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I don’t watch a lot of broadcast TV but had some live TV up during the Olympics. Every ad break included ads for Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Salesfor

I don’t watch a lot of broadcast TV but had some live TV up during the Olympics. Every ad break included ads for Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Salesforce Einstein. We are in a full on AI product marketing cycle.

Terr_ 2y ago
True, but there's a lot of room for ulterior motives there too. I mean, some of it may be about getting end-users to pay for AI-thingies, but running the ads can also be seen as investor-posturing even if if it doesn't say "buy our stock", and there may be a corporate goal of boosting the (free) usage-numbers in order to present that to investors, etc.
- rchaud 2y ago
  We saw the same thing with crypto ads dominating the Super Bowl a couple of years ago and gambling apps during the NBA playoffs. TV advertising for major sporting events is a "flex" as so few companies can afford the cost of a national ad slot. The ones that do usually have money to burn from investors.
  - Terr_ 2y ago
    To be fair, the line between crypto speculator and crypto customer is very thin indeed. :P
xbmcuser 2y ago
It is still not marketed to you the same way the millions of ads you see of prescription drugs that can only be prescribed by doctors are marketed on tv.
- sph 2y ago
  Of course the drug ads are marketed to you, so you go and get a prescription from your doctor. Likewise, everybody and their dog has ChatGPT installed and think of AI as this magical thing that's gonna change the world, so they are potential indirect customers.
  - yurishimo 2y ago
    Does everybody really have ChatGPT installed? I, and most of my colleagues at work in the development department, don't use ChatGPT for anything. A couple of us use Copilot-esque tools, but even then, the suggestions are almost always useless.
    - carlmr 2y ago
      I have used ChatGPT a few times instead of looking up documentation. It can give you a better start point for common stuff, like draw a scatter plot with upper and lower limits with matplotlib. I then tweak the example to suit my needs exactly. But it takes away only a small amount of busy work. It's not as helpful as AI proponents make you believe.
    - sph 2y ago
      I don't use any form of "AI", and I'm a software engineer. At least two of my friends, who don't work in software, have somehow learned about ChatGPT and routinely use it for whatever.
  - siquick 2y ago
    > Likewise, everybody and their dog has ChatGPT installed It’s a fraction of a percent of the population that have used it.
    - taneq 2y ago
      A rather improper fraction, though. Pick some random non-techie person and they'll have at least tried it.
  - taylorius 2y ago
    "Of course the drug ads are marketed to you, so you go and get a prescription from your doctor." The main purpose of Big Pharma's saturation advertising spend on TV networks is the buying of influence with those networks - not marketing, secondary or otherwise.
    - 2y ago
- elif 2y ago
  After spending time abroad you begin to realize just how insane these commercials are. Only the US and like Australia allow these weird doctor-bypass medical advice/brainwashing sessions.
te_chris 2y ago
That’s uniquely American.
- lazide 2y ago
  Most major investors are American - in this space anyway - or mediated through American investment companies. So….
- the_other 2y ago
  In the UK, Google and AWS have been advertising AI-based tools or AI-supporting services on TV recently.
bsenftner 2y ago
I just returned from vacation in Wisconsin, where the Olympics were on everywhere. Every single time an ad prompting AI came on, people loudly booed, and it was not uncommon to hear "don't be a sucker!" and "fuck that bullshit" yelled out. When I asked, people would say "I'm not stupid, I'm not touching AI anything."
- glimshe 2y ago
  This isn't much different to some of the early reactions to computers...
- kkielhofner 2y ago
  I grew up and live in small town Wisconsin. Sounds very believable. I say this with the utmost respect and concern for my friends, family, and neighbors: This attitude is part of the reason why the rust belt exists - filled with towns and cities that are a shell of their former selves. Areas of constant economic hardship, endemic drug use, etc. The two big factories in the town I went to high school in are closed. Needless to say things aren’t going well… Yelling at the TV didn’t do anything to prevent that and it’s not going to do anything to prevent the next wave of it. It’s harsh, but an important lesson since the beginning of time: Adapt or die.
  - shafyy 2y ago
    I disagree. It's good that people scrutinize and resist corporate greed. Accepting that "AI" (whatever that means) should be in every single product I use is not adapting. It's bending over. People have the power to vote with their wallets (and their actual votes), and they should do so. Now, I'm not American and not an expert on the Rust Belt, but I'm pretty certain this is not the reason why the Rust Belt exists. Probably rather something to do with corporate greed and greedy politicians.
    - kkielhofner 2y ago
      > It's good that people scrutinize and resist corporate greed. I agree. Problem is it didn't do anything when they were saying the exact same things that led to the closure or significant job loss of the manufacturing that was the core of these communities: 1) "Hah, my factory job is complicated. The Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, etc will never figure it out." Racist/xenophobic but said at the time. Even more wrong. 2) Look at robotics. It also took some time for the technology to develop and many of these same people looked at early implementations and thought the exact same thing: "Oh those robots don't really work and they never will". Then their factory jobs became a fraction of the head count with a completely different skill set... Throughout history this has played out over and over again. > People have the power to vote with their wallets (and their actual votes), and they should do so. Key word being /should/. Yet it has been proven time and time again that people regularly vote against their own best economic interests in the ballot box and with their wallets. The same people who laughed at and dismissed the Chinese are going to Wal-Mart everyday and buying goods from (you guessed it) - China. They're also voting for the same corporate-funded politicians. For many of these people their best option now is working at the large Amazon warehouse down the road where they pick and pack goods largely from (you guessed it again) - China. But even then there just aren't that many of those jobs and as the horror stories reported in the media show they're routinely abused there. > Now, I'm not American and not an expert on the Rust Belt, but I'm pretty certain this is not the reason why the Rust Belt exists. Next time you're in the US visiting New York, California, Florida, etc come visit the rust belt in "flyover country" and see just how devastating the effects of this are. I see and live it (to some extent) everyday. > Probably rather something to do with corporate greed and greedy politicians. A huge factor and the ultimate root of the problem but back to voting, wallets, etc: in the real world this isn't going anywhere and from what I see it's just getting worse. My concern comes from seeing the blight and literal deaths in MY community. My concern now is AI is coming for the white collar workforce as well. Another old adage: "Don't underestimate your enemy/competition".

