Among a flood of AI announcements in the last week — including remarkable advances in ChatGPT — Google’s move to produce narrative results called “overviews” instead of web links caused the most consternation. Neville and Shel break down all the news and focus in on Google’s overviews in this long-form episode for May. Also in this episode, a Baidu executive wound up in hot water after remarks that offended employees and customers; Australian media manipulated a photo of a member of parliament, launching conversations about ethical use of AI when it comes to photos; Apple misfired on both an advertisement and its apology, but Bumble’s apology is a prime example of how to apologize for a miscalculation; and a lot of venture capital money is going to companies offering apps that provide people with AI companions. In his Tech Report, Dan York, looks at evolutions among social media alternatives, a renewed interest in online communities, and Google’s new AI-generated answers.

Visit the official FIR site for links from this episode.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, June 17.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

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