No. 153: 🤖 The Week in Tech
VALL-E, Google Cloud AI, 🐶🖌 Dog artist
Hello there,
Happy Sunday - and we’re pretty much halfway through January! We’re getting there.
It’s been another busy old week in tech and therefore, a busy old week for hi, tech. You may have seen three whole editions land in your inbox over the last few days 😵
Today, we’ll take it a little easier.
Below, I have rounded up the big headlines you may have missed. Towards the end, I’ll recommend a few excellent articles that held my evasive attention this week.
‘Adapting to the changing times’: While sellers look to diversify, Amazon wants to keep them hooked with Buy With Prime - Modern Retail
Amazon is set to launch ‘Buy with Prime’ by the end of January, enabling third-party merchants to use its payment and delivery services.
The plan is to compete directly with Shopify Pay, far beyond the confines of Amazon.com.
Google Cloud Launches New AI Tools for Retailers - Search Engine Journal
Google will offer:
A personalized search and browsing experience for ecommerce sites.
An AI-powered solution for checking in-store shelves.
An AI-driven product recommendation system.
A tool that uses machine learning to arrange products on websites.
Do retailers really want to give Google this level of access/control?
Until now, everyone danced to Google’s tune through lack of musical alternatives. I would argue that this is no longer the case.
Why NatWest’s B2B fintech spin-off is reinvesting in brand after ‘letting the ball drop’ - Marketing Week
I’ll be honest, I’d even forgotten what the product was called (Mettle). This is the latest in a series of companies to say they “overinvested in performance marketing”. It’s Marketing 101 and the lessons have somehow been lost.
Twitter Offers Free Ads as It Seeks to Woo Brands Back to Its Platform - WSJ
An increasingly desperate Elon Musk is offering to match ad spend up to $250,000. If they had a better ad product to begin with, advertisers would flock towards it.
Microsoft’s new VALL-E AI can clone your voice from a three-second audio clip - Tech Monitor
Unfortunately, we can’t try this tool yet.
However, I am rather hopeful that it will facilitate an audio version of hi, tech. in future. I’ve tried a few other options but they just don’t capture that esprit de mots you get in the text version.
What we learned from wearing the Magic Leap 2, Meta Quest Pro, Vive XR Elite and PSVR2 at CES 2023 - TechCrunch
One thing all parties seem to agree on is that Apple’s inevitable entry in the space — if successful — will be a net positive. Rising tide, ships, etc. It would, certainly, be validation for a technology that’s felt like the next big thing for decades. The inevitable next question then, is: Will there be enough room for everyone?
📚 hi, tech. is also reading
Hyper-efficiency is bad business - FT
A convincing and evidence-based argument that explains how the current incentives for executives tend to disincentivise true innovation.
‘We can predict behaviour’: The former spook vetting founders on behalf of VCs - Sifted
This story from Sifted seems mad at first, then makes a lot of sense when put into a wider context. Of course VCs would spy on founders.
10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2023 - MIT
The usual suspects (drones, generative AI), plus a few unexpected ones too.
In the US, a painting dog called Van Gogh becomes a star - Le Figaro
The article’s in French, but that headline tells you all you need to know.
Except, you need to know two more things.
He looks like this:
Yes, the poor fella has lost an ear. He has already painted over 140 canvases.
What the heck is with the name?
I’d have gone for:
Wagnes Martin
Andy Warhowl
Claude Bonet
Bark Rothko
William Tailey
Herman Herz-dog
Sir William Fettes Puglas
Cor-giorgio de Chirico (bit of a mouthful, but it works)
William Turnbull-dog
Francesco Maltese (that’s his real name, but still)
I spent Saturday night thinking of these and it was trickier than I thought it would be. It’s not impossible, however, and it is therefore unforgivable that Van Gogh’s owners put so little effort into his name.
When I ran out, I asked ChatGPT for some help, under the assumption that it would gazump my choices:
Pugcasso is the only passable one here, although it runs a little too close to Pigcasso - about whom we have spoken many times before in these pages.
I am safe from the AI-pocalypse for another few editions, at least. 😅