Jordan [00:00:01]:
Will our digital doubles be making more than us in the future? That's 1 of the things that I wanted to talk about today on everyday AI. This is your daily live stream podcast and newsletter. Yeah, we're doing it all, helping to bring you the latest news and development in everything AI and to help you actually use it. So today I have a special guest to help us dive into all of those things. Guillermo Thompson, is the Founder and Director of Ombu Ombu. Guillermo, thank you for joining us.
Guillermo [00:00:52]:
Good morning. Hi, guys. Thank you for inviting me, Jordan. I'm really excited to just have fun with it and chat with you.
Apple enters AI world with pricey headset
Jordan [00:01:03]:
Yeah, let's go. All right, so before we talk about branding and what that means with these digital doubles and all these other things, I wanna talk about what's going on in the world of AI news. And as a reminder, if you're listening to us live on the show, please drop us a comment. Drop a comment for G or myself. We'll answer your hottest questions. It's Monday, but keep us on our toes, keep us honest.
So, but if you're listening on the podcast, make sure to tune back in every day as we do this at 7.30 a.m. Central Standard Time. First story, it hasn't even happened yet. Gee, we're gonna be previewing this, but Apple is finally, we think, making a big splash in the AI world. They haven't really done a lot, Whereas Google, Microsoft, Facebook, everyone else has been going hard in the paint with AI, Apple, not so much, but they're expected to be announcing their mixed reality headset today. Apparently it's gonna be crazy, intuitive, but extremely expensive. What are your thoughts on this? Is this going to do anything or is this just going to be something for people to play with? I don't know. People
Guillermo [00:02:11]:
probably, they would just probably read the title of the articles or just watch the news in the TV and they just didn't... When it comes to Apple, people are so excited about the brand that I could already hear the riots. I mean, like, just... Yeah, yeah, there are riots already. Like people probably like line up, camp outside the store and try to get a hand of it. And they didn't even know the price, you know, like they're just gonna buy it and see what's up. So true, so true.
Jordan [00:02:41]:
Speaking of, you know, having a very hardcore following and fan base, Google is probably right there with Apple, but people aren't too happy with Google's new AI-powered search experience. Apparently, it's very slow. Not everyone has access to it yet, but Google has slowly started to give access to its new search experience called the SGE, or the Search Generative Experience. Essentially, it's supposed to be a much better search experience with a lot more AI summaries and not necessarily having to go in and click 10 different articles to read them all to get a good understanding of what's going on. But it's better, but it's slow. Gee, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Guillermo [00:03:29]:
I mean, it's just a matter of time. This reminds me of like a joke that goes something like, you know, when they started having Wi-Fi in planes and then, you know, I mean like he's sitting next to a guy and the guy's like, oh, can you believe this? The Wi-Fi is really slow. And then Louis CK, like it's like a day before and today there was no Wi-Fi in planes. You know what I mean? Like now there is Wi-Fi and you're already complaining that it's slow.
So I mean, it's a natural reaction for trolls that, you know what I mean? Like they haven't been on the process. They don't know anything that what it takes to make it to complain. So, prompts to Google for keeping it up. There's a huge race among these huge enterprise IT companies to see who gets first and who's up with the new technology. Same with Apple, Microsoft. But I'm excited to try it out, even if it's slow now, like in a matter of days, speeding up. I worked for a leading software testing company, so I know what it takes in terms of functionality
Jordan [00:04:38]:
and quality assurance. So I'm not complaining, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you bring up a good point with the analogy of Wi-Fi on airplanes, right? I think even though if it's slower on the front end, I think if you look through the typical Googling journey, you usually have to search multiple queries. Within each of those queries, you usually have to read multiple webpages to get to the point of getting the right information that this new search experience will bring. So I think when you frame it like that, it's like, all right, well, maybe it's a half of a second more on the front end, but in theory, saving a ton of time on the back end.
