'Sup. I'm going to kick this issue off with a small confession. I'm starting to feel a little bit of AI news fatigue. It's been difficult to find tech news that isn't AI related in recent months, particularly in our sector, and I'm starting to feel like this newsletter is getting a little too AI centric.
But, I understand that lots of people are interested in AI. So I wanted to a) say sorry if the Snapshot has been a little too AI heavy of late and b) let you know that I'm actively trying to bring a bit more balance to the news I'm sharing. Yes, I will still be sharing AI news. But hopefully, a little less AI news than in recent months. Anyways, hope this email finds you well!
📰 Latest news
- So let's kick off this less AI heavy issue of the Snapshot with some AI news, shall we? Grok (Musk's AI) got a bit Fascist last month. But who could have seen that coming? Not. A. Single (everybody). Person.
- YouTube is now the UK's second most-watched media service, according to Ofcom's annual media report.
- The Vagina Museum has had to sensor their website due to the online safety act.
- And in a similar vein, Wikipedia has lost its challenge against the Online Safety Act verification rules.
- Charity Digital has published their Digital Skills report and there is A LOT in it. I made a quick overview with some of the highlights.
🤓 Useful / shareable
- Supercool have published their 'Cultural Website Sustainability Benchmark Report', in collaboration with Digital Carbon Online. Lots of interesting stuff in there.
- London Museum has launched an AI Chatbot which allows users to query collections, blogs, and stories using natural language.
- Here are some great insights into the future of search for cultural organisations, written by Katie Moffat (the OG author of the Snapshot).
- Facebook is making moves to restrict the reach of unoriginal content. Generally a good thing, but might mean you need to re-think your marketing activities if you're regularly sharing the same content on your page.
- Haydn Corrodus has shared a really useful overview of Instagram's new Report feature.
💥 Distracting / entertaining / inspiring
- This is neither entertaining nor inspiring. Perhaps a touch distracting. MIT Researchers have looked into the impact on using AI on critical thinking skills and the results are... concerning. But again I ask, who could have seen that coming? Not. A. Single (everybody). Person.
- Weak passwords continue to be a weakness for most organisations. Here's some useful insights from a recent hack of a Northamptonshire transport company.
- Ash Mann has created an interesting overview of organisational archetypes in the cultural sector, based on his research into the challenges of doing digital work in the sector. It reminds me of Kati Price and Dafydd James' 2018 research into the structure of digital teams within the sector.
- You might have spotted that the GOV.UK website has had a rebrand. Well, maybe not a rebrand... more of a refresh. It's blue now. Here's a great blog post from an insider at the Government Digital Service, outlining the reasoning for the change and some of the process.
👍 Something good
- In the last issue I posted about an AI project between the British Museum and the Alan Turing Institute. Someone from the BM got in touch with me to let me know that the project took place in 2018 (I thought it was much more recent!). But they also shared a link to the learning from the project.
- I love a newly discovered city - this is a great YouTube Short on a lost city found in the jungles of Mexico using Lidar.
- Here's a useful reminder that design which makes sense to you, may not make sense to everyone.
And that’s all for this edition.
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