On another AI note, Google is going to introduce adverts to its generative AI search/chat feature. Whilst inevitable, perhaps it won’t be long until we’re looking back fondly at that brief moment of time where we could amuse ourselves chatting to the AI-gods without being asked to buy a mattress. Let the enshittification begin.

Here’s a screenshot from Ad Age:

They’re also offering tools to allow people to make ads via the same kind of technology. This doesn’t seem entirely without risk given the present limitations of these models.

From Search Engine Land:

Advertisers can submit creative content such as images, videos, and text related to a campaign, and the AI will “remix” these materials to generate ads that target specific audiences and meet objectives like sales targets, according to the presentation.

However, there are concerns that the tool could disseminate misinformation, as AI-generated text can confidently assert falsehoods. One individual familiar with the presentation commented that the AI is optimized for converting new customers and does not have an understanding of truth.