Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 47

Will Photoshop’s New Expand Feature Lead to False Memories or Realities?

Maybe you’ve already heard of Photoshop’s new “Generative Expand” feature that allows users to “expand images in any direction and generate an additional scene for the space with a combination of traditional app tools and AI.” Most of the examples of use cases for this feature involve filling in background details or fixing a photo that was unintentionally cropped too closely. The potential future uses for this technology, though, are worth considering.

What happens when AI expands images from hi...

The Paris Syndrome and Coping with Tourism Disappointment

The dangerous thing about expectation is that it can set yourself up for disappointment. In the case of travelers to some destinations, this can lead to a letdown so severe they literally faint from the experience. Paris is one city where so many travelers (particularly those from Japan) have had this reaction that it’s known as the Paris Syndrome.

Japanese psychiatrist Hiroaki Ota described this as “a state of complete culture shock. Tourists from Japan … are especially susceptible to having a d...

New Reality Show Deep Fake Love May Unleash a Lot of New Problems into The World

Netflix’s latest reality show Deep Fake Love is . The concept is simple and diabolical: a bunch of couples go on a reality show where they are separated and told to live in villas surrounded by hot single people. Then, every week they have to watch videos of their partners seeming to hook up with others. Soon after, the “secret” is revealed that those videos of infidelity may or may not be deep faked. Will the couples stay together?

Aside from this tortuously cre...

Korean Pop Star Releases Latest Song in Six Languages Using AI

What if AI could serve as a linguistics coach for a talented musician? That’s essentially what K-pop music label HYBE created using technology from AI startup Supertone to help singer MIDNATT release his latest single simultaneously in six languages —Korean, English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. Most significantly, each language version isn’t AI-generated.

Instead AI tools helped to divide the song into its components, build on new lyrics in each language recited by native speakers ...

How The Nintendo NES Game Console Changed the World

Yes, I am part of the generation that grew up with the original Nintendo gaming system … and sometimes I even feature it in my keynote talks. This year is the 40th anniversary of the console and my fellow geeks over at Engadget have put together an illuminating history of exactly why this system was so formative on the world of gaming for generations to come.

To start, it was the first console that introduced the D-pad instead of using a joystick … a design choice that has been copied by almo...

The Dark Side of “Sharenting” (And Why You Should Avoid Posting About Your Kids On Social Media)

European telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom launched a campaign using deepfakes to scare parents into being more careful about what they share online. The effort is meant to illustrate the dangers of “sharenting” (parents oversharing photos of their kids online). The video showcased is a disturbing imagined future where kids are suffering from identity theft, exploitation and worse … all because of the “innocent” photos their parents shared of them online when they were younger.

Fair w...

When Influencer Marketing Goes Predictably Wrong

When a fast fashion retailer often criticized for negative environmental and labor track record wants to recast its brand image, it is not a good strategy to rely on the vapid commentary of social media influencers enjoying an all-expenses paid junket to your headquarters China. This week, retail giant Shein created their own predictable self-imposed controversy when the influencers they invited to do a factory tour with the hope they would debunk rumors about poor working conditions ended u...

Why Barbie Isn’t the Biggest Movie Marketing Story This Week

This week every marketing publication is talking about the movie marketing for Barbie, celebrating their “dizzying array of partnerships” and all the memes, parodies and brand collabs. Many of them mention, but minimize, the importance of two significant facts:

Barbie is about a 60+-year-old brand that is a household name (high awareness).The marketing budget was $150M (more than the film itself cost to make).

Of course, there are many ways to squander a huge marketing budget, bu...

The Crocs Engagement Ring Is Here for Couples Who Want to Stand Out (and Think Style Is Overrated)

How do you reinvent something as staid and traditional as the engagement ring? One jeweler in the UK had the bright idea to create this “Croc wedding charm” that is custom designed, uses flat back screws to ensure a secure fit, and starts at £1,790. In their words, “we love pushing the boundaries of jewelry … and we’re looking for fellow rule-breakers to create something completely unique and brilliantly bonkers!” I’ll admit my initial reaction to this was to dismiss it as yet another po...

Non-Obvious Profile of a Trend Setter – Emory University