February 21, 2024
OpenAI Announces Text-to-Video Tool Sora
The hype around generative text AI is now shifting to video. OpenAI has announced Sora, a text-to-video tool that generates photorealistic videos from text prompts. The potential impact of the emerging technology across the communications industry is significant. Generative video AI will likely further disrupt the filmmaking industry as production companies and studios continue to downsize.
While some advertisers see Sora as a boon, many creative and production professionals are in suspense. Integration of AI in the workforce has tremendously impacted the tech and media industries, leading to massive job losses and economic anxiety. Many are also concerned about the ethical implications of text-to-video technology and its potential misuse.
Tech and News Companies Jumpstart Generative AI Efforts
As generative AI expands, more companies are coming to terms with the technology. Reddit has entered into a $60 million annual deal with an unnamed large AI company to train its models on the social platform’s content, which relies heavily on human-driven conversations. The deal comes ahead of Reddit’s expected initial public offering.
Newsrooms are also accelerating efforts to harness generative AI. The New York Times is now courting partners to evaluate generative AI-driven ad-targeting. The newspaper recently announced a strategic shift toward AI following news that the paper is suing OpenAI over copyright infringement. Major tech companies—including Google, Microsoft, and Meta—have agreed to develop technology to identify and rein in AI-generated election disinformation.
YouTube Tops TV Streaming as News Consumption Changes
New data is shedding light on media consumption habits. Nielsen Media Research reported YouTube as the leading streaming service for television over the past year, with nearly 8.6% of TV viewing usage, surpassing Netflix’s 7.9%. While television remains a popular option for news consumption, growing numbers are turning to social media for news. A new study showed more than one-third of Generation Z use social media as a primary election information source.
Measurement is becoming more critical for communications consultants as client expectations rise. Cision’s 2024 Global Comms Report found that only one-quarter of communications leaders are confident in their organization’s PR measurement tools. More PR pros are exploring AI tools to accomplish data-heavy measurement tasks. Keeping a robust media database is most critical for good media relations.
Sequence Summaries: Sora Suspense, Generative Jump, and Meaningful Metrics
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