Speaking of saving a ton of time, that's what Hollywood's been trying to do with the, I'll say almost rampant use now of digital doubles, right? So we opened the show asking if digital doubles are going to be making more than us, But at least in Hollywood, this is something that Hollywood's largest union has been talking about this. So separately, there's been the writer strike in Hollywood. But now the Hollywood's largest union is discussing this and talking about pay in the age of artificial intelligence. So they're going into contract negotiations with studios this week, but essentially actors are worried about losing control of their image due to AI. You know, Guillermo, you work a lot in branding. And so what do you think that this is going to result in? Like, are the Hollywood studios going to come up with something concrete in terms of their digital doubles? Or is this always going to be a gray area, what do you think?
Actors no longer needed, just faces
Guillermo [00:06:17]:
I don't know. There's a lot of things here to digest. First of all, I think actors have been feeling this. Like, this is not something new for actors. Like, as soon as they started having visual effects, you know, actors started feeling that they were like, even in movies, they were pulling away from acting more and more. You know, we all seen those like behind the scenes of Marvel movies where They're just like, this is not acting, right? They're just pretending to talk to someone is not even there. So now it's transitioning to, we don't really need actors. We just need their recognizable faces. And I don't know, like, I don't know.
They're very privileged people. Let's be honest. We all we all seen the Golden Globes. We all heard What's this Ricky Gervais like really tackle this issue about like come on boohoo, you know, I mean like you guys complaining but um And this is this is also why I admire someone like Tom Cruise. I'm not a fan of him, but I respect him because he he just committed to the craft, you know, like doing his own his own stance and so forth. And I don't know, you guys, like there's so many, too many things to to to to to think about on this topic. But I recommend everybody I did to Jordan before the show started, watch Dead, Love and Roberts or Love, Dead and Roberts. I don't know. It's a show in Netflix. And this is the first show I actually watched where I saw like they were using someone's famous actor's faces. I think Hugh Jackman And there's a couple more recognizable faces there that I was certain there was nothing involved with the actor They just bought the rights to use his image and and not even his voice, you know, and this is the future I mean in a in a sense that they just want to get paid for that or get compensated for that.
Jordan [00:08:21]:
Yeah. You know, just threw that up on the screen there, what you just recommended, love death in robots. So let's actually talk, you know, speaking of this, you know, because it is about actors concern of losing their brand image, right? Uh, well, or at least not being compensated for it, right? There's probably 2 different pieces.
Guillermo [00:08:41]:
They, they, they own their image because everybody's going to recognize Brad Pitt or Tom Cruz. They just want to get as much paid as they did before. But I don't know. Like they already have the money. I mean like and at the same time with this, I think many actors, I don't know if every actor is complaining about this, but I'm sure many actors are happy that now they're going to reach immortality. You know what I mean?
In a sense, they're going to be forever in the screen because that was always a problem with their egos. It's like, oh, you know, I'm going to grow old. I'm going to be forgettable. You know, they're going to be a new generation. Now with this kind of technology, they can have a Tom Cruise for hundreds and hundreds of years. And for the industry, it even works because we all know that they just like, even when an actor retires or goes after his prime, they will look for that kind of stereotype, kind of type, you know, body or face. So I don't know you guys, like,
Jordan [00:09:45]:
I think that I have nothing to complain, you know? Yeah, no, I get it. You know, but speaking of this, right, so I think even if we bring it back outside of actors and we bring it back to just general branding as an example, right, in theory, I could duplicate my face, my voice. I can have a 24 7 nonstop version of this show. Maybe the quality wouldn't be as good, right? But I could. I thought you were already on it, Jordan.
This is, yes, this all, my reactions are definitely AI, AI generated, but you know, at least so when you're working with clients or even just talking to people in the branding space, what's your recommendation? Should companies or individuals be exploring this? Should they be making avatars that are AI generated that can go off and do more for themselves or should they stay away from it? What do you think?
Is personal branding and AI ethical?
Guillermo [00:10:43]:
Well, this is where it comes like, We talked about this last week in a different context, but I think this is where it gets ethical. And the whole thing behind promoting a personal brand to help your actual brand or your company or your businesses to be authentic, to give value, to get people to know the persons that are behind these companies. And so, no, I'm totally against AI generated avatars. But at the same time, I mean, again, we, we talked about this before is that we all need to assume when you're, we all need to recognize that even the people that are watching me today are getting to know me and your show, this is not me. Like there is more beyond branding in Guillermo, you know what I mean?
