Moving fast, without breaking things – leveraging big data in incumbent organisations

Back in July 2020, I examined c’s PhD thesis, looking at how incumbent firms can leverage big data. This PhD was really pleasant to read and easy to examine. So, it was with some pleasure that, last week, I came across the paper “Leveraging big data for strategic marketing: A dynamic capabilities model for incumbent … Continue reading Moving fast, without breaking things – leveraging big data in incumbent organisations

The exasperating lack of progress on women’s and girls’ digital rights

Last week, we marked yet another International Women’s Day (Yes, there’s an International Men’s day, too. Don’t worry. It’s November 19th). This is supposed to be a day when we celebrate progress in women’s rights such as gender equality or reproductive rights, and ending abuse against women. The UN chose as its theme for this … Continue reading The exasperating lack of progress on women’s and girls’ digital rights

Assessing the risk of misuse of language models for disinformation campaigns

The report “Generative Language Models and Automated Influence Operations: Emerging Threats and Potential Mitigations” discusses how large language models like the one underpinning ChatGPT might be used for disinformation campaigns. It was authored by Josh A. Goldstein, Girish Sastry, Micah Musser, Renee DiResta, Matthew Gentzel and Katerina Sedova, and is available in the arXiv repository. … Continue reading Assessing the risk of misuse of language models for disinformation campaigns

How are music artists adjusting to algorithmic recommendation systems?

I have written a few times, here, on the blog, about algorithmic recommendation systems. Sometimes, I focus on the technology itself. Other times, I focus on the recipients of those recommendations. Occasionally, I have looked at the impact on advertisers. However, I don’t often consider the perspective of the producer - i.e., the person / company / brand … Continue reading How are music artists adjusting to algorithmic recommendation systems?

Charging for Twitter’s API changes the nature of Twitter data from “igniter of value” to “end product”

Twitter has announced, on February 2nd, that it is ending free access to its application programming interface (API). Starting February 9, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. A paid basic tier will be available instead 🧵— Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 2, 2023 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Twitter API is … Continue reading Charging for Twitter’s API changes the nature of Twitter data from “igniter of value” to “end product”

The handful of datasets that rule our lives

There are numerous examples of how the datasets that are used to train the algorithms that rule our daily lives are biased. For instance, tools that automatically translate professional titles tends to follow gender stereotypes: males are doctors while nurses are females. There is also bias against faces of females and faces of people of colour. But if these biases are … Continue reading The handful of datasets that rule our lives

New paper: Unpacking the Personalisation-Privacy Paradox in the Context of AI-Enabled Personalisation in the Physical Retail Environment

Once the stuff of fiction, it is now possible for you to enter a store and receive an offer which was personalised to your preferences, past purchases and even what’s happening around you. Unlike John Aderton in Minority Report, though, you don’t need to scan your eyes as you enter the store, in order to … Continue reading New paper: Unpacking the Personalisation-Privacy Paradox in the Context of AI-Enabled Personalisation in the Physical Retail Environment

When do consumers actually prefer the AI option (and why)?

AI agents are increasingly popular in customer interface. Sometimes they are the only option, others the default one before consumers are escalated to a human agent. One example of AI agents in customer interface that I mention frequently is AI-powered chatbots. Firms may use AI-powered agents to cut costs, because of their superior analytical capability or, even, … Continue reading When do consumers actually prefer the AI option (and why)?

AI in Marketing – slide set from introductory workshop

About a year ago, I delivered an introductory workshop to students of the MSc AI Strategy, about the role of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing. Recently, a colleague (from a different field) was asking me for an overview on this topic, and I shared this slide set with her. She said that it had been really … Continue reading AI in Marketing – slide set from introductory workshop

Dear ChatGPT, your answer is convincing but it is a complete fabrication

I have been spending some time exploring ChatGPT, the new AI powered, conversational chatbot, which is attracting a lot of attention for the range and the quality of its output. ChatGPT, by OpenAI, was launched at the end of November. It can do things as diverse as writing letters / e-mails, short answers, long articles … Continue reading Dear ChatGPT, your answer is convincing but it is a complete fabrication