Google has withdrawn its Olympics ad for the AI chatbot Gemini, titled “Dear Sydney,” following backlash over its portrayal of AI in crafting a child’s letter to her favorite athlete. Controversial Ad Sparks Outrage The “Dear Sydney” commercial features a young girl’s father using Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, to help write a letter to U.S. hurdler and sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The ad, which includes a scene of the AI-generated letter and concludes with the child running on a track, aimed to demonstrate Gemini’s potential as a supportive tool in creative
Brand new Techish! This week, hosts Michael and Abadesi break down: The end of corporate honesty (00:00:10) Testing job candidates using AI (00:09:50) Twitter bots, “delve”, and OnlyFans (00:13:15) How to master sales (00:18:45) TV shows aren’t making money any more (00:20:48) Watch On YouTube Extra Reading & Resources Forget radical honesty — Big Tech revisits its corporate culture [Financial Times] B2B Sales Masterclass for Female Founders with Abadesi – August 6, 2024
Former CNN journalist Don Lemon has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and X (formerly known as Twitter), accusing them of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed on August 1 in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco, follows the abrupt cancellation of a content partnership deal between Lemon and X. Allegations of Fraud and Breach of Contract According to the lawsuit, Musk and X agreed to a content partnership with Lemon in January 2024, where Lemon was to host an exclusive
Vancouver-based outerwear brand Arc’teryx has introduced a new design platform, Walk Gently, which aims to honor and integrate Indigenous high-tech garment design into modern fashion. The platform gives Indigenous artists and designers a voice, showcasing their contributions to high-performance clothing. Indigenous Roots in Technical Design Indigenous peoples across North America have a long history of creating advanced clothing from natural resources. “We are technical designers in our own fashion,” Cole Sparrow-Crawford, an Indigenous artist who grew up in the Musqueam Nation in Vancouver told FastCompany. “We took our resources and
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown is aiming to recreate the historic Black Wall Street in Boston with his nonprofit organization Boston XChange (BXC). At 27, Brown is launching BXC that will be dedicated to building generational wealth within Black and Brown communities. In collaboration with Harvard Business School, Roxbury Community College, and teammate Jrue Holiday’s JLH Fund, BXC is offering up to $250,000 in total grant investments. The selected grantees will receive three years of coaching and mentorship, aimed at creating sustainability and culturally competent initiatives. Addressing Wealth Disparity in
Four students from Pinelands High School in Cape Town, South Africa are facing disciplinary hearings after a video depicting a mock “slave auction” went viral on social media, according to the BBC. The video, which shows Black students being auctioned off while others bid for them, has prompted outrage and an official investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). Incident Details and Investigation The footage, reportedly filmed by Grade 8 students, shows Black pupils inside a cage while other students shout bids. This incident has drawn significant public
Brand new Techish! This week, hosts Michael and Abadesi dive into: • Microsoft lays off a DEI team (00:00:20)• AI bias in performance reviews (00:08:16)• The myth of meritocracy (00:12:31)• The UK has a new government (00:15:00)• Make politics attractive again (00:19:12) Listen on Spotify or Apple podcast also. Watch On YouTube Extra Reading & Resources • Microsoft Faces Backlash After DEI Team Layoffs [POCIT]• We asked ChatGPT to write performance reviews and they are wildly sexist (and racist) [Fast Company]• Black Man Who Got A Job Interview After Using A Fake Name On Resume Files Lawsuit [POCIT]
Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, is facing widespread criticism after sharing a deceptively edited video of Vice President Kamala Harris. The video, which makes it appear that Harris is disparaging President Joe Biden and boasting about being the “ultimate diversity hire,” was reposted by Musk without any disclaimer that it was a parody. This action seemingly violates X’s own policy on manipulated media. A Violation of Platform Policies? The controversial video originally posted by @MrReaganUSA was labeled as a “parody” by the creator. However, Musk’s repost, accompanied
Runway AI, a multi-billion dollar company, has been training its AI video tool, Gen-3, on thousands of YouTube videos without permssion, 404 Media has revealed. Among the videos used were over 1,600 from tech influencer Marques Brownlee (MKBHD). The exposé follows an investigation by Proof News, copublished with Wired, which found that tech firms including Apple, Anthropic, Nvidia, and Salesforce had training their AI systems on subtitle data from more than 170,000 YouTube videos. Runway Secretly Trained On YouTube Videos In June, Runway AI launched Gen-3, initially called Jupiter, which received high praise
Former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick has announced the launch of Lumi, an AI-powered storytelling platform. Lumi aims to change the storytelling process, allowing individuals to create, publish, and monetize their stories regardless of their skill set. The platform offers end-to-end story creation, simple AI tools, and both physical and digital publishing options, making it easier for creators to bring their stories to life. With the added benefit of built-in merchandising, creators retain full ownership of their work, bypassing traditional industry gatekeepers. Addressing Gaps in Storytelling Kaepernick’s inspiration for
