Tech News : $900,000 For Netflix AI Product Manager
Leading Streamer Netflix has added more fuel to the fire in the actors and writers’ union strike by advertising for an AI product manager with a salary up to $900,000.
Could Have Paid For Actors
With US actors and writers who are members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) having been on strike for weeks, partly to protect their jobs from AI, the mega-salary job ad has been met with some criticism. For example, SAG-AFTRA has argued that 87 per cent of its membership only earn less than $26,000 a year, and some union members have added that the eye-watering $300,000 to $900,000 dollars for one AI job could have paid and supported 35 actors and their families instead.
The Reasons For The Strike
Some of the main reasons for the dual strike of actors and writers include:
– Worries that background performers could be scanned and paid one day’s pay, while their scanned image is then owned by film companies who can use the person’s image or likeness (reproduced with AI) for unlimited projects in the future without the performer’s consent and without compensation.
– The need for wage increases.
– Streaming service like Prime, Netflix, and Disney not paying enough in “residuals” (the royalties earned from repeat broadcasts of films or TV shows).
– Concerns that AI will be used to write first drafts of scripts and screenwriters will only be hired at a lower rate to bring them up to scratch.
The Job
The $300,000 to $900,000 salary Machine Learning Platform Manager Netflix job is in their Los Gatos office or can be remotely based on the West Coast. The advert specifies that the right candidate will be someone with “a technical background in engineering and/or machine learning”. Netflix says that “Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence is powering innovation” with the “Machine Learning Platform (MLP)” providing “the foundation for all of this innovation” with the new Product Management role being used to “increase the leverage of our Machine Learning Platform”.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
With actors (and writers) out on strike to essentially stop AI from replacing them and to get more residuals from streaming services. Netflix posting a high salary AI job offer, therefore, is felt by many actors to be a double kick in the teeth.
The use of AI in film and TV is already here but, at a time when the union needs to negotiate its terms between actors and the studios, the studios are focusing on how they plan to expand their use of AI. Understandably, the fears of actors about AI have been brought to a head. For example, with writer, actor and comedian Rob Delaney describing the AI job advert as “ghoulish” and actor Brian Cox being widely quoted as saying “the worst aspect is the whole idea of AI and what AI can do to us”, it’s clear that there’s still some way to go before any kind of agreement can be reached between the studios and the unions and the major disruption to the industry can be stopped.
Tech News : $50,000 Apple Trainers … Made of Gold?
Renowned auction house and brokers of art, collectibles, jewellery, and real estate Sotheby’s is selling a super-rare pair of Apple-branded trainers for a guide price of $50,000 (circa £39K).
A One-Time Giveaway In The 90s
Sotheby’s says the Omega Sports Apple Computer Sneakers (Size 10.5 / 9.5 UK), boxed and with an alternative pair of red laces, were custom-made for Apple employees and were “a one-time giveaway at a National Sales Conference in the mid-’90s”. The trainers are white with the Apple logo on the side and an air-cushioned sole.
Explaining why they are so rare (hence the huge price tag), Sotheby’s says on its website: “Having never reached the general public, this particular pair of sneakers is one of the most obscure in existence and highly coveted on the resale market”.
Thousands Purchased Clothing From Apple In The 80s
What many people may not know is that more than 22,000 Apple customers purchased clothing and accessories from the brand in 1985 which were part of a short-lived ‘Apple Collection’. For products outside of Apple’s zone of expertise, the company partnered with leading brands (e.g. Honda and Braun) to apply the Apple branding to a variety of white label products.
Previous Pair
A previous pair of Apple branded trainers, believed to have been prototypes and found in 2016 at garage sale in Palo Alto, California were put up for auction with a starting bid of $30,000.
The Rare Trainers Market
There is a booming collectables market for rare trainers with cultural significance and scarcity being the factors that boost prices. Examples of trainers fetching particularly high prices include:
– In 2021, a Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototype, worn by (rapper) Kanye West on stage at the 2008 Grammy awards were sold for a staggering $1.8 million!
– Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals Air Jordan 13 trainers sold at auction for $2.2 million. Also, a 1985 pre-production sample pair of Nike’s first shoe for former NBA basketball star Michael Jordan fetched $560,000 at auction in 2020.
Why?
The market for rare trainers as investments and collectables is thought to have come about because, as generations from the 80s and 90s have become successful, trainers have become the cultural assets that they remember and value.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Apple was one of the earliest pioneers of a tech industry and from very humble beginnings has grown to become a $2.82 trillion company and one of the most recognisable brands, and traditionally has its own fan-like user base. As such, any of its early products have become rare and valuable commodities with a cultural significance. This value extends to its non-tech related branded products such as these trainers and the fact that that it’s unlikely that any other pairs have survived gives them a rarity boost in price, even though they were originally a free giveaway.
