Generation AI
With UK Governement recruiting AI Policy Experts, Microsoft investing heavily on AI in the UK, and teenagers being AI wizards, Generation A may as well be remembered as Generation AI.
Hello,
How’s your week going? Tired of your job and life and considering to quit everything and run for the woods?
If so, may I interest you in AI for a second?
No, I don’t have a job for you, but the UK Government does as the Department for Science Innovation and Technology is looking for AI Policy Team Leaders.
However, you’ll have to get a move on as deadline to apply is Sunday 10th December. Not my fault, I write this newsletter when I have time. Check LinkedIn more often, what can I say?
By the way, the pay isn’t great considering the role and the fact that the UK wants to position itself as a leading AI global power. But it’s public sector so you get exposure, which is the lie we tell ourselves when doing things for free. Like this newsletter.
If you’re not that keen on jumping on the AI bandwagon, maybe your kids are. In fact, they most likely are already driving the whole train as according to the latest Online Nation report from Ofcom over three-quarter of teenagers in the UK are regularly using generative AI
Not a bad thing considering that Microsoft has unveiled plans to invest £2.5bn into building AI data centres in the UK to expand the country’s existing infrastructure, which is the basis to foster innovation and growth and to consolidate the UK’s position in the AI global arena.
And now it’s time for a birthday celebration as ChatGPT has recently turned a year old. Don’t rush to buy the cake just yet as it may be a thing of the past by the time you’re blowing the candles. In fact, some experts predict that OpenAI’s generative AI star tool will start to become less relevant as an all-purpose model as new models with more specific use cases arise.
Meanwhile, one of OpenAI’s rivals, MistralAI (of which I wrote about last week in relation to the delay of the EU AI Act) is rumoured to be about to close a €450M investment deal that will lead to a $2B valuation. The round is led by Andreessen Horowitz, which is hardly surprising considering they have similar views to Mistral about the direction AI should go (I reported on their views on regulation around the content used to train AI models here)
While Mistral waits for the money to roll in, Google has just released an anticipated Christmas gift in the shape of their new AI model Gemini, their superior answer to OpenAI’s GPT-4, which will power Bard (Google’s chatbot) and be availalbe to software developers who work on building generative AI applications.
Interestingly, Gemini comes in three different versions with names that mirror the way Apple labels their devices: Nano, Pro and Ultra. And since multimodal is the name of the AI game, Gemini aptly can read and analyze words, but also shapes and sounds as you can see for yourself in the demo video below.
In the event you are more of a purist and rely on The Three Wise Men (right choice) to bring you presents, I have good news for you.
Guess who else is planning to roll out AI tools for the New Year?
Blackrock.
As reported by the Financial Times this week, the asset management firm intends to make generative AI tools available to clients as part of a bigger plan to use technology to boost productivity, which in the short term will also include additional AI tools for investment professionals to support them with data gathering and research among other functions
You know things are about to change quickly -and for good- when AI comes in close contact with investment money and the world’s largest asset management company wants to make sure they have a lead in the race.
Time for some creative updates.
Good news for the screen tourism sector in the UK as this week the British Film Commission and VisitBritain have signed an Memorandum of Understanding to promote screen tourism across the country. The announcement was made on the final day of Focus London, an annual conference for international production community.
During a session hosted at the conference after the announcement to discuss the future of Screen Tourism, Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain, explained that overseas visitors spend £30bn and this figure is largely driven by tourists who come here via what they have seen on screen, either via a high-end TV show or a film.
Therefore, she elaborated, it is important to work closely with the film and tv industry to continue to showcase the diversity of Britain through its regions as well as throgh stories.
More importantly, screen visitors usually are also curious about the history and culture around a place, its food and the people who live there, and represents the high-quality visitors that collaboration between the film, tv and tourism industry can help attract.
And to close on another positive note a new report published by McKinsey on the impact of the UK arts shows that the sector was worth £49bn to the economy in 2022, which in context is similar to the GVA generated by the food and beverage services sector and 50% more than the GVA of the telecommunications industry.
The report also references a previous 2023 survey by DCMS which had found that 91% of UK adults had engaged with some form of art during the past year, which are a testament of the intrinsic value of the arts.
The McKinsey report goes beyond economic metrics and explores the impact of the arts on the individual and on communities. It also offers recommendations to sustain the economic and non-economic benefits of the arts by promoting stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors as well as businesses related to the arts supply chain, between different arts organisations across locations, and between the arts and the wider creative industries.
Tech News
UK-based Pragmatic has secured £182m in funding, the largest venture financing for a European chip company.
Card and gift company Moonpig launches AI-supported Christmas range
According to Ofcom’s latest Online Nation research the average adult now spends around 56 days each year online, two more than in 2022
TikTok’s Ticketmaster partnership extended outside of US to allow users in 20 countries -including the UK- to buy event tickets direcly within the app
Creative News
Royal Court theatre launches digital archive of every play performed since 1956
8 in 10 music fans say human creativity is essential in time of AI, according to new IFPI study
English National Opera announces relocation to Greater Manchester
David Hockney’s iPad drawn Christmas display will illuminate Battersea Power Station over the holidays
Last but not least
This week the last part of the newsletter is dedicated to cinema.
I’ve finally watched Anatomy of a Fall and it’s really simply fantastic. In fact, I’m seeing it again. Everything in this movie works - the choice of language and the change from one to another, the cast, the setting, the way the story starts and then evolves towards a courtroom drama but reveals there’s a lot more behind it. And Sandra Hüller is so perfect in her role that you forget she’s acting. I’d be surprised (and hugely disappointed) if she doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar.
But before my second round of this masterpiece, this weekend I’m looking forward to Wonka with Thimotée Chalamet and the always enjoyable Hugh Grant. I’ve tried to avoid reading reviews in detail (some question the need for a prequel of a movie that has already been adapted twice; others, most, praise the choice to focus on the origin story of Mr. Wonka). Anyway, Thimotée and Huge are the dynamic duo we never knew we need it and Wonka could become a new favourite Christmas classic.
Now that the strikes are a thing of the past, Barbenheimmer is back and I’m ready to be all over it again! Not least because Spotify Wrapped has revealed that this song made it to my top 5 this year. Although I was sure it’d be this one instead.
But better still the people have spoken and Variety has listened to them and brought together Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie for their Actors on Actors series, where the two leads of the undisputable best movie release double act discuss their respective roles, how they approach getting into character and sequels. What a time to be alive!
Have a good weekend!
The Age We Live In Now is a tech and creative newsletter with a focus on London. Each week I offer a round up of key stories in an informative but fun way to show how our world is rapidly changing as a result of new technologies. And as a bonus, great cultural recommendations.