Like there's, there's all their interests, there's family and friends, there's hobbies, you know what I mean? Like, so even this is, this is the thing is that even before this AI technology was accessible for us to generate avatars and so forth, even with the social media effect that had in society, like even at that point, even in early stages, we were already showing something that was not us entirely. It was an avatar. It was an image that we wanted to convey to other people, but it wasn't real. You know what I mean? Like we all know the cases of all these people and that are like, you know, suffering depression because they're, they're showing an image in social media that is like always happy, always ongoing. And then if they don't get the feedback, the loving from their audience, then, then they get the cravings, then they get lonely, and they're so, we'll see like this, like, I just watched a video yesterday of someone getting a selfie next to a buffalo on Yellowstone, you know? What are we doing? Like, you know what I mean? Like we're not even contemplating the wonders of life. Basic human safety.
Jordan [00:12:52]:
Yeah. Or safety, right?
Guillermo [00:12:54]:
AI, it's just like a caveat to it. I mean, like now you can take it to a whole another stream, which is like, I'm not even creating the content now it's like AI generating it for me and AI showing up in front of the camera.
Jordan [00:13:10]:
So my question, and I get your point about being against kind of the, the digital avatar. I see that too. I do see use cases for it, but I want to ask you though, how can the everyday person still use AI? So generative AI, maybe ChatGPT, maybe mid-journey, or any other thing. How can we use those tools to build brands or should we not be using them at all?
AI experimentation with your brand is encouraged, but value is key
Guillermo [00:13:39]:
Well, I mean, I'll be a hypocrite if I would say, you know, don't use it. We are implementing it. We are experimenting with it. We are speculating, you know, the results we're gonna get. We all feel like there is a definitely benefit of being so immediate, right? And in terms of delivering results, I don't know if there are like better results than before. I also think that we're all kind of getting lazy in some like thought processing, you know, like We talked about this off camera before, it's like, you know, if I'm gonna make a post, do I just prompt ChatGPT or do I take like the 1 minute to actually be myself and post it?
Sometimes it takes longer to prompt the right response you want from Chachapiti than actually be yourself and splash on social media. So I do recommend using it. I do recommend experimenting with it. I encourage a lot of, especially young people that are uncertain of, you know, if they're it's not that there is. I feel like people sometimes they they feel like young generations don't know what they want. I think that they do know what they want. It's just that they don't. No one told them they they really can because we're always comparing ourselves to the most successful people in the world. And that's just like, just like defeating, you know, like, I will never be like, you know, Elon Musk because you're so far away. But I do encourage people to use AI and try to build their own brand, trying to build their own business, but going rooted on the basics, which is like giving value to people or, or, you know, the motivation has to be a very noble mission, right? Yeah.
Jordan [00:15:37]:
How do you think you find the balance, right? Because that's 1 thing we always talk about in branding, especially, you know, with personal branding is, you know, staying authentic and being truly yourself. But then, obviously, even the best, the most successful people in branding now are also saying, yes, leverage AI to build your brand. How do you find the balance?
Guillermo [00:16:04]:
That's a great question Jordan, I don't know. I think because if I want to build on your question but I don't have the answer. Yeah. Because that's true, it's like if you, I mean AI still a tool right? Like any other technology or any other tool we have. So it's just a matter of what do you use it for? So if you're using it to have a possible, positive impact on your community or help your family or you know, I mean like your company or your brand is actually gonna be has it's gonna have a positive effect in others then go for it you know I mean yeah but if you're just concerned about profit and cutting corners, you know what I mean? And it's scamming people then, you know what I mean? Stop. You know what I mean? Like don't use it. Yeah. Please don't.