Scarcity and cultural significance are huge value-boosters in the rare trainer market which is part of an expanding range of investments for predominantly younger investors who value collectable products like trainers and sports cards which may only be a few decades old. In the digital world for example, newer investments have widened to include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and, no doubt, other markets will develop in the near future for other products as wealthier people from advancing generations seek out collections and investments that have cultural significance and memories for them from relatively recent times.
Sustainability-in-Tech : Buildings Made Of Re-Usable Parts
Dutch architecture firm MVRDV and startup Madaster have taken sustainable design to new levels by creating a whole office building that’s made of 90 per cent re-usable parts.
Matrix One – Made of Re-Usable Components
The ‘Matrix One’ six-storey, 13,000-square-metre laboratory and office building acts as the main campus hub of the Matrix Innovation Center in Amsterdam and has been designed to be demountable (it can be easily dismantled). The is because the innovative building is made up of 120,000 reusable components.
The building has been constructed using simple connections like screws and bolts so that, when parts of the building are updated, components of the building can be detached and reused. For example, even the building’s floors have been made using prefabricated concrete slabs with no fixed connections, allowing them to be reused at the end of the building’s lifespan.
Other Sustainable Elements
Other sustainable design elements of the building include the large “social stairs” which people are encouraged to use rather than the lifts, solar energy generation from 1,000 square metres of solar panels on the roof, smart lighting and smart heating to reduce energy consumption, and ample bicycle parking.
Flexibility
Also, the fact that the offices in the building can easily be modified to become labs and vice versa, and labs can be easily upgraded with new systems to accommodate changing standards gives the building a flexibility that others don’t have.
MVRDV partner Frans de Witte says: “The building is state-of-the-art now, but it also acknowledges that the state-of-the-art is constantly changing. So, we made both the interior spaces and the technical installations that serve them as flexible as possible” and that “In the decades to come when the building is no longer cutting-edge, it will become a source to harvest materials from for other buildings.” For example, the building has been designed so that when it reaches the end of its useful life or gets renovated, its components can be made available for purchase on a second-hand marketplace, a kind of eBay for buildings.
Madaster’s Material Passport System
The Madaster platform, an online library of information on materials and products, provides a comprehensive material passport system, thereby giving insight into the materials and products used and the CO2 storage for over 120,000 individual components. As a result, over 90 per cent of the building’s materials can be reused again later.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
This is an example of a new way of looking at buildings and designing sustainability and carbon reduction right from the bottom up. Not only does the idea of removable modular parts put together with just simple connections allow for easy replacement and allowing parts to be re-used elsewhere, but it also gives a flexibility (e.g. laboratories being swapped with offices) and recognises that state-of-the-art is constantly changing. This allows the building to be more easily kept up to date. The fact that the Matrix ONE building can also meet ambitious Amsterdam targets for energy use (and is certified BREEAM-Excellent) is another big bonus. It could be, as MVRDV partner Frans de Witte says, this is an example of how buildings work in the future which would mean some substantial changes and new opportunities in the construction industry as well as architecture.
Tech Trivia : Did You Know? This Week in History …
August 6, 1997 : Microsoft & Apple Cooperate
By the mid-1990s, Apple was in dangerously bad shape. The company’s market share was dwindling, its product line was confused, and it was bleeding money. Their future looked bleak, and it needed a lifeline and they all knew it.
Enter Microsoft, led by Bill Gates (the then-richest man in the world). On August 6, 1997, at the Macworld Expo in Boston, Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, announced a surprising partnership with Microsoft. The announcement, made via a live video feed of Gates, was met with a mixture of boos and applause from the audience.
The deal involved Microsoft investing $150 million in Apple in exchange for non-voting shares, thereby providing Apple with much-needed cash. Furthermore, Microsoft committed to continue developing its Office software for Mac for the next five years, ensuring that Mac users could access the same productivity tools as PC users. In return, Apple agreed to make Internet Explorer the default web browser on its machines.
It’s fair to say that the more cynical among us might prefer to look “under the bonnet” of this deal because at the time there were concerns around monopolies, patent infringements and potentially even darker issues that we’ll likely never be allowed to know. Plus, both companies aren’t strangers to spinning positive PR, so it’s probably wise to keep an open mind.
Nevertheless, it worked insofar as it demonstrated that even fierce competitors could find common ground and collaborate for mutual benefit. The agreement allowed Apple to regain its footing and eventually launch a series of innovative products, including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, which revolutionised the tech industry.
Tech Tip – Convert Handwritten Meeting Notes To Typed Text With Google Keep
Rather than spending time typing out your handwritten meeting notes, Google Keep’s OCR means you can quickly convert them into typed text simply by taking a photo of them using your phone. Here’s how to use it:
– If you have a Google account, Keep is included, but since the process involves taking a photo of your notes on your smartphone, download Google Keep from the Google Play store (Android) or Apple App Store (iPhone).
– Open the Google Keep app and tap the image icon (bottom of the screen).
– Tap on ‘Take a photo’ and tap on ‘OK’, give the image a title e.g., meeting notes, and tap the image to make it full screen.
