Deepfakes, Big Tech Hits Congress, & 3D printed Chicken
Here’s what matters this month in Digital – brought to you by Ogilvy Australia
Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook CEOs Testify Before Congress
The CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook have testified before congress about their companies alleged anti-competitive business practices.
The tech giants are known for using acquisitions, copycat behaviour and predatory tactics to stifle out competition and maintain market dominance.
For example, it’s alleged that Mark Zuckerberg bullied Instagram’s co-founders into the sale of the platform. After Facebooks acquisition, Instagram copied features of competitor Snapchat, pushing the photo platform into social irrelevancy and are now taking aim at TikTok.
The committee will be publishing a report with conclusions and next steps.
As consumers and customers, it’s in our best interest to have an open and competitive market that promotes competition, drives innovation and ultimately offers better products.
Trump moves to ban TikTok
Donald Trump has declared his interest in blocking the infamous social media app from working in the United States. If successful, the USA will be joining India, as well as private companies like Amazon and Wells Fargo in blocking the app due to extensive security concerns.
Will Australia follow in Americas footsteps? The Australian Defence Force has banned the app from their devices and Australian Intelligence Agencies are investigating the app carefully. It’s well known that TikTok implements some shady practices to invade customer privacy — but what’s being done with the information is unknown.
What’s next for TikTok? Microsoft has been linked to the purchase of TikTok, an American competitor called Byte is gaining traction and Instagram is launching a competitor called ‘Reels’.
Where will the TikTokers Go?
Will they be able to migrate their audiences to new platforms or will they go the way of many forgotten Vine stars?
KFC Is Experimenting With 3D Printed Nuggets
KFC has announced that it will begin to test the creation of chicken nuggets made with 3D printing technology.
Partnering with Russian business 3D Bioprinting Solutions, KFC aims to create a lab grown chicken that will mimic the taste and appearance of its famous nuggets.
If successful, this endeavour will be ground-breaking for the newly hyped cell-based meat industry, which aims to reduce the environmental footprint of the traditional meat industry.
As brands evolve, we need to grow with them and help them navigate new territories and technology.
Deepfakes: What You Need To Know
Deepfakes are videos created using AI that can feature people saying or doing things that they have never done.
These videos began as a novelty but as the technology improved it has become a major concern for the spread of misinformation.
Public figures like politicians, CEOs, actors and actresses have all been featured in Deepfake videos, some humorous and others concerning.
Legal measures are being planned to combat the misuse of this technology and algorithms are being developed to identify the Deepfakes, but these platforms are evolving at such a rate that they will be difficult to detect.
As creators, this technology is available to us to improve our stories. Deepfakes can be used in interesting and captivating ways but above all, we have to maintain trust with our audiences.
