PPPPrepping for the Inevitable (Four Ps #233)
4 Questions about Nvidia, AI Governance, Wasteful Spending & our Identities
To quote MC Hammer, "I've been around the world, from London to the Bay."
And that's just from the live streams and recaps of five major tentpole events that took place in five cities last week:
Nvidia GTC in San Jose
ANA Media Conference in Orlando
Shoptalk in Las Vegas
Game Developers Conference in San Francisco
Digital Asset Summit in London
I'm jet-lagged just thinking about it. But I might be the only person in the world who paid equally close attention to all five events, and the stark reality is that everyone was in their own silos.
There was little to no mention of gaming or digital assets at the ANA Media Conference.
There was no mention of the metaverse or media at the Nvidia event.
There was no talk of digital assets or Roblox at Shoptalk.
No talk about RMNs at the GDC, that's for sure.
There was scant mention of gaming or media at the Digital Asset Summit.
Yet, there was plenty of talk about AI at all five events. And that should tell you everything you need to know right now.
THE PRACTICAL: Is Nvidia the Real-Life Skynet?
So what do you know about Nvidia, really? Their role in this AI wave has made it a $2 trillion company. A few years back, they made a strategic decision (and well-timed!) to shift from gaming and graphics GPUs to making high-powered H100 AI chips has allowed the company to dominate the industry.
Yes, $2 trillion. You're not hallucinating. And neither are they. CEO Jensen Huang thinks that we’re closer than ever to “full AI,” as it’s called. He said it’s five years away and also that the problem of AI hallucinations is one we can solve.
As mentioned above, Nvidia also just had its GTC event in California, and did they ever bring the fireworks! Leading the headlines was the Blackwell GPU platform, basically the thing we're all going to look back on when the machines take over and compare to our Skynet / Terminator moment.
With its jaw-dropping performance of 10 Tbps, it's so powerful that it could probably train AI to understand your dog's post-poop zoomies. Nvidia's message was clear: "We're here to turbocharge your AI dreams, and yes, we're still the cool kids on the block." I mean, did you see Huang's black leather jacket?
But wait, there's more! Nvidia didn't just stop at creating a beast; they went full Santa Claus for the automotive and robotics industries, doling out shiny new tools like early Christmas presents. And then they dropped the Nvidia NIM software on us, making integrating AI models easier than ever. AI is basically plug and play now, folks!
Huang's advice on data center: “Stop treating them like necessary evils and more like AI factories churning out gold from your data straw. “
Without exaggeration, Nvidia is arming the future AI overlord and we're witnessing the dawn of an era where AI is on the verge of doing everything from making us breakfast to deciding if we're cool enough to be allowed onto the next hype social media platform.
Buckle up, because the future looks fascinating, and thankfully, it seems we're in for some entertaining times with these tech giants leading the charge.
THE POLITICAL: Who Will Govern the AI Revolution?
Or maybe that last section just terrified you? You wouldn't be alone. The good news: Governance is an area of focus that lawmakers are prioritizing. Sort of.
Unfortunately, the U.S. government can't get out of its way to create any sort of regulatory policies in place, and it may be years before that happens. By then, it will be too late.
But the European Parliament, not wanting to be outdone by anyone, has put its stamp of approval on the first comprehensive AI regulations and sets the first standard for trustworthy AI tools. This piece of legislative leadership aims to tame the wild west of AI systems, especially the ones deemed high-risk. It is set to go into effect in May.
Across the pond, U.S. companies are now in a bit of a pickle. They need to juggle advancing their AI endeavors while ensuring they don't step on the EU's regulatory toes.
Steve Chase from KPMG US (who I think I was at a dinner with at SxSW) is sounding the alarm, emphasizing the global impact of the EU's AI Act and urging U.S. businesses to tread carefully.
This new law will require companies to assemble their “AI compliance teams” which will look to pose hefty fines to companies that don’t use artificial intelligence in a responsible way. So there will be a knock-on effect in the U.S., with every AI company required to comply with the new EU laws.
Forrester's Enza Iannopollo chimed in, declaring the EU as the trendsetter in trustworthy AI, leaving other regions scrambling to keep up. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for organizations to get their AI compliance teams in order, as the requirements are ready to pounce later this year.
