October in Review
By Mike Cloppse, Senior Manager of Creative Services
Big Picture
President Biden signed an executive order on AI, representing the U.S. government’s most ambitious attempt at harnessing AI technology while mitigating its risks.
New Obligations: The executive order mandates safety testing and “red teaming” for the most advanced AI systems, requiring companies to share the results with the government before releasing their products. The order also tasks the government with developing standards for labeling AI-generated content.
AI Talent: The order directs government agencies to ease barriers to high-skilled immigration because of the ongoing global battle for AI talent. This is a win for Silicon Valley executives who for years have asked Washington to improve the process for high-skilled immigrants. Experts hope Congress will follow Biden’s lead and consider similar immigration laws.
What’s Next: Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) stated “The only real answer is legislative.” Schumer is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers to craft AI legislation, but the unveiling is months away.
“There are obviously inherent limits with executive orders. However, President Biden’s stated goal to ‘realize the promise of AI and avoid the risk,’ perfectly encapsulates the balance any AI regulation needs to strike.”
– Ian Woodruff, Reporting & Optimization Manager
Industry
WPP, the world’s biggest advertising holding company, will combine Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R into a 30,000-employee agency called VML.
The Upside: VML could provide scale for larger clients and be an advantage for holding company-level pitches that have become more common. “Independently, they were not small enough to be an agility player anyway, so why not scale for the clients that need that scale?” said Matt Ryan, CEO of consultancy Roth Ryan Hayes.
Big Picture: As the advertising industry continues to adapt to AI and the needs of modern brands, we’ll see a continued shift towards more integrated agency models that bring together different disciplines for more well-rounded solutions: “Success with AI is going to require us integrating creative and media and production, and it’s going to be much easier for us to do that inside WPP with fewer, stronger companies,” said Chief Executive Officer Mark Read of WPP.
“ The future is integrated. Creative shops will continue to integrate consumer insight and data better while consulting shops will look to bolster their creative chops to try to reposition their offering.”
– Mike Cloppse, Senior Manager of Creative Services
Innovation
Business leaders are leveraging AI-powered technologies in increasingly creative and savvy ways to help decision-making in high-pressure situations according to Harvard Business Review.
Use Cases: A few of the companies leveraging AI tools to improve decision-making:
- Consumer goods giant Unilever uses AI for real-time tracking of deforestation risks throughout its supply chains to uphold environmental responsibilities.
- Verizon deploys VR technology to immerse customer agents in various frustrating or difficult scenarios to develop de-escalation skills.
- Generative AI can serve as reputation advisors for firms by providing data insights followed by best-practice recommendations.
Inspiration
As a part of its new ‘Expand Your World” campaign for the Quest 3 headset, Meta has launched immersive 3D billboards in the streets of London.
How it Works: The “Halloween Thrillboards” allow pedestrians to step into a seemingly two-dimensional billboard. Once inside pedestrians are immersed in a 3D environment that mirrors the gameplay of popular games like ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘The Walking Dead.’ The Thrillboards blur the lines between what is real and what is virtual, much like a Quest 3 headset does.
The Goal: The Thrillboards turn the average passerby from a spectator into a participant “launching them straight into a reality-bending immersive journey.” Meta hopes this new experiential campaign will help the Quest 3 headset become the most requested gift for the holiday season.
“The experience is very true to the type of environment VR headsets like the Quest 3 seek to create so Meta trying to replicate that with this campaign makes a ton of sense.”
– Solomon Chaison, Senior Design Manager