Terr_ 2y ago

True, but there's a lot of room for ulterior motives there too. I mean, some of it may be about getting end-users to pay for AI-thingies, but running the ads can also be seen as investor-posturing even if if it doesn't say "buy our stock", and there may be a corporate goal of boosting the (free) usage-numbers in order to present that to investors, etc.

rchaud 2y ago
We saw the same thing with crypto ads dominating the Super Bowl a couple of years ago and gambling apps during the NBA playoffs. TV advertising for major sporting events is a "flex" as so few companies can afford the cost of a national ad slot. The ones that do usually have money to burn from investors.
- Terr_ 2y ago
  To be fair, the line between crypto speculator and crypto customer is very thin indeed. :P

xbmcuser 2y ago

It is still not marketed to you the same way the millions of ads you see of prescription drugs that can only be prescribed by doctors are marketed on tv.

sph 2y ago
Of course the drug ads are marketed to you, so you go and get a prescription from your doctor. Likewise, everybody and their dog has ChatGPT installed and think of AI as this magical thing that's gonna change the world, so they are potential indirect customers.
- yurishimo 2y ago
  Does everybody really have ChatGPT installed? I, and most of my colleagues at work in the development department, don't use ChatGPT for anything. A couple of us use Copilot-esque tools, but even then, the suggestions are almost always useless.
  - carlmr 2y ago
    I have used ChatGPT a few times instead of looking up documentation. It can give you a better start point for common stuff, like draw a scatter plot with upper and lower limits with matplotlib. I then tweak the example to suit my needs exactly. But it takes away only a small amount of busy work. It's not as helpful as AI proponents make you believe.
  - sph 2y ago
    I don't use any form of "AI", and I'm a software engineer. At least two of my friends, who don't work in software, have somehow learned about ChatGPT and routinely use it for whatever.
- siquick 2y ago
  > Likewise, everybody and their dog has ChatGPT installed It’s a fraction of a percent of the population that have used it.
  - taneq 2y ago
    A rather improper fraction, though. Pick some random non-techie person and they'll have at least tried it.
- taylorius 2y ago
  "Of course the drug ads are marketed to you, so you go and get a prescription from your doctor." The main purpose of Big Pharma's saturation advertising spend on TV networks is the buying of influence with those networks - not marketing, secondary or otherwise.
  - 2y ago
elif 2y ago
After spending time abroad you begin to realize just how insane these commercials are. Only the US and like Australia allow these weird doctor-bypass medical advice/brainwashing sessions.