Yet many may choose to ignore it, and taking certain risks until the courts have their say. Just like many companies still ignore GDPR compliance until they're called out on it, we're in the early innings of this game, and the clean-up hitters haven't even stepped out of the dugout just yet.
(On that note, Happy Baseball Season! And Let's go, Mets!)
THE PROFESSIONAL: Where’s the Haste to Fix the Waste?
I talked this week in my weekly LinkedIn video series (“What I Learned”) about the excessive waste in the marketing and advertising industry (and I’m not alone), and how I believe AI can help us reduce that. But it's not going to happen overnight.
There's an old expression, "You have to spend money to make money." But apparently you now also have to spend money to SAVE money.
Last week, a bunch of media analysts forecasted that AI spending is set to skyrocket to over $13 billion by 2028. This investment will be distributed across various sectors, including analytics, development, delivery, and enhancing customer experiences through personalization and discovery. Contrary to the doom-laden narratives often associated with AI, the emphasis was placed on the technology's role as a tool rather than a threat.
Omdia's Maria Rua Aguete reinforced the idea that AI won't replace humans, but those adept at leveraging AI will outpace those who aren’t due to increased efficiency, creativity, and preparedness.
The discussion touched little on OpenAI's text-to-video generator, Sora, instead highlighting its potential in advertising and short web clips over film and TV production. Analysts pointed out AI's capabilities in streamlining storyboarding, previz, and even in live sports through its object tracking and prediction abilities.
Postproduction is expected to benefit significantly, with AI aiding in image grading, color correction, and real-time dubbing, thereby addressing talent shortages and accessibility issues. The challenge lies in management's ability to integrate AI effectively within organizations.
So yes, with respect to this AI hype cycle, the spending is likely to INCREASE before it decreases. It's like buying a fancy espresso machine: sure, it costs as much as a small car, but think of the pennies you'll save on your daily latte!
Except this time, it's not just about saving pennies; it's about not getting left in the digital dust. Because, apparently, if you're not on the AI bandwagon, you're a fax machine in a 5G world. Who knew that becoming more efficient and creative could be so pricey?
At least we're not facing the content creation apocalypse. Yet.
THE PERSONAL: Why “Who” Matters More Than “What”
It doesn't get more personal than this: How we identify.
But the crusty, fear-mongering conservatives across rural America are going to lose what's left of their minds over this one, but a new Gallup poll found a record high of 7.6% of American adults identify as LGBTQ in 2023.
But let's break it down, shall we? The real generational shift here is in effect, with nearly 30% of Gen Z women identifying as LGBTQ. Bisexual women are leading the charge at 20.7%, with lesbians making up another 5.4%.
Not that it's surprising - each generation is about twice as likely as the last to come out and play for the rainbow team. While only 1% of the decrepit Silent Generation admits to being deviantly deviant, a whopping 21% of "zoomers" are living their truth. Millennials and Gen X fall neatly in between on the spectrum, at around 10% and 5% respectively.
And you just know the pearl clutchers will be fanning themselves in outrage over these findings.
The survey also gave a nod to the ever-expanding queer lexicon, with more folks writing in identities like "pansexual" and "asexual." Because why be confined to those outdated categories of gay, lesbian, bi, and trans when there's a vibrant tapestry of sexuality and gender to explore?
Of note, the bisexual horde still reigns supreme at over 57% of all LGBTQ respondents. And we can't forget our trans family and friends, making up nearly 12% of the rainbow vanguard.
The survey’s gender-specific insights paint a picture of changing norms and attitudes towards sexuality and gender identity, especially among the youth, and contains predictions that the LGBTQ population could reach 10% in the next few decades. This projection is not just a number but a reflection of ongoing societal transformation towards greater acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ identities.
Clearly, the youths are gaying up the population at an exponential rate, and not only should we be here for it... we should be breaking down every barrier, removing every obstacle, and fighting all the challenges that make a fair and equal society open and available to all.
More openly LGBTQ people means more acceptance, more rights, more safety, more security, more "normalcy" (whatever that means to you), and fun for all... so the bigots better get used to it.
I'm looking forward to a time when these polls are no longer news... and then no longer even taken. The future is not just non-binary, but ideally non-definable. Those who want to identify as something, anything, go for it. But public labels should be for food and drug products, not people.
Sorry, not sorry for celebrating who we all are and living our lives proudly!