– Click on the three dots (top right) and tap on ‘Grab image text’. The text from the image will be displayed below.
– Tap on the text to edit it.
– When you’re happy with the edited version, tap the three dots bottom right and select ‘Send’ which gives the options to ‘Copy to Google Docs’ or ‘Send via other apps’ e.g., your email or WhatsApp.
– Google Keep also allows voice recordings.
Tech News : 36 Cents per Chat Query Prompts $30 Microsoft Fee
Microsoft’s announcement of pricing for its AI productivity suite 365 Copilot shows its intent to monetise its AI, ending any expectations of free AI provision.
Furthering Its (Monetising) Ambitions – Microsoft 365 Copilot & Bing Chat Enterprise
Announced under the heading “furthering our ambitions”, Microsoft has released details of both Bing Chat Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing.
Bing Chat Enterprise is an AI-powered chat tool for work with commercial data protection that’s accessible for subscriber via bing.com/chat and the Microsoft Edge sidebar in their work account.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is the company’s AI chatbot, processing, and orchestration engine that’s embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps and works behind the scenes to combine the power of LLMs like GPT-4, with the Microsoft 365 apps and business data in the Microsoft Graph.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Pricing
Microsoft has announced that 365 pricing for Copilot for commercial customers will be $30 per user, per month for Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard and Business Premium customers (when broadly available). The pricing follows the expansion of the Microsoft 365 Copilot paid Early Access Program in May to 600 enterprise customers worldwide, including companies like KPMG, Lumen, and Emirates NBD. The company is confident that the value of Copilot expressed during the Early Access Program and the AI tool’s benefits justify the price tag, saying: “The more customers use Copilot, the more their enthusiasm for Copilot grows. Soon, no one will want to work without it.”
Why Microsoft Says It’s Worth The Extra $360 Per Year
In its pricing announcement, Microsoft reminded users what makes Copilot worth the extra investment, citing:
– Unlike some generative AI apps, Copilot doesn’t focus on a single capability but “puts thousands of skills at your command and can reason over all your content and context to take on any task”.
– Copilot’s good on its own, but also integrated into the popular 365 apps (millions of people use daily).
– It uses the customer’s actual business data in the Microsoft Graph thereby “grounding” it – making it practically useful and customised.
Microsoft’s Investment In AI (And OpenAI)
Microsoft has invested heavily in AI and incorporating it into its products. For example, OpenAI, ChatGPT’s developers, first partnered with Microsoft in July 2019 in a collaboration aimed at bringing OpenAI’s technologies to Microsoft’s cloud services, allowing customers to build and run AI-powered applications and services. ChatGPT is also supported by Microsoft’s Azure services as part of the collaboration.
Fast forward to today and OpenAI’s models and generative capability have been deployed across Microsoft’s consumer and enterprise products as Copilot in (for example) 365 Copilot, Copilot for Viva, Copilot X (for coding), and Security Copilot.
A Lesson From ChatGPT
It’s clear that Microsoft has learned from ChatGPT’s experience, i.e. having to introduce a $20 version relatively early on to cover its operating costs, estimated in April to have been $700,000 per day / 36 cents per query (ref. SemiAnalysis) and, therefore, has realised the need for and the potential value of monetising Copilot as early as possible.
Also, with many businesses now having fully adopted ChatGPT as an important business tool, realised its benefits (and therefore the benefits of generative AI), and with many having signed up happily to the $20 version, $30 for what Microsoft sees as an added value, wider scope version probably seems to Microsoft like a fair price. To Microsoft at least.
Questions
Some commentators, however, still have some questions about a possible lack of case studies, figures, and success stories to date about how companies have actually been using Copilot in the real world to demonstrably improve productivity, efficiency, creativity, and profits. No doubt, these will come in time as Copilot is relatively new to most businesses.
Also, since Copilot is grounded in a company’s own data, it’s arguably important to have quality data in the Microsoft Graph to get a quality output. For example, as ChatGPT users will know, the better the prompt and help that the chatbot’s given as an instruction, the better the relevance and quality of its output.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
It’s true that the operating costs of AI chatbots are high, as experienced by ChatGPT. Many businesses are already aware of the value of generative AI and as with ChatGPT, have shown that paying for a ‘business’ version is popular. These are two reasons why, along with its considerable investment in AI, Microsoft’s “Ambitions” already include charging $30 per user per month for Copilot which the company sees as more than just a one-trick AI pony. Copilot’s integration into popular apps and its ability to work across the whole 365 suite as an orchestrating engine offers businesses obvious productivity and efficiency benefits, provided users are able to understand and harness its power, and this ability to get much greater value from Microsoft 365 that could translate into profits may be something that businesses feel is worth the extra money.
Just as Microsoft is committed to AI across its services, AI is something that’s spreading across all areas of work and personal life in some form or another and with Microsoft and OpenAI both charging for it, perhaps expect (business) AI services coming from other providers to be chargeable too.