This is the third and final part of my special on humour and AI. As I noted in part one, I didn’t want to get too geeky and serious; on which note, let’s kick off with a tech cartoon:
So! Part one was me having a natter with a robot called ChatGPT (here); part two was an overview on AI and humour (here).
For this last part I thought I’d do a Q&A on the subject with two people: a digital transformation specialist, Sheetal Thaker, based in London, and a creative director, Renārs Liepiņš, based in Latvia.
Sheetal will look at the tech angle — she brings 25 years’ experience as a coder, then agile expert, then digital transformation consultant. She currently runs a consultancy, formAGILITY, here, with big banking and pharma clients1. In short, she knows her stuff.
What do you think the impact of AI is going to be on brand communications?
For me, there’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The good? It’s a time saver, and these days, time is a valuable asset. For example, I use ChatGPT to unblock ideas.
The bad? Well, AI starts with human interaction, and this means there are many biases. For example, I once used an AI tool to generate an image of a team working together using a whiteboard and Post-It notes, and the output was a group of men in suits looking serious, and women lurking in the background. Here’s the picture:
The Ugly? Remember those spam emails we used to get where you could tell it was spam from all the spelling errors and other imperfections? Frankly, AI scares me with how smart it can make the bad guys appear.
How big an impact is AI already having in our lives?
A big one: Google Hub, Alexa, and Siri are examples of this. Always on, always listening, and always collecting information from us. I’ve also noticed LinkedIn collecting data from experts, and I am sure it’s in preparation for the development of their AI tooling.
Do you think AI will develop humour in the years to come, or is it too early to tell?
I think humour is a key to our survival; without it, we’ll perish! OK, I’m being a bit dramatic here but, seriously, laughter is good for the soul, and so if AI is not integrating humour, then it’s missing an important part of human connection. AI is integrating humour, but it’s gonna be a long journey.
Some people say the big tech companies need tighter regulation to ensure that AI is responsibly managed. Do you agree?
Absolutely, but the big question is what and how we should be regulating, and this requires collaboration with enterprises that care and have a strong understanding of this area and its impact. The use of our personal data and tracking our day-to-day movements for commercialisation without permission is a big area that regulatory initiatives should give a lot of attention to.
There’s a lot of excitement, and a lot of apprehension. As of now, March 2024, what are your feelings?
I guess a bit of both, and your questions have really got me thinking a bit more about how we need to work more in the area of building AI tools for the greater good and being able to eradicate their use for criminal behaviours.
Finally, what’s your all-time favourite funny ad?
Easy: You Know When You’ve Been Tangoed. Old but gold.
Thanks Sheetal! Now here’s Renārs to look at the creative angle:
After kicking off his career at DDB, Renārs co-founded EnterCreative, one of the biggest agencies in the Baltics, with clients including Tele2, Volkswagen and Swedbank. If you’re one of the 87.91% of readers of Brands & Humour who are fluent Latvian speakers — Sveiki un laipni lūgti2 — you can read more about his agency here.
Do you think ChatGPT will ever replace great creativity? If not, why not?
I don’t see it as a problem right now because whenever I ask it to be clever or funny, it ends up sounding a bit nerdy or cheesy. It doesn’t get tired, and I see it as a tool for making me think.
Do you think AI will ever make funny ads?
I’m not sure about funny. I view it more as a tool, like a dude who knows a bit from everything, but doesn’t really create anything extraordinary. Or doesn’t create anything extraordinary yet.
Here’s a funny example. But I think humans were behind it:
How else do you see ChatGPT helping your work, if at all?
When it comes to generating variations of a text I’ve written, whether it’s shortening, correcting, or expanding on the idea I’ve developed, it works well. It saves me time that I can allocate to other tasks, such as brainstorming more unique and unprecedented ideas: something it can’t do — at least, not yet.
What is your all-time favourite funny ad?
Oh, there are plenty. But, whenever I think about funny, this one keeps popping up:
Many thanks Sheetal and Renārs! And, of course, many thanks to you for reading.
Next week? Japanese beer ads. And not a mention of robots at all.
Paddy
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pg@studiogilmore.com
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‘Hello and welcome.’ Google Translate: I owe you a beer.