that is free to download and well worth your time.
QUICK NEWS BITES
“The more diverse voices we have in the room, our games are only going to get better.”
David Hayter has no love for Hideo Kojima. Hayters gonna hate (sorry).
The $2bn dollar success of Monopoly Go (Another Game File link - good reading) - just WAIT til you see their acquisition budget. Mobile is a just a whole kettle of whackadoodle.
4. MEDIATIONS ON GRIEF
Frank. Martin. Russell.
Way back in 2009, I took my first agency job as Engagement Strategy Director at a word of mouth marketing agency called 1000heads. Social was coming of age and new people were signing up to Twitter every day.
In Soho, where our office was based, a whole tranche of coffee shops, bars, and restaurants all joined in and the banter (sorry) between the Soho lot throughout the day was great. Hawksmoor, Foxcroft & Ginger, and of course, Polpo.
I only clicked quite recently that Polpo opened the week before I started at 1000heads. The timing of it all kind of makes sense now. I couldn’t tell you how I found Polpo (probably Twitter) but when I did I took everybody there. Friends, girlfriends, clients, journalists - I even once took the parents of a US-based friend of mine simply because they were at a loose end in Soho and well, 'they had to try Polpo!' (I had never met them before but we had an absolute ball - they are friends to this day).
You couldn't book - that's part of the charm - but you could certainly send @PolpoSoho a DM on Twitter and ask, if you were lucky they'd squeeze you in.
I say 'they', I mean 'Russell'.
To know Polpo is to know Russell Norman. A charming host and knower of all people. Friendly, generous , and always welcoming. Whenever I needed a table, he'd make it happen. I have so many stories about Russell.
There was the time he invited me in for some fizz one Christmas as I was passing by, I stayed for lunch on the bar, chatted to him throughout, then made his excuses to run some errands. My attempt to settle up with the waiting staff after he had left revealed this one 'was on the boss' and 'he said to say Merry Christmas'
Or the time arriving late one night into Spuntino with clients in tow, we managed to time it just right to secure the booth at the back (I'd promised the greatest mac and cheese in town) and there was Russell at the bar, going over the books I'm sure, but the moment he saw us (he clocked the sitch immediately) he made everyone feel like a million dollars - like we had been welcomed into his home (thank you, mate - again)
OR the many times he invited me to restaurant tests/launches/book launches.
OR when he sent me his ridiculous list of recommended restaurants to dine out in Venice...
OR the time when... something something 'Matt Smith' and 'Little House'.
The point is, I swear all I did was shake the man's hand, enjoy his food, his restaurants, and his company - but in exchange he welcomed me no matter where we were.
Russell passed away in November last year. He was 57. Soho lost a giant with this one. I cried and I cried and I cried when I found out - then I sat down and wrote most of the above (for a November newsletter that I never got around to publishing).
After that, I dug out his excellent cookbook, drove to the nearest Italian deli I could find (St Albans, apparently), and spent the whole weekend cooking Venetian small plates and drinking prosseco out of a tumbler.
Just as he would've wanted.
Cheers to you, Russell.
I miss you mate x
5. SAIL-POWERED CARGO SHIPS
Confession: this was not going to my Thing 5 this week. I had 10 useful concepts lined up (still here, now closing the bonuses) but I saw this image appear in my feed and I thought someone was having a wind up. But no no, this is a real and actual thing.
The BBC reports:
Retrofitting giant, rigid sails to a cargo ship has effectively cut its fuel use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, shipping firm data shows.
The Pyxis Ocean tested the British-designed WindWings for six months.
Cargill says the data "underscores the potential" of wind to reduce the shipping industry's carbon footprint.
Experts describe the results as "very encouraging"...
WELCOME TO THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY. ENJOY.
SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS: Starbucks cancelled its NFT project. IF ONLY WE COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?
Meanwhile, Forbes has launched a presence in Sandbox (WHAT YEAR IS THIS? HOW DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE JOBS?)
Newsguard: ‘Brand Danger: X and Misinformation Super-spreaders Share Ad Money from False or Egregiously Misleading Claims About the Israel-Hamas War’ - well researched work that further demonstrates that if the racism, transphobia, homophobia, and general encouragement of the far-right wasn’t enough to push you off the platform formerly known as Twitter, then maybe this might.
Related: X usage is down 30%. Brands, why are you still bothering?
Your screen-time habits aren't as bad as you think they are.
A friend of mine was in the audience for this SXSW 2024 talk from The Daniels (the directors of Everything Everywhere All At Once) and said it was fantastic - I'm so glad it's now online.
Following on from my words about Russell above, the excellent podcast 'How is today' released its second season at the tail end of last year, and I'm into it.
Can you access BBC iPlayer? If yes, then you too might enjoy this 28mins documentary on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Honestly, the joy in my life when I discovered this comedy. It was like a whole new world opened up.
Jim Riswold - he who wrote 'Just do it' for Nike at W+K 'wrote like a God'. This is a tremendous read.
Are you disgustingly rich? Here's five ways you can 'set sail' in 2024.
The Groucho Club is expanding (for the first time ever) to Wakefield. Big.
The delivery driver that took on his faceless boss (FT paywall link)
And finally, I can't remember if I shared this in FToF when it first got published but I definitely shared it with a few people directly (hi Zoe). So I thought I'd share it properly so my brain remembers.
Here's 10 useful concepts, via The Ruffian.
Ten Useful Concepts - by Ian Leslie - The Ruffian
Drop them into the conversation, all casual like
YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.
Whenever I hear something bad about someone, I normally learn more about the person telling me vs the person they're telling me about.
Saying you are a nice person is different to being a nice person. Love is an action. Not a word. An action.
So if you love someone, act.
We are the choices we make.
Whatley out x