SHOULD YOU BE WORRIED THAT AN AI PICTURE OF THE POPE WENT VIRAL?

An image of Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic church, wearing a large, white puffer jacket has gone viral on social media in the past few days. The 86-year-old pontiff looks stylish, with many people commenting on his fashionable clothes. There is just one problem: the image isn’t real.

The pictures above were generated by the artificial intelligence Midjourney, which produces images based on text prompts, and were posted on Reddit on 24 March by an artist who goes by the name of u/trippy_art_special. The user’s account has since been suspended, but one image (the left-hand one) has since spread across Twitter, where it has fooled many.

Should we be worried? Web culture expert Ryan Broderick has called the pope image “the first real mass-level AI misinformation case”. But the issue has actually been brewing for a few weeks, following an update to Midjourney that significantly improved the standard of output. Earlier in March, Midjourney-created images of former US president Donald Trump being arrested similarly went viral. Those images were generated from prompts provided by Eliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat, an investigative journalism group.

(Via NewScientist)

ELON MUSK AND OTHERS ARE URGING A PAUSE ON TRAINING SYSTEMS MORE POWERFUL THAN GIANT AI

Among the 1,344 individuals on an open letter urging a pause on Giant AI experiments are Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and CEO of Stability AI Emad Mostaque.

Due to the risk of creating nonhuman minds that could eventually outwit humans, the letter urges all AI labs to immediately pause the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4 for at least six months. The non-profit Future of Life Institute’s open letter reads, “Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks.”

The non-profit Future of Life Institute’s open letter reads, “Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks.” Should we create nonhuman minds that could eventually outnumber, outwit, become obsolete, and take our place? Should we put our civilization at a loss?

The letter, which comes just two weeks after OpenAI announced GPT-4, reads, “We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.” It also states that independent experts should develop, implement, and audit safety protocols.

(Via Analytics Insight)

GOOGLE LAUNCHES NEW ‘ADS TRANSPARENCY CENTER’ TO SHARE INFO ON CAMPAIGNS

Google’s looking to provide more transparency on the ads being run across its apps, with the launch of a new Ads Transparency Center, which will provide insight into the details of each organisation and campaign.

As you can see in these images, the new Google Ads Transparency Center will provide a means to search ads by topic, advertiser or website. You’ll then be able to filter the listings by region, so you can see exactly which ads are being run where, while you’ll also be able to access info on when each campaign previously run, and the ad format/s used.

“The Ads Transparency Center is a searchable hub of all ads served from verified advertisers. This one-stop shop was designed with you in mind by ensuring you have easy access to information about the ads you see from Google.”

The new insights will ensure more transparency in Google ads, while users will also be able to block or report any ads that they find direct from these listings.

(Via Social Media Today)

CANVA UNVEILS A SERIES OF NEW FEATURES, INCLUDING SEVERAL AI-POWERED TOOLS

Web-based design platform Canva is introducing a colossal suite of new brand management products and AI-powered design tools focused on helping entire workplaces streamline their content creation process. Announced today at Canva’s Create event, most of these new features are designed to make creating content like social media graphics, presentations, and advertising materials more accessible to those without professional design experience. The idea is this would leave graphic designers free to tackle more pressing tasks. The number of features announced is impressive and could challenge Adobe’s ubiquity in some offices.

A new Brand Hub is being added to Canva’s Visual Worksuite, providing tools meant to help users remain consistent with their organisations’ visual identity. Instead of a shared drive and endless Slack messages to designers, users would now create a Brand Kit with company-specific assets like logos, fonts, colours, and design guidelines. Brand Folders would be set up to group assets together for specific events, campaigns, and projects, and Brand Templates would allow designers to create pre-branded reusable templates for more repetitive tasks like email campaigns.

(Via The Verge)

HEINZ REJECTS IMPOSTERS FOR ‘KETCHUP FRAUD’ CAMPAIGN

Heinz is going after counterfeits in its latest campaign in order to play into its long-standing brand identity, “It Has To Be Heinz.” As one of America’s most popular ketchup brands, it can be found in many eateries across the country. However, a social media trend reveals that many restaurants reuse bottles, filling them back up with generic ketchup. 

The practice of filling Heinz bottles with a generic product isn’t new, with chicken chain Nando’s finding itself in hot water after a social media post accused the brand of using fake Heinz in 2016, eventually leading a brand spokesperson to clarify they only use Heinz. For the “Ketchup Fraud,” campaign, however, Heinz is willing to work with those who are accused of doing the same, offering a solution designed around helping consumers get the ketchup they want while also supporting local businesses, per release details. The brand’s latest move could more strongly tie back to its “It Has To Be Heinz” ethos.

“It’s a real behaviour that we noticed all over the world and wanted to bring to light. It shows just how much weight the Heinz brand carries and how much even just the bottle speaks to quality,” said Mike Dubrick, chief creative officer and partner for Rethink in a press statement.

(Via Marketing Dive)

To stay in the loop with all future Digital Digestibles releases, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter HERE!