Welcome to The Upgrade

Welcome to my weekly newsletter, which focuses on the intersection of AI, media, and storytelling. A special welcome to my new readers! Drop me a note here, and let’s get acquainted. 😊 

In today’s issue:

• The Week’s Top AI Stories 📰

• 🎓 20% off the MindStudio Academy: Learn AI Today! ⚡️

• 🎧 Podcast: A Small Newsroom's Guide to AI with Joe Amditis

• 🎙️The Big Interview: AI & Marketing Insights: Eldad Sotnik-Yogev's Vision for the Future

The Week’s Top AI Stories

Top AI Headlines

• Perplexity Is Already "Citing" Error-Filled AI-Generated Spam — Futurism

• Do You Believe in Machine Learning? Yes! Get Ready for NBC’s AI-Generated Al Michaels — The Wall Street Journal

• World's biggest music labels sue over AI copyright — BBC

• A.I. Is Getting Better Fast. Can You Tell What’s Real Now? — The New York Times (Quiz)

• Consulting Firms Are the Early Winners of the AI Boom — The New York Times

• TIME and OpenAI Announce Strategic Content Partnership — TIME

Ethics, Society, & Safety

• Cybersecurity is now a ‘team sport’ amid a wave of generative AI–based attacks, say tech experts — FORTUNE

• Please don’t get your news from AI chatbots — Engadget

• Google's AI Overviews Will Always Be Broken. That's How AI Works — WIRED

• Perplexity AI: the answer engine with a lot of question marks — The Verge

Legal, Policy & Copyright

• U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown seeks crackdown on AI use for political deceptions — Cleveland.com

• Why the few big AI players worry US antitrust regulators — Reuters

• Major Labels Sue AI Music Services Suno and Udio for Copyright Infringement — Variety

• The Senate’s failure on AI policy leaves legislation up to the states — The Hill

AI in the Workplace

• How Morgan Stanley (and Other Banks) Use A.I. to Eliminate the Grunt Work of Banking — Observer

• Goldman Sachs Deploys Its First Generative AI Tool Across the Firm — The Wall Street Journal

• Technology: As Employers Embrace AI, Workers Fret—And Seek Input — TIME

AI Tools

• Humane warns AI Pin owners to ‘immediately’ stop using its charging case — CNET

• OpenAI Taking Steps to Block China’s Access to Its AI Tools — Bloomberg News

• Will Apple's AI Finally Make Siri Smart? — PCMag

• How to Break Out of AI-Fueled Analysis Paralysis — Entrepreneur

🎓Learn AI with MindStudio Academy! 💻

Ready to learn the fastest way to build no-code AI-powered apps and automation? The Upgrade is partnering with MindStudio to lead the MindStudio Academy! ⚡️

The next cohort takes place on Saturday, July 13th. Hope to see you there!

SAVE 20% with code: THEUPGRADE20

The Big Interview: Eldad Sotnik-Yogev talks AI & Marketing🎙️

Eldad Sotnik-Yogev is a distinguished marketing consultant, expert, and lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. Eldad has extensive experience leveraging AI and digital technologies to drive marketing innovation and efficiency. His insights and strategies have helped numerous organizations navigate the complexities of modern marketing landscapes.

Peter: One topic popping up in the headlines is AI-powered search, especially with Google's unveiling of these AI overviews, which haven't gone off without a hitch. There's been controversy about suggestions taken from satirical publications. What's your take on AI overviews, Eldad?

Eldad: Like anything connected to this technology, it's bound to improve. With the powers that be at Google, I'm certain they'll get it right. Just the time it takes to get it right and the loss of faith in between is the comedy we're experiencing.

There's a disconnect here that I'm not technical enough to understand, but I hope that makes people aware of the difference between how search engines work and what's happening with AI search.

Peter: It sounds like the pendulum is swinging toward this new AI search modality for several reasons. Google is feeling pressure from OpenAI, Perplexity, and other startups that are beginning to reveal chinks in the armor. What's your read on this new AI environment?

Eldad: Whenever we have conversations amongst us now, the people who might be reading your newsletters or listening to your podcast, they are Malcolm Gladwell's "tipping point." They're not the earliest adopters—they're not the people who were playing with LLMs and AI 10 years ago—but they're still some of the first before it goes into the mainstream. And the majority of people still are not using any of the AI tools.

I think that the companies involved all know that there's a race going on. I don't think that the people are even spectating on that race as of yet, unless they're avid, curious people, similar to Bitcoin, right? How many people wish they bought Bitcoin back in 2011, 2013 when it was kind of creeping into the news?

Peter: Tell me about some of the work you're doing in consulting with clients these days. What types of problems are you helping them solve?

Eldad: It still comes down to people, processes, and tech. First, you have to look at the people you have and the skills they are competent in. More critically, what I've learned from being a manager is what they actually enjoy.

Then, you start to look at processes. Digital is about scaling—how can I scale this, make it more efficient, and have a wider reach to get the results I need? That's franchise thinking.

Lastly, but now becoming more prominent because of the efficiencies we can create, is what can we do with AI? So many people, senior leaders, and others fear it is taking away jobs. It already has started to do that. It's around efficiency - where can I raise productivity to improve efficiency? How do you look at AI to see what are the first things you can do to start to assist that? Where can you save people time and let them get into what they can really do better?

Peter: Looking ahead to next year, what do you think are some of the things that are overhyped right now?

Eldad: It's overhyped that AI will take your job in the next year. I think it will take many jobs, but that's because people are looking at it as an efficiency, cost-cutting sale. The companies doing that right now are massive. So, if they lose productivity, they're not going to really notice in a year or two.

What's not overhyped is you got to get in the game. You got to start playing with these tools, learning how to engage with them, what's the difference in how you ask the questions to get results you want. Some of the questions AI was suggesting, like what are good questions to ask about marketing research or campaign optimization - it was a different level of what you could ask to help you get to much more refined analysis.

Peter: How are you finding your interactions with students at the university where you're a lecturer? What's your read on how AI is being used or perceived in education?

Eldad: The University of Hertfordshire put out a blanket statement that both students and lecturers should not be using AI. When you bring that into the context of marketing, the staff is starting to rebel, saying if our jobs are to prepare these students for the future, they've got to understand AI.

I'm going to tell the students about it, and part of it is using Ethan Mollick's principles—if you use AI, show me the prompts you used, and let's improve your prompting. It's starting to resonate amongst colleagues. There's no way you can keep saying you want to be a top school if you're not teaching or allowing your students to use AI.

The skill sets that businesses want and that universities are required to produce have changed. What are the real skill sets that need to come out of this is a key question. Using AI to justify your research findings is the skill set, rather than just knowing how to cite sources. These are exciting times.

Don’t be shy—hit reply if you have thoughts or feedback. I’d love to connect with you!

Until next week,

Peter

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