te_chris 2y ago

That’s uniquely American.

lazide 2y ago
Most major investors are American - in this space anyway - or mediated through American investment companies. So….
the_other 2y ago
In the UK, Google and AWS have been advertising AI-based tools or AI-supporting services on TV recently.

bsenftner 2y ago

I just returned from vacation in Wisconsin, where the Olympics were on everywhere. Every single time an ad prompting AI came on, people loudly booed, and it was not uncommon to hear "don't be a sucker!" and "fuck that bullshit" yelled out. When I asked, people would say "I'm not stupid, I'm not touching AI anything."

glimshe 2y ago
This isn't much different to some of the early reactions to computers...
kkielhofner 2y ago
I grew up and live in small town Wisconsin. Sounds very believable. I say this with the utmost respect and concern for my friends, family, and neighbors: This attitude is part of the reason why the rust belt exists - filled with towns and cities that are a shell of their former selves. Areas of constant economic hardship, endemic drug use, etc. The two big factories in the town I went to high school in are closed. Needless to say things aren’t going well… Yelling at the TV didn’t do anything to prevent that and it’s not going to do anything to prevent the next wave of it. It’s harsh, but an important lesson since the beginning of time: Adapt or die.
- shafyy 2y ago
  I disagree. It's good that people scrutinize and resist corporate greed. Accepting that "AI" (whatever that means) should be in every single product I use is not adapting. It's bending over. People have the power to vote with their wallets (and their actual votes), and they should do so. Now, I'm not American and not an expert on the Rust Belt, but I'm pretty certain this is not the reason why the Rust Belt exists. Probably rather something to do with corporate greed and greedy politicians.
  - kkielhofner 2y ago
    > It's good that people scrutinize and resist corporate greed. I agree. Problem is it didn't do anything when they were saying the exact same things that led to the closure or significant job loss of the manufacturing that was the core of these communities: 1) "Hah, my factory job is complicated. The Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, etc will never figure it out." Racist/xenophobic but said at the time. Even more wrong. 2) Look at robotics. It also took some time for the technology to develop and many of these same people looked at early implementations and thought the exact same thing: "Oh those robots don't really work and they never will". Then their factory jobs became a fraction of the head count with a completely different skill set... Throughout history this has played out over and over again. > People have the power to vote with their wallets (and their actual votes), and they should do so. Key word being /should/. Yet it has been proven time and time again that people regularly vote against their own best economic interests in the ballot box and with their wallets. The same people who laughed at and dismissed the Chinese are going to Wal-Mart everyday and buying goods from (you guessed it) - China. They're also voting for the same corporate-funded politicians. For many of these people their best option now is working at the large Amazon warehouse down the road where they pick and pack goods largely from (you guessed it again) - China. But even then there just aren't that many of those jobs and as the horror stories reported in the media show they're routinely abused there. > Now, I'm not American and not an expert on the Rust Belt, but I'm pretty certain this is not the reason why the Rust Belt exists. Next time you're in the US visiting New York, California, Florida, etc come visit the rust belt in "flyover country" and see just how devastating the effects of this are. I see and live it (to some extent) everyday. > Probably rather something to do with corporate greed and greedy politicians. A huge factor and the ultimate root of the problem but back to voting, wallets, etc: in the real world this isn't going anywhere and from what I see it's just getting worse. My concern comes from seeing the blight and literal deaths in MY community. My concern now is AI is coming for the white collar workforce as well. Another old adage: "Don't underestimate your enemy/competition".