Using AI to enhance personal/ company brand
Jordan [00:16:58]:
I actually started this with a question, but I think you rephrasing the question, help me maybe get a potential answer. So I think 1 thing too is whether you're talking about building a personal brand or if you're working on building a brand for a company, the way I kind of think of it is, okay, what if you had unlimited resources? Or what if you had a larger team? What would you do if you had more people or more resources? A
nd that's kind of what I think, at least using AI is for, right? Like you as the human or you as the, you know, founder, you know, the founder and director of OmbuOmbu can still build brands yourself, but you can then have, as an example, a team of quote unquote, a team of researchers using AI, in an ideation session that can go way in depth using AI, someone that can help proofread or improve your brand strategy or your brand identity using AI. So maybe that's 1 way, question mark. You know, what's 1 way that you've, you know, let's say the average person out there, if they are in branding but they haven't dipped their toe in AI yet, what's maybe 1 piece of advice that you would give them on, hey, here's a way to get started and to take those first steps.
Guillermo [00:18:21]:
Well, I mean, ChatGPT is definitely like the most accessible AI language model that, you know, even everybody can like experiment with it. Like we all seen those videos, like here are the 5 prompts or 10 prompts you must do to really squeeze the juice out of the, you know, of ChatGPT, but really you have to experiment with it, use it as a consultant, and don't forget that, you know, again, it's a tool, right?
So it doesn't matter like what prompt you put, but think about your end goal. Like, what do you really want to get results out of it? You know what I mean? And go to the core of values, you know what I mean? Like, am I going to, is this going to have a positive impact in me or others? Or I'm just going to be selfish and ask, like, what stock should I invest to? You know what I mean? Like, just think about like, you know, like how to the angle. It doesn't matter if you use AI or you ask your your your peers, you know what I mean? Like,
Jordan [00:19:41]:
yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hunter. Hunter just dropped a comment. Like the idea of using it as a consultant. Intriguing. Yeah, Hunter, thanks for the comment. You know, what's maybe let's even talk 1 way real quick. I know we you know are really dragging this 1 out, G, but I love your insights. What's maybe what's 1 way, because you know we've all seen those posts, try these 10 prompts, you know, get the, yeah, get, get the most juice out of your, out of your lemon. Um, you know, what's, what's maybe the 1 very practical example that you've used something in the AI, if, if, if you have 1, something in the AI space where you were like, whoa, okay, this is gonna help me, help a client. What's that 1 example that you did and you were blown away?
Guillermo [00:20:28]:
Well, going along with what I said, and hey, Pee Pee, how's it going? Yeah, the lottery numbers. But no, seriously, I always tell him who he is or who she is. You know what I mean? Like, so if I want to get, um, uh, like a advice in terms of like strategy, I'm like, you are, you know, an expert at marketing strategy. And you know, helping define the persona behind ChatGPT, it always helps to get the most, the better results, I think.
But again, like, I don't, I don't feel like there is like a best way to go at it. I think you have to experiment, like in anything, you know what I mean? Like, there is probably a thousand ways, same with, you know, Adobe tools back in the day, you know what I mean? Like there's different ways to get the same results in editing a video or editing,
Jordan [00:21:27]:
you know, an image, which by the way, like those days are gone. Have you seen the new the generative AI? Oh, wow. My Lord. Yeah, it's it's crazy. We'll actually share some examples of that in today's new newsletter as well. Thank oh, gosh. I mean, I know we went over. Thank you for the comments, Hunter. Yeah. Yeah. Pierre PPC. What are the next winning lottery numbers? I don't know, maybe we should just start using ChatGPT that way. G, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to join the show, I really appreciate it. Thank you for the space, Jordan. I love what you're doing, Keep it up.
Guillermo [00:22:02]:
I checked your newsletter. It's really, really good. So thank you for your work. It keeps all of us up to date with the news in AI. So I'm glad you're doing it. And I'll keep being a fan in the distance.
Jordan [00:22:17]:
Thank you, thank you. So thank you for that plug. That's a great way to end the show. So yeah, please go to youreverydayai.com. Like Guillermo just said, we are not only putting out this live stream where you can interact with our guests, also podcasts on all major networks, Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, apparently they have something, but also the daily newsletter.
We put a lot of time and effort. So a lot of the things that she's been referencing, we'll make sure to put those things in the newsletter so you can read more about what we've been talking about as well. So Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you back tomorrow and every day with Everyday AI. Thanks. And please subscribe and leave us a rating. It helps keep us going. For a little more AI magic, visit YourEverydayAI.com and sign up to our daily newsletter so you don't get left behind. Go break some barriers and we'